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Phoenix Contact announced a miniature embedded box PC that uses Intel's Atom Z510PT and can operate fanlessly in temperatures from -40 to 149 deg. F. The VL BPC Mini features up to 2GB of RAM, CompactFlash storage, two gigabit Ethernet ports, six USB 2.0 ports, a serial port (RS232/422/485), an SD slot, and a VGA output, the company says.
Aaeon announced two COMs (computer on modules) that are available with Intel's 1.66GHz Atom N455 processor. The NanoCOM-LN uses the COM Express Ultra format and has 1GB of soldered-on memory, and the ETX-LN uses the ETX format, has a DIMM slot for up to 2GB of RAM, and is further available with the dual-core Atom D525 or the D425, both clocked at 1.8GHz.
The developer of the QEMU emulator has programmed a new PC emulator written in Javascript, capable of running Linux entirely within a web browser. Fabrice Bellard's Javascript emulator has been tested on Firefox 4 and Google Chrome 11, enabling a Linux 2.6.2 kernel to run in RAM, no matter what the underlying operating system.
Intel announced it will roll out a 22-nanometer (nm) version of the Atom processor in 2013 codenamed “Silvermont,” followed by a 14nm “Airmont” Atom in 2014. The company also promised 10 Intel-based tablets for the upcoming Computex show, and showed off a concept smartphone running on its 32nm Medfield Atom — but also warned that phones based on its processors will be delayed until next year.
[Updated: 11:50 a.m.] — Google is scrambling to fix a flaw in the way applications authenticate with Android's Google services. This latest Android security mishap, which could have enabled Wi-Fi “man-in-the-middle” attacks on 99.7 percent of Android devices, follows a recent Juniper Networks report claiming that malware has surged 400 percent since last summer.
Black Diamond Advanced Technology announced a wearable, rugged computer system designed to integrate into a warfighter's uniform and equipment. The Modular Tactical System (MTS) features an Intel Atom processor with up to 2GB of RAM and 128GB of SSD storage, plus modular computer, display, and I/O components incorporated into a compact plate carrier system, says the company.
The gloves are off in ARM Holdings' battle to wrest a chunk of the server market from Intel. Dueling investor meetings May 17 brought blatant statements of intent from ARM — and robust dismissals from Intel.
Attachmate named Nils Brauckmann president of its new SUSE business unit — and also affirmed its commitment to SUSE Linux, the OpenSUSE project, SUSE Studio, and SUSE Manager. Aside from shedding the Mono project, all SUSE projects will be continued, and there are no plans to change packing or pricing, says the company.
Following Attachmate's acquisition of Novell, the entire staff of the Novell-sponsored Mono project team was laid off. Now, Mono project leader Miguel de Icaza has launched a new company called Xamarin, which plans to continue supporting the open source .NET clone Mono and the Silverlight mimic Moonlight, while pushing related development on iOS and Android platforms.
Protech Systems has introduced an embedded PC with protection against vibration, water, dust, and extreme temperatures. The EPC-9611 runs on an Intel Atom N270 with up to 2GB RAM, and supplies six serial ports, including two RS-232/422/485 connections, three Ethernet ports, as well as USB, DIO, and other I/O, says the company.
Nvidia announced a new parallel processor for the high performance computing (HPC) market, based on its GPU (graphics processing unit) architecture. Initially offered in servers from HP, the Tesla M2090 is a PCI Express x16 card touted as “the world's fastest parallel processor for high-performance computing,” with up to 665 Gigaflops of performance.
Via Technologies announced a Mini-ITX board that features a 1.2GHz Via Nano E-Series processor and is aimed at signage and point of service (POS) applications. The Via Epia-M860 Mini-ITX board supports up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, and offers PCI, PCI Express, and Mini PCI Express expansion, as well as gigabit Ethernet, HDMI SATA, serial, and USB 2.0 connectivity.
Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang confirmed his company is building quad-core Tegra 3 processors for new Nexus tablets or smartphones running the upcoming Android “Ice Cream Sandwich” operating system. Meanwhile, a Tegra 2-based Motorola Droid X2 is coming to Verizon May 26, followed later by a Droid 3 that switches to Texas Instruments' dual-core Cortex-A9 OMAP4430, according to industry reports.
Google's Android 3.1 Open Accessories initiative for connecting Arduino-based gadgets via USB has attracted third-party support. In addition to the RT-manufactured Google reference platform, Future Technology Devices International (FTDI) is preparing a compatible product using a “Vinco” development board that incorporates the Vinculum II USB controller, and Microchip is shipping a compatible PIC24F Accessory Development Starter Kit that uses its own PIC microcontroller.
Toshiba announced a “heavy-duty,” all-in-one point of sale (POS) device that runs Windows or SUSE Linux on an Intel Atom N450 processor. The Willpos C10 includes a built-in touchscreen with 800 x 600 resolution, an available 20 character by 4 line customer-facing display, a built-in thermal printer, choice of colors, and the ability to run on batteries for up to five hours, the company says.