Motorola's newest Linux phone boasts a soft MMI (man-machine interface) that changes with the phone's mode. The Rokr E8 is a quad-band GSM/GPRS phone with 2-megapixel camera, multi-codec music player, a “full” HTML browser, and unique “haptics” system aimed at providing “tactile response” to virtual keypresses. (more…)

At CES yesterday, Everex formally introduced its gOS 2.0 Linux-powered laptop, the CloudBook Ultra-Mobile PC. eWeek has published an up-to-date profile of the hotly-anticipated UMPC, which will go on sale for $400 at WalMart on January 25th. (more…)

MSC Vertriebs has announced a computer-on-module (COM) that supports Intel's dual-core Xeon processors and runs Linux. The CXE-DX5270 targets demanding applications such as pattern recognition, high-energy physics, and real-time systems, according to the company. (more…)

A developer of Linux-based, IP-media applications formally launched its software for Texas Instruments's DaVinci media processor platform. DigiLink Software says its Digital Media Elements (DME) IP-media stack for set-top boxes (STBs) lets television viewers watch and record Internet TV… (more…)

French bluetooth accessory specialist Com One announced that its Linux-based Phoenix WiFi Radio has upgraded firmware and is being widely distributed. The Internet-enabled clock-radio is now being sold by online retailers tigerdirect.com, mobileplanet.com, and buy.com, says Com One, while… (more…)

Emerson Network Power (ENP), a division of Emerson Electric, announced it has completed its acquisition of Motorola's Embedded Communications Computing group. The ECC sells Linux-compatible, carrier-grade AdvancedTCA (ATCA), MicroTCA (MTCA), CompactPCI, and VMEbus products to telecom,… (more…)

Fabless chip vendor Redpine Signals says it is sampling an “ultra low power” 802.11a/b/g/n wireless networking processor suitable for use in MicroSD cards and mobile devices. The Linux-compatible LiteFi RS9110 utilizes advanced power management techniques spread over system, algorithm, and circuit levels, according to the company. (more…)

Several actual hardware devices have been hacked to run Google's Java-based Android software stack, according to blogs and forum posts around the Internet. Although Google's preview release last fall included a software emulator based on Qemu, real hardware may provide a better target for application development. (more…)

Trolltech has announced a new spin on its Qtopia software stack for Linux-based devices. The as-yet unnamed Qtopia stack has a nifty unified messaging application stack acquired with Fonav, and will be supported initially by a VoIP, IM, and email-enabled kitchen communication center reference design from semiconductor giant Broadcom. (more…)

RMI Corporation says it is now shipping a 700MHz version of its Au1250 Media Processor, along with a Linux-compatible development board (pictured at left). Previously clocked from 400MHz to 600MHz, the power-thrifty SoC (system-on-chip) now offers DVD-quality playback while running other tasks, says RMI. (more…)

A Swiss vendor of digital media player (DMP) hardware-software reference designs has switched to Linux. BridgeCo's third-generation “JukeBlox” design is based on a custom ARM9 SoC, and has already been adopted by several major AVR (audio-visual receiver) and table radio vendors, the company claims. (more…)

At CES, Wistron NeWeb Corp. (WNC) is showing a hybrid GSM/VoWiFi phone that runs Linux. The PDA and Dual Net Phone-GW4 boasts a 2.5-inch touchscreen and a full QWERTY keyboard. One rumor claims it will be ported to Google's Android platform by March. (more…)

In a move reminiscent of Google's “Android,” Yahoo! has announced its own toolkit aimed at improving mobile phones as Web services clients. Early proponents of Yahoo! Mobile Widgets include phone vendors LG and Motorola, with Linux phone stack vendor Access also looking at the technology. (more…)

Linux mobile phone software and services provider Celunite has changed its name to Azingo, and will contribute components to the Linux Mobile Foundation's common integration environment (CIE), it said. (more…)

At CES yesterday, Intel CEO Paul Otellini talked up Menlow, the company's platform for Linux-based Mobile Internet Devices. He also demo'd the first-ever Intel Architecture (IA) system-on-chip (SoC) for consumer electronics, a “Canmore” processor available later this year for Internet-enabled set-top boxes,… (more…)