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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: 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: 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: Gaming

Early last year, we polled the grand audience and found out just what you liked (and disliked) about Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 for PS3. Fast forward 13 months, and those still waiting on the sidelines have yet another option for jumping in. As of now, Terra Soft Solutions is offering up Sony’s 80GB PlayStation 3 with YDL 6.0 pre-installed for $549.95, and yes, that includes the DVDs containing the OS. Interestingly, it seems as if you’ll still have to pony up for a component or HDMI cable, but at least the option’s there, right?

[Thanks, Fiddlesworth]

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Desktops, Features

Although it was (and still is, really) astoundingly easy to simply point the finger and laugh at Everex’s completely unsightly, totally underwhelming TC2502 gPC just months ago, it appears that this thing may actually have a chance at gaining a wee (keyword: wee) amount of steam in the desktop market. Shortly after finding its way to Wal-Mart shelves, the box sold out — a feat few surmised would actually take place. Furthermore, it seems to have sparked, or at least been the poster child of, a quiet revolution of ultra-cheap, open source-based machines, tagging along with the likes of Asus’ Eee PC, Shuttle’s KPC and the recently announced Linux PC from Mirus Innovations.

On the real, the rig was absolutely lambasted in a PC Mag review, but truthfully, we aren’t exactly shocked given the hardware selection and (relatively) unfamiliar operating system. Then again, we’ve a sneaking suspicion the reviewers in this scenario weren’t the target individuals Everex (and Wally World, to be frank) was gunning for. Stepping back, it’s hard to miss the recent infatuation by the general public with machines touting rock bottom price tags and nary a hint of the world’s most widely used OS, so in a sense, these guys and gals must be doing something right, be it marketing or otherwise. Still, we figure we’ll need more than an abacus to count up just how many tweaks our dear readers would make to the gPC if given the chance — maybe starting with the atrocious chassis and the dearth of wireless connectivity options — so don’t let us down, alright?

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Cellphones

We’ve been waiting so long for the Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum to finalize something, we’d nearly given up hope. Turns out, all it took was a rousing announcement by Google and the formation of the Open Handset Alliance to get those gears a-turnin’. Okay, so maybe those events weren’t the catalyst, but whatever the case, Release 1.0 is ready to rock. With the specifications finally complete, LiPS is hoping to “enable mobile industry players to achieve basic interoperability for applications and services deployed on Linux-based phones,” and moreover, to allow services and compatible phones to be churned out even faster. Put simply, the entity “targets interoperability through real open standards and specifications, not de facto acceptance of single platform implementation.” Bold though that may be, we certainly like the sound of it, and according to LiPS Executive Director Bill Weinberg, the next step is to “complete an RFP for a hardware reference platform” and hook up with a number of hardware vendors to get the ball rolling. Fight on, LiPS!

[Via LinuxDevices]

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Laptops

It looks like AMD’s trying to make some friends in the open source community, with it today announcing some new drivers for Linux along with some details on its plans to open up its drivers to the community at large. Set to be released later this month, the new Catalyst 7.9 software will add Linux support for the ATI Radeon HD 2000 series of graphics processors, along with other “major performance improvements across the board,” which it says should result in a “90 per cent improvement in such popular titles as Doom 3 and Quake 4.” What’s more, AMD also reportedly took advantage of this week’s Kernel Summit to announce a fairly major push to go open source with its drivers. As part of that initiative, AMD will apparently work with the open source community develop a 2D and 3D driver that supports all the latest Radeon chipsets, and it’ll even release documentation to let anyone (with the necessary skills) build some drivers from scratch. According to blogger Christopher Blizzard, however, that will apparently be a rather slow process, with the documentation for the 2D drivers coming first, and the 3D docs coming some time after that. Still, we’re guessing that there’s quite a few folks that now know what they’ll be doing with their free time for the foreseeable future.

Read - AMD Press Release
Read - Christopher Blizzard, “A new road for AMD and ATI”

[Via LWN.net]

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Source: Donald Melanson

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Handhelds

Bug Labs just threw the door wide open on its website, and is finally hitting us with the nitty gritty on its open source hardware modules. There are too many details to get into, but the BUGbase “foundation” module is boasting an ARM1136JF-S processor, 128MB of RAM, 802.11b/g WiFi, USB, Ethernet and a small LCD with button controls. There are four connectors on the BUGbase to plug into other modules, and plenty of support for cameras, networking, displays and the like. So far the confirmed modules include GPS, camera, touchscreen LCD and an accelerometer, while under “coming soon” we’ve got features like a double-width touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard, audio speaker and mini jacks, and of course the all-important “teleporter” module. Bug Labs is still on the hunt for beta testers, so if you’re not afraid of getting your hands dirty with an SDK and some halfway-there-hardware, be sure to hit ‘em up.

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Source: Paul Miller

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