| WindowsForDevices year-end review: Top software and hardware news of 2006 |
(Dec. 21, 2006)
JANUARY
DIE-SHRUNK 3D TELEMATICS CHIP TO RUN WINDOWS CE AT 600 MHZ
Renesas plans in May to sample a SuperH-based SoC (system-on-chip) that will clock to 600MHz. The fastest SuperH processor ever, the SH7785 will integrate an SH-4A superscalar CPU core, FPU (floating point unit), LCD controller, and PCI interface. It targets car infotainment devices with 3D displays, and other multimedia applications. Details
FEBRUARY
WINDOWS CE ZEROES IN ON FEATURE PHONES
Intrinsyc Software has released a feature phone software stack based on Windows CE, which it demonstrated at the 3GSM World Conference in Barcelona this week. The company claims that its Soleus software stack represents the first Windows CE implementation aimed specifically at the feature phone market. Additionally, Intrinsyc said that Taiwanese ODM Wistron Corp. is integrating Soleus into various custom handset solutions Details
NEW CHIP TO REDUCE SMARTPHONES TO FEATURE-PHONE COSTS
Amoi Electronics, HTC, and Sagem Communication are developing Windows Mobile smartphones based on a cost-reduced, highly-integrated mobile phone chip from Texas Instruments (TI), Microsoft and TI announced Monday. TI claims that the single-chip, dual-core (RISC/DSP) OMAPV1030 offers smartphone capabilities "at feature phone costs." Handsets based on TI's chip are expected to begin shipping within 12 months. Details
MARCH
WINDOWS CE WEBCAM DRIVER RELEASED AS SHARED SOURCE
A group of developers, including some from within Microsoft, has collaboratively created a Windows CE 5.0 USB Webcam driver and released it under a Microsoft Shared Source license. This is the first shared source community project involving Microsoft's Mobile and Embedded Devices group, according to Microsoft. Details
MICROSOFT UPDATES WEPOS, EXTENDS POS SUPPORT TO XP PRO
Microsoft has announced an update to its operating system for point-of-sales/service (POS) environments, and is offering a free download that enhances retail peripheral support for systems based on Windows XP Professional. WEPOS (Windows Embedded for Point-of-Service) Version 1.1 boasts expanded support for both legacy and new peripherals, including the latest RFID, biometrics, and other "cutting edge" technologies. Details
VIA AIMS 2-CHIP PC CORE AT ULTRA MOBILE PC DESIGNS
Via Technology unveiled a new high-integration core-logic chip for low-power, PC-like handheld mobile devices last week at CeBIT in Hannover, Germany. The VX700 integrates Via's VN800 northbridge and VT8237 southbridge chip features, plus other mobile-oriented functions. It pairs up with Via's C7-M ULV processor to create a two-chip core for "ultra mobile" designs, according to the company. Details
APRIL
MICROSOFT REVEALS WINDOWS MOBILE FUTURE PLANS
Microsoft has revealed target ship dates and feature plans for "Crossbow" and "Photon," the next two versions of the Windows Mobile operating system. Details
FREE ADD-ON OUTFITS WINDOWS CE FOR DVRs, IP-STBs
Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled a Windows CE add-on intended to simplify the development of next-generation DVRs (digital video recorders) and IP STBs (Internet protocol set-top boxes). The free "Networked Media Device Feature Pack" aims to overcome the early lead of embedded Linux -- pioneered by TiVo -- in the rapidly growing consumer DVR/IP-STB market. Details
VIA EMBEDDED CHIPSET MERGES NORTH-, SOUTH-BRIDGES
Via is sampling a "single-chip chipset" that target PC/104 and mini-ITX boards, POS (point-of-sales/service) devices, industrial PCs, and thin clients. The CX700 chipset measures 37.5mm square, and provides north- and south-bridge functionality, with integrated graphics. It supports Via's C7 and Eden x86-compatible processors. Details
FREE MOBILE TELNET/SSH CLIENT ACHIEVES STABLE RELEASE
A mobile version of PuTTY, an open source Telnet and SSH client, has achieved a "stable" release. Aleq Berka, a consultant in the Czech Republic, decided to "polish the code" of PocketPuTTY, after a limited-release version was downloaded over 10,000 times during the first month. Details
MAY
SELF-CONFIGURING WIFI STACK EASES DEVICE SETUP
Wireless networking specialist Devicescape has added standards-based self-configuration capabilities to its WiFi stacks for consumer electronic devices and wireless infrastructure products, including those based on Windows Mobile and Windows CE. The "Easy Access" capabilities are based on Wi-Fi Alliance standards, and make setting up secure, WPA2-encrypted wireless networking trivial, the company claims. Details
VISUAL STUDIO 2005 "DEVICE EMULATOR" UPDATED
Microsoft has released a beta of an update to the Device Emulator that ships with Visual Studio 2005. The emulator lets Windows CE developers test code compiled for ARM-based platforms on a PC, without requiring actual target hardware. Details
SPECIAL REPORT: MICROSOFT PREVIEWS WINDOWS CE 6
Microsoft unveiled a beefier version of Windows CE during a keynote at its annual Mobile & Embedded Developer's Conference (MEDC) in Las Vegas, May 9. Windows CE 6 offers a higher capacity for complex applications, fueling "more intelligent devices that offer advanced multimedia and Web services, and wireless networking," the company claims. The upgrade sports a redesigned kernel that implements a significant increase in the number of simultaneous application processes, along with increased per-process virtual memory addressability. Learn more in our extensive feature story. Details
.NET MICRO FRAMEWORK TARGETS TEENY GADGETS
Digi Int'l is developing support for the Microsoft .NET Micro Framework (.NET MF) on its line of wired and wireless embedded modules such as the tiny Connect Wi-ME WiFi adapter. The .NET MF extends Microsoft's embedded software reach into devices with highly constrained resources. So, what's the .NET MF? Find out more here: Details
JUNE
WINDOWS FOR SUPERCOMPUTERS FINALLY ARRIVES
Microsoft is finally ready to enter the high-performance computing market, a technology dominated by open-source Linux technology. The company released Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 to manufacturing on June 9, with general availability of the product scheduled for August. Details
MICROSOFT PREVIEWS ROBOTICS DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM
Microsoft has released a "community technology preview" (CTP) of a new Windows-based environment aimed at helping academic, hobbyist, and commercial developers create robotic applications targeting a wide variety of robotic platforms. Details
JULY
SINGLE-CHIP X86-COMPATIBLE CHIPSET RUNS WINDOWS EMBEDDED
Via says its "single-chip" chipset targeting UMPCs (ultra-mobile PCs) and other portable devices will ship in Q3. The VX700 combines north- and south-bridge functions into a single 35mm-square chip that mates with Via's x86-compatible C7-M and C7-M ULV (ultra-low voltage) processors. Details
WINDOWS CE DEVICE EMULATOR GOES SHARED SOURCE
Microsoft has released the source code to the Windows CE device emulator 1.0 that ships with Visual Studio 2005 under a shared source "academic" license. This makes the code available for "non-commercial teaching, research, and personal experimentation while attending or employed by an accredited educational institution," according to the license. Details
VIDEO INTRODUCES MICROSOFT'S ROBOTICS GROUP AND ROBOTICS SDK
Microsoft has posted an interesting hour-long video about the recently unveiled Microsoft Robotics Group and associated Robotics SDK (software development kit). Tandy Trower, General Manager of the Robotics Group, introduces the Robotics Group, and members of the team describe and demonstrate the capabilities of the Robotics SDK. Be sure to watch it! Details
AUGUST
WINDOWS XP EMBEDDED FEATURE PACK 2007 CTP READY FOR ACTION
The recently announced Windows XP Embedded SP2 Feature Pack 2007 Community Technology Preview (CTP) is now available for download, and will be the focus of an hour-long live chat on August 15th. The feature pack provides a number of new features, such as native USB Boot, enhancements to existing features and tools, such as EWF and HORM, and reduced footprint owing to substantial work on component dependencies. Details
WINDOWS EMBEDDED GADGETS GAIN ONE-BUTTON WIFI SETUP
Devicescape has renamed its WiFi client software stack, and added support for a "one-button" standards-based "Easy Access" feature aimed at making secure WiFi network configuration trivial for consumer devices such as smartphones and portable media players. Additionally, "Devicescape Agent" introduces support for Windows Mobile 5.0-based smartphones and Pocket PCs. Details
SEPTEMBER
MICROSOFT AIMS .NET AT GADGETS
Microsoft has beta-released a developer kit for the .NET Micro Framework (.NET MF), a low-end software platform aimed at deeply embedded applications. The .NET MF extends the advantages of .NET and the Visual Studio toolset into small devices with tight constraints on cost, memory, processor, and/or power consumption, Microsoft says. Details
VISUAL STUDIO 2005 SP1 BETA RELEASED
Microsoft has released a beta of Service Pack 1 for Visual Studio 2005. SP1 contains fixes required for application developers to write and deploy native and managed applications to Windows CE 6.0-based devices, according to a blog post by Windows Embedded product manager Mike Hall. Details
OCTOBER
WINDOWS XP EMBEDDED SP2 FEATURE PACK 2007, SECOND CTP RELEASED
The Windows Embedded team has released a second Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Feature Pack 2007 for Windows XP Embedded Service Pack 2. This news item summarizes the key improvements in the second CTP download, which fall into four broad categories. Details
NOVEMBER
SPECIAL REPORT: WINDOWS CE 6 ARRIVES WITH 100% KERNEL SOURCE
Microsoft officially launched the sixth generation of its flagship device software platform, on Wednesday. "Windows Embedded CE 6.0" boasts kernel architecture enhancements, new software stacks targeting three high-volume device categories, enhanced development tools, and, for the first time, 100 percent availability of Windows CE's kernel source code. Details
OPENSSH SERVER PORTED TO WINDOWS CE
The OpenSSH server has been ported to Windows CE, enabling secure remote access to a Windows CE device using the SSH (secure shell) protocol. The software is currently released at version 0.0.1, under a BSD-style license, and is available in binary and source form. Details
SUN GPLs JAVA, TARGETS MOBILE PHONES
Sun is releasing all of its Java Platform implementations -- including Standard, Micro, and Enterprise Editions -- under the GPLv2. The company's "Mobile and Embedded" site, launched Monday, already hosts a fully open, buildable CLDC/MIDP implementation for feature phones, along with components of a CDC implementation, testing tools, and documentation. Details
ECLIPSE RELEASES DEVICE DEVELOPMENT TOOLS
The Eclipse Foundation has released two plug-ins aimed at making the open-source Eclipse IDE (integrated development environment) more useful to device developers, and a third has achieved a milestone pre-release, version 0.7. All three were developed within a top-level Eclipse Foundation project called the Device Software Development Platform. Details
DECEMBER
MICROSOFT LAUNCHES XBOX 360 GAME DEV KIT
As promised in August, Microsoft has released a free toolkit that enables "anyone with a Windows XP-based PC" to create Xbox 360 games based on Visual C# and the .NET Compact Framework. XNA Game Studio Express targets hobbyists, students, and "indie" developers. Details
WINDOWS MOBILE "CROSSBOW" SPOTTED IN THE WILD
Although there's no official word from Microsoft, the successor to Windows Mobile 5.0, codenamed Crossbow, has apparently been released to device manufacturers. The folks over at Mobile-review.com claim to have gotten their hands on a Pocket PC running Crossbow, and have posted an extensive review of it, including numerous screenshots. Details
(Click here for further information)
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