LinuxWorld continued
BSDi -- one of the signs at the BSDi booth was about something called "eBSD -- the Internet Expert's Choice to Embed in Internet Applications and Appliances." There wasn't any further explanation available, nor was anyone around who could tell me anything about the company's strategy with respect to the embedded (BSD) market. Watch for further information about eBSD here at LinuxDevices.com, some time soon.
Century Software -- at a pedestal in Red Hat's pavilion, Century Software's Microwindows, ViewML, and PDA software toolkit were being demonstrated on three platforms . . .
- The first public demonstration of full motion MPEG video under Microwindows, based on a fast framebuffer display technology known as Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL), was shown running on an ADS Graphics Master SBC.
- Microwindows, the latest ScreenTop PDA suite, 802.11 wireless networking, and Doom (the game) were all being demonstrated on a Compaq iPAQ. Century Software CEO Greg Haerr described the latest ScreenTop programs as "more user-friendly and 'Palm-like'."
- None of us want to wait twenty or thirty seconds for our toasters to boot their embedded operating systems, right? In this third demo, an SIS motherboard was shown booting all the way to the Microwindows desktop in just seven seconds -- quite an accomplishment! The secret to doing this is a combination of LinuxBIOS, the Memory Technology Driver (using a DiskOnChip flash disk), a small foot-print Linux kernel, and, of course, Microwindows.
Coventive -- this company's LinuxWorld debut featured a massive, circular pavilion with a large number of Coventive and partner product and technology demo's distributed all around its circumference . . .
- Axis Corporation's (Japan) canD, a very small, stylish, and easy-to-install Linux-based TV set-top box with a remote control. It contains a customised GUI and Linux software which fits in 8MB ROM, all based on Coventive's XTinux Embedded Linux operating system.
- A Chinese Linux PDA manufactured by Legend, based on an Intel StrongArm processor and Coventive's XTinux. The device has a full-featured browser, with PIM/SYNC funtions as well as handwriting recognition for simplified and traditional Chinese.
- A Linux-based online stock trading software application was demonstrated on Coventive's set-top box reference design.
- One of the first Linux-based smart card readers, from Disonic (Taiwan)
- A "Gigabyte Server Appliance" with easy-to-use GUI and containing Coventive's Linux OS embedded in ROM, "allowing non-techies to set up and monitor the network environment."
- The STMicroelectronics STPC system-on-chip Internet Appliance reference design
- A demo of the DevelopOnline Integrated Development Environment (IDE), showing precisely how developers can use the service to upload and test software on selected reference platforms using one of several online Embedded Linux software development kits (SDKs).
- RidgeRun, a DevelopOnline partner, explained and demonstrated DSPLinux, an Embedded Linux OS specifically tuned to the requirements of TI dual-core processors that combine ARM and DSP processors on a single chip.
- Insignia Solutions' Jeode Embedded Virtual Machine (EVM) Java-compatible embedded software environment was demonstrated on a ThinkPad running Red Hat Linux.
- A remote demo, accessed via DevelopOnline's web technology, was shown running the Jeode EVM and the PointBase embedded database running on an iPAQ under Hard Hat Linux.
IBM -- showed their ever-popular Linux wrist-watch, a complete Linux system in the body of a tiny (56 mm x 48 mm), geeky looking watch. IBM was also demonstrating DB2 Everywhere, a database for embedded systems that fits in less than 150KB memory, which was announced at the show. In another part of their very expansive booth, IBM was showing a "technology demonstration" of a Linux-based retail Point-of-Sale (POS) system.
Intel -- showed several demonstrations of Embedded Linux, including the Assabet reference design for the StrongARM SA-1110 (which forms the basis of Compaq's iPAQ design). The Assabet was running from a battery pack and, according to the Intel spokesperson, achieves 10-12 hours of operation with the LCD backlight turned off or roughly 6 hours with the backlight on. Intel's new XScale microarchitecture, the successor to StrongARM, was also being demonstrated running Embedded Linux at the MontaVista and LynuxWorks booths.
