Worldwide PDA shipments increased nearly 21 percent year-over-year in Q3, and are on track to reach record levels in 2005, said Gartner today in a report that seems to contradict pessimistic PDA market reports from competing research firms. Linux accounted for a paltry 0.7 percent of shipments, according to Gartner. (more…)

Three companies will create an insurance product for large corporations using open source software. Open Source Compliance Insurance will be underwritten by Kiln of London, and brokered in England and the US by Miller Insurance Services. Open Source Risk Management (OSRM) will serve as advisor and exclusive worldwide risk-assessor. (more…)

STMicroelectronics (STM) is sampling an SoC (system-on-chip) that it says supports all required HD-DVD and Blu-Ray codecs and security schemes. The STB7109 is based on an SH-4 core, and supports Linux and other embedded OSes, along with codecs and security schemes from both Microsoft and international standards bodies. (more…)

Homeland Integrated Security Systems (HISS) has used embedded Linux to build a device aimed at tracking trucks at large shipping centers such as marine ports. The Cyber Tracker is based on an Intel XScale PXA255 processor, Linux, and an IBM J2ME (Java-2 micro-edition) runtime environment. (more…)

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) will release guidelines next month defining a process for discussion and comment on the GNU GPL 3.0, eWEEK.com reports. General Counsel Eben Moglen says the FSF hopes to give the community time to “absorb the process” prior to unleashing a draft GPL 3.0 in January. (more…)

Linux Torvalds has given his blessing at last to kernel 2.6.14, following delays caused by “false alarms,” the Linux creator said in a message to the Linux kernel mailing list today. Torvalds plans to accept code merges for two weeks only, before freezing features for a 2.6.15 release candidate phase. (more…)

A provider of configurable, licensable CPU/DSP core IP (intellectual property) for system-on-chip (SoC) processors is adding SIMD (single-instruction, multiple-data) instruction support. ARC's forthcoming Multimedia Subsystem will support 104 new 128-bit-wide SIMD instructions that can reduce power and improve performance in mobile applications by exploiting the parallelism inherent in multimedia… (more…)

IBM has published the following 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…)

Japan's largest mobile carrier last week announced six new phones with support for PTT (push-to-talk), multiple numbers, and other advanced features. NTT/DoCoMo's 902i-series phones includes Linux-based models from NEC and Panasonic, as well as Symbian-based models from Fujitsu, Mitsubishi,… (more…)

IBM's DeveloperWorks has reviewed an inexpensive PowerPC development board aimed at Linux and eCos projects. The $650 TAMS 3011 “Moab” SBC (single-board computer) is a PCI card for use with passive backplanes. (more…)

A project to create an open source Linux 2.6 kernel for Linux-based Motorola mobile phones is underway. The “OpenEZX” project aims to allow users to install and run native Linux applications on their Motorola Linux phones. (more…)

In contrast to yesterday's Canalys report of booming sales of converged mobile devices, IDC reported today that the worldwide market for handhelds suffered its seventh consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline. (more…)

A contest to create applications and find bugs in a mobile “Linux desktop server” is underway. Realm Systems will award $75,000 for the best entertainment, security, IT infrastructure, productivity, and “other” applications for its Black Dog Linux device, as well as for “most bug… (more…)

Foreword — This article describes the features and capabilities of MiniGUI, a lightweight graphics framework for embedded systems based on uClinux, Linux, eCos, or proprietary real-time OSes. The article is written by Wei Yongming, who wrote MiniGUI for a CNC (computer numerical control) system, then released it to open source seven years ago. (more…)

Canalys has released data for worldwide shipments of smart mobile devices during the third quarter of this year. With global shipments up 75 percent year-over-year, the numbers signal a continuing shift from standalone handhelds to “converged smart mobile devices.” Motorola showed spectacular growth, attributed to sales of its Linux smartphones in China. (more…)