September 2009 Archives

Vodafone's 360 H1 handset is first with LiMo, release 2

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 29, 2009 4:10 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
Vodafone 360 H1.jpgVodafone's 360 H1 handset manufactured by Samsung is the first commercial mobile phone running the release 2 of the LiMo operating system.

Vodafone 360 is the mobile operator's newly launched social media and messaging service, writes Richard Wilson.

This is a high profile launch for the Linux-based LiMo mobile operating system which is competing with the likes of Google's Android operating system and Nokia's Symbian OS for designs into the next generation of smartphones and multimedia handsets.

"This is the first of a wave of R2 LiMo handsets due in the coming months," said Morgan Gillis, executive director of LiMo Foundation.
Continue reading Vodafone's 360 H1 handset is first with LiMo, release 2.

Keeping legacy Linux code up to speed through parallelisation

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 28, 2009 1:39 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
"Adding parallel processing to legacy code is a desire of every software company that has an existing product which is significant in complexity and which needs to run faster," writes Tom Spyrou on the Intel Software Network blog.

(Tom works for Cadence Design Systems as a Distinguished Engineer.)

He is addressing the issue of how to keep legacy Unix or Linux software up to speed now that processor clock rates are not increasing much and multiple cores are being added to chips instead.

As he sees it, the problem of speeding up software is "moving from a hardware improvement problem to a software parallelisation problem".

Continue reading Keeping legacy Linux code up to speed through parallelisation.

Intel talks Moblin - Imad Sousou interview

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 18, 2009 11:57 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
An interesting Moblin interview with Imad Sousou, director of Intel's Open Source Technology centre, on ZDNet. The Moblin initiative (short for Mobile Linux) is aiming to provide optimised Linux technology for netbooks and MIDs (mobile Internet devices).

Questions posed include:

  • There seems to be some confusion over what Moblin entails  -  it appears to be a full Linux distribution, but we have seen Suse and Linpus flavours, and Canonical are about to release an Ubuntu flavour. What is Moblin?
  • Will we see Moblin devices in the UK market soon?
  • What changes have been made since the first version?
  • Moblin is also tailored for MIDs, which is a segment that hasn't taken off yet. Will MIDs become more popular?

Read the full interview with Imad Sousou. It took place at the Open Source In Mobile 09 event in Amsterdam.

Who writes Linux?

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 11, 2009 3:33 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
Linux Foundation - Linux Kernel Development.jpgJust noticed this interesting blog that considers the question who writes Linux? And which companies have done most to support it? Answers are provided by the Linux Foundation.

On the Intel Software Network, Dawn M. Foster writes:
I was excited to see that the Linux Foundation just released an update to their Linux kernel study. This study has some interesting insights into the work that goes into each revision of the kernel along with some information about the people and companies supporting this work.

For example, there are 4-5 kernel releases per year and recent releases have contained over 9000 changes (patches) per release, which breaks down to 4-6 changes to the kernel per hour. The most recent kernel in the study had over 11 million lines of code. This is a huge effort, especially for something that started off as a little hobby.
You can read the full document (PDF) - Linux Kernel Development (How Fast it is Going, Who is Doing It, What They are Doing, and Who is Sponsoring It: An August 2009 Update)
Continue reading Who writes Linux?.

NEC's Linux development kit targets audio-visual data

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 10, 2009 2:40 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
NEC and Wind River are to develop Linux for portable devices, writes our Technology Editor Steve Bush, as NEC introduces a Linux development kit for audio-visual data on its EMMA Mobile 1 processor.

The kit will be used in conjunction with a hardware development kit for testing and evaluating system performance, as well as to develop middleware and software.

"Additional SDKs for EMMA series products based on Wind River Linux technology targeting digital multimedia consumer devices are expected to follow in late 2009 and in 2010," said NEC.

Read the full story - NEC introduces Linux devkit for its EMMA Mobile 1 processor

Video: ST - How Linux is changing the cost model for embedded design

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 9, 2009 12:36 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
ST on Linux at EW Live.jpgCheck out this update to the site: Andy Lunness of STMicroelectronics gives a presentation at Electronics Weekly Live on the costs, as well as benefits, of Linux for embedded design.

View the video >>


Some important bullet points:

* Free means Free to use - not commercially without cost
* The Linux cost model removes up-front costs, but increases development costs
* Development costs are generally higher
Continue reading Video: ST - How Linux is changing the cost model for embedded design.

RMI's 'Android' processor gets Samsung LED TV design-in

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 8, 2009 8:19 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
RMI has seen its MIPS-compatible Au1250 processor selected by Samsung Electronics for a range of portable LED TVs, writes Richard Wilson.

RMI's Au1250 Processor is the first MIPS-compatible SoC processor supported for Android aimed at media and communications applications.

Continue reading RMI's 'Android' processor gets Samsung LED TV design-in.

Copyleft and breaking the cycle of OS fragmentation

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 7, 2009 2:52 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
We've just updated the site with an interesting comment piece from LiMo. From Morgan Gillis, executive director of the LiMO foundation, to be precise. See Comment: Breaking the cycle of OS fragmentation

He begins:
The mobile software world is evolving at a rapid rate buoyed by the infusion of open source principles, methodologies, philosophies and licensing. While this is exciting and invigorating, it is also giving rise to a number of issues - some new, while others give us a sense of "déjà-vu".
Continue reading Copyleft and breaking the cycle of OS fragmentation.

Making the most of open-source hardware

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 2, 2009 1:29 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
Check out an interesting an article new to the site - Making the most of open-source hardware

This blog is about Open Source Engineering, and I'm happy to include hardware as well as software within that remit.

Written by Gerald Coley of Texas Instruments, the main points are:
  • Open-source hardware offers an advanced start on your design.
  • Open-source software complements open-source hardware.
  • Open-source hardware prepares your PCB (printed-circuit-board)-fabrication and -assembly houses for high-volume production.
  • You may want to share your improvements by making them open-source additions, as well.
Continue reading Making the most of open-source hardware.
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