WindowsForDevices.com Newsletter -- April 29, 2004
WELCOME TO THE WINDOWSFORDEVICES.COM WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
April 29, 2004
by Rick Lehrbaum -- Editor-in-chief
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_____________________ * * * TOP STORIES * * * ____________________
TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR OF MICROSOFT'S EMBEDDED "DEVICE ALLEY"
In case you missed the recent Embedded Systems Conference in San
Francisco, WindowsForDevices presents a virtual tour of Microsoft's
embedded "Device Alley," showcasing a wide range of next-generation cool
gadgets and smart, connected devices that incorporate Microsoft's
embedded software platforms including Windows CE .NET and Windows XP
Embedded. The slide show includes over 80 devices ranging from PDAs to
set-top boxes, robots, and even a sewing machine.
Read full story
WINDOWS EMBEDDED DEVCON WEBSITE GOES LIVE
Microsoft has launched the official website for the upcoming Windows
Embedded Developers' Conference 2004 ("Windows Embedded DevCon"), which
will be held in San Diego from June 28 to July 1. This is the fourth
annual Windows Embedded DevCon, bringing developers face-to-face with
the Windows Embedded development team.
Read full story
MICROSOFT SEEKS WINDOWS CE DRIVER/BSP FEEDBACK
No matter how many device drivers and board support packages Microsoft
includes with Windows CE .NET, there will always be devices and boards
that haven't yet made it into the long list of supported hardware.
Microsoft targets the most widely used boards based on customer feedback
to ensure that customers have the support they need. Now, they would
like your help in prioritizing the efforts of the Windows Embedded
development team to address the continual need for new drivers and BSPs.
Read full story
TINY FOOTPRINT WEB SERVER FOR WINDOWS EMBEDDED DEVICES
McObject has announced the final beta release on Windows Embedded
platforms of eXtremeWS, its embeddable HTTP server for intelligent,
connected devices. With a footprint of less than 30K, low CPU
consumption and support for devices without a disk or file system,
eXtremeWS provides Web browser-based access to a wide range of Windows
Embedded applications such as industrial controllers, communications
gear, consumer electronics and other highly resource-constrained devices.
Read full story
MICROSOFT REPORTS 33% GROWTH IN EMBEDDED REVENUES
Microsoft released quarterly financial results this week, for its third
fiscal quarter which ended March 31, 2004. Total revenue was $9.18
billion, a 17 percent increase over the corresponding quarter last year.
Revenue in the Mobile and Embedded Devices segment was $61 million for
the quarter, up 33 percent over the same quarter the previous year.
Read full story
WINDOWS MOBILE POCKET PC PHONE LAUNCHED IN CHINA
Daxian Telecom recently introduced a CDMA phone based on Microsoft's
Windows Pocket PC Phone edition. Sources report that the CU928 is one
result of a collaboration between Microsoft and China Unicom that began
about one year ago, and that the collaboration is viewed as a major win
for Windows Mobile and the CDMA standard in China.
Read full story
ABOCOM INTRODUCES CE .NET BASED WIRELESS GATEWAY
AboCom has introduced a "Wireless Multimedia Residential Gateway" based
on Windows CE .NET 4.2, that the company says integrates wireless
transmission of video, data, and voice, and serves as a networked
storage system, wireless access point, and personal video recorder. The
device is based on an Intel XScale IXP425 network processor, and offers
a broad range of connectivity options including 802.11a, 802.11b,
802.11g, Bluetooth, and Ethernet. Learn more about AboCom's Wireless
Multimedia Residential Gateway from our Device Profile.
Read full story
SMARTPHONES, CONNECTED PDAS TO GRAB 25% OF CELLPHONE MARKET BY 2009
In a market that is still driven by proprietary OSes -- on the order of
98 percent this year -- Symbian, Microsoft, and Linux are fighting over
a small portion of the total handset market. ABI Research estimates
that "Smartphones" currently represent just two percent of handsets
shipped, but that the combined market share of Smartphones and connected
PDAs will grow to nearly a quarter of all handsets shipped by 2009.
Read full story
OVERVIEW OF INTEL'S NEXT-GENERATION BIOS ARCHITECTURE
This whitepaper provides an interesting and informative overview of the
architecture, benefits, and features of the Platform Innovation
Framework for Extensible Firmware Interface, a modular,
platform-independent method of implementing boot and other BIOS
functions. The "Framework," developed by Intel, is driver-based,
enabling binary-linking of modules; and it is C-based, clean, scalable,
and modular, allowing it to support diverse processor architectures --
such as Intel's IA-32, Itanium, and XScale -- within a single source tree.
Read full story
OTHER NOTEWORTHY ITEMS FROM THE PAST WEEK . . .
* Wireless conference issues call for papers
Read full story
* Device driver toolkit boasts enhanced USB and PCI support
Read full story
* Motorola licenses multi-format browser for smartphones
Read full story
* Predictive logic eases Pocket PC data entry
Read full story
* Global embedded computer board market tops $3 billion
Read full story
* IDC: Worldwide handheld device shipments decline 12% from
previous year
Read full story
* Organizer application for Windows Mobile-based Smartphones
Read full story
* Lead-free motherboard targets embedded, industrial use
Read full story
* HP offers "green" incentive to move to Pocket PC
Read full story
. . . and that's not all. Check here for the latest breaking news:
WindowsForDevices.com News Page
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