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News Digest 22-Jan-03: IBM's Linux Designs

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IBM Looks to Arm More PDAs with Linux

IBM's Microelectronics division announced on Tuesday it will offer a PDA blueprint aimed at fostering the development of new versions of handhelds based on its PowerPC 405LP chip and MontaVista Software's Linux. The reference design, which will allow people to create several different kinds of PDAs, will be available from IBM Microelectronics and a few partners in March, the company said. The design will be offered in a kit that likely will cost $1,000 or less.

Read the full story on: CNET News.com

Sanyo Schedules Production of 35-mW Blue-Violet Laser

Sanyo will begin production this spring of a 35-milliwatt blue-violet laser for next-generation writable optical disk systems. The 35-mW device is one of the highest-power blue-violet lasers announced to date. Sanyo plans to invest about $85 million to develop various blue-violet lasers and hopes to sell about $125 million of them in 2005. Last December, Nichia Corp. and Sony Corp. said they would work together to develop a 100-mW laser for use in upcoming Blu-ray disk systems.

Read the full story on: EE Times

Sharp Unveils Well-Connected Home Server

Sharp will soon launch a Linux-based home audiovisual server in Japan that uses a broadband connection to reach beyond the boundaries of the home and allow users access to their stored video and image files from computers connected to the Internet. At its heart, the HG-01S is a 120GB hard drive-based video recorder with an additional photo album feature but what differentiates it from some of the other digital video recorders or home servers on the market is the inclusion of a Web server and networking functions that allow recorded video to be viewed from other computers across the Internet. It also has a built-in wireless LAN (802.11b).

Read the full story on: IDG

Got Dot Net?

At this week's LinuxWorld Expo conference, the handful of Microsoft employees tasked with defending a world where software isn't free are ready to meet head-on the open-source believers. Microsoft is sending some of its crack GotDotNet evangelization team into enemy territory. The GotDotNet team is a skun-kworks operation of folks working on Web services, XML development aids, and other .Net-related tools and technologies inside of Microsoft. Will even the most hardened Linux programmer see something to like in the .Net Framework? Will the open-source vs. closed-source battle finally move beyond rhetoric and dueling TCO studies?

Read the full story on: Microsoft Watch

IBM Signs Deal with SiGe Semi on Power Amplifiers

SiGe Semiconductor and IBM Microelectronics announced two deals Monday that the companies said will enhance the performance and availability of power amplifiers used in mobile handsets. IBM has licensed intellectual property associated with some of its power amplifiers to SiGe Semiconductor. The portfolio includes seven devices in various stages of design, mainly targeted at 2.5G and 3G handsets.

Read the full story on: CommsDesign

Credit Card-Size Hard Drive Can Hold 5GB

StorCard can contain from 100MB to more than 5GB of data on a plastic card. At first glance, it looks like a credit card, and even has a magnetic strip like a credit card, for potential use in standard credit card readers. The hard disk data, however, is accessed on a tiny spinning disk inside the thin card. A spinning wheel made of Mylar is engaged when the card is inserted into a StorReader, a USB-connected drive or PC Card that reads and writes to the StorCard. The reader is expected to retail for under $100 and the cards for under $15 each.

Read the full story on: IDG

TI Chip Charges Mobile Phones, PDAs from a USB Port

Looking to give users more options when their cell phone is about to run out of juice, Texas Instruments Inc. unveiled Tuesday a line of chips that allow mobile electronic devices to be recharged by connecting them to a USB port on a desktop PC or a notebook. The bqTINY II series of battery chargers allows mobile electronic devices to recharge their single-cell lithium-ion (Li-Ion) and lithium-polymer (Li-Pol) batteries from either a USB port on a PC or an AC wall adapter. When recharging from a USB port, the bqTINY II automatically selects one of two pre-set charge rates, 100mA (milliamps) or 500mA.

Read the full story on: IDG