Penguinistas power Palm PDA, phone, Dec 15, 2005

A pair of Palm OS based consumer electronic devices are well on the way toward running Linux. Matthew Mastracci's "Treo Linux" project has achieved a BusyBox prompt on a Palm Treo 650 smartphone, while Alex Osborne's LD Progress project has a QPE-based Linux environment running on a Palm LifeDrive.

Panasonic is ending development of GSM mobile phones and will concentrate instead on 3G Linux-based phones, which are already popular in Asia.

Last October, Neugent launched the Hawkeye LX DVR Series — a set of 16-channel and 8-channel PC-based digital video recorders running on the Linux platform, targeted for the enterprise market.

This is where the 770 really shines: It uses a version of basic desktop Debian Linux. Availabe from source. To make an app, just take advantage of the Gnome based widgets (if you want), recompile for the ARM processor and off you go. This is pretty awesome.

Korean device manufacturer IUbi has used Linux as the embedded OS in a portable media player (PMP) with an optional broadcast TV receiver. The IUbi PMP2010 has a 4.3-inch screen, a 40GB or 100GB hard drive, and will be priced around 400,000 Korean won (about $400).

A major Linux tradeshow may add a pavilion showcasing embedded Linux devices and technologies. LinuxWorld Boston 2006 organizers say the "Invisible Linux" pavilion, currently at the "concept" stage, could help surface the use of Linux and open source in devices and embedded applications, given sufficient exhibitor interest.

During last August's LinuxWorld Expo, there was one bit of technology which managed to captivate me: a small innocuous box called a Black Dog. I thought to myself, "I've got to get a chance to play with one of these." Now, you might think that a house with four dogs, six cats, and five ferrets would have no room for another dog, but adding the Black Dog to the mix is a small affair. Unlike its four-footed counterparts, this Black Dog takes very little room and very little care.

Texas Instruments (TI) has teamed up Linux with two new highly-integrated system-on-chip (SoC) processors aimed at next-generation portable multimedia players (PMPs), digital video recorders (DVRs), and other video-oriented consumer devices. The TMS320DM6443 and TMS320DM6446 (DM644x) are the first of TI's "daVinci" line, and are available with a full-featured development board and MontaVista Linux/tools support bundle.

LinkSys last month switched the standard model of its ubiquitous WRT54G wireless router from Linux to VxWorks, starting with the "series 5" version. Now, LinkSys is shipping a Linux-based WRT54GL model that it says it created specially for Linux hobbyists, hackers, and aficianados. The L version is identical to the "series 4" WRT54G units that Linux hobbyists have long enjoyed hacking, according to the company.

The Nokia 770 could be the start of a great thing. Though it's rough around the edges, this could be a terrific little Internet-surfing gadget once Nokia shakes out the bugs.

Geeks.com sent us for a review an external hard drive enclosure case, the "TVisto Series 3.5" Multimedia HDD Enclosure" (2.5" series also available). But this is not just another hard drive enclosure, but also a multimedia jukebox. And it's running uCLinux, an embedded version of Linux.

Trolltech has updated its software suite for Linux-based mobile phones. Qtopia Phone Edition (QPE) version 2.2 adds VoIP (voice-over-IP) capabilities targeting dual-mode and "converged" devices, among other enhancements. Additionally, the company is co-hosting a one-day government-sponsored mobile phone conference in Beijing, China today.

LynuxWorks says its embedded OSes were used by industrial computing specialist B&B Electronics in a new line of wireless Ethernet serial servers. B&B's wireless Vlinx devices can run BlueCat Linux or LynxOS, and target harsh-environment applications such as factory floors where fragile wiring is not practical.

Deva explains, "We are building an open source hardware/software Linux-based cell phone." Open source refers to a programme for which the source code (written by a programmer and converted into machine language) is available to the public to use or modify free of cost. The prototype they are working on will be open source and will help developers build powerful applications as they like.

From smartphones to servers, the open-source system is turning up in an ever-expanding variety of products. For consumers, that's good news

Many users get annoyed by everyday troubles that still affect Windows systems. Whether it is a failing driver, problems caused by poorly written applications or a virus infection, any consumer type version of Windows can be considered more susceptible to problems than a decent Linux distribution. So why not use Linux instead?

The $100 laptop could mark a major breakthrough for the Linux operating system, according to leading CIOs.

A novel plan to develop a $100 laptop computer for distribution to millions of schoolchildren in developing countries has caught the interest of governments and the attention of computer-industry heavyweights.

PalmSource, France Telecom's Orange and several other companies plan on Monday to announce an effort to standardize aspects of Linux running on mobile phones.

It seems that some US based Linux fans just can't wait to get their hands on Nokia's 770 Internet tablet. An Internet site dedicated to the device www.internettablettalk.com is already drumming up rumours of a shortage.

The triad behind the Cell processor has released a software developer kit for the chip to help foster its popularity.

As handset producers look harder at open source, the pressure is building on software makers Symbian and Microsoft

Nokia has begun shipping its Linux-based Nokia 770, the so-called "Internet tablet", according to the Finnish giant's direct-sales website.

A network terminal vendor is shipping a Via-based thin client that runs Mandrake Linux and supports a wide range of server OSes. Computer Lab International's (CLI's) ET4500T is available with terminal emulators for various legacy systems, and supports X, RDP, and Citrix protocols.

The next time Bill Gates sends an e-mail through Microsoft's shiny new Wireless LAN it will be passed through a behind-the-scenes Linux-based network appliance.

Worldwide PDA shipments increased nearly 21 percent year-over-year in Q3, and are on track to reach record levels in 2005, said Gartner today in a report that seems to contradict pessimistic PDA market reports from competing research firms. Linux accounted for a paltry 0.7 percent of shipments, according to Gartner.

A group of companies including PalmSource and France Telecom plan to launch an initiative in mid-November to standardize the applications layer of Linux-based mobile devices, representatives involved in the project said. The group will be called the Linux Phone Standardization Forum (LiPS).

A contest to create applications and find bugs in a mobile "Linux desktop server" is underway. Realm Systems will award $75,000 for the best entertainment, security, IT infrastructure, productivity, and "other" applications for its Black Dog Linux device, as well as for "most bug reports."

For all the arguments against Microsoft and its anti-competitive practices, the one thing that really holds Linux back is the complete, embarrassing and possibly negligent support for it by vendors. Microsoft really has nothing to do with it.

Multimedia ads are coming to taxi cabs in New York City and elsewhere. Secure electronic payment expert Verifone and NYC taxicab fleet management specialist TaxiTronic have formed a joint venture around Verifone's MX870, a Linux-based PIN-entry pad that doubles as an advertising kiosk.

Linux has made great strides in taking over servers in the data center. Now the mighty penguin is fishing for another market--advanced cell phones and other mobile devices.

The T.sonic 310 supports Windows 98SE/2000/Me/XP, Mac OS 9.0 or later, and Linux Kernel 2.4 or later.

The Open Source Development Labs, an industry consortium devoted to improving Linux, plans to launch an initiative Monday to bring the open-source operating system to mobile phones.

A Stanford-designed robotic car has driven away with the $2M prize in the second DARPA Challenge, a 175-mile race for autonomous vehicles held this weekend in the Mojava desert south of Las Vegas. Four of 23 vehicles completed the course, including several that used Linux.

Palm will ship Linux-powered mobile phones this year, say sources claiming to be close to the company. The devices will be powered by Wind River Linux, and pending carrier reaction, may well be the first Linux-powered handsets distributed widely within the US.

Nokia's Internet Tablet has been delayed due to software issues, the mobile phone maker told the Reuters on Wednesday.

EmperorLinux has announced the Raven Tablet, the ThinkPad X41 by Lenovo, to the Linux world with a 1.5 GHz Pentium-M, 1.5 GB RAM and a 60 GB hard drive, built-in ethernet and WiFi.

To save on software costs, the laptops would run the freely available Linux operating system instead of Windows.

E Ink is preparing a Linux-based electronic paper development kit. The AM-100 EPD kit includes a 170dpi, 6-inch (diagonal) SVGA (800 x 600) "EPD" (electronic paper display) module supporting four shades of gray. The technology radically decreases display power requirements in mobile devices, the company claims.

The venture capital arm of Panasonic's North American operations has launched an effort to cultivate embedded-Linux start-ups.

Toshiba America Electronic Components (TAEC) today announced that it has teamed up with digital media processing firm Sigma Designs to develop a Linux-based platform for consumer digital multimedia appliances such as smart DVD players.

Trolltech, the world's biggest producer of Linux software for mobile devices, has appointed two ex-Microsoft executives as it gears up for a possible initial public offering, sources close to the company said on Tuesday.

TCL Mobile Communications (TMC) has used embedded Linux to build a high-end dual-band GSM/GPRS smartphone. The e787 features a 2MP camera, Bluetooth, multimedia players, an Internet phonebook feature, PC synchronization, and a document viewer from Picsel Technologies.

The evolution of Linux in the embedded space has taken another big step forward with the recent release of MontaVista Linux Professional Edition 4.0.

The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has approved Nokia's Linux-powered 770 Internet Tablet, suggesting the much-anticipated device could become available in the US soon.

Neoware is shipping a ruggedized thin client designed to support industrial applications such as retail distribution centers, transportation hubs, and manufacturing shop floors.

TimeSys, one of a handful of companies trying to make a business out of selling Linux for use in embedded computing devices such as elevators or set-top boxes, launched a subscription service Monday to try to lure do-it-yourself programmers.

Realm Systems is taking orders for a tiny, loss-leader-priced Linux server that lets users carry a secure computing environment with them.

An inexpensive house-brand 802.11b/g wireless router from Fry's (Outpost.com) has been adopted by a group of device hackers that aims to make Fry's "AirLink" devices as capable as name-brand gadgets.

A small Utah-based company has developed a portable Linux server that can be plugged into the USB (Universal Serial Bus) port of a Windows PCs.

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