Tuxtops

Cambridge Consultants has released a portable, hardware-independent Bluetooth software package aimed at embedded devices. The profiles and protocol stack -- Interface Express and BlueStack -- have been ported to multiple processor architectures including ARM and MIPS, and run on a range of embedded operating systems including Linux.

NEC and Panasonic have developed three Linux-powered 3G mobile phones to be introduced in Japan in the coming months -- NEC's N900iL, NEC's N901iC, and Panasonic's P901i. Of the three, only NEC's N900iL is currently shipping. The N900iL is a dual-network 3G/VoIP handset that works as a 3G mobile phone (using DoCoMo's W-CDMA/FOMA technologies), VoIP terminal, or both simultaneously. All three phones are based on the Linux 3G mobile phone software platform announced by NEC and Panasonic earlier this week.

Larry Garfield tries to sort out the facts of the current market, and comes to the conclusion that palmOne needs to refocus on key long-term buyers.

Japanese electronics giants NEC and Panasonic have jointly developed a Linux-based software platform which offers third-generation mobile phone users more services on their handsets.

Down under, the Z400 from Zensonic brings photo, audio and video streaming over Wi-Fi 802.11g and Ethernet with support for a slew of different formats.

NEC System Technologies, Ltd., Toshiba Information Systems Corporation, and ELT, Inc. to Resell MontaVista Linux in Japan. Will provide value-added solutions based on popular Linux platform.

TOKYO, Nov. 17, 2004 MontaVista Software Inc. today announced that NEC System Technologies, Ltd.; Toshiba Information Systems (Japan) Corporation; and ELT, Inc. will resell MontaVista® Linux® in Japan. These established resellers will distribute MontaVista Linux products, including the company's embedded operating system (OS) platforms, along with front-line technical support, and other services. In addition, they will offer their own highly reliable and flexible products and services to companies that require comprehensive solutions with integrated middleware and software applications.

'MontaVista currently serves customers in Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan and India, as well as in Europe and the U.S., and we continue to expand our presence to address increasing worldwide demand for our embedded Linux products,'? said Hitoshi Arima, Vice President, Japan, MontaVista Software, Inc. 'By collaborating with NEC System Technologies, Toshiba Information Systems, and ELT, MontaVista will be able to better serve software developers in Japan and expand the range of competitive products and services it can offer to its customers.'?

The embedded market in Japan has been growing rapidly along with increasingly stringent development requirements for high performance, rich functionality, expanded applications support, and network-ready capabilities. Japanese manufacturers are seeking to develop new complex systems and products, faster and at reduced costs. Since MontaVista Japan KK was founded in 2000, embedded Linux has been gaining popularity in Asia Pacific. In 2003, the Fuji-Keizai Group, a leading provider of market and industry information, reported that MontaVista Linux garnered almost half (46.3%) of embedded Linux projects in Japan while MontaVista Software represented almost two-thirds (63.4%) of the embedded Linux market revenues in Japan. Now, the company has decided to collaborate with these three established resellers, and to leverage their broader presence in Japan to expand MontaVista's channel capacity and take advantage of recent market trends.

'As the development of embedded devices becomes more complex, customers are seeking products and integration from companies with a proven record and the advanced technologies to build high quality products. Toshiba has a reputation for providing comprehensive support for the development of embedded devices. Our experience incorporates application development, operating system design, middleware, hardware, and software porting, ' said Mr. Hiroshi Kiyuna, General Manager of Embedded Systems Sales Division, Toshiba Information Systems (Japan) Corporation. 'Together with MontaVista, we will offer high quality and efficient integration for customers who require a wide range of applications with advanced functionalities. In addition, Toshiba now distributes the most advanced graphical solution for embedded systems, Qt/Embedded; a product that is also supported on MontaVista Linux.'?

'Adopting Linux in embedded devices, which are increasingly in demand today due to the arrival of ubiquitous-network society, will enable us to respond better to the demand for devices with more variety as well as higher performance,'? said Kiyoshi Ikeda, General Manager, Servers Software Division in the Platform Operations Unit of NEC System Technologies. 'NEC System Technologies has developed rich technological capabilities and skills on Linux through active utilization of Open Source software in the field of enterprise systems. In this recent collaboration, we will take full advantage of our experience to provide a wide spectrum of Monta Vista Linux-based solutions, thereby enhancing and expanding business in the embedded market.'?

'We have been a strategic partner of MontaVista Software and its Japan subsidiary since its founding, and we are very pleased that our partnership is now even further extended,'? said Mr. Hide Sakamoto, CEO and President of ELT. 'We are proud of our No.1 position in the industry in Japan for MontaVista Linux based system integration, having more than 100 systems deployed. Our offerings, which include an embedded Linux development environment, and a wide range of middleware supported on MontaVista Linux, gives us a significant advantage. As a MontaVista Software sales channel, we will continue to offer high quality services to our customers.'?

Making an unlikely comeback, Data Evolution is reviving the five-year old Clio line of palmtops with the introduction of the Clio NXT, offering a high-end feature set.

A Chinese Linux smartphone company has won a prestigious industry award in Hong Kong. E28 received a Technological Achievement Award in the 2004 Hong Kong Awards for Industry, for a Linux-based smartphone reference design expected in January.

Sales of Symbian OS-based smartphones and communicators have risen 201% from quarter 3 of 2003 to quarter 3 of 2004, according to Symbian's latest quarterly report.

Total shipments in 2004 through September were 8.69 million units, compared to 4.89 million Symbian OS devices for the same period in 2003.

A Gartner Research study of July-September sales data found that Microsoft's mobile OS outsold Palm's. During that period, Microsoft's OS accounted for 48.1% of worldwide shipments of PDAs, up from 41.2% the previous year. Palm's share dropped to 29.8% in Q3 2004 from 46.9%. The BlackBerry quadrupled its market share in twelve months to 19.8% from 4.9%.

Does a thumbboard, improved screen and more memory warrant an upgrade from the popular P900? Jørgen Sundgot pokes and prods Sony Ericsson's latest communicator, the P910i.