Ziff Davis Internet will host an interactive “e-seminar” entitled “The Carrier Grade Alternative: Open Platforms Challenge Proprietary for Telecommunications Infrastructure.” Sponsored by Red Hat and Intel, the hour-long event is set for May 31, at 12PM EDT/9AM PDT. (more…)

Iomega has switched its wireless network attached storage (NAS) system from Windows Storage Server 2003 to Linux, and dropped the price from $1,300 to $900. It has also reduced RAM from 256MB to 64MB, and added wireless access point capabilities and automated USB camera downloads, reports ExtremeTech… (more…)

Abbyy Software House has released a software development kit (SDK) for integrating optical character recognition (OCR) and business card reading functions into mobile devices and applications. (more…)

Solidcore Systems has released software that offers configuration and change control and security for devices running “mainstream” operating systems such as Linux, Windows, and Windows XP Embedded. S3 control is a small-footprint, low-overhead tool that can be easily deployed on devices such as storage servers, handhelds, medical equipment, and ATMs, according to the company. (more…)

Nero has released “reference quality” encoding software said to be fully compatible with the latest MPEG-4 audio standards (LC-AAC, HE-AAC, HE-AAC v2), and is offering a free Windows version for noncommercial use. Additionally, the company says its licensable digital audio technology includes an optimized codec for devices running Linux, among other embedded OSes. (more…)

SavaJe, a spinoff of Lucent Technologies, threw its hat — or, rather, cellphone — into the ring at the 2006 JavaOne Conference in San Francisco this week, with the unveiling of a “sophisticated” handset that runs a unique, Java-centric operating system. (more…)

Longtime embedded industry leader Wind River is preparing to ship its first products aimed at post-development device management. The company's Field Diagnostics and Workbench Diagnostics products allow device vendors to remotely monitor, diagnose, and repair deployed devices, it says. (more…)

The largest aggregated WiFi hotspot network operator has released a collection of tools under open source licenses. Boingo Wireless hopes device makers targeting Linux, Windows Mobile, and BREW handsets and other mobile devices will use the tools to streamline device use with its Boingo Roaming System, comprised of 45,631 hotspots. (more…)

Linux is powering both ends of an IMS (IP multimedia service/subsystem) protocol stack demo at the Fon conference in Europe this week. Netbricks's demo of its SIP-Bricks and Diameter-Bricks stacks running on TI DSPs (digital signal processors) via Jaluna's Linux OSWare could be a “major step” toward all-IP-based IMS environments, Jaluna says. (more…)

[Updated May 17, 2006] — Microsoft's much-anticipated web tablet concept, the ultra-mobile PC or UMPC (aka Project Origami), may be off to a rocky start. (more…)

Wind River and Freescale have announced a sweeping partnership aimed in part at creating a variety of hardware/software reference platforms for device designs targeting home, enterprise, and networking/communications applications. The broadly sketched deal will “unite the breadth and depth of each company's products and technologies,” Wind River says. (more…)

TimeSys says its online support service for embedded Linux developers now supports the latest multi-threaded processors from MIPS Technologies. Initial LinuxLink support for MIPS's 34K core family is based on Linux 2.6.15, with a bump up to 2.6.16 planned this month, TimeSys says. (more…)

Nokia will ship a firmware upgrade for existing and new 770 Internet tablet owners, it says. The “OS 2006” upgrade, expected this quarter, will bring better memory performance and a “refreshed look.” It will also feature VoIP capabilities, and a pre-installed Google Talk client with a full-screen “finger” keyboard. (more…)

The Grundig G500i Dreamphone is the first Linux-based iMode phone available in Europe, and the first of several planned Linux-based models. Two years in development, it is the result of a hardware design and Linux implementation from Purple Labs, and is available now in France. (more…)

Opera Software has joined Wind River's third-party software ecosystem, and will lead sessions and demonstrate products at Wind River's World Wide User Conference in Orlando, Florida, this week. Additionally, Wind River has added the Opera browser to its “best-in-breed” collection of validated software components. (more…)