Broadcom has recently released its driver source code for their HD Video Accelerator Mini PCI-E card.
Since the launch of this hardware to accelerate HD video playback on netbooks, only Windows drivers were supported.
Just days ago, they decided to release the source code for linux kernels 2.6.11 and higher.
Read the full article at Liliputing.com: Linux drivers for Broadcom HD Video Accelerator
The Intel GMA500 is actually capable of hardware acceleration for HD video, but it requires some tweaking of the linux driver environment
At “Linux-Tipps“, there is a guide to enable VAAPI (Video Acceleration API) for netbooks with the Intel GMA500 graphics chipsets.
Once VAAPI is enabled, Full HD videos can be watched and CPU utilization will only be 30%.
Foxconn’s planning to launch a netbook that is both XP and linux capable.
According to Liliputing, the linux will be a customized distribution called FoxOS
If you use any of the Nvidia graphics card of GeForce chipset 8500 and above, you can make use of its VDPAU functions.
VDPAU = Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix
Since most standard linux distributions does not include it in their repositories, users have to download and install it manually, or if using Ubuntu, a new PPA repository can be added..
More on how to install VDPAU in the link below
Nvidia 195.22 Beta Linux Display Driver Available In Nvidia Vdpau Team PPA [Ubuntu]
Thanks for Webupd8.org for the heads up
Cisco 802.11n router for SMBs runs Linux – News – Linux for Devices.
EVEN CISCO uses Linux!
Asterisk is an opensource VOIP server system that works using the industrial standard SIP protocol.
It is owned and operated by Digium, a company whom’s main business is selling hardware DSP cards used for Asterisk VOIP servers. It was originally developed to be for use with linux systems and has now evolved to be useable of BSD, OSX and even the Windows platform. Besides the SIP protocol, it also supports H.323 and the MGCP protocols.
Asterisk can work with all IP phones that are compliant with the SIP protocol and besides voice, it is also able to do video over IP. Besides being a VOIP server, it can integrate with existing PBX and is able to handle instant messaging between clients and can be configured to include an IVR system. As a standalone system, it can replace most conventional PBXes in the office environment.
Though Asterisk has gain fame for amateur IP-PBX builders and VOIP hobbyists, it has not gain much recognition as a proper corporate solution. That is about to change. In the US of A, a solutions provider in New York, EUS Networks has launched an Asterisk telephony solution for hedge funds trading houses of Wall Street. It complies with major regulations such as the call control/ recording capabilities as required by various authorities such as the SarBox Act, Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) and the Financial Industrial Regulatory Committee(FINRA).
If the solution can comply with the regulatory bodies and is supported by an establishment with more than 30 years of experience, why not opensource?
SGLNX believes that the biggest fear of using opensource is that there are no support from the product since it was not purchased from a supplier entity and thus no one is able to claim ownership of failures and be responsible for implementing an opensource system. In the case of EUS Networks, with their 30 years of experience, they have had countless successful integration of IP telephony systems in the recent years using Asterisk and is staking the entire company’s future on this opensource system. If they can have the faith to stake the future of their business on opensource, perhaps the solution is worth looking at.
Norhtec has announced their new product, Gecko Info Pad.
Due for a November 2009 release, the “Gecko Info Pad” is basically a 8.9″ touchscreen tablet with Xcore (Vortex86 rebrand) processor. It is capable of running on 8xNiMH AA batteries. The processor is a x86 processor with power saving features of the ARM processor. According to Norhtec, this new tablet is able to run a variety of operating systems, including Windows XP, Linux and Windows CE.
On top of that, the manufacturer also said it will ship for about US$300 including an 8 gig SD card as flash storage and wifi connectivity.
Demo video as shown below
More touchscreen tablet products are in the news in hope of catching on popularity like the upcoming Apple’s tablet.
Opensource vs closedsource.
News source and specification of Gecko Pad : LinuxForDevices.com
SGLNX suggests that all upcoming mobile tablet devices should have the following features
3G/HSDPA connectivity built in
Long lasting operating time aka battery life
Fast boot kernel
Ease of typing [ie good typing user interface ]
Multi-touch capable touchscreens
Ambient light sensor for automatic LCD brightness
Support embedded Flash
