The International Herald Tribune reports on an alleged internal Microsoft memorandum in which a senior Microsoft sales executive authorized deep discounts — even giving software away free — in order to win key deals with governments and large institutions, and drawing from a special fund to subsidize the reduced pricing. (more…)

Plat'C2 (Plat Communication Components Inc. — Tokyo, Japan) introduced a tiny PowerPC-based Linux “micro-server” at the recent NAB2003 show in Las Vegas, NV. The OpenBockS comes with two 10/100Mbps Ethernet ports, and is said to be useable “off-the-shelf” as a fully functional firewall/router, mail server, or web server. (more…)

The GNU GCC project has announced the release of GCC 3.3. GCC currently contains front ends for C, C++, Objective-C, Fortran, Java, and Ada, as well as libraries for these languages. A release notes document summarizing new features, changes, fixes, and caveats relating to the GCC 3.3 release is available here. (more…)

MediaQ Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) is set to announce a new family of ARM-based system-on-chip processors for next-generation multimedia-oriented handheld devices such as PDAs and mobile phones. According to MediaQ, the new Katana “application processors” simultaneously reduce power consumption while boosting performance, as a result of the inclusion of dedicated on-chip hardware accelerators for 2D and 3D… (more…)

Wiscore Inc. (Taipei, Taiwan) announced a new reference design based on an ARM7TDMI system-on-chip processor and embedded Linux technologies. Wiscore said its NET-Start! Lite Evaluation Kit is useful for developing Internet-enabled devices such as residential gateways and Internet appliances, or for instructional purposes. (more…)

In our continuing efforts to provide potentially pertinent information to our readers, we provide, without further comment, an excerpt from a letter sent today by SCO Group CEO Darl McBride to SCO's “TeamSCO Partner Program” . . . (more…)

Sharp announced that it has developed an intelligent, standalone contactless IC card reader/writer device that uses Linux as the basis of its embedded intelligence. According to Sharp, the RK40PR004 is useful in environments ranging from ordinary homes, to large building control systems, to parking lots and garages, and can be used… (more…)

Karim Yaghmour, author of Building Embedded Linux Systems, has published an interesting opinion column at O'Reilly Network (the publisher of his book), in which he suggests that “Embedded Linux” doesn't really exist, other than within the “hype” fostered by “marketoids.” (more…)

SIXNET announced that its Linux IPm Application Development Kit software is now available as a free download. The free Linux kit is intended to allow developers to write applications to run in SIXNET's Linux IPm family of controllers and (more…)

Sony Japan has announced a new Linux-powered audio-visual router that combines the functions of a “traditional” gateway/router with those of a home multimedia server and Wi-Fi (802.11b) wireless access point. According to Sony, the HN-RT1 broadband AV router connects home computers, media centers, and the Sony Playstation 2 to each… (more…)

Sony Japan has announced a new Linux-powered audio-visual router that combines the functions of a “traditional” gateway/router with those of a home multimedia server and Wi-Fi (802.11b) wireless access point. (more…)

Smart Robots Inc. (Dalton, MA) demonstrated a new Linux-powered autonomous mobile robot platform at the 10th annual Trinity College Fire-Fighting Robot Contest held in Hartford, CT this past April. The SR4 can travel at a speed of approximately 1.5 ft/sec — which may not sound fast, but at that speed it can traverse a distance… (more…)

This brief article on IBM's developerWorks website provides a developer-oriented introduction to grid computing — including what it is, and how to learn more about it. The author relates the key concepts of grid computing to familiar software technologies such as object-oriented programming, XML, and Web services. (more…)

[Updated May 13, 2003] — Vanu, Inc. is demonstrating what it claims represents “the first hand-held software radio” at the technology showcase of the “Wireless Innovations: New Technologies and Evolving Policies” conference in Washington, DC… (more…)

Smart Robots Inc. (Dalton, MA) demonstrated a new Linux-powered autonomous mobile robot platform at the 10th annual Trinity College Fire-Fighting Robot Contest held in Hartford, CT this past April. The SR4 can travel at a speed of approximately 1.5 ft/sec — which may not sound fast, but at that speed it can traverse a distance… (more…)