The PC/104 Embedded Consortium has unveiled eight finalists in its 2006 Design Contest. Finalists based on Linux include include a decontamination trailer and a distributed web-based remote sensing system. (more…)

A codec specialist in Bangalore, India is shipping an IP videophone reference design based on Linux and a Texas Instruments Davinci TMS320DM6446 RISC/DSP SoC (system-on-chip). The IPVP6446 design targets home and enterprise video phones, media centers with videophone capabilities, and video conferencing equipment for… (more…)

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

An eight-session “Linux Design Seminar” at this year's Embedded Systems Conference will feature classes on building Linux-powered multimedia devices on PowerPC, designing Linux device drivers, running Linux on single-core DSPs, using cryptographic chip hardware features with Linux, DSP Linux, tracking wildlife with embedded Linux, and lots more. (more…)

Flash memory pioneer M-Systems is collaborating with a mobile phone SIM card vendor to push the envelope of its high-capacity SIM cards to half a gigabyte, or roughly 8,000 times the storage capacity of today's typical 64 KB SIM cards. (more…)

Axiomtek recently launched a new single-board computer (SBC) aimed at performance-intensive networking and storage applications. The SBC86804 can be populated with Intel Pentium 4 or Celeron D processors, and integrates four S-ATA channels plus four gigabit Ethernet ports. (more…)

Datalight will ship a high-reliability flash-filesystem (FFS) for mobile devices by month's end. The 4GR FFS uses patented “transaction point” technology to safeguard data, the company says. The filesystem supports Linux 2.6 and Windows Mobile 5.0, and comes with ready-made drivers for a variety of modern flash technologies and controllers. (more…)

A major kitchen appliance vendor will add a Linux-based tablet PC to its futuristic “connected home” product family. Salton, whose brands include George Foreman, Westinghouse, Toastmaster, Melitta, Russell Hobbs, Farberware, Ingraham, and Stiffel, will rebrand Pepper Computer's Pepper Pad for its “Beyond Connected Home” product… (more…)

The newest Linux kernel offers dozens of features aimed at improved performance in highly available, highly scalable clustered architectures for enterprise, telecom, and database applications. It also includes power management improvements for devices. This guest column by Linux-Watch editor Steven J. (more…)

EmbWise says its Linux SDIO stack now supports an AMD embedded processor that targets portable media players (PMPs). The SDIOWorx stack's SD/MMC drivers support the SDIO controller built into AMD's Alchemy AU1200, and its SDIO-WiFi and SDIO-Bluetooth (type A) drivers has also been validated under the AMD SoC, EmbWise says. (more…)

XYZComputing has published an article that describes building a PVR (personal video recorder) based on Ubuntu Linux, MythTV, and commodity mini-ITX hardware with a Hauppauge capture card. The PVR doubles as a small, quiet livingroom computer. (more…)

LynuxWorks has joined the Eclipse Foundation as an “add-in provider,” and will evaluate how to apply select products within relevant Eclipse projects, it says. LynuxWorks offers an Eclipse-based Luminosity IDE (integrated development environment) that supports its BlueCat embedded Linux distribution, its LynxOS real-time OS (RTOS), and its safety-critical LynxOS-178 RTOS. (more…)

The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) has established an advisory board to increase open source community representation, it says. Ten percent of the Technical Advisory Board (TAB) consists of prominent kernel and open source software developers, charged with advising the OSDL on technical matters of importance to the greater development community, the group says. (more…)

Sealevel Systems is shipping a new line of configurable industrial computers that support embedded Linux. The Relio R2000 series is available with Celeron or Pentium processors up to 1.4 GHz, and can accommodate up to three built-in PC/104 expansion modules, according to the company. (more…)

Peder Ulander has left his role as marketing VP for MontaVista, and will serve as VP of software marketing at Sun, a Sun spokesperson confirmed. Ulander originally left Sun for MontaVista, in July of 2004, after joining Sun when it acquired Linux server appliance vendor Cobalt Networks in 2000. (more…)