Embedded Linux Market enters era of standardization -- The Embedded Linux Consortium held an open technical meeting Tuesday evening in San Francisco, during which the two-year-old group moved beyond its initial role of primarily evangelizing the adoption of Embedded Linux, to one of beginning to create a unified Embedded Linux "platform specification". There were over 125 attendees at the meeting, and although there was not a sign-in sheet, the RSVPs included representatives of many of the world's largest and most influential software, semiconductor, and electronics companies: HP, Hitachi, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, and Wind River (alphabetically listed). Watch for a more detailed report on this important event in next week's newsletter. Story
eCos vs. uClinux: Which is best for your embedded target? -- Rob Wehrli compares eCos (Red Hat's "un-Linux" OS for devices and embedded systems) to uClinux (a version of Linux for MMU-less microprocessors), in terms of functionality, resource utilization, tools, and support, from a developer perspective. Story
Identifying the top requirements for Embedded Linux systems -- As Embedded Linux becomes established as a solid alternative to many proprietary OSes and RTOSes, demands on embedded Linux developers and providers are increasing. This detailed technical article by Nicholas McGuire sketches the top requirements for Embedded Linux systems including considerations of user interface, network capabilities, security issues, resource optimization, performance requirements and issues, and compatibility and standards issues. Story
TimeSys announces $15.5 Million in financing -- Despite the current bleak economic conditions, TimeSys Corporation announced this week that it has secured $15.5 Million in equity financing. The round was led by Adams Capital Management, with additional participation from The Hillman Company, Sun Microsystems, Philips Electronics, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, and Nissin Systems. Larry Weidman, TimeSys' CEO also participated in the round with a personal investment. Story
LynxOS 4.0 attains "holy grail" of Linux ABI compatibility -- Delivering on a promise made in November 1999, LynuxWorks unveiled a major upgrade to its LynxOS real-time operating system (RTOS), which the company claims is now the first hard real-time operating system to provide binary compatibility with Linux -- meaning that Linux applications can run unmodified directly on LynxOS. Story
Panasonic takes equity stake in MontaVista -- MontaVista Software announced that it has received an equity investment from Panasonic Digital Concepts Center (PDCC), a subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. "We look forward to a strategic relationship that will meld MontaVista Software's strengths with Panasonic's global leadership in consumer electronics," said Charles C. Wu, Managing Director, Investments, of PDCC. Story
The Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) held in San Francisco this week was expected to draw over 15,000 attendees from all facets of the embedded systems market. This year's conference occupied two large halls in the sprawling Moscone Convention Center. Here is a summary of Embedded Linux related new product and partnership announcements which were made in conjunction with ESC . . .
Here are some additional news items and announcements of interest from the past week . . .
As part of our continuing efforts to support the rapidly growing Embedded Linux Market, we are pleased to announce the online 2001 Embedded Linux Market Survey. The survey, which is structured in three parts, asks developers of Linux-based embedded systems and intelligent devices to anonymously provide information about their applications, their embedded Linux OS requirements and preferences, and the perceived advantages and disadvantages of using Linux in embedded applications.
Read them here: Mar. 7, 2002, Feb. 28, 2002, Feb. 21, 2002, Feb. 14, 2002, Feb. 7, 2002, Jan. 31, 2002, Jan. 24, 2002, Jan. 17, 2002, Jan. 10, 2002, Jan. 3, 2002
Be sure to stop by LinuxDevices.com -- "the Embedded Linux Portal" -- for the latest news, articles, forums, products, companies, jobs, and buzz in the fast-moving "post-PC" world of Linux-based intelligent devices, Internet appliances, and embedded systems. You can contact us here.