Linpus has developed and released a new mobile Linux distro aimed at low-cost PCs like UMPC’s, Asus Eee PC, OLPC, Classmate PC, MID and other consumer mobile devices. Linpus Linux Lite is designed to run smoothly and reliably on a lower-end hardware with processing power as low as 500 MHz, 128MB of DRAM and 512MB of storage space.
It features a UI optimized for 4 – 7″ inch screens, power management on lower grade hardware, a simple and advanced user mode and built in networking support for Wi-Fi, WiMAX, HSDPA, HSUPA, Ethernet, BT, IR and UPnP. You can grab a live CD here.
A interesting new 1src editorial has been posted that revisits not only the bygone days of standalone PDAs and their various peripherals but the industry’s newfound focus on slim, subnotebook-type devices. The piece is definitely a must-read for both long-term PDA fans as well as users who might be considering a jump to a large-screened device devoid of a physical keyboard such as the iPod Touch or a miniaturized subnote such as the EEE PC.
“My Mobile Companion” is written by long-time Palm aficionado Alan Grassia. The editorial discusses Alan’s previous years using dedicated handhelds, managing to stay productive despite having to tote an array of accessories, snap-on modules and assorted gear. Grassia theorizes that despite the huge improvements in connectivity and storage capacity offered by a modern-day Treo over a Tungsten or Visor handheld from years ago, easy data input is still the Achilles heel of all mobile devices. With the industry turning its attention to miniaturized QWERTY integrated into smartphones and sub-notebooks, the glory days of larger, folding travel keyboards such as those popularized by Palm, Targus, and ThinkOutside appear to be coming to an end.
ZDNet.co.uk has posted the first of a two part video series looking at the current state of mobile Linux at last week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
In the first video they look at how Trolltech is putting Linux apps on a Windows Mobile phone, how Access plans to port thousands of Palm OS apps over to the LiMo Foundation’s Linux platform, and how Azingo is running Series 60 apps on Linux. Scan to 3 minutes in for a good look at ALP in action.
Nicholas Negroponte, co-founder of both the MIT Media Lab and the non-profit One Laptop Per Child, delivered the last keynote speech of the American Academy for the Advancement of Sciences annual meeting.
The talk focused on the groundbreaking work of the OLPC, which has managed to deliver thousands of $187 laptops to children in the developing world. Negroponte ran through a list of the organization’s accomplishments, noting that they had half a million machines in their pipeline and that production had reached 110,000 units per month. The big key to large-scale adoption remains price going forward, and he promised big price drops in the coming years.
Orange and Access have released a press release that finally drops the word that there will actually be a device shipping with the Access Linux Platform. While it’s not an outright admission, both companies have made statements that an upcoming Samsung i800 smartphone will be the “first fully open Linux-powered device from Orange.”
The press release itself is actually about the two companies joining the LiMo foundation, which we posted about yesterday. Read on to view the full release.
Update: In an interview Yve Maitre of Orange says the Samsung i800 will ship by June. The phone will also run the “Orange Application Platform” (OAP), a “unified interface” which will run across multiple Orange signature phones.
PhoneMag was able to catch a demo of the Google Android OS running on a reference phone with a touchscreen at the WMC. The demo hardware is a E28’s E2831 quadband GSM smartphone, with WiFi, a 2.2-inch QVGA touchscreen and 1.3-megapixel camera all running on an OMAP TI 730 chipset, at just 200MHz,. Given the older specs, Android seemed to run pretty well in the video demo.
DataViz has announced the availability of Documents To Go for the MontaVista Mobilinux 5.0 mobile operating system. As a result of the integration of the mobile office suite Documents To Go by DataViz with Mobilinux, mobile device users will be able to open and view Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint email attachments directly on their Linux-based mobile devices.
MontaVista will resell Documents To Go to mobile device developers and manufacturers, so the manufacturers and mobile operators can deliver document viewing capabilities to their customers on any device using the Mobilinux 5.0 mobile operating system. MontaVista and DataViz have agreed to collaborate to tailor Documents To Go to include additional features such as its critically acclaimed file editing, creation and more, based upon customer requests.
ACCESS today announced the immediate availability of the ACCESS Linux Platform Development Suite (SDK and Tools) via a newly-created developer portal designed to provide support and services for third party Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). The ACCESS Linux Platform Development Suite is now immediately available to all registered members of the ACCESS Developer Network (ADN).
The Development Suite is a complete, integrated development environment (IDE) that leverages open source tools such as Eclipse and Glade, integrated and extended for the needs of mobile applications. The ALP Development Suite includes all the necessary components, tools, samples and documentation to develop, run, test and debug native applications for mobile devices based on the ACCESS Linux Platform.
Wind River Systems and Access today announced that they are extending their partnership into the Linux mobile handset market with a pre-integrated software development solution for mobile handset OEMs and cellular carriers. The solution, expected to be available in Q2 2008, will combine Wind River’s Platform for Consumer Devices, Linux Edition with the ACCESS Linux Platform, delivering a completely integrated, open and flexible Linux-based platform tailored specifically for mobile devices. Handset OEMs and carriers will have the option of coupling a leading commercial-grade Linux distribution with a leading commercial handset software stack to more efficiently develop and differentiate devices, including LiMo-compliant handsets.
Engadget has snapped a bunch of pictures of a Google Android Handset protype on display at the Mobile World Congress going on this week in Barcelona. Texas Instruments had the handset you see above — from an unknown vendor — to demo the OS running on an OMAP 3430 processor at 500 MHz.
CrunchGear and PDAExpertos are also there and have posted quick hands-on videos, which we have embedded after the break.
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February 27th, 2008 by 
Ryan
Comment » Posted in Asus, Mobile Linux, OLPC 
A interesting new 1src editorial has been posted that revisits not only the bygone days of standalone PDAs and their various peripherals but the industry’s newfound focus on slim, subnotebook-type devices. The piece is definitely a must-read for both long-term PDA fans as well as users who might be considering a jump to a large-screened device devoid of a physical keyboard such as the iPod Touch or a miniaturized subnote such as the EEE PC. 
DataViz has announced the availability of Documents To Go for the MontaVista Mobilinux 5.0 mobile operating system. As a result of the integration of the mobile office suite Documents To Go by DataViz with Mobilinux, mobile device users will be able to open and view Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint email attachments directly on their Linux-based mobile devices.
ACCESS today announced the immediate availability of the ACCESS Linux Platform Development Suite (SDK and Tools) via a newly-created 
