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Signage SBCs tap ARM Cortex-A8 SoCs —

Empower Technologies announced two single-board computers (SBCs), along with a Linux SDK based on the company's LEOs (Linux Embedded Operating System) distribution. The EMP3503 and EMP3530 SBCs are equipped with Texas Instruments OMAP35xx SoCs, and are aimed primarily at digital signage and interactive kiosk applications. ...

Linux-ready SBC targets HMI development —

Blue Chip Technology introduced a small SBC (single board computer) aimed at embedded HMI (human machine interface) applications. The "RE1" has 64MB of RAM and 32MB of flash on board, offers five USB ports and three serial ports, and uses under 1.5 Watts, the company says. ...

Russian Android phone boasts dual displays —

Vobis Computers is readying what it bills as the first Russian-market Android phone. The Highscreen PP5420 appears to be an Android-converted version of the Windows Mobile-based Mobinnova ICE smartphone, and includes a 528MHz Qualcomm processor, HSDPA support, and a secondary OLED touchscreen, says the company. ...

Can FAT patch avoid Microsoft lawsuits? — Andrew Tridgell has published a patch that could make the Linux implementation of the FAT filesystem impervious to Microsoft patent claims of the kind that forced a settlement from TomTom. The patch alters the VFAT code so that it does not generate both short and long filenames, says Tridgell. ...

Torrent-ready IPTV STB praised in review —

The Myka media-center IP set-top box (STB and BitTorrent receiver is finally shipping in volume -- and it has received a rave review. The Linux-based Myka box, which offloads BitTorrent peer-to-peer duties from a PC, was praised as a "great home theater PC for lazy people." ...

Open source, AI-driven compiler learns on the job —

IBM Research and the European Union have jointly released what they bill as the world's first open source machine learning compiler. The "Milepost GCC" compiler is particularly adept at speeding mobile phone development, and offers an 18 percent performance improvement on embedded-application benchmarks, claims IBM. ...

NAS reference design runs Linux — MosChip Semiconductor Technology and IdealBT Technology are jointly shipping a Linux-based network-attached storage (NAS) reference design. The design combines MosChip's ARM9-based, 550MHz MCS814x networking system-on-chip (SoC) with IdealBT's embedded Linux NAS software, which offers a wide variety of services, including BitTorrect, iTunes, Samba, and UPnP, says MosChip. ...

Debian plans draw sharp warning from GNU guru — As the Debian project releases a second update of its Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 ("Lenny") distribution, a controversy has broken out over the next version, "Squeeze." GNU guru Richard Stallman has warned that by including a Mono-based note-taking application called Tomboy, Debian runs the risk of Microsoft litigation over C# patents. ...

Changes to LinuxDevices — Updated: Jul. 1 -- Some exciting new changes have come to LinuxDevices as we transition to a new publishing system. Meanwhile, please bear with our temporary lack of a search function, as the spiders work their way through a decade of stories on embedded Linux. ...

Probe tool switches to embedded Linux — A vendor of instrumentation probe software has released a new version that adds embedded Linux support. OC Systems' Aprobe version 5 enables embedded software engineers to instrument software applications after they have been developed, isolating, diagnosing, and resolving complex problems that can't be solved by other debugging tools, says the company. ...

Nokia, Dell snared in latest Android rumors —

Dell is developing a smartphone-like, ARM-based MID, while Nokia is readying an ARM-based netbook, both based on the Google-sponsored Android, according to reports. Meanwhile, another story claims that the HTC Hero's "Sense" UI for Android won't be available on HTC Magic and G1 phones. ...

Debug tool adds PowerPC, AVR32 support — Ronetix announced the availability of new firmware for its Linux-friendly JTAG/BDM emulator and flash programmer. The "PEEDI" JTAG/BDM Emulator and Flash Programmer now supports the PowerPC-based Freescale MPC5200 "telematics" processor, as well as the general-purpose, low-power Atmel AVR32 family of processors, says the vendor. ...

720 Linux databases squeeze onto test system —

Spirent Communications is shipping its Linux-based TestCenter testing system with McObject's ExtremeDB embedded database, says the company. The latest version of TestCenter can run up to 720 ports on a single rack, each with its own processor, Linux OS, and eXtremeDB in-memory database, says McObject. ...

Samsung shrinks ARM11 application processor —

Samsung is now sampling its first ARM 11-based application processor to be fabbed using 45-nanometer technology. Intended for embedded devices such as "next-generation PNDs," the S5P6440 processor runs at 533MHz or 667MHz, includes 2D graphics acceleration hardware, and features a DRAM memory controller, the company says. ...

Linux subscription service adds FPGA support —

Timesys announced that its subscription-based LinuxLink online build service and development environment supports high-end Xilinx Virtex-4 and Virtex-5 field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The company also announced a LinuxLink design win with Silicon Turnkey Express (STx) on an upcoming hardware/software development kit. ...

Linux-ready SOC offers low-power DSP — Texas Instruments (TI) is sampling three new digital signal processors (DSPs) touted as being the lowest-power floating point DSPs in the industry. In addition to launching the TMS320C6742, TMS320C6746, and the SATA-enabled TMS320C6748, TI is also sampling a Linux-ready, ARM9-based OMAP-L138 system-on-chip (SoC) that incorporates the TMS320C6748, says the company. ...

PCI-104 SBC runs on Atom —

Ibase is shipping a PCI-104 format single-board computer (SBC) aimed at a variety of rugged, compact embedded designs. The IB805 is equipped with an Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz with an Intel 945GSE Express Chipset, offers multiple I/O, and supports 18-bit LVDS displays, says the company. ...

Multi-function printer boasts web access —

HP announced the self-proclaimed "world’s first web-connected home printer." The $400 HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web is a multi-function inkjet equipped with a 4.3-inch touchscreen and Web-enabled embedded Linux computer, plus a collection of printing apps that can be added to by third parties. ...

Palm Pre passes one million app downloads —

Despite posting a $105 million fourth-quarter loss yesterday, Palm saw its stock rise on strong early sales of its Linux-based Palm Pre phone, which has sold 150,000 units, according to reports. Meanwhile, Palm Pre users have already downloaded one million apps, says eWEEK. ...

Virtualization software goes multi-processor — The Sun-sponsored VirtualBox project has released a beta 3.0 version of its free, x86-oriented virtualization software. The Linux-compatible xVM VirtualBox 3.0 adds support for guest Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) with up to 32 virtual CPUs, as well as support for version 2.0 of the OpenGL graphics acceleration standard, among other features. ...

Plug-in computer snapped up by NAS vendors —

Marvell announced that four vendors of networked-attached storage (NAS) devices -- Buffalo, D-Link, LaCie, and Seagate -- plan to launch retail versions of its SheevaPlug Plug Computer reference design. The company also said that its Linux-based SheevaPlug development kits are now available for European customers. ...

Open source show gears up with 200 sessions —

The OSCON (Open Source Convention) conference will present over 200 sessions between July 20-24 in San Jose, Calif., covering a variety of desktop and embedded Linux topics. Meanwhile, SourceForge.net has opened voting for its 2009 Community Choice Awards, with winners to be announced at OSCON. ...

Rugged industrial PC powered by Atom —

Axiomtek announced what appears to be its first "eBox" industrial computer to run on an Intel Atom. The compact, fanless eBOX620-831-FL is equipped with an Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz CPU and 945GSE Express chipset, offers multiple I/O, and boasts a rugged housing and extended temperature support. ...

Multi-core DSPs target femtocells — Texas Instruments (TI) announced a family of multi-core "TMS320TCI648x" digital signal processors (DSPs) that are designed for small-scale wireless base-stations called "femtocells." Supported with Linux development kits, and incorporating VirtualLogix virtualization technology, TI's TCI6485 and TCI6489 can power femtocells that serve between eight and 32 HSPA 3G wireless users, respectively. ...

HP launches new business netbook —

HP has added to its bevy of netbooks with a business-oriented mini PC using Intel's Atom N280 processor. The "HP Mini 5101" includes a "95 percent" keyboard, available 1366 x 768-pixel display, hard- or solid-state disk (SSD) storage, and optional mobile broadband module, the company says. ...

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