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Two weeks after Intel acquired security software firm McAfee, executives from both companies talked to analysts about how their combined patent portfolio will let them secure embedded and mobile devices from malware at the hardware level. First up will be “McAfee for Wind River” product, expected to be based on Wind River Linux.
Pioneer Computers is readying a 10.1-inch, Android 3.0 “DreamBook ePad H10 HD” tablet based on a dual-core, 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, due for release in April. The Australian computer firm also offers six other Android 2.1/2.2 tablets, as well as six Intel Atom and CULV tablets that offer both Android and Windows 7.
Grayhill announced a 10.4-inch rugged, IP67-sealed display computer for off-highway vehicles. The “3D104” integrates a 416MHz Marvell PXA270 processor with 64MB SDRAM and 64MB NAND flash, and offers a 10.4-inch, backlit SVGA LCD with optional touchscreen support, three CAN bus ports, Ethernet and USB ports, two serial ports, three NTSC/PAL inputs, and five GPIOs, says the company.
Artila Electronics announced an ARM9-based, Linux-ready industrial box computer with dual, isolated CAN bus interfaces, plus the SocketCAN open source CAN stack. The Matrix-522 is equipped with an Atmel AT91SAM9G20 processor clocked at 400MHz, and offers 64MB SDRAM, 128MB of flash, a microSD slot, failover support, an under three-Watt power draw, plus paired sets of Ethernet, USB, and serial ports.
Portwell announced a Mini-ITX board designed to accept Intel's “Sandy Bridge” Core i3, i5, or i7 processors. The WADE-8012 supports up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, has six SATA ports and three video outputs, and provides two gigabit Ethernet ports, according to the company.
T-Mobile unveiled a new version of its Sidekick messaging phone featuring Android 2.2 instead of the old “Danger” operating system. The Samsung-built T-Mobile Sidekick 4G offers a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, a 3.5-inch touchscreen, HSPA+ support, a front-facing video camera, and the Sidekick-signature pop-tilt hinge for its slide out, five-row QWERTY keyboard.
A leaked Staples training guide suggests HTC and Dell are each prepping 10-inch tablets, and Samsung is readying an 8.9-inch tablet, all running Android 3.0 “Honeycomb”, while HP will offer a seven-inch WebOS tablet. Meanwhile, an analyst says early sales of the Motorola Xoom tablet have been disappointing, in large part due to the bugs and complex UI of Honeycomb.
Verizon Wireless will begin selling the HTC ThunderBolt, the first smartphone to exploit its 4G LTE (long-term evolution) network, starting March 17. The ThunderBolt offers a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 8GB of internal memory and a 32GB data card, a 4.3-inch touchscreen, eight-megapixel and 1.3-megapixel cameras, and a mobile hotspot, says the carrier.
Via announced a rugged, fanless box PC that targets fleet management applications with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and 3G connectivity. The ART-5450 has a 1.0GHz Nano E series processor, up to 2GB of RAM, CompactFlash storage, three video outputs, and multiple serial ports, according to the company.
Linus Torvalds announced the release of the 2.6.38 Linux kernel, featuring both an overhaul of the Virtual File System and an “automatic process grouping” patch touted as greatly improving performance. Other Linux 2.6.38 changes include support for AMD Fusion processors, AMD and Nvidia GPUs, and additional Wi-Fi chips, plus Btrfs file-system enhancements and “transparent huge-page” support for speeding database and virtualization applications.
American Industrial Systems (AIS) announced a pair of Linux-ready panel PCs designed for HMI (human machine interface) applications. Respectively including 5.7- or seven-inch touchscreens, the IPW07SA20-A2 and IPO5SA20-D1 both feature 533MHz Samsung S3C6410 processors, 128MB of RAM and 256MB of flash storage, 10/100 ports with Power over Ethernet (PoE), and SD slots, according to the company.
Intel announced four new x86 processors intended for the “micro server” market, with TDPs ranging from 45 Watts down to 20 Watts. Apparently meant to fend off gains by ARM Holdings licensees, they include: the Xeon E3-1260L and E3-1220L; an un-named “Sandy Bridge”-based offering due later this year; and a Atom variant planned for next year.
Amplicon announced two fanless embedded systems that offer an operating range from 23 to 122 deg. F and include dual expansion slots. The Impact-E 72 has two PCI slots, while the Impact-E 73 has PCI and PCI Express, and both are available with Celeron, Core i5, or Core i7 CPUs, according to the company.
Winamp announced its Winamp for Android 1.0 app, offering a redesigned interface, wireless sync over Wi-Fi, iTunes import, and Shoutcast radio streaming. Meanwhile, Hulu tipped the upcoming availability of its media player on selected Android phones, starting with the Samsung Nexus S.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has introduced a compression standard for XML designed to bring the web data exchange standard to more smartphones and other mobile and embedded devices. Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) Format 1.0 improves the performance and power consumption of XML-enabled apps on device and device networks, says the consortium.