Devon IT announced a thin client that uses Intel's Atom N270 processor and supports dual HD displays. The “TC5X/XW” offers up to 2GB each of RAM and DOM, plus gigabit Ethernet and optional WiFi, and is available with Devon IT's DeTOS Linux distribution. (more…)

Linux smartphone shipments grew 19.4 percent year-over-year to a 8.4 percent share in 4Q 2008, according to the latest Gartner report. Meanwhile, IDC reports a sharp fall in general handset sales, and Informa Telecoms & Media predicts that Android will outsell the iPhone by 2012. (more…)

Via Technologies has quietly established a subsidiary called WonderMedia, which is readying a multimedia-capable ARM9-based system-on-chip (SoC). An early version of the “Prizm” SoC, called the VT8500, is available in a Linux-ready NorhTec MicroClient TC thin-client that costs $100, says the company. (more…)

McObject has released a DBMS test benchmark application for the Android-based T-Mobile/HTC G1 smartphone. The “TestIndex” benchmark results purport to show that McObject's Perst object-oriented database management system (OODBMS) is faster than Android's default SQLite relational embedded… (more…)

Linux consulting and services firm Embedded Alley (EA) has launched a customizable support portal for embedded development collaboration with customers and partners. The “Embedded Alley Junction” offers features including code repositories, documentation, tips, issue tracking, FAQs, wikis, and list management, says the company. (more…)

In an interview, Google CEO Eric Schmidt suggested his company may enter the netbook market with Android. Schmidt (pictured) later went on the Charlie Rose show on PBS, where he tipped Google's plans to enter the mobile TV market. (more…)

Foreword — This article describes the V4L2 (Video for Linux 2) interface, along with the first steps toward developing a device driver that uses the interface. It is based on Linux 2.6.28, and may not apply to other kernel versions. (more…)

Robot manufacturer Surveyor Corp. has released an open-source Google Android application that remotely operates its Blackfin-based robots. Surveyor demonstrated the SRV-1 Console Android software running its SRV-1 Blackfin Robot (pictured) and YARB Robotic Blimp, as well as a Macpod Software robot that slices… (more…)

ADlink has announced a PC/104 SBC (single board computer) based on DMP Electronics's x86-compatible Vortex86SX SoC (system-on-chip). The “CoreModule 430” includes 256MB of RAM, four serial ports, 10/100 Ethernet, two USB ports, and support for both CRT and TFT displays, the company says. (more…)

Kontron has announced its first pico-ITX SBC (single board computer), packing Intel's Atom processor. Targeting small, multimedia-oriented devices, the “pITX-SP” offers 1.1GHz or 1.6GHz Intel Z5xx CPUs, gigabit Ethernet, two SATA II ports, a microSD slot, and a DVI port, the company says. (more…)

In a new release, Vyatta has added a web browser GUI to the community-supported version of its Linux router distribution for x86. Vyatta Community Edition 5 (VC5) also improves virtual private networking, thanks to OpenVPN, which works better in environments with NAT (network address translation). (more…)

German company Ka-Ro Electronics announced a tiny processor module based on Freescale's i.MX37 SoC (system-on-chip). The “Triton TX37” runs embedded Linux, measures 2.6 x 1 x 0.16 inches (67.6 x 26 x 4.2 mm), and fits into an SODIMM (small outline dual in-line memory module) slot. (more…)

MPC Data has launched a wizard-driven, Eclipse-based Linux distribution and toolkit aimed at industrial applications. Available initially in an open source version for Super-H, with commercial versions and wider architecture support to follow, “Little Blue Linux” includes a wizard-driven Eclipse IDE and 2.6.2x BSPs. (more…)

OSPERT has issued a call for papers for its OSPRT'09 real-time Linux workshop in Dublin, Ireland, on June 30th. In other real-time news, Thomas Gleixner and Ingo Molnar are returning to their preempt-rt patch project, after working on x86 support for a year-and-a-half. (more…)

Aaeon announced a COM (computer on module) exploiting the newly proposed “COM Express Ultra” standard. The 84 x 55mm NanoCOM-U15 includes an SDVO (serial digital video out) connector, an Atom Z5xx-series CPU, and up to 4GB of SSD (solid state disk) storage, the company says. (more…)