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Filed under: Transportation

In March of last year, we heard that Toyota had a mind to create its very own in-car operating system to “boost efficiency and speed up development.” Now, it’s bruited that BMW is asking any automaker who will listen to join hands in order to jointly develop an open source in-vehicle platform. The company has stated that it plans on having an open source system in a vehicle that sells 200,000 or more units within the next five to seven years, and while employees from rivals were on hand when the proclamation was made, no one was rushing to call dibs on first. Still, it sounds as if BMW will be forging ahead with or without any assistance, though bigwig Gunter Reichart did assert that BMW was “inviting other OEMs to join it [and] to exchange with it.” In an apparent attempt at providing comic relief, Jim Buczkowski (Ford’s director of global electrical and electronics systems engineering) stated that through its partnership with Microsoft, it already had 280,000 vehicles on the road with an open system. Hmm, clearly our definitions of “open” are somewhat incongruent.

[Via Motor Authority, thanks Laminaatplaat]

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Desktops

Surely you remember the Atom-based Shuttle X27 barebones kit — you know, that cute little nettop case that was selling for $189 with its insides all hollow? For those with no time to fill it up, the full-fledged X2700N is now on tap. Boasting a 1.6GHz Intel Atom 230 processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 120GB hard drive and a GMA950 integrated graphics set, this Linux-based box can be yours right now for $379.99. That’ll also buy you a dual-layer DVD writer, gigabit Ethernet port, 802.11b/g WiFi, a handful of ports (six USB, VGA, DVI, audio in / out) and a 1-year warranty. ‘Tis a shame it’s not housing one of those dual-core Atom 330s, huh?

[Via ComputerMonger]

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Handhelds

Remember that Linux-infused H9 UMPC we spotted last year? Have a look at its proper successor, the Porient H12. The handheld packs a 4.8-inch 800 x 480 resolution display, a 520MHz Intel XScale PXA270 CPU, 2GB of flash storage, an SD / MMC card slot, 802.11b/g WiFi, GPS and DAB / DVB-H / DVB-T tuners. The 10.6-ounce device also features a web browser, RSS reader, multimedia player, PDF viewer and an undisclosed office suite to boot. Pricing has yet to be announced for individual units, though these are available now if you’re down with importing vast quantities. And you aren’t, so that’s that.

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio

It has been a solid tick since we’ve seen a good FairPlay hack, so it’s with great pleasure that we pass along El Tunes for Ubuntu 8.04 users everywhere. Tested to work on Hardy Heron using RhythmBox (but assumed to work on any modern Linux Distro with GStreamer and a media player that utilizes GStreamer), said plug-in enables open-source aficionados to play songs purchased from the iTunes Music Store. As for limitations, the current version has no Pause / Seek support and cannot de-authorize a machine for playback, but a future version should hopefully cure those two quirks and add support for purchased video content and audio streaming to an AirTunes device. Give it a shot and let us know how it treats ya.

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Cellphones

If you’re a Linux fanboy with a hankering for some mobile action, you’ll be pleased to know that buyers of the retail, North American version of OpenMoko’s Neo FreeRunner have started getting shipments. If you hit the read link, you’ll be able to see one lucky owner unboxing his new toy, complete with a spares kit and debug board (this guy is getting into it, okay?). This set of photos should be a nice companion to that in-depth look at the OS we saw recently. Now we’re going to be on pins and needles finding out what gets cooked up for that spacious 480 x 640 screen.

[Via Slashdot]

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Source: Joshua Topolsky

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Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops

Not like we weren’t totally expecting this or anything, but Canonical has chosen Computex as the expo where it will officially showcase Ubuntu Netbook Remix. Hailed as a “reworked desktop image of Ubuntu built specifically for a new category of portable internet-centric devices,” the operating system will probably not be too foreign for those familiar with the standard Ubuntu Desktop Edition. We are told that this flavor will feature a launcher that enables users to “get online more quickly and have faster access to their favorite applications,” and that it “leverages Moblin technologies optimized for the Intel Atom processor.” Unfortunately, devices pre-loaded with UNR aren’t apt to ship until “later in 2008,” though OEMs interested in getting in while there is still room on the bandwagon are encouraged to hit up Canonical. Full release waiting after the jump.

Continue reading Canonical makes Ubuntu Netbook Remix official at Computex

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Laptops

While its claim of being the “first” to offer an OS specifically designed for the latest crop of low-cost laptops and UMPCs may be a little dubious, the unfortunately-named Linpus is at least pretty quick to jump on the bandwagon. To that end, the company’s just let loose its Linpus Linux Lite OS, which it says will run just fine on laptops like the Eee PC and Cloudbook, or any other system with as little as a 500MHz CPU, 128MB of RAM and 512MB of storage. Just as importantly, the OS is also apparently designed with low-res 7-inch screens in mind, although as CLUMPC points out, it doesn’t go so far as to include support for little things like built-in WiFi out of the box. Still, if you want to give it a shot, you can grab it now in the form of a Live CD direct from Linpus.

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Source: Donald Melanson

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Filed under: Gaming

It’s only been a short while since we saw the first successful attempts at Wii homebrew, but things now look to have busted wide open, with hacks seemingly turning up left and right these days. Most notably, the folks from the GameCube Linux project have recently let loose a proof of concept Linux “mini-distro” that makes use of the now infamous Twilight Princess hack to turn the Wii into a tiny (and so far not very useful) Linux box. If that’s a bit too much you, however, you may be interested in some of the tamer homebrew fare that recently made its debut, including an MP3 player and, you guessed it, an SNES emulator. In related news, Nintendo also just pushed out an official updated to the Wii OS (version 3.2), but contrary to what the timing would suggest, it apparently doesn’t do anything to block you from getting your homebrew fix.

Read - GameCube Linux project
Read - TehSkeen, SNES emulator
Read - Wii News, Wii Mode MP3 Player
Read - MaxConsole Forums, Wii Update 3.2

[Thanks to everyone who sent these in]

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Source: Donald Melanson

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