| News Archive (1999-2012) | | | 2013-current at LinuxGizmos | | | Current Tech News Portal | | | About |
Researchers from the University of Massachusetts and Texas A&M have developed a way to use flash memory in gadgets that use low power or have no batteries at all. Applied to a sensor-monitoring application using a 1.8 Volt microcontroller, the researchers' “persistence” technique reduced overall energy consumption by 34 percent, says the researchers.
Calao Systems announced an open-platform, 3.34 x 3.34-inch development board for smartphones and tablets based on ST-Ericsson' dual-core, 1GHz Cortex-A9 “Nova A9500” system-on-chip. The “Snowball” board offers extensive wireless and sensor connectivity, HDMI output, support from an open source “Igloo” community, and Android, MeeGo, and Ubuntu BSPs developed by Movial and Linaro.
Despite the tablet mania sweeping the consumer electronic industry, a Gartner survey found that tablet computers rank the lowest on Americans' tech wishlists for 2011. Smartphones topped the list of desired devices, especially those with open source operating systems, while laptops and desktops were next in line for consumer spending plans, says the research study.
Vecow announced a fanless industrial computer that employs Intel Core i7/15 processors and is designed for harsh environments. The Vecow EC-3000 Fanless Embedded Controller offers up to 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, plus SATA and Compact Flash storage, mini-PCIe expansion, up to five gigabit Ethernet ports, six USB 2.0 ports, four serial ports, and dual display capability, says the company.
After some heady competition from its human rivals in the second exhibition round of Jeopardy, supercomputer “Watson” handily won round three, as well as the competition. Now the SUSE Linux-powered Watson is heading to medical school to prep for a role as a diagnostic assistant, while IBM readies a more context-sensitive successor dubbed “Racr”.
Hoping to fend off Oracle's lawsuit claiming Android patent infringement for certain Java patents, Google has asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to reexamine four of them. Meanwhile, an open source expert suggests that because Google is a relative weakling in the patent game, lacking few patents of its own, it will be tough to settle with Oracle.
Seeking to undercut Apple's App Store subscription service, Google unveiled a payment service to let publishers set their own prices and terms for digital content they serve on tablets, smartphones, and websites. With “Google One Pass,” publishers will keep 90 percent of sales, vs. 70 percent from Apple's service, giving Android a potential advantage over iOS in the digital publishing contest.
Wind River and McAfee — the first already an Intel subsidiary, the second soon to be — say they will jointly develop security solutions for mobile and other embedded devices. The strategic agreement will initially focus on software related to Wind River Linux, say the two companies.
The Linux Foundation announced an event intended to increase “systems level” collaboration among Android and Linux developers — and perhaps patch up an ongoing rift with Google over kernel contributions. The Android Builders Summit, scheduled for April 13-14 in San Francisco, is now open for presentation submissions, the organization says.
Adlink announced a fanless, Atom N270-based industrial computer featuring extended temperature support and 12 serial ports, some of them programmable. The MXE-1200 offers CompactFlash storage, Mini PCI Express and SIM slots, LVDS and VGA, gigabit Ethernet outputs, and the ability to work on power supplies from 6~36 Volts, the company says.
Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha said a Google music application will be available with the Motorola Xoom tablet later this year. Also this week, Motorola confirmed the $799 (unsubsidized) pricing for the Android 3.0 tablet and announced the retailers that will participate in the tablet's second-quarter release in the U.K.
As anticipated, Nvidia used the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona to confirm its next-generation Tegra SoC (system on chip), which will feature quad cores and support 1440p (2560 x 1440 pixel) resolution. Code-named “Kal-El” but likely to be called “Tegra 3” upon release, the device will include four ARM-based CPU cores and a twelve-core GeForce CPU (graphics processing unit), the company says.
An upcoming “I” Android release will provide Honeycomb-like tablet features for phones, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said during a Mobile World Congress (MWC) keynote. He added that Google would still welcome Nokia in the Android camp, demonstrated a video editor for Honeycomb named Movie Studio, and waxed eloquent on mobile technology's positive effect on society.
The LiMo Foundation announced the imminent launch of LiMo 4, giving its mobile Linux stack new components such as widget libraries, social networking support, and support for multitouch and larger screen sizes. Meanwhile, LiMo's Morgan Gillis told Reuters that Nokia's move to Windows Phone 7 should open more opportunities for the increasingly marginalized consortium.
Freescale Semiconductor announced a Linux-ready system-on-chip family for femtocell and picocell 4G base stations. The QorIQ Qonverge SoCs combine a Power-PC core for the PSC9130/31 femtocell version — or dual cores for the PSC9132 picocell model — as well as one or two Freescale StarCore DSP cores, a Maple baseband accelerator, and other accelerators that create a scalable “base station-on-chip.”