The Wall Street Journal (Interactive Edition) has discovered the entry of Embedded Linux into the handheld computer market. WSJ Interactive Edition editor Pui-Wing-Tam writes . . .

“The giants in handheld computer software, Palm Inc. and Microsoft Corp., will soon get a new competitor: Linux, the free operating system.”

“The cult software, developed by a global network of developers overseen by Finnish programmer Linus Torvalds, has long been targeted at PCs and corporate-server computers. It's positioned as an inexpensive, reliable alternative to Microsoft's Windows and to versions of the Unix operating system sold by Sun Microsystems Inc. and others.”

“But recently, several electronics makers in the U.S. and abroad have announced that they are creating Palm-like gadgets based on the software. Royal Consumer Business Products, a unit of Italy's Olivetti SpA, has said it will introduce Linux-based handhelds in mid-2001. Electronics maker G.Mate Inc. plans to release a Linux-based handheld in South Korea by the end of the year. Earlier this month, Agenda Computing Inc., a unit of Hong Kong-based Kessel International Holdings Ltd., unveiled the Agenda VR3, a Linux-based device that is scheduled to ship in June. And Japanese electronics giant Sharp Corp. has said it will launch a Linux-based handheld gadget in the U.S. late this year.”

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