OLPC has announced that OLPC XO BTest-2 laptops are now shipping to those who can test and develop the “$100 laptop” hardware and software.

The BTest-2 hardware is continuing beta test for the electronics. Main revisions include a new screen with a improved diffuser, touchpad, new mesh networking and further work on the suspend/resume functionality.

via OLPC News

TimeSys Corporation, a embedded Linux service provider, has announced its LinuxLink Radio, a free podcast focused on embedded Linux. Listeners can keep a pulse on the growing embedded Linux industry and pick up tips that will help them with their next project. The content in LinuxLink Radio is designed to be of interest to all embedded Linux developers, whether or not they are subscribers to the LinuxLink service for building customized Linux platforms.

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Trolltech, the Norwegian company behind the Qt toolkit has become the second Patron of KDE. Trolltech itself should not need an introduction, since they have worked together with the KDE project since its inception ten years ago. Knut Irvin, the community manager for Trolltech points out that “KDE does an excellent job of making UNIX-based desktops easy to use. Trolltech gains from feedback, bug reports and the spread of Qt through the success of KDE”.

Link via LXer Linux News

Nice shot of the FIC OpenMoko phone next to the OLPC from Chris Ball. He says it hass one of the “sharpest screens I’ve seen for the form factor.”

Zune-online has posted an interview with Steven Biars, member of the Zune-Linux project and the administrator of Zune-Linux.com site/forum. According to him the newly formed project is “an opportunity to unleash the power of Zune. Zune-Linux is not about money or fame, we’re in this to better the Linux community and to better the capabilities of our Zunes”.

Roadnav v0.17 has been released. Roadnav is a open source in-car navigation system capable of running on a variety of operating systems, including Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. It can obtain a car’s present location from a GPS unit, plot street maps of the area, and provide verbal turn by turn directions to any location in the USA. Roadnav uses the free TIGER/Line files from the US Census Bureau to build the maps, along with the GNIS state and topical gazetteer data from the USGS to identify locations. Notable changes include support for flite and OS X’s built in text to speech engine, improved routing algorithm, reduced disk space requirements, and many bug fixes.

via TuxMobil

LinuxLookup takes a look at the TrollTech Qtopia Greenphone and reviews the accompanying software development kit.

After having spent a fair bit of time with the Greenphone, it became clear to me that the goal of this device was to build and extend the Qtopia mobile platform community and provide a means for developing software for such a platform. Trolltech is attempting to “ride on the shoulders” of such a community, hoping that their new platform will take off. Some of the steps they are taking are very good, such as providing a downloadable Community SDK (with licensing limitation), so that a budding software developer can write and test code without having to invest the whopping $700 for the hardware. In my opinion, the platform definitely has potential, but as far as being a truly hacker friendly device, I think the above license agreement says it all.

LinuxDevices has the details on a new “Treo like” linux smartphone. A startup in Penang, Malaysia is readying a Linux-based dual-mode WiFi GSM/GPRS phone expected to ship in Q2. Gupp Technologies’s “Phreedom” phone boasts a Treo-style QWERTY keyboard, a 2.5-inch QVGA color screen, and VoWiFi (voice-over-WiFi) capabilities based on the SIP standard.

Along with a QWERTY hardware keyboard, the Phreedom has a landscape-mode 2.5-inch QVGA (320×240) LCD display with 265K colors. Connectivity options include an 802.11b/g WiFi radio with WEP, WPA, and 802.11i support, and a “double tri-band” GSM radio apparently supporting 850/1800/1900 MHz and 900/1800/1900 MHz.

The WSJ’s Walt Mossberg has published his review of Nokia’s latest N800 Internet Tablet. He praises its web browsing capabilities and large screen, but knocks it for its unpolished and thin software offerings.

Nokia is hoping that open-source developers will help polish the N800’s software and add functions. This is an idealistic goal, and has won the hearts of some techies. But mainstream consumers expect complete functions on the device, out of the box. Third-party software is a great thing, but it isn’t a substitute for strong software from the manufacturer.

Cflinux is a small, embedded linux based system that can run from a single CF memory card. It is intended for use as a firewall, router, WLAN access point, openswan gateway or as a PPoE or PPTP access server. It hasn’t been designed with desktop use in mind. The ISO installer is a small 9 mb and the source is released under the GPL.