[Updated Apr. 18, 2006] — Genesi has quietly announced a new line of tiny PowerPC- and OpenFirmware-based boards and systems. The Efika 2 line will ship in mid-May, and comprise three models that mix and match Altera FPGAs, onboard graphics chips, and PCI slots. The systems will run Linux, standard Java, and “Polaris,”… a PowerPC port of OpenSolaris.

The Efika 2 line was disclosed in several forum postings at PPCZone by Genesi representatives.

The original Efika (pictured at right) is about the size of desktop mouse, and is based on a Freescale MPC5200. It runs OpenFirmware, a hardware-independent bootloader developed by Sun. Linux distributions that support OpenFirmware include MontaVista, Debian, Knoppix, openSuSE, Fedora, Gentoo, Yellow Dog, Mandriva, Ubuntu, Skol Linux, Holon, and Crux, Genesi said when it launched the Efika.

Genesi shipped the original Efika in December of 2005, followed a couple of months later by a developer discount program for the Efika and several other PowerPC-based systems.

The three new Efika 2 systems will be based on a Freescale MPC5200B, and will include:

• A version with an Altera FPGA (field-programmable gate array), and an XGI graphics chip
• A version with an Altera FPGA and a PCI slot, but no graphics chip
• A version without FPGA or graphics chip, similar to the original Efika

Additional new features of Efika 2 will include on-board DVI-I and LVDS connectors, to support the addition of low-powered laptop-style LCD modules and inverters, and a 7-pin software-selectable composite/S-video/component-video port.

Additional details about the planned products can be found in PPCZone's Efika forum.

 
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