Crossbow Technology will demonstrate its tiny XScale-based platform for wireless sensing, at the Sensors Expo tradeshow next week. The Imote2 is supported by a 2.6.14 Linux port from Intel's Mote 2 project, and will soon gain support for .NET Micro Framework, Microsoft's new low-end embedded platform. (more…)

IBM has published the following new technical articles, tutorials, and downloads on its DeveloperWorks and AlphaWorks websites. They cover a range of interesting (though not necessarily embedded) technical topics, primarily related to Linux and open source system development. (more…)

PrismTech has ported its software-defined radio (SDR) middleware to a tiny ARM-based single-board computer (SBC), in order to demonstrate the stack's low SWaP (size, weight, and power) requirements. (more…)

A pioneer in the mobile Internet tablet market is offering support to other devicemakers developing Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) based on Linux. PepperPad producer Pepper Computing says it plans to ship its Pepper Linux implementation this fall to multiple adopters of Intel's MID hardware platforms. (more…)

Data Evolution, which recently acquired AMD's low-cost Personal Internet Communicator (PIC), is offering the device at the discounted price of $99 without an OS. The “DecTop” is based on an AMD Geode GX processor, includes a 10GB hard drive, and supports both Linux and Windows CE. (more…)

TimeSys has published a half-hour podcast in which two developers discuss strategies for reducing the real and perceived boot times of embedded Linux devices. Topics broached include staged booting, SysV inefficiencies, pruning kernel protocols and polling cycles, bootup message suppression, and initramfs, among others. (more…)

Embedded board-maker VersaLogic has started shipping free Linux BSPs (board support packages) for two more of its single-board computers (SBCs). Based on Debian Linux, the BSPs are expected to streamline hardware setup for customers of the company's Gecko and Puma boards. (more…)

Following two months of planning, Canonical Ltd. has updated the Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded (UME) project's architecture roadmap. UME aims to create a version of the popular Ubuntu desktop Linux OS tailored to the requirements of Intel-based “mobile Internet devices” (MIDs), expected in 2008. (more…)

Microsoft and LG Electronics, best known for its DVD players, home theater systems, and cellphones, announced on June 7 that they have entered into a patent cross-license agreement to enable LG to use Microsoft patented technology in its product lines, including in its Linux-based embedded devices. (more…)

Apple's Apple-TV (A-TV) is based on a more-or-less standard Intel PC architecture, according to an in-depth “under-the-hood” analysis. Additionally, a community project has already reported success in getting a Linux kernel and various device drivers to operate on the platform. (more…)

Via CEO Wenchi Chen revealed a business card-sized motherboard billed as the “world's first industry-standard form-factor for PC/phone convergence,” at Computex today. The “mobile-ITX” board measures 3 x 1.8 inches — half the size of Via's “pico-ITX” form-factor — and runs Linux or Windows XP Embedded. (more…)

Cross-platform development tools specialist Trolltech is shipping a Java add-on for its flagship C++ application development framework. “Qt Jambi” comprises class libraries and integrated development tools aimed at helping users develop rich client applications with a look and feel native to multiple GUI targets. (more…)

Yet another inexpensive miniature flash-based laptop running Linux has appeared. Chairman Jonney Shih introduced Asus's $190 Eee PC (3ePC) at a Computex keynote this morning, giving the audience a tour of its Windows-like Linux operating system, which boots in 15 seconds from 2GB of flash. (more…)

Icron Technologies is demonstrating a prototypical USB hub that connects over standard home electrical wiring. The prototype, which is on display at the Computex trade show in Taipei this week, is based on Panasonic's HD-PLC (high-definition powerline communication) chip, and connects any USB device at throughputs up to 190Mbps, the company claims. (more…)

An automated Linux distribution building system has added support for two interesting modern processor architectures targeting multimedia-enabled consumer electronics devices. T2 SDE (system development environment) rc7.0 adds support for Atmel's AVR32 architecture, and for the ADI (Analog Devices Inc.) Blackfin processor architecture. (more…)