The first phone using Google's Android operating system will debut Tuesday, a model from T-Mobile, and more are set come. But some Android partners say the software will use more broadly than just phones.
"We're starting to see Android get designed in on devices that extend way beyond the phone--things that might go in the automobile or things that might go in the home," said John Bruggeman, chief marketing officer at Wind River Systems, a Google ally that helps phone makers build and customize Android for their phone hardware.
It's not clear yet whether Google shares this broader Android ambition--the emphasis today is for mobile phones--but extending into new areas could increase both the prominence and competitive threat of the project. However, projects that spread wider also can be stretched thinner, and advantages such as broader developer interest could be offset by incompatibilities other drawbacks.
Bruggeman declined to share specifics about which Internet-connected devices might employ the operating system, but he did mention TVs and set-top boxes as well as cars. And he was confident some will arrive next year.
"I don't want to pre-announce any design wins," he said. "I think you'll see them in 2009. I would be shocked if you didn't."
Google didn't immediately responds to a request for comment.
Of course, Android is mostly open-source software, so there's nothing stopping people from doing anything they want with it. But Wind River is a notable member of the 34-company Open Handset Alliance that Google gathered to build, support, and use Android.
Wind River has years of experience with so-called embedded operating systems, starting with its own VxWorks and eventually extending to include Linux, which underlies Android. It's also got a lot of customers, and to beef up its Android support services, Wind River acquired mobile Linux firm Mizi Research in August for a price it said could reach $16 million.
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The Asus M50 is one of five laptops to incorporate the Splashtop technology, under the name Express Gate.
(Credit: Asus)
Five new laptop models from Asus will incorporate DeviceVM's Splashtop instant-on software, the software maker said Thursday.
The Asus M70T, M50V, M51T, F8Va, and F8Vr will be the first laptops on the market to include the "rapid-start platform."
We've seen the technology, which Asus has licensed from DeviceVM and rebranded as Express Gate, before. It was first introduced last fall on a single Asus motherboard, and recently expanded to Asus' full P5Q series of motherboards.
Splashtop differs from the intant-on media players already found on many laptops because it's actually an embedded Linux OS with both Firefox and Skype. The advantages are threefold: The quick on/off feature means you don't have to wait to load Windows when you want to hit the Web--a boon for travelers who just want to hop online for a few minutes while waiting to board a flight. It also means you can turn off your laptop while in transit, instead of wasting battery life on standby mode. And the Linux base means the Splashtop browser isn't vulnerable to viruses that target the Windows OS.
The laptops announced Thursday are expected to be available at the end of June or early July. More laptops featuring the Splashtop technology are expected in the coming months, though a detailed release schedule hasn't been released yet.
Intel's Atom processor was prominently displayed in systems at a conference in Japan. The chipmaker's next-generation X4500 graphics also made an appearance.
Atom logo
(Credit: Intel)Small systems and circuit boards using the Atom processor appeared on the Web site PC Watch, which highlighted designs at a "Systems Expo" in Tokyo.
A host of small devices with the Atom processor are due in June. The 45-nanometer chip will compete with processors from Via Technologies such as the C7 and upcoming Isaiah processor.
Small PCs and computer systems using the low-power Atom processor included a small embedded computer from Japan-based Dux, a car "infotainment" system from Portwell Japan, and a motherboard for mobile internet devices from Sophia Systems.
Advantech was also showing an Atom-based circuit board as was Nagano. A 1.6GHz Atom-based board from Omron was on display too.
And that's not the only upcoming Intel chip that made an appearance. A board was shown with Intel's upcoming X4500 graphics silicon. The X4500 is slated to be part of the forthcoming GM45 ("Cantiga") chipset for the mobile Centrino 2 platform and the G45 ("Eaglelake-G") chipset for desktops.
I just got a chance to try out a Webware PC: a computer built around the new P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP motherboard from Asus. What makes this motherboard be hardware for Webware is that it has a Firefox Web browser (running on an embedded Linux operating system) burned into ROM. It also has Skype. You turn it on, and in fifteen seconds (I timed it), you can be in Firefox and surfing the Web.
You can also boot it into Windows, or whatever OS you have installed on the hard disk. Boring.
This built-in browser has a lot of great things but some drawbacks too.
In the plus category: This alternate operating system, provided by DeviceVM to Asus, is fast and convenient. There's no giant OS to boot before you get into your browser, which is a slimmed-down version of Firefox, not some weird, quasibrowser that doesn't do what you want. There's a Flash plug-in installed so most modern sites render properly. Flash videos play just fine. The system saves all your settings (including bookmarks) in memory, so you don't have to start from scratch every time you fire it up.
The P5E3 motherboard has nearly everything built in that you'll need. Connecting to a network--wired or WiFi--is fast and easy. Skype has access to the board's audio in and out ports.
Because the DeviceVM platform doesn't have access to the hard disks connected to the motherboard, the system is very secure. So if, say, guests wants to use your PC to check their Web mail, you can boot them into the ExpressGate environment (that's what Asus calls it) and not worry about them junking up your PC. You might want to clear your private data from the Firefox cache first, though.
The browser works just like Firefox. Because it is Firefox.
And this motherboard is "green," at least in theory. Many people leave their PCs on all the time, because launching a browser from a cold PC can take several minutes. With this setup, you can turn off the PC when you're done browsing, and when you need to get back online, you can be there in seconds.
If you work primarily online--using browser-based tools like Google Docs for productivity, Salesforce.com or Basecamp for business operations, Meebo for IM, and so on--this setup is just great.
Should you get one of these motherboards just for its ExpressGate feature, though?
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(Credit:
Yoink'd)
Like most of us who spend considerable time in the Web 2.0 universe, I love to embed content on blogs and social-networking home pages. YouTube is loaded with countless hours of entertaining videos, but it wouldn't be nearly as popular without the ability to embed those wacky movies all over the Web. Now, a new online service called Yoink'd hopes to capitalize on the embedded-video craze by providing a free method of compiling, presenting, and sharing Web videos with your friends.
Yoink'd is essentially an online media player that uses AJAX and DHTML to search for, collect, and share online video files. It is an entirely self-contained, Web-based application. All of your preferences and playlists are saved within the Yoink'd Mediabox itself. There's no profile page or settings page you have to visit each time you want to add videos or change your preferences. To me, that's the beauty of Yoink'd. The entire application lives in the embeddable widget. Once you pop it on your blog, you'll never need to visit the Yoink'd site again. ... Read more
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