Welcome to LinuxDevices.com's
Embedded Linux Newsletter
June 24, 2004
by Rick Lehrbaum
Editor-in-chief
|
Welcome to LinuxDevices.com's Embedded Linux Newsletter June 24, 2004 by Rick Lehrbaum Editor-in-chief |
Payment terminals to drive largest embedded Linux rollout in Belgium -- Belgian electronic payment specialist Banksys is shipping new payment terminals powered by open source operating systems. The C-ZAM/XENT terminals run Linux and eCos operating systems, and could represent one of the largest deployments yet of embedded Linux in Belgium. Find out more about Banksys's Linux and eCos payment terminals in our complete Device Profile.
Your guide to embedded processors and SoCs for Linux devices -- Wondering what embedded processor or system-on-chip to use in your next Linux device? Our newly updated and vastly expanded guide to Linux friendly embedded processors lists more than 150 options across five major architectures, complete with brief descriptions and links for further information. The guide includes info about classic chips used in countless devices already shipped, as well as juicy details about freshly announced, next-generation silicon just now being taped out. Taken as a whole, the guide is a testament to the amazing variety of processors supported by Linux -- from 16-bit microcontrollers to 4-way SMP cores with every imaginable peripheral, from single-core DSPs to ultra-integrated "device-on-a-chip" SoCs with multiple RISC and DSP cores, from ultra-low-power x86 cores that run on a single AAA battery to dual-700MHz PowerPC cores used in the latest IBM supercomputers, from programmable logic devices running soft cores to application-specific integrated circuits purpose-built for niche markets. Scan the guide and be amazed at where Linux runs today!
Linux-powered media player features biometric DRM, self-destructing hard drive -- Veritouch's iVue is a portable Linux-powered media player, video game player, and personal file storage device featuring multi-user support, biometric authentication, and pervasive security. Though it has yet to launch, the device has already drawn heated criticism and even ridicule from anti-DRM (digital rights management) quarters. However, the device's innovative and pervasive security features may also impress some digital rights advocates. Learn about the iVue's unique pervasive security features, which include fingerprint-based authentication and self-destructing hard drive storage, in our complete Device Profile.
Nokia funding Minimo browser project, anonymous sources say -- According to rumors that surfaced last week, Nokia has provided funding to the Minimo project, an effort to create an embeddable standards-compliant browser by shrinking Mozilla. Minimo reportedly stacks up favorably when compared to embedded versions of both Opera and Internet Explorer, in tests involving standards compliance and resource requirements. Nokia, the worldwide mobile phone leader, currently uses Opera in most of its browser-equipped products.
Carrier Grade Linux gaining traction, OSDL reports -- Members of the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) discussed the growing adoption of Carrier Grade Linux (CGL) in the communications industry during a panel discussion at the SuperComm tradeshow this week in Chicago. According to the OSDL, 22 major companies currently participate in the development of CGL.
Linux, AdvancedTCA emerge as telecom standards -- Linux and AdvancedTCA (ATCA) are emerging as open industry standards that the telecom equipment industry will embrace as it migrates away from proprietary software and hardware architectures in its quest for faster time-to-market and reduced costs. Telecom equipment manufacturers (TEMs) RadiSys and Kontron separately demonstrated ATCA hardware at this week's SuperComm trade show in Chicago, while telecom software vendor Ulticom showed off signaling software for Linux/ATCA systems. Intel, meanwhile, reported that its modular, standards-based Linux platforms are being used by a large TEM and separately by a telco operator to develop new products and services.
TimeSys stakes out Carrier Grade Linux 2.0 claim -- TimeSys says it will ship a version of Linux compliant with the OSDL's Carrier Grade Linux (CGL) 2.0 specification before September. The OSDL's CGL spec defines features and functionality required by equipment running Linux in the telecommunications market. TimeSys expects to be one of the first companies -- possibly the first -- to ship a product compliant with the CGL 2.0 specification, released last October.
ATA-over-Ethernet enables low-cost Linux-oriented SAN -- Storage Area Networking (SAN) equipment has long been inaccessible to mere Linux-using mortals, due to the prohibitive costs of fiber channel networking equipment. A small startup has set out to change all that, by developing a SAN architecture based on the ATA-over-Ethernet protocol, which allows inexpensive commodity IDE disks to be used in SAN devices that work over standard Ethernet networks.
OTHER NEWSWORTHY ITEMS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE PAST WEEK . . .
. . . and that's not all. Click here for the latest breaking news.
You can access this year's previous newsletters here: Jun. 17, Jun. 10, Jun. 3, May 27, May 20, May 13, May 6, Apr. 29, Apr. 22, Apr. 15, Apr. 8, Apr. 1, Mar. 25, Mar. 18, Mar. 11, Mar. 4, Feb. 26, Feb. 19, Feb. 12, Feb. 5, Jan. 29, Jan. 22, Jan. 15, Jan. 8
Be sure to stop by LinuxDevices.com -- "the Embedded Linux Portal" -- for the latest news, articles, links, forums, products, companies, and buzz in the fast-moving "post-PC" world of Linux-based intelligent devices, Internet appliances, and embedded systems. You can contact us here.
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