[Updated Nov. 3, 2004] — This month, Belgacom, the leading telecommunications company in Belgium, will begin deploying 1,000 Linux-based IPTV STBs (Internet protocol television set top boxes) in home test sites located on its DSL network throughout Ghent, Brussels, and Liege. (more…)

Scratchbox, an open source project to simplify cross-platform software compilation, has recently made several advances that may interest embedded device developers. This whitepaper describes how Scratchbox — which was originated by Movial and is being sponsored by Nokia — is helping Debian ARM strive for parity with Debian x86 (more…)

The third annual Southern California Linux Exposition (SCALE 3X) is set for Feb. 12-13, 2005, at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and the event organizers have issued a call for papers on embedded Linux, among other topics. The conference is sponsored by Linux user groups from USC, UCLA, and the (more…)

In response to recent reports that it has discontinued selling Linux-based PDAs in the US, Sharp issued a brief statement to LinuxDevices.com today, commenting on its intentions relative to offering and supporting Linux PDAs in the US market. (more…)

MontaVista has agreed to provide Linux “platforms” to NEC for its hardware reference designs for mobile phones, digital consumer devices, and car navigation systems. NEC, meanwhile, will join MontaVista's hardware vendor self-certification program, and will resell and support MontaVista Linux. (more…)

Thirteen months after taking the “first step” of a strategic shift toward Linux, the world's largest embedded software company is set to ship its inaugural Linux product. “Linux Platform for Network Equipment, Linux Edition” targets makers of telecommunications equipment who use Linux on the control plane along with (more…)

NTT Data and VA Linux of Japan have released an open source crash dumping tool for Linux kernels. Mini Kernel Dump is a Linux-based mini-kernel that runs underneath Linux kernels on IA-32 systems (other architectures pending), providing a stable environment for capturing and dumping crash dump data. (more…)

Foreword: Scratchbox, an open source project to simplify cross-platform software compilation, has recently made several advances that may interest embedded device developers. This whitepaper describes how Scratchbox — which was originated by Movial and is being sponsored by Nokia — is helping Debian ARM strive for parity with Debian x86 by enabling package maintainers to build native ARM… (more…)

Freescale and Nvidia are shipping a reference design for mobile devices based on Freescale's newest SoC (system-on-chip) processor and Nvidia's newest mobile graphics chip. The design offers accelerated 3D and targets gaming and other multimedia devices, and is supported by a Linux BSP (board support package) from Freescale subsidiary Metrowerks. (more…)

In January, RadiSys expects to ship an AdvancedTCA server that handles shelf management in software on telecom switches, freeing up an extra slot for “revenue generating services,” the company says. The Promentum Sys-6000 runs Carrier Grade Linux, (more…)

GoAhead has updated its Linux-oriented high availability (HA), systems management, and distributed messaging middleware. SelfReliant 3.1.1 is easier to use, performs better, and offers new tools, the company says. Additionally, it is the first HA middleware to support the SA Forum's (Service Availability Forum's) HPI B (hardware platform interface B) (more…)

[Updated Oct. 29, 2004] — Arcom has partnered with wireless chip-maker Ember on a Linux development kit that aims to integrate ZigBee wireless network data with business applications using IBM WebSphere middleware. (more…)

LinuxJournal has published a three-part article series discussing approaches to speeding up Linux boot time for use in automotive telematics systems, which are increasingly becoming a target application for embedded Linux. (more…)

LinuxJournal has published a story about DSP Linux. Entitled “uClinux as an Embedded OS on a DSP,” the story looks at the differences between Linux and uClinux, uClinux development on an ADI BlackFin DSP processor, DSP limitations and advantages, uClinux's real-time capabilities, and more. (more…)

What are those weird-looking expansion slots (the black ones)? New PCs and servers are beginning to emerge with expansion slots that look different from the PCI slots we've come to know and love over the past decade. The change signals the arrival of PCI Express — (more…)