moblin

Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices has joined the MeeGo open-source Linux project where it will contribute its expertise to drive the adoption of MeeGo in tablets, smartphones, and other mobile devices.

Unveiled earlier this year, MeeGo is an open-source operating system created through a merger of Intel's Moblin OS and Nokia's Maemo software. The MeeGo OS is designed to run on mobile gadgets, including Netbooks, tablets and phones, and on embedded devices, such as connected TVs and in-car systems.

The MeeGo project is run by the Linux Foundation, a nonprofit group whose goal is to push the growth and … Read more

Intel has launched a Moblin version of its AppUp Center, offering a storefront for developers looking to sell applications for the Linux-based Netbook operating system.

The AppUp Center, an online application store targeting Intel's Netbook-centric Atom processor, went into beta for Windows applications in January. The Moblin version is also in beta, and both stores are available now to consumers in the U.S. and Canada. They will open up to European users on Wednesday.

While it is now open for Moblin v2.1 applications, the store will take applications for MeeGo in the future. MeeGo is the fusion … Read more

Intel and Nokia are combining their respective Linux operating environments to power future smartphones and tablets, another step in a technology tie-up launched last year.

The technology merger will fuse Intel's Moblin and Nokia's Maemo software to form a new operating environment dubbed MeeGo, which is expected to power a range of devices, including pocketable mobile computers, Netbooks, tablets, connected TVs, and in-vehicle infotainment systems.

Intel's Moblin operating system has been offered on Netbooks from Dell, Acer, and Asus and made an appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show on a future smartphone from LG Electronics. Nokia's Maemo OS has powered its N900, a high-end smartphone that Nokia refers to as a "mobile computer"--a likely precursor for future MeeGo-based devices from the Finnish telecommunications giant.

The Intel-Nokia collaboration began in earnest in June when the two companies announced the beginning of a "long-term relationship," focusing on developing new chip architectures, software, and a new class of Intel-based mobile computing devices. This move is part of a major shift for Intel--a giant in PC chips but not a player in cell phones.

The goal for MeeGo is to put more flesh on the bones of last year's announcement. In short, to combine two disparate, unwieldy operating environments under one roof, said Renee J. James, a senior vice president at Intel. "Across a range of devices we're looking to build a single Linux platform with a single developer environment and a merged API," James said in an interview with CNET. An API, or application programming interface, is a way for a program to interact with other software.

Both companies stressed that applications that run on Moblin and Maemo will run on top of MeeGo.

Importantly, MeeGo will support equally ubiquitous ARM-architecture chips, in addition to Intel processors. "It's going to be cross-platform. That means it supports both Intel and ARM," James said. ARM processors are offered by Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Samsung, and others, while Intel's Atom processor powers Moblin-based devices today.

Future devices and apps stores James emphasized that its "multi-device" target markets will include the emerging category of tablets.… Read more

Looking to drum up developer interest in Atom-based Netbooks, Intel has pushed out a beta version of a Software Development Kit to help companies and individuals create apps for its mobile platform.

Intel's Atom Developer Program SDK is now available to developers who want to build software for Atom-powered Netbooks running Windows or Intel's Moblin operating system. Anxious for new mobile apps to help sell Netbooks in stores next year, Intel is even dangling a few incentives. Developers who submit apps for validation qualify to win prizes such as a smart car or vacation package.

"Consumer adoption … Read more

For Intel, the driving force behind its Moblin software efforts is its main role in life: a chipmaker.

At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco last month, the company showed off the latest version of its Linux-based Moblin operating system, designed for smartphones, Netbooks, and Nettops. In most if not all of those cases, the idea is that the device is built around Intel's Atom processor.

Moblin has been slowly catching on in the Netbook arena. Dell, for instance, recently began selling its $299 Mini 10v Notebook with an option for Ubuntu Moblin Remix, and PC makers such … Read more

Could Intel's new Moblin 2.1 OS make a dent against Windows in the mobile and desktop markets?

At this week's Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, the chipmaker debuted a beta version of its Moblin 2.1 open-source operating system targeted to run on a variety of devices, including smartphones, Netbooks, nettops, Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), and in-car systems.

Moblin 2.1 will compete with other open-source operating systems like Google's Android and bump up against Microsoft in the burgeoning nettop arena.

Originally developed for Netbooks, Moblin 2.1 (short for mobile Linux) will come in three flavors--one for handhelds, another for Netbooks, and a third for nettops.

In the market for handheld gadgets such as smartphones and MIDs, Moblin 2.1 will run on Atom chip-based devices. The beta demoed by Intel at IDF showed off capabilities for touch-screen and gesture input. The new interface will also let users switch among different open applications and will provide shortcuts to social-networking apps.

The Moblin 2.1 Web browser will also support Flash and Microsoft's Silverlight 3 technology to run interactive Web-based apps.… Read more

Imad Sousou is the director of Intel's Open Source Technology Center, which is behind the Moblin project--aimed at providing optimized Linux technology for Netbooks and mobile Internet devices.

On Wednesday, ZDNet UK caught up with Sousou at the Open Source In Mobile 09 event in Amsterdam, to discuss the nature of Moblin and the hardware on which it will run.

Q: There seems to be some confusion over what Moblin entails--it appears to be a full Linux distribution, but we have seen Suse and Linpus flavors, and Canonical are about to release an Ubuntu flavor. What is Moblin? Sousou: What Moblin really is, in technical terms, is a community distribution, much like Fedora or Debian, that people tend to use in different ways.

There are certain operating-system vendors who take Moblin completely as is and use it, and add customization and provide support, and there are those who take various technologies from Moblin and incorporate them into their own operating systems--although, when people do that, they tend to focus on the user experience.

When you hear, for example, Novell is taking Moblin or Ubuntu is doing Ubuntu Moblin, they are using the operating-system infrastructure and taking the Moblin user experience, which is a set of applications--the 3D infrastructure and a set of libraries, infrastructure components like the social networking, media management, and so on.

Essentially, from a technical standpoint, you end up with the same thing, but for the OS vendors it is sometimes easier to use a distribution system that they already use. We made it easy for them to use that.

I don't think there is a lot of confusion anymore, at least not with the people who use Moblin. It is a full OS but you don't have to use the full OS.

You're about to release Moblin v2.0. Can you tell us more about that? Sousou: (As a) release from an open-source perspective, it's a milestone more than it is a product release--product releases come from OS vendors and OEMs (manufacturers). Soon you will start to see OEMs shipping Netbooks with Moblin. You will see an announcement over the next week or two.

It's still in beta--right now we're in the very final phase. Very minor but critical bug fixes are being done based on input from OEMs and OS vendors. We don't want to call it a release until someone actually ships a product with it.

The final version will be available for download over the next couple of weeks. Once that happens,… Read more

One element was striking in Tuesday's joint press release from Intel and Nokia: Symbian was not mentioned.

Symbian is the dominant operating system for smartphones with a 50 percent market share. Nokia has been using it for 10 years.

Instead, Nokia and Intel declared that they will "develop common technologies for use in the Moblin and Maemo platform projects."

Both are Linux-based platforms: Moblin is supported by Intel and Maemo is used by Nokia in its Internet Tablets such as N810 (the only modern touch-screen devices that Nokia made until it finally launched its touch-screen 5800 Xpress … Read more

Red Hat has taken heat over the past few years for allegedly neglecting the personal computer in favor of more profitable enterprise servers. It's a fair critique: Red Hat is an enterprise software company, a decision it made years ago, and to good effect.

But anyone thinking that Red Hat has somehow forgotten consumer markets in its rush to win the enterprise need only try the final release of Fedora 11, its community-focused operating system for desktops and laptops. I've been evaluating Fedora 11 for the past week and find it polished and professional while meeting or beating … Read more