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__aajbyc7391 writes: Intel and CircuitCo have revealed a smaller, faster, 2nd-gen MinnowBoard open SBC based on an Atom E3800 SoC and supported by both Android 4.4 and various standard Linux OSes. The MinnowBoard Max, which will ship in Q3 starting at $99, blows past the original MinnowBoard (Slashdot video) on price, performance, and energy consumption. The 3.9 x 2.9-inch Max's $99 starting price includes a 64-bit 1.46GHz Intel Atom E3815 (Bay Trail-T) CPU, 1GB RAM and 8GB SPI flash, and coastline ports for MicroSD, Micro-HDMI, GbE, dual USB, and SATA. Unlike the original MinnowBoard, the Max provides two expansion connectors: a low-speed header, with signals similar to the Arduino's Shield connector; and a high-speed connector, which can support mSATA and mini-PCIe sockets on expansion modules, among other interfaces. Although the Max's design supports CPUs up to Intel's quad-core 1.91GHz (10W TDP) E3845, only two choices shown initially at MinnowBoard.org, with the higher-end $129 $129 model stepping up to a 1.33GHz dual-core E3825 plus 2GB RAM..
__aajbyc7391 writes: Suitable Technologies has announced Beam+, a smaller, less costly, consumer model of its Linux-powered Beam mobile telepresence robot. The Beam+ offers essentially the same capabilities as the professionally-oriented original Beam, but it's smaller, lighter, has a much lower price tag, and offers a few scaled-back specs including reduced audio quality, shorter battery life, and a smaller display. The original Beam model, introduced two years ago, currently starts at $16,000, and the new Beam+ will be sold for about $2,000. However, the Beam+ is currently available for pre-order at a special price of $995 for the first 1,000 units ordered. The remotely-piloted Beam+ can be controlled via a WiFi or 4G LTE cellular connection, and runs Robot Operating System plus low-latency Skype-like video conferencing software on top of an Ubuntu-based embedded OS. An entertaining Beam+ demo YouTube video is available here.
__aajbyc7391 writes: Roku, which shipped its 5 millionth streaming media player last year, is now having its Linux-based STB technology embedded directly within Smart TVs, known as Roku TVs. Roku CEO Anthony Wood announced Roku TV this week in a blog post this week. It culminates a six-year evolution from the company's initial Netflix Player by Roku in 2008, to the company’s current 1,200-strong channel store — which represents 'more options than all the other Smart TVs in the market,' claims Wood. The company’s success can most likely be attributed to its having made an API for channel developers readily available, along with a consistent focus on providing a low-cost, easy-to-use, reliable product. The first Roku TVs will be made by TCL and Hisense, which together accounted for roughly nine percent of the global TV market, says Roku. Various Roku TV models from TCL and Hisense (and perhaps others), in sizes from 32 to 55 inches, are expected to ship this fall. No word on pricing.
__aajbyc7391 writes: Google announced an initiative with Audi, GM, Honda, Hyundai, and Nvidia aimed at fostering and standardizing Android in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems. The Open Automotive Alliance (OAA) is dedicated to a common platform that will drive innovation, and make technology in the car safer and more intuitive for everyone, says the group. The OAA is further committed to bringing the Android platform to cars starting in 2014. In its FAQ, the OAA suggests that this is not a full-blown Android in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system, but rather a standardized integration stack between automotive systems and mobile Android devices. However, the OAA FAQ also discloses broader ambitions for 2015 and beyond: 'We're also developing new Android platform features that will enable the car itself to become a connected Android device.'
__aajbyc7391 writes: A Russian startup called Virt2real has produced a small $120 Linux-based WiFi controller board for remote control and video observation applications, and has demonstrated its use in a remote controlled car. Inspired by Back to the Future and James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, Virt2real's Bond Car demo (YouTube video) shows a Vauxhall (Opel) Vectra being remotely controlled by an iPad via WiFi. The iPad interface includes touchscreen-based steering wheel, brakes, and accelerator, which are mirrored in the car by a mechanical contraption that physically turns the steering wheel and pushes the brake and accelerator pedals. The company is now accepting orders for the first 1,000 of its Virt2real controller board, and is working on a Virt2real-based Bond Car it that will work with most cars.
__aajbyc7391 writes: One of most widely respected repositories of embedded and mobile Linux news and information has just returned to the web. LinuxDevices.com, which tracked the evolution of embedded and mobile Linux from an unknown player to being at the heart of billions of mobile and embedded devices, transferred from Ziff Davis Enterprise to QuinStreet through an acquisition two years ago, then went dormant for a year, and finally vanished from the web in May. Now, through an arrangement with QuinStreet, more than 14,000 news items and articles are back online in the form of a LinuxDevices Archive, hosted by LinuxGizmos.com. The archive is searchable from a calendar interface that lets you click on any month of any year between 1999 and 2012, to see what was going on in that time period.
__aajbyc7391 writes: The Linux Foundation announced an open source based alliance for the Internet of Things (IoT). The LF's AllSeen Alliance is designed to promote an open source project for IoT interoperability built on Qualcomm's open source peer-to-peer AllJoyn IoT interoperability framework. AllJoyn offers an object-oriented approach to making peer-to-peer connections. It enables compliant products, applications, and services to communicate over a variety of transport layers, including WiFi, power line, or Ethernet, without the need for Internet access. AllJoyn could enable, for example, a smart door lock that seamlessly connects to AllJoyn-compatible smart lights and security cameras. Unauthorized entries would trigger the lights to flash, and the camera to take a photo of the intruder. The photo would automatically be uploaded to a compliant smart TV. Further AllSeen Alliance technical details are on its developer resources page.
An anonymous reader writes: The SmartDuino project launched on Kickstarter last October promised many things, including making it super simple for hobbyist to create amazing electronic projects easily, and ended up raising an amazing $157,571 for project creator Dimitri Albino. But allegations of fraud soon came out shortly after funding ended — including Arduino creator Massimo Banzi calling Mr. Albino's claims of being the manufacturer of the Arduino a lie and claimed his project violated the Arduino Trademark. Now a year later, after many broken promises and no products delivered, the project backers are demanding answers, refunds and threatening international legal action in what looks to be the largest fraud in Kickstarter history.
And to add insult to the victims of this, Mr. Albino's company, SmartMaker, is currently running multiple other projects on crowdfunding site Indiegogo which so far have raised over $420,000 and also have had similar fraud claims being made.
__aajbyc7391 writes: DM&P Group has begun shipping a $39 Arduino compatible boardset and similar mini-PC equipped with a new computer-on-module based on a new 300MHz x86 compatible Vortex86EX system-on-chip. The $39 86Duino Zero boardset mimics an Arduino Leonardo, in terms of both form-factor and I/O expansion. The tiny $49 86Duino Educake mini-PC incorportates the same functionality, but in a 78 x 70 x 29mm enclosure with an integrated I/O expansion breadboard built into its top surface. The mini-PC's front and back provide 2x USB, audio in/out, Ethernet, and COM interfaces, power input, and an SD card slot. The hardware and software source for all the boards, including the computer-on-module, are available for download under open source licenses at the 86Duino.com website.
__aajbyc7391 writes: The BiggiFi Indiegogo project is nearing its funding goal for a $79 HDMI dongle that essentially turns HDTVs into supersized Android tablets. The BiggiFi device is claimed to let users run unmodified Android apps on their TVs using their phone or tablet as the TV’s touchscreen — including motion input for games — without screen-mirroring overhead latency. As explained by BiggiFi creator Karl Zhao, an Android app on the user’s phone or tablet collects touch input signals and transmits them over WiFi to a server daemon in the Android Framework layer on the BiggiFi device, which passes the event data to the device driver layer. When the action finally reaches the app, it's as though the BiggiFi/TV system has its own physical touchscreen. The result is claimed to be a fairly lossless Android experience, and requires no modification to Android apps. The process supports input gestures such as slide, scroll, pinch, zoom, and soft keyboard input, and also supports vibration and accelerometer movements, enabling tilting for gameplay, according to the project. Camera and mic input will be added in the future. Oh, and an app for using iPhones and iPads as the remote touchscreen is also being developed.
__aajbyc7391 writes: Unbounded Robotics, one of several spinoffs from Silicon Valley-based robotics lab Willow Garage, has announced UBR-1, a mobile manipulation robot designed for research and business automation. UBR-1 runs Ubuntu Linux along with Robot Operating System (ROS), has a 7 degrees-of-freedom arm with a dexterous gripper, and moves at speeds up to 1 meter per second. Among the founders of Unbounded Robotics is CEO Melonee Wise, who was the chief developer of the PR2, the similar flagship robot of Willow Garage. UBR-1 will open for pre-orders soon, starting at $35,000 and with shipments planned for next summer. While that price may seem high, it's lower than similar dexterous manipulation robots of its caliber, and only about a tenth that of Willow Garage's PR2.
Dave Knott writes: Argentine scientists have found a way to transform the gas created by the bovine digestive system into fuel, an innovation that could curb greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Using a system of valves and pumps, the experimental technique developed by Argentina's National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) channels the digestive gases from bovine stomach cavities through a tube and into a tank. The gases — which otherwise are commonly known as burps, or "eruptos" in Spanish — are then processed to separate methane from other gases such as carbon dioxide. Each head of cattle emits between 250 and 300 liters of pure methane a day, enough energy to keep a refrigerator running for 24 hours.
