R.I.P. LinuxDevices… Long live LinuxGizmos!

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Mar 9, 2013

In 2012, the embedded Linux market lost a valued resource when LinuxDevices.com became a collateral casualty of QuinStreet’s acquisition of a group of websites from Ziff Davis Enterprise. Unfortunately the new owner had no interest in supporting the site, so LinuxDevices has lain dormant ever since the acquisition.

As the year wore on, a growing number of individuals and companies urged me (as the site’s founder) to do something to get LinuxDevices back on its feet, or to launch a new site to fill the void.

Thanks to this encouragement, and recognizing that embedded Linux is not simply alive and well, but has been growing exponentially as the OS-of-choice for smartphones and numerous other embedded applications, I decided to launch a successor site.

Introducing LinuxGizmos.com

Like its forerunner, LinuxGizmos is devoted to the use of Linux in embedded and mobile devices and applications. The site’s goal is to provide daily updates of news and information on embedded Linux distributions, application software, development tools, protocols, standards, and hardware of interest to technical, marketing, and management professionals in the embedded and mobile devices markets.

For example, some recent advances of embedded Linux over the past year have included…

    Android reaching some 70 percent of the global smartphone market, while continuing to sneak up on the iPad in tablets

    An explosion of new open Linux hardware projects, led by the phenomenally popular Raspberry Pi

    The emergence of several promising new mobile Linux OSes, like Sailfish, Firefox OS, Tizen, and Ubuntu Touch

    The increasing interest in Linux-based automotive computing solutions

    The continuing expansion of Linux into consumer electronics, industrial control, networking equipment, digital signage, robotics, and more

Each LinuxGizmos post includes a comment area where readers can ask questions, voice their opinions, and engage in discussions on the topics covered. Additionally, members of the embedded Linux community are welcome to submit announcements, events, guest columns, and other content for publication on LinuxGizmos.com (subject to the site’s editorial policies).

R.I.P. LinuxDevices.com… Long live LinuxGizmos.com!

http://linuxgizmos.com/r-i-p-linuxdevices-long-live-linuxgizmos/

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Mar 13, 2013

A developer’s perspective on Google’s self-driving cars (video)

One of the most interesting sessions at last month’s Embedded Linux Conference in San Francisco was a keynote presentation about the technologies, capabilities, and challenges associated with Google’s self-driving cars, which have now traversed some 400,000 miles on public roadways. Think of it as “Prius meets The Matrix.”

In the 25 minute video below, Andrew Chatham, a senior staff engineer at Google, examines Google’s self-driving cars from a system and software developer’s perspective. He describes various technical considerations and challenges, and shows what the car’s Ubuntu-powered onboard “brain” “sees” as it deftly navigates through its computer-generated 3D virtual environment — avoiding pedestrians who unexpectedly cross its path, dodging an oncoming truck on a narrow winding mountain road, and at one point getting trapped in an endless loop at a roundabout. What happens if a car mistakenly enters a freeway from an offramp?

Here’s the video of Chatham’s 25-minute Embedded Linux Conference keynote talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7Yd9Ij0INX0

http://linuxgizmos.com/google-self-driving-car-from-software-perspective-video/#more-17119