[Updated Apr. 18, 2006] — Genesi has quietly announced a new line of tiny PowerPC- and OpenFirmware-based boards and systems. The Efika 2 line will ship in mid-May, and comprise three models that mix and match Altera FPGAs, onboard graphics chips, and PCI slots. The systems will run Linux, standard Java, and “Polaris,”… (more…)

[Updated Apr. 18] — A Linux-based handheld gaming platform that runs native and emulated games is shipping in the US. Gamepark's GP2X is powered by a pair of ARM processors, has an “open-source” API and development tools, and can run thousands of classic console video games, online retailer Dynamism says. (more…)

IEI Technology claims its new PICMG 1.3-compliant single-board computer (SBC) is the first to use an Intel Pentium D dual core processor. The PCIE-9450 supports processor clock rates up to 3.2 GHz at front-side bus speeds up to 1.066 GHz, and runs Linux, according to the company. (more…)

eCosCentric has added CAN (controller area network) bus capabilities to its commercially supported open source RTOS (real-time operating system) for deeply embedded systems. eCosPro-CAN initially supports ARM and PowerPC chips from Philips and Freescale, and targets automotive and industrial control systems. (more…)

Freescale is shipping a home NAS (network-attached storage) / media server reference design that runs Linux and targets power-efficient, always-on consumer products. The MPC8349E mITX Reference Platform includes a PowerQUICC-based mini-ITX board, along with a standards-based Linux software stack and SDK… (more…)

ARM is shipping a new version of its graphical development toolset. RealView Development Suite (RVDS) 3.0 offers a unified, end-to-end toolchain for coincident hardware and software development, and is optimized for system performance and Linux application compilation, according to ARM. (more…)

Hardware tools specialist American Arium is shipping a trace tool for ARM, XScale, and OMAP that offers a half-clock acquisition rate of 680 MHz, and a trace depth of 256 MB. The HS-1000 supports Linux and Windows development hosts, and comes with a graphical debugger. (more…)

The OSDL (Open Source Development Labs) has published a pair of whitepapers about its Patent Commons. One describes legal considerations for companies considering a donation to the Commons. (more…)

The Moxa Group is shipping a series of compact, fanless, industrially-oriented embedded computers available with Linux pre-installed. The “network-centric” UC-7400-CE series computers are based on Intel XScale processors and feature eight serial ports along with networking and digital I/O. (more…)

FreeHand Systems used embedded Linux to build an electronic music reader designed to replace paper-based sheet music in practice, lesson, and performance settings. The MusicPad Pro Plus supports annotations, turns pages with screen-taps or an optional footpedal, and can store “thousands” of music charts,… (more…)

Oregan Networks has updated its clean-room Flash renderer for non-PC devices, adding support for Flash 7.0 content. The renderer is part of Oregan's “Media Browser,” a standards-based “user-interface engine” optimized for television displays, and targeting gaming consoles, set-top boxes, and IPTVs, as well as 3G and WiFi-enabled mobile handsets. (more…)

Venture Development Corp. (VDC) attended both the 2006 Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose and the LinuxWorld Expo in Boston last week. This article from VDC's Embedded Systems Industry Bulletin presents a summary of those two events, along with VDC's picks for its annual “embeddie” awards, conferred on the best ESC… (more…)

FreeHand Systems used embedded Linux to build an electronic music reader designed to replace paper-based sheet music in practice, lesson, and performance settings. The MusicPad Pro Plus supports annotations, turns pages with screen-taps or an optional footpedal, and can store “thousands” of music charts,… (more…)

Venture Development Corp. (VDC) attended both the 2006 Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose and the LinuxWorld Expo in Boston last week. This article from VDC's Embedded Systems Industry Bulletin presents a summary of those two events, along with VDC's picks for its annual “embeddie” awards, conferred on the best ESC… (more…)

VersaLogic is shipping a two-module PC/104-Plus boardset based on a 1.6GHz Pentium M processor. The “Cheetah” runs Linux, and targets embedded control applications in medical, avionics, navigation/tracking, system monitoring, homeland security, and other applications requiring substantial processing… (more…)