Axis Communications released an open-source Bluetooth driver for Linux. Although the release targets Axis' single-chip Internet appliance, the code is adaptable to other embedded/mobile designs. Bluetooth is a new short-range wireless standard that allows embedded devices to talk to each other. (developer.axis.com)

Procom has released their Linux NetBEUI (Network Basic Extended User Interface) stack source to the open-source Linux community. NetBEUI is the Windows networking protocol for simple peer-to-peer networking. (www.procom.com)

MontaVista Software, a specialist in embedded and real-time Linux distribution and support, landed venture capital funding of $9M. (www.mvista.com)

Architek announced Felis Server, a high availability cluster software solution for Linux. It provides support for storage, firewall, transparent IP gateway, and customized embedded/OEM requirements. (www.architek.com)

Centura Software released db.linux, an open source data management solution for information appliances and embedded systems. Its available for downloading and collaborative development at www.openavenue.com/db.linux.

TimeSys entered the real-time Linux distribution market with its announcement of Linux/RT. Linux/RT offers performance predictability by allocating each process a preset fraction of system resource bandwidth. (www.timesys.com)

An organization called OpenCores will soon be distributing OpenRISC 1000, a free 32-bit processor IP core, along with a matching C language compiler. This definitely adds a new dimension to "open source"! (www.opencores.org)

Lynx Real-Time Systems has added support for PacketStream's Synchronous Packet Streaming (SPS) solution to BlueCat Linux for embedded systems. SPS provides classification, policing, and dynamic bandwidth management of voice, video, data, and multimedia traffic over Internet. (www.lynx.com)

I-Logix says their new Rhapsody software development environment can reduce the time required for embedded Linux code development by over 30%, while improving the quality and reusability of the resulting code. (www.ilogix.com)

Lineo will offer Insignia Solutions' Jeode JAVA platform as part of their Embedix software developer kit for OEMs designing embedded Linux solutions. Jeode is an accelerated implementation of Sun's PersonalJava and EmbeddedJava specifications, tailored for Internet appliances and embedded devices. (www.lineo.com)

MontaVista Software has established the Linux Real-Time Characterization Project, to provided embedded developers a set of open-source tools for measuring and describing the real-time responsiveness of Linux systems. (www.mvista.com)

Computer I/O Corporation has released Easy I/O Server, a Linux-based network I/O server. The server is a hardware/software solution that simplifies remote data acquisition, control, or storage tasks across a network, by transparently making the remote resource appear to be a local device. (www.computerio.com)

SGI and SuSE are collaborating on a version of IRIS FailSafe, for high-availability applications in Linux environments. "High availability is an important piece of the puzzle," says Linus Torvalds. (www.sgi.com, www.suse.com)

Samsung launched Yopy, a PDA with Linux inside. The device contains an ARM processor, a 4-inch color LCD, HTML browser, MP3 player, and CompactFlash expansion slot. Add-ons will include a TV tuner, GPS, wireless modem, and digital camera attachment.

National Semiconductor will offer Citrix Systems' Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) software for its Geode single-chip Internet appliance. The Geode chip, which runs Linux, contains a 64-bit "X86" CPU, plus PCI, video, audio, and power management functions. (www.national.com/appinfo/solutions/)

NETsilicon announced NET+Lx Linux connectivity software for its NET+ARM one-chip embedded appliance. The chip contains a 32-bit ARM7TDMI RISC processor, plus Ethernet, SDRAM, SPI, and serial interfaces. Display connection requires an additional component. The OS used is uClinux. (www.netsilicon.com)

Ericsson showed off a Linux-based cordless Screen Phone (HS210) that combines wireless connectivity with Internet access, telephony, and e-mail functions. (photo: www.ericsson.com/pressroom/screen02.htm)

Lineo acquired Rt-Control Inc., the developers of uClinux. uClinux supports microcontrollers, including Motorola 68000 and ColdFire, ARM7, Axis ETRAX, and the Intel i960. (www.lineo.com)

Two new embedded Linux whitepapers are online: "Embedding Linux in a Mobile Robot"; and "Using Linux in Embedded and Real-time Apps".
(www.linuxdevices.com/cgi-bin/article_view.cgi?artid=AT3782871866, www.linuxdevices.com/cgi-bin/article_view.cgi?artid=AT3611822672)

InfoCharms unveiled a tiny brooch-style Internet-ready communicator that contains Nanix, a slimmed-down Linux. "We hope Nanix will become the Linux of wearable computers," say company representatives. (www.infocharms.com)

"Which Linux will you use in future embedded system projects?" The answer: Lineo Embedix tops the embedded-distributions list, followed by PROSA ETLinux and Lynx BlueCat Linux. Red Hat, Debian, and Caldera were the most popular standard distributions for future embedded designs. Nearly two-thirds said they will pay for outside services and support. (www.linuxdevices.com/polls/)

Espial announced an embedded Internet browser that fits in under 800KBytes. (www.espial.com)

Atmel announced a Linux-based single-chip Internet appliance, the AT75C310, which includes support for VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and audio. The device contains an ARM7TDMI CPU, RAM, DSPs, SPI, USART, and parallel I/O. (www.atmel.com)

Axis Communications began delivering ETRAX 100, a one-chip Linux-based Internet appliance. It contains a 100 MIPS 32-bit RISC processor, plus Ethernet, IDE, SCSI, parallel, and serial ports. (developer.axis.com)

Sigma Designs announced a "set-top box" reference design based on Intel's Celeron processor and 810 graphics controller, plus Sigma's REALmagic video decoder chip. (www.sigmadesigns.com)

MoJo Designs' Eyelet GUI now supports Linux. The processor-independent GUI helps developers of Linux-based embedded systems avoid the substantial overhead of X Windows. (www.mojodesigns.com)

Compaq's Western Research Center is developing "Itsy," a Linux-based open platform for pocket computing. The purpose of Itsy is to foster development of novel user interfaces, applications, and research projects. Itsy uses a StrongARM CPU. (www.research.digital.com/wrl/itsy/)

Everybook Inc. announced a Linux-based electronic book containing Lineo's Embedix Linux OS and Embedix Browser. Users purchase and download digital books and magazines from the Everybook Store. (www.everybook.net)

EL/IX version 1.1, Red Hat's proposed spec for adding real-time features to Linux, is now available for download. (sourceware.cygnus.com/elix/elix-api.pdf)

MontaVista founder Jim Ready discusses his views on embedded and real-time Linux and his companies plans and strategies, in an interview. (www.linuxdevices.com/cgi-bin/article_view.cgi?artid=AT9093728800)

Victor Yodaiken has received US patent 5995745 for a technique of running a general purpose operating system (e.g. Linux) under a multi-tasking kernel (e.g. RTLinux). (www.patents.ibm.com/details?&pn=US05995745__)

International Data Corporation (IDC) says the "Post-PC Era" has arrived. Their new report projects that shipments of consumer information appliances will outpace those of consumer PCs by 2002. (www.idc.com)

IBM announced ViaVoice, a set of speech recognition technologies and tools for Linux, saying this is the first in a series of forthcoming IBM Linux solutions. (www.ibm.com/software/speech)

Kerbango, Inc. announced the world's first standalone Internet radio. The Linux based device lets you access Web-based streaming audio without a PC. The OS inside is MontaVista's Hard Hat Linux. (www.kerbango.com)

Will Microwindows be the GUI of choice for tomorrow's Linux-based embedded systems and appliances? The open-source GUI offers both a "Win32 GDI API" and a minimized X Windows compatible GUI. (microwindows.censoft.com)

ISDCorp has released Royal Linux, for systems that use non-Intel CPUs such as ARM, MIPS, Motorola 68K/Coldfire, and PowerPC processors. (www.isdcorp.com)

MontaVista Software will use RTLinux, from FSMLabs, as an "accelerator" option for embedded market customers wanting "hard real-time" features. (www.mvista.com, www.fsmlabs.com)

Lineo has acquired real-time Linux specialist, Zentropix. (www.lineo.com, www.zentropix.com)

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For the latest news, information, and buzz on Embedded Linux, stop by the Embedded Linux Portal, at http://www.linuxdevices.com. Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. This column, written by Rick Lehrbaum, is copyright (c) 2000 LinuxDevices.com and reproduced with permission. You can reach us here.