| LinuxDevices year-end review: Top business stories of 2006 |
(Dec. 21, 2006)
JANUARY
MONTAVISTA STARTS NEW YEAR WITH CHANGES AT THE TOP
The first company to focus on embedded Linux as its primary business has begun the process of replacing its CEO, a boardmember has confirmed. MontaVista founder and president James Ready is expected to serve as CTO once a replacement CEO has been installed, according to boardmember Stuart Phillips, formerly of US Venture Partners. Details
FEBRUARY
AN INTERVIEW WITH OPERA CEO JON S. VON TETZCHNER
This interesting and informative interview with Opera Software CEO and co-founder Jon S. von Tetzchner covers the Norwegian browser company's history, products, and roadmap. It sheds light on the growing importance of Linux in the embedded market, and the growing importance of the embedded market to Opera. Details
MONTAVISTA FACING MAKE-OR-BREAK YEAR?
MontaVista pioneered embedded Linux, but could watch the spoils fall to rival Wind River if it fails to consolidate its leadership, suggests a BusinessWeek special report. MontaVista must solidify its financial footing and grow faster if it hopes to keep ahold of markets it helped create, the article says. Details
APRIL
DSO -- ALL YOU WANTED TO KNOW, AND MORE
Tired of DSO yet? Fresh on the heels of the world's first "DSO World" micro-conference at the Embedded Systems Conference earlier this month, we've decided to aggregate the growing number of articles published by LinuxDevices.com on the subject. Our comprehensive DSO special report chronicles the arrival, evolution, resistance to, and growing adoption of DSO as an industry-defining term. Find out whether DSO is right for you and your company, and why. Details
JUNE
GETTING TO KNOW MONTAVISTA'S NEW CEO
This interview occurred six days into Thomas Kelly's tenure as MontaVista's new CEO, and one day after his appointment was made public. It covers Kelly's plans for MontaVista, including potential acquisitions and partnerships, investments in new technologies and growth, and focusing on sound business practices. Details
LEADING MOBILE PHONE PLAYERS CONVERGE ON LINUX
Four large mobile phone vendors, together with two major wireless operators, will create an open Linux implementation for mobile phones. Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic, Samsung, and Vodafone say their Linux implementation will provide a global standard and prevent the "fragmentation" of mobile phone Linux. Details
STARTUP PLANS "COMPLETE" LINUX SMARTPHONE OS
Silicon Valley startup a la Mobile plans to ship in September the industry's first "complete" Linux-based smartphone operating system. Founder Pauline Lo Alker compares the company's Convergent Linux Platform to Microsoft's Windows Mobile Smartphone platform, in terms of delivering all required software components within a single integrated stack. Details
JULY
INTEL, AMD DROP OUT OF MOBILE HANDSET CHIPSET GAME
June, 2006 may go down in history as the month both Intel and AMD dropped out of the high-stakes, ultra-high-volume mobile phone chip market. Within a period of just two weeks, AMD sold off its MIPS-based Alchemy chip line, and Intel unloaded its ARM-based XScale applications and baseband processor business. Details
TROLLTECH GOES PUBLIC
Development tools and smartphone software stack vendor Trolltech began trading on the Oslo Stock Exchange on July 5, amidst high demand, mostly from Norwegian investors, the company says. The first of these two stories has more details on the IPO, while the second is an exclusive post-IPO interview with Trolltech co-CEO Haavard Nord: Details
AMD BURYING GEODE?
AMD will soon close its Geode embedded processor design center in Longmont, Colo. Although the plant closure appears to be AMD's second move away from the embedded market this summer, the company assures us that they remain "committed to the embedded market." Read this informative news item for more about the popular Geode's future. Details
AUGUST
RIVAL FLASH MEMORY PIONEERS MERGE
Two flash memory pioneers and technology innovators will soon merge, with the acquisition of M-Systems by SanDisk. SanDisk was the originator of CompactFlash, while M-Systems spawned a broad array of "flash disk" module formats and form-factors, including the highly popular DiskOnChip. Both are commonly used in Linux-based devices. Details
NEC, PANASONIC, TI FORM MOBILE PHONE DEVELOPMENT JOINT VENTURE
NEC, Matsushita, Panasonic Mobile Communications, and TI are establishing a joint venture devoted to mobile phones. The venture, to be called "Adcore-Tech," will launch in October, and offer contract mobile phone handset development, including Linux-based software and "large-scale integration" (LSI) chipsets, the companies say. Details
FOUR COUNTRIES COMMIT TO 4 MILLION LINUX-POWERED OLPC DEVICES
A spokesperson for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program revealed July 31 that the countries of Nigeria, Brazil, Argentina, and Thailand are each prepared to purchase 1 million Linux laptops through the U.S.-based OLPC program. The innovative, low-cost devices are currently expected to cost between $100 and $150, and be powered by a hand crank. Details
LINUXWORLD AWASH WITH LINUX PHONE BUZZ
This week's LinuxWorld Expo in San Francisco is shaping up as a showcase for Linux cellphone-related products, alliances, and open source contributions. The barrage of phone-related announcements and demonstrations underscores the growing stature of Linux as a mobile phone operating system. Details
SPECIAL REPORT: LINUXWORLD SAN FRANCISCO 2006
This special report examines the state of the Linux market as evidenced by what's happening at LinuxWorld, San Francisco. At this year's West Coast mega-event, it's clear that Linux and open-source software have progressed beyond their initial server successes -- onto the desktop, and into devices. Details
FIRST-EVER WINDOW CE "SHARED SOURCE" CONTEST CONCLUDES
The winners of the Windows CE "shared source" programming contest have just been announced. Articles about all three winning projects are available at our sister site, WindowsForDevices.com. Also available, are each winning project's complete whitepaper and demonstration video. Details
SEPTEMBER
LINUX PROMINENT AT SMARTPHONE SUMMIT
An annual technical and business conference devoted to smartphones of all stripes, including Linux smartphones, is set for Sept. 11, in Los Angeles. This year's Smartphone Summit is co-located with the CTIA Wireless Show, Sept. 12-14, but requires separate registration. Details
OCTOBER
FREESCALE BOUGHT FOR $17.6B
Freescale, one of the world's largest device-oriented semiconductor manufacturers, is being acquired by a private equity consortium in a transaction valued at $17.6 billion. The company was formed in 2004 when Motorola spun out its semiconductor division, and is a leading supplier of silicon to Motorola and other cellphone manufacturers. Details
GPL UPHELD AGAINST D-LINK IN GERMAN COURT
Netfilter developer and GPL-Violations.org founder Harald Welte reportedly has prevailed against D-Link in a case heard by a district court in Germany. Welte apparently sought to recovery expenses incurred in pursuing D-Link, and to force D-Link to concede that using GPL-licensed software carries legal obligations. Details
EMBEDDED VIRTUALIZATION COMPANY REINVENTS ITSELF
Jaluna has renamed itself as VirtualLogix, and rebranded its OSWare product porfolio as VLX. Additionally, the company has begun targeting specific market segments, beginning with three products aimed at helping companies lower costs and preserve legacy software investments while adopting Linux, including one targeting mobile phones. Details
LYNUXWORKS CEO ASCENDS TO VISIONARY ROLE
Gurjot Singh has been promoted from COO to CEO of LynuxWorks. Former CEO Dr. Inder M. Singh, who has led the company through virtually all of its 18-year history, will focus on his role as chairman and strategic visionary. Details
LINUX PROMINENT AT ESC BOSTON
Market research firm Venture Development Corp. (VDC) has published its annual re-cap of the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC), held in Boston in September. VDC's report highlights several announcements of potential interest to developers and companies in the embedded Linux market. Details
MALAYSIAN STARTUP LICENSES LINUX PHONE STACK
Startup a la Mobile reports that its Linux-based mobile phone stack has attracted its first licensee. Gupp Technologies, a Malaysian startup backed by global electronics vendor 3P Electronics, will use the Convergent Linux Platform in a dual-mode VoWiFi (voice-over-WiFi) and GSM smartphone expected next year, according to a la Mobile. Details
LINUX HEADED FOR AUTOMOTIVE "TIPPING POINT"
This insightful guest column anticipates the emergence of embedded Linux as a key margins driver for the automotive industry, due to its ability to run "driver-assist" applications perceived as "high-value" by consumers. It was written by Wind River's chief marketing officer, John Bruggeman. Details
NOVEMBER
NEC, PANASONIC LAUNCH MOBILE PHONE VENTURE
NEC and Matsushita Electric Industrial (MEI) subsidiary Panasonic Mobile Communications will establish a joint venture next month tasked with creating a common hardware and software platform for mobile handsets. The "Esteemo" Co. will be based in Yokohama City, and have 130 employees, with a capitalization of 100M Yen (~$845,000). Details
ORACLE TAKES RED HAT LINUX UNDER ITS WING
Oracle Corp. on Oct. 25 announced that it would provide the same enterprise class support for Linux as it provides for its database, middleware, and applications products. Essentially, this means that Oracle, after removing Red Hat trademarks, will be distributing Oracle Unbreakable Linux, derived from Red Hat's open-source Linux technology. Details
MICROSOFT OPENS FULL WINDOWS CE KERNEL SOURCE
In its most tacit acknowledgment yet of the power of open source, Microsoft is distributing complete kernel sources to all recipients of its Windows CE 6.0 SDK, released today. Developers need only acknowledge Microsoft's "shared source" license, using Microsoft's IDE (integrated development tool), after which requested sourcecode components are installed. Details
STARTUP TOUTS LINUX MOBILE PHONE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
Yet another Linux mobile phone platform and services provider is preparing to enter the market. Celunite, a venture-funded Silicon Valley startup with development offices in Pune and Hyderabad, India, will reportedly offer value-added software/hardware integration services aimed at speeding time-to-market for handset manufacturers. Details
WILL NOVELL/MICROSOFT DEAL HURT LINUX IN DEVICES?
Long-time rivals Novell and Microsoft announced a Linux-centered, multi-tiered partnership yesterday. The deal involves enterprise software, but could have implications for Linux in general, because it sets a precedent for a Linux distributor paying intellectual property (IP) royalties to Microsoft. Details
NEWS FLASH: SUN GPLS JAVA, TARGETS MOBILE PHONES
Sun is releasing all of its Java Platform implementations -- including Standard, Micro, and Enterprise Editions -- under the GPLv2. The company's "Mobile and Embedded" site, launched Monday, already hosts a fully open, buildable CLDC/MIDP implementation for feature phones, along with components of a CDC implementation, testing tools, and documentation. Details
LINUX TAKES THE SUPERCOMPUTER HILL
Linux powers more than 75 percent of the world's most powerful computers, according to data released this week in the annual "Top 500" report. Intel's Pentium 4 Xeon proved the most popular processor, followed by dual-core Opteron and EM64T (Itanium) Xeons in a dead heat for second. Details
DECEMBER
EMBEDDED LINUX PIONEER MONTAVISTA CONFIRMS $21M FUNDING
As predicted last month, MontaVista has attracted $21 million in new funding, in a round led by Siemens Venture Capital. The embedded and mobile Linux specialist will use the funds to build cash reserves, expand its product portfolio, and "attract talent," it says. Details
DEVELOPING PRODUCTS WITH OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
This thoughtful essay by Dr. Ari Jaaksi, Nokia's director of open source, explores Nokia's experience developing a commercial software environment based two-thirds on open-source software. Jaaksi lists a few challenges, but concludes that tapping into open-source components and the developer community saves both time and resources. Details
(Click here for further information)
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FUEL Database on MontaVista Linux
Whether building a mobile handset, a car navigation system, a package tracking device, or a home entertainment console, developers need capable software systems, including an operating system, development tools, and supporting libraries, to gain maximum benefit from their hardware platform and to meet aggressive time-to-market goals.
Breaking New Ground: The Evolution of Linux Clustering
With a platform comprising a complete Linux distribution, enhanced for clustering, and tailored for HPC, Penguin Computing¿s Scyld Software provides the building blocks for organizations from enterprises to workgroups to deploy, manage, and maintain Linux clusters, regardless of their size.
Data Monitoring with NightStar LX
Unlike ordinary debuggers, NightStar LX doesn¿t leave you stranded in the dark. It¿s more than just a debugger, it¿s a whole suite of integrated diagnostic tools designed for time-critical Linux applications to reduce test time, increase productivity and lower costs. You can debug, monitor, analyze and tune with minimal intrusion, so you see real execution behavior. And that¿s positively illuminating.
Virtualizing Service Provider Networks with Vyatta
This paper highlights Vyatta's unique ability to virtualize networking functions using Vyatta's secure routing software in service provider environments.
High Availability Messaging Solution Using AXIGEN, Heartbeat and DRBD
This white paper discusses a high-availability messaging solution relying on the AXIGEN Mail Server, Heartbeat and DRBD. Solution architecture and implementation, as well as benefits of using AXIGEN for this setup are all presented in detail.
Understanding the Financial Benefits of Open Source
Will open source pay off? Open source is becoming standard within enterprises, often because of cost savings. Find out how much of a financial impact it can have on your organization. Get this methodology and calculator now, compliments of JBoss.
Embedded Hardware and OS Technology Empower PC-Based Platforms
The modern embedded computer is the jack of all trades appearing in many forms.
Data Management for Real-Time Distributed Systems
This paper provides an overview of the network-centric computing model, data distribution services, and distributed data management. It then describes how the SkyBoard integration and synchronization service, coupled with an implementation of the OMG¿s Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard, can be used to create an efficient data distribution, storage, and retrieval system.
7 Advantages of D2D Backup
For decades, tape has been the backup medium of choice. But, now, disk-to-disk (D2D) backup is gaining in favor. Learn why you should make the move in this whitepaper.
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