Banking on the idea that if you liked it on servers, you'll love it on PDAs, Transvirtual Technologies this week will introduce a development platform for Linux on handheld devices.
At LinuxWorld in San Jose, the company will introduce Pocket linux Developer Kits, which include the framework and the personal digital assistant on which to use it.
Starting this week, the development software will also be available for download at www.pocketlinux.com. Pricing has yet to be set.
Pocketlinux includes Transvirtual's flagship product, Kaffe, along with its own version of embedded Linux.
Kaffe is a Java virtual machine that currently ships with several companies' desktop Linux distributions; it is notable in that it requires no source-code licenses from Sun Microsystems, which invented Java.
The Pocketlinux environment includes support for Extensible Markup Language and the Wireless Application Protocol. In addition, the environment includes a graphics library that does not require an external windowing system, such as X Window, making it easier to develop GUIs that can run on the smallest devices, according to company officials.
This means that developers won't have to build from the ground up to support various form factors, such as mobile phones and Web pads, officials said.
At LinuxWorld, the company will demonstrate a Compaq Computer iPaq and a prototype handheld device from VTech Holdings Ltd. running applications based on Pocket linux. Transvirtual officials said Pocket linux-based devices are due on the market later in the year.
Currently, Transvirtual has partnerships with a number of hardware and software enterprises, including Intel, Compaq, the Debian Project, Red Hat, VTech and Bodycom.
Pocketlinux is not the first example of Linux on handhelds. Red Hat and Ericsson inked a deal earlier in the month to put Red Hat's embedded Linux on Ericsson phones in the future. And Houston-based Compaq has been doing its own work to get Linux onto iPaqs.
But Transvirtual officials insist that what they're doing is different.
"Compaq's kernel development is useful, but so far they're looking at a desktop-centric approach to applicationsÃÆ'Ã,¢Ã¢,Ã,¬"that's basically wrong," said Tim Wilkinson, Transvirtual's CEO. "What you need is the kind of application framework that Palm has, but which will run on any device."
