Intel has leaked details of a new Atom processor and chipset, aimed squarely at the hot netbook market. The new 1.66GHz N280 will be accompanied by a northbridge/southbridge known as the GN40, possibly combined into one chip in order to extend battery life. (more…)

A Linux-powered robot project has won the first monthly design contest sponsored by “BeagleBoard.org,” a group promoting a low-cost, Linux-friendly single board computer (SBC) with an ARM Cortex-A8-based processor. (more…)

Qt Software (formerly Trolltech) will add an LGPL licensing option for Qt 4.5, due to ship in March. Together with a new policy of opening Qt source code repositories to the public, the more permissive license option should increase the cross-platform GUI application framework's popularity, says the company. (more…)

Icop announced a PC/104 computer module based on a 32-bit, 800MHz x86-compatible SoC (system on chip) that is claimed to run Linux on under two Watts. The “VDX-6354” has 256MB of RAM, 4GB of flash, 10/100 Ethernet, audio, and an onboard VGA controller, says Icop. (more…)

M2M Solution announced a security gateway reference design based on the Texas Instruments (TI) OMAP3503 system-on-chip (SoC). The Homebox runs Linux, enables remote monitoring of real-time video and security sensors, and will soon be sold by MYXYTY under the name MyHome, says M2M. (more…)

Freescale Semiconductor is shipping a product development kit (PDK) for its ARM9-based i.MX27 system-on-chip (SoC). The kit includes a CPU module, a “Personality” (peripherals) module, a debugging device, and board support packages (BSPs) for either Linux or Windows CE, says the company. (more…)

Cisco's Linksys division is shipping a networked home audio distribution system that runs Linux and uses 802.11n WiFi. The Cisco Wireless Home Audio system supports Internet radio and DLNA discovery, and includes a variety of receivers, speakers, players, iPOD docks, and a tablet-like touchscreen remote. (more…)

The struggling automotive industry needs to embrace open software platforms if it wants to cash in on the growing automotive telematics and infotainment business, says an ABI Research white paper. (more…)

[Updated: Jan. 13, 2009] — Cisco's Linksys division announced a media-savvy NAS (network-attached storage) device that offers DLNA network discovery and streaming support, and runs Linux. (more…)

[Updated: Jan 15, 2009] — Chumby demonstrated a WiFi-enabled digital photo frame (DPF) reference design developed with Marvell Semiconductor. The design combines Marvell's new PXA168 system-on-chip and WiFi chipset with Chumby's Linux-based “push” info-tainment stack and website, says Chumby. (more…)

WANdisco announced the availability of an embedded software appliance that runs Linux and incorporates the popular open source “Subversion” revision control system for distributed software development. (more…)

Sony announced a mini-laptop that weighs 1.4 pounds and is just 4.7 inches deep. Shipped with Vista and a fast-booting Linux Xross environment, the “Vaio P” (VGN-P) includes a 1.33GHz Atom processor, eight-inch, 2GB of RAM, GPS, a cellular modem, and 8-inch 1600 x 768 screen. (more…)

LinuxDevices contributing editor Kevin Dankwardt, Ph.D, will offer four short, intensive, multi-day courses on embedded Linux, starting Jan. 26 in Redwood City, Calif. Delivered via UC California Berkeley's Extension school, the courses cover system design, C application development, driver development, and real-time Linux. (more…)

The Itanium Solutions Alliance (ISA) released a report on its efforts to provide open standards for Itanium, Intel's first 64-bit architecture. 2008 was a very good year for the Linux-compatible Itanium, with $1 billion in Itanium-related revenues over the last five quarters, says the group. (more…)

Palm announced its WebOS Linux platform yesterday, along with a smartphone to run it. To be sold by Sprint in the first half of 2009, the 3G-enabled Palm Pre features a slide-out keyboard, WiFi, GPS, 3-megapixel camera, 3.1-inch touchscreen, and Palm's homegrown “WebOS” Linux phone stack. (more…)