Have you ever dreamed of building your own Linux-based droid [that could] roam around your home autonomously, intelligently obeying your commands?” asks Dafydd Walters. “You may now be able to finally fulfill your dream.” (more…)

Updated Nov. 6, 2003 — Start-up Softier claims to have produced the first usable implementation of Linux on a single-core digital signal processor (DSP). The company says its technology can perform real-time encoding/decoding of DVD quality video at 30 frames/second while simultaneously running standard Linux and standard Linux application software. (more…)

MontaVista Software has established open source community projects for several key technologies used in the design of Linux-based consumer electronics devices. The company says it hopes the contributions will become part of standard Linux and will foster the evolution of Linux as a platform for digital consumer electronics devices. (more…)

“Have you ever dreamed of building your own Linux-based droid [that could] roam around your home autonomously, intelligently obeying your commands?” asks Dafydd Walters. “You may now be able to finally fulfill your dream.” Walters founded and leads the Open Automaton Project (OAP), which aims to help enthusiasts assemble an intelligent mobile robot with stereo vision and state-of-the-art PC mainboard… (more…)

The non-profit Desktop Linux Consortium (DLC) will hold its first Desktop Linux conference in Boston on Nov. 10, 2003 to discuss and promote Linux as an option for the corporate desktop. The conference claims to be the first independent conference to focus exclusively on Linux on the desktop. (more…)

The IEEE and The Open Group today launched a new program to certify products to the 2003 edition of IEEE 1003.1-2001, “Standard for Information Technology” Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), which incorporates the IEEE 1003.1 Corrigendum. (more…)

An article at Control Solutions International describes in detail the factory control and automation system that control systems engineer Rick Van Loon put together using real-time Linux. The system controls an immense machine with six integrated nailguns that assembles shear walls in various configurations. (more…)

MontaVista Software says it will support Intel's next-generation XScale processor, codenamed “Bulverde,” with the consumer electronics version of its embedded Linux OS. Bulverde is part of Intel's “Personal Internet Client Architecture” (Intel PCA), the company's development blueprint for designing wireless devices that combine voice communications and Internet access capabilities. (more…)

Novell announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire SuSE. Additionally, Novell recently acquired Ximian, a specialist in desktop and server Linux solutions including GNOME, Red Carpet, Evolution, Ximian desktop, and the Mono .NET compatibility project. (more…)

Red Hat announced today that it is discontinuing maintenance and errata support for basic “Red Hat Linux” version 8 and earlier in Dec., 2003, and for Red Hat 9 in Apr. 2004. The company recommends that users migrate to its Enterprise Linux products, which cost between $179 and $1,499 for a basic version, or to the community-supported “Fedora” project which Red Hat… (more…)

An article at SD Times highlights technology and licensing changes in the latest release of Birdstep's RDM (relational database manager) Embedded 7.0 and its associated software development kit (SDK). A new native Java interface (JNI) speeds performance and obviates the need to rewrite Java programs in C/C++, according to the article, while a freely downloadable SDK enables… (more…)

Multi-carrier, multi-vendor network control plane software maker Elematics says its Intelligent Network Control Plane (INCP) software will support MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition (CGE) on Intel processor-based platforms. Elematics says it is providing INCP on CGE in response to demand from customers seeking to lower costs with Linux/Intel-based systems. (more…)

MontaVista Software has appointed Italsoft S.R.L as its distributor in Italy, to serve growing regional demand. Italsoft will market, distribute, and provide front-line support for Montavista's entire range of products, including Professional Edition, Carrier Grade Edition, Consumer Electronics Edition, and MontaVista Graphics. (more…)

Citing market data indicating that most embedded Linux kernels are derived from non-commercial sources, and that developers are generally dissatisfied with current embedded Linux development tools, TimeSys announced that it has added several new tools and broadened its embedded Linux tools offering to support “any” Linux distribution. (more…)

An article at DeviceForge discusses a solution to the growing complexity of wireless personal area network (WPAN) technology: a device capable of communicating regardless of the type which WPAN connection options are present. Intel is currently prototyping such a device, according to the article. (more…)