SkyTerra's Mobile Satellite Ventures, ICO Global Communications and
Qualcomm have jointly announced today a partnership that could have far-reaching implications in the mobile realm. In short, the trio has agreed to "integrate
satellite and cellular communication technology in select multi-mode mobile baseband chips," which will essentially enable handsets to have "ubiquitous mobile communications coverage from anywhere in North America, including areas where traditional cellular service is currently unavailable or unreliable." The release proclaims that this hookup will lead to satellite connectivity being in mass-market devices, but only time will tell how long it takes for compatible handsets to get adopted by carriers. Unfortunately, we do know it won't happen prior to 2010, as that's the planned ship date for the newfangled chips. Thanks for the heads-up, guys -- but oh, how the tease hurts us.
Nokia's Linux-based web tablets may soon gain faster processors and built-in 3G cellular modems. Nokia executive Ari Jaaksi revealed today in a keynote at the Open Source in Mobile show that Nokia will add 3G/HSPA capabilities to an OMAP3-optimized Maemo 5 release for the tablets. ...
A startup called NeoPwn has customized the OpenMoko Neo FreeRunner to act as a network security penetration testing device. Booting BackTrack Linux off a MicroSD card to perform penetration testing (pentesting), the NeoPwn is the first network auditing distribution for a mobile phone, claims the company. ...
[Updated Sep. 8] -- A blogger on KDEdevelopers.org has ported the KDE-based KOffice office suite to the Maemo distribution used with Nokia's Internet Tablets. The port between the two Linux-based environments is functional, but still has some problems, according to the poster, "mkruisselbrink." ...
China Unicom is distributing a Samsung Electronics phone that runs a mobile Linux stack from Mizi Research, a company that will soon be acquired by Wind River. Samsung's "Olympics" phone, also called the SCH-i859, is equipped with a Marvell PXA300 processor and a 2.8-inch touchscreen. ...
Google and the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) have announced the final winners for part one of the Android Developer Challenge. The OHA granted ten $275,000 awards and ten $100,000 awards for the best applications created for the Linux- and Java-based Android mobile phone platform. ...
Wind River announced it will acquire a Korean developer of Linux mobile GUI stacks. The $16 million acquisition of privately-held Mizi Research will bring Wind River "world-class mobile expertise" and will "accelerate its mobile services presence in Asia Pacific," says the company. ...
"Poky Linux" and Matchbox developer OpenedHand announced that it has been acquired by Intel Corp. The U.K.-based embedded Linux services team will join the Intel Open Source Technology Center, and will focus on Moblin development for mobile Internet devices and other mobile devices. ...