Research firm In-Stat has published its annual list of emerging and hot technology market trends for the year ahead. The firm's list includes “heterogenous multi-architectural processors,” wireless HDMI, PVRs, WiMAX, UWB wireless USB, ZigBee, and 3G, GPS, and DTV in China. (more…)

Kontron in January will ship an “ultra-rugged” laptop aimed at “off-road” applications. The 13-pound NotePAC is based on an Intel Core Duo processor, runs Linux, and tolerates rain, blowing dirt, temperatures well below zero, and atmospheric explosives, Kontron claims. (more…)

The issue of whether binary-only kernel modules violate the GPL cropped up again this month on the Linux kernel mailing list, where Linus Torvalds thwarted an effort to ban them. Torvalds called banning binary modules “stupid,” and told kernel hackers they should base decisions on technical merit, not political agendas. (more…)

The Open Source Development Labs is touting recent advances that make Linux more “serviceable.” The organization says its member companies worked with the open source community to improve kernel dump (kdump) and System Tap (stap), two utilities that aim to help administrators debug production Linux systems without taking them offline. (more…)

It's not that long since Firefox 2 appeared, but the Mozilla Foundation is already hard at work on Firefox 3. (more…)

No Starch Press has published another book about how to write great code and succeed professionally. Code Craft: The practice of writing excellent code, by well-known C Vu columnist Pete Goodliffe, aims to help newer programmers develop professionally into outstanding programmers… (more…)

Security took center stage at the fourth annual technology conference of embedded software vendor Green Hills Software (GHS), reports VDC, which attended the event last week in Santa Barbara, Calif. VDC lauds GHS for pursuing security goals alongside more market-driven goals such as development cost, time-to-market, and new feature development. (more…)

Micro/sys is shipping an EPIC format SBC (single-board computer) based on an XScale processor and powerable by PoE (Power-over-Ethernet). The SBC4670 integrates a 520MHz PXA270 processor, memory, display controller, Ethernet, and a host of data acquisition and control I/O. (more…)

Belkin is shipping a WiFi phone based on Linux and Skype's proprietary VoIP (voice-over-IP) client. The Belkin WiFi Phone for Skype can use open or encrypted WiFi networks, and connects seamlessly at commercial hotspots and hot zones operated by Boingo, Belkin says. (more…)

A company in Israel claims to have solved the problem of enabling computers to parse natural human language. Linguistic Agents says its “NanoSyntax” technology translates normative human language into a formal computer language, potentially improving search interfaces, application interfaces, text-message-based network APIs, and phone trees. (more…)

The Khronos Group is launching an open set of royalty-free, cross-platform APIs aimed at standardizing the way native applications deliver media, games, and graphical user interfaces on mobile devices. (more…)

The 2.6.20 Linux kernel will include a driver aimed at allowing user-space processes to exploit virtualization capabilities in modern 64-bit x86 Intel and AMD processors. The KVM (kernel-based virtual machine) patch was submitted in late October by Avi Kivity, and committed by Linus Torvalds to the 2.6 tree this week. (more…)

Devicescape Inc. is beta-testing a free service claimed to automatically connect devices to supported hotspots and municipal WiFi networks. The Devicescape service currently supports Nokia's 770 tablet, WiFi-enabled Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, and PCs running Windows XP SP2. It can access FON, Google WiFi, and T-Mobile HotSpot USA public hotspots. (more…)

India-based outsourcing specialist eInfochips will ship a prototyping board for streaming media devices later this month. The DVPB (“DaVinci prototyping board”) is based on a Texas Instruments (TI) “DaVinci” dual-core RISC/DSP SoC (system-on-chip), and features “all commonly used video system peripheral interfaces,”… (more…)

The Security Enhanced Linux (SELinux) Symposium has announced speakers and session topics for its third annual event, set for Mar. 12-16 in Baltimore, MD. The symposium will feature business, government, and academic speakers sharing experiences, research, and product plans, organizers say. (more…)