Mini-ITX madness -- a guide to "the little mobo that could" -- This LinuxDevices.com guide to mini-ITX motherboards in the world of embedded Linux provides an introduction to mini-ITX and aggregates news stories, project features, board announcements, and more. Read each article and follow the emergence of mini-ITX as one of the key form-factors for embedded Linux based products and projects!

Interview with developer of Beagle-2's Linux-based control software -- This brief interview with Beagle-2 mission control software Principal Developer Stewart Hall sheds light on the emerging role of Linux in European space missions, including the recent Beagle-2 mission. Hall is principal developer of the Linux-based Mission Control Software and Mission Planning Software used in the Beagle-2 Mars lander project. He works for British IT technology firm SciSys, which develops a range of space craft control software and is "a serious advocate of Linux," according to Hall. The Beagle-2 is a Mars lander that was scheduled to land on Mars on Dec. 25, 2003. So far, no contact has been made with the lander, however, another attempt will be made (using a different communications mode) on Jan. 24.

GHS CEO predicts death of embedded Linux tools market -- In an editorial published by EE Times, Green Hills CEO Dan O'Dowd makes dire forecasts about the embedded Linux tools market. O'Dowd opines, essentially, that the Linux tools market will die because anyone willing to pay for tools will also be willing to pay for a higher quality, proprietary operating system. Read our news item, the full editorial in EE Times, and Kevin Dankwardt's rebuttal -- and feel free to express your own opinion in the talkback about O'Dowd's editorial in our forum.

SIP soft phone for Linux offered as free download -- Zultys Technologies is offering a free soft-phone that runs on Linux and provides many of the features of the company's embedded-Linux-based Zip 4x4 SIP phone, without requiring a separate handset. Zultys says its Lipz4 (short for "Linux IP Zip 4x4") soft-phone is compatible with any IP telephony system, and hopes it will help lower the barriers for companies to explore VoIP (Voice over IP) technology.

A million high-end DVD players can't be wrong -- If you have a high-end DVD player with built-in networking, or an IP set-top-box (STB) with a built-in DVD player, odds are that Linux runs in your family room. Sigma, which claims to be the marketshare leader in "IP STB" chips, says it has shipped "about a million" DVD player system-on-chip processors that run its custom uClinux operating system.

First 2.6-based "commercial" embedded Linux distro ships -- LynuxWorks is shipping BlueCat Linux 5.0, its first production release based on Linux kernel 2.6. LynuxWorks calls the release the industry's first commercially available embedded Linux distribution based on Linux 2.6.

Reminder: Please vote in LinuxDevices.com's annual Embedded Linux survey -- LinuxDevices.com urges all readers to participate in its fourth annual Embedded Linux Market. The brief survey -- just 17 questions -- probes developer preferences and industry trends. Over the last four years, the survey has become an important resource for industry analysts and decision makers. Don't miss this important opportunity to help influence the future of embedded Linux!

Other noteworthy news items and announcements from the past week . . .

• Rendering technology optimizes viewing of Web content on mid-size displays
  
• Linux-powered PCI card guards PCs from friendly fire, Windows worms
  
• "EDGE" reference design supports Linux-based mobile device apps
  
• Tiny, 3W Linux system sprouts expansion options
  
• Large US auto parts chain moves to Linux-based POS terminals
  
• DVD playback software targets embedded Linux devices
  
• Linux application analyzer adds Itanium support, open drivers, more
  
• Red Hat unveils protection from copyright "infringement issues"
  
• Opteron systems to ship with real-time 64-bit Linux
  
• HP touts $2.5B Linux-related revenues, LTSP-based clients
  
• OSDL forms Desktop Linux Working Group, notes surge in interest
  
• VME/PCI-X bridge septuples throughput
  
• Centrino-like Mini-ITX board available passively cooled
  

. . . and that's not all. Click here for the latest breaking news.

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• Embedded Linux Q&A
  
• Real-time Linux
  
• GPL issues & discussion
  
• Embedded Java+Linux
  
• Little Linux systems
  
• General discussion
  

• Introduction & Overview ("start here")
  
• Embedded Linux Distributions
  
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• GUI/Windowing Software
  
• Java on Embedded Linux
  
• System-on-Chip Processors
  
• Single Board Computers
  
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• Linux-PDAs and PDA-Linux
  
• Embedded Linux Market
  

You can access recent newsletters here:   Jan. 15,   Jan. 8,   Dec. 18

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