Transvirtual Technologies Delivers "PocketLinux" to Mobile Application Developers; First Integrated Development Framework to Deliver Any Application to Any PDA.Business Editors/High Tech Writers LinuxWorld Conference & Expo SAN JOSE San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 15, 2000 At the Linux World conference and exposition here, Transvirtual Technologies, Inc., developers of the award-winning Kaffe development environment, today announced the first Developer Release of its PocketLinux Framework, a single, Open Source application development environment for all mobile computing Using a computing device while in transit. Mobile computing implies wireless transmission, but wireless transmission does not necessarily imply mobile computing. Fixed wireless applications use satellites, radio systems and lasers to transmit between permanent objects such as buildings devices. The company also launched www.pocketlinux.com, a comprehensive online resource for developers and others interested in the new development and deployment environment. The first PocketLinux Developer Kits, including the PocketLinux Framework and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) A handheld computer for managing contacts, appointments and tasks. It typically includes a name and address database, calendar, to-do list and note taker, which are the functions in a personal information manager (see PIM). , were also made available at the Linux World conference, where Transvirtual displayed a variety of PDAs running applications built with PocketLinux. The PocketLinux Framework integrates Kaffe, Transvirtual's award-winning, cross-platform development environment, with embedded Linux The Linux operating system configured and enhanced to work in a wide variety of applications, including handheld devices, network appliances, industrial machines and consumer electronics devices. The modularity of the Linux kernel makes it well suited to embedded systems. , one of the most powerful and popular embedded software Instructions that permanently reside in a ROM or flash memory chip. Embedded software may be immediately available to the CPU or, for faster execution, may be transferred to RAM first and then executed. environments available today. PocketLinux allows developers to write mobile applications as easily as they now create Web pages, and allows users to access any applications and data on any personal digital assistant (PDA) or other handheld platform. The result is the ability to run the same applications on any PDA running PocketLinux, regardless of hardware. Users can create personal information networks (PINs) that give them the information they want, when, where and how they want it. Developers and users can also "theme" PDAs running PocketLinux applications, changing the look and feel of each application to fit specific requirements or desires. These advantages mean new revenue opportunities for developers and providers of network services and content alike. "PocketLinux uses open standards Specifications for hardware and software that are developed by a standards organization or a consortium involved in supporting a standard. Available to the public for developing compliant products, open standards imply "open systems;" that an existing component in a system can be replaced and Open Source software to provide a unified development platform for all PDAs," said Tim Wilkinson, founder and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Transvirtual. "With support for streaming video A one-way video transmission over a data network. It is widely used on the Web as well as company networks to play video clips and video broadcasts. Computers in home networks stream video to digital media hubs connected to a home theater. , MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) An ISO/ITU standard for compressing digital video. Pronounced "em-peg," it is the universal standard for digital terrestrial, cable and satellite TV, DVDs and digital video recorders (DVRs). audio, and a suite of personal information management applications, PocketLinux makes Microsoft's Windows CE (Windows Consumer Electronics) Microsoft's version of Windows for handheld devices and embedded systems that use x86, ARM, MIPS and SHx CPUs. Windows CE .NET superseded Windows CE 3.0. look like MS-DOS MS-DOS in full Microsoft Disk Operating System Operating system for personal computers. MS-DOS was based on DOS, developed in 1980 by Seattle Computer Products. Microsoft Corp. bought the rights to DOS in 1981, and released MS-DOS with IBM's PC that year. ." PocketLinux: Cross-Platform, Embedded Linux, Integrated Graphics Refers to having the video display circuitry of a computer contained directly on the motherboard rather than on a separate plug-in card (the display adapter). Integrated graphics typically share memory with the CPU (see shared video memory) and provide a more economical alternative to the and Industry Support PocketLinux includes Kaffe, a totally independent, "clean room" implementation of Java, requiring no source code licenses from Sun Microsystems. PocketLinux also includes Transvirtual's powerful embedded implementation of the Linux operating system, optimized for Kaffe. In March 2000, Transvirtual helped to launch the Embedded Linux Consortium. This growing association includes companies ranging from dot-com start-ups to established Linux stalwarts such as IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) and Red Hat. The PocketLinux Platform includes integrated support for XML XML in full Extensible Markup Language. Markup language developed to be a simplified and more structural version of SGML. It incorporates features of HTML (e.g., hypertext linking), but is designed to overcome some of HTML's limitations. , the Extensible Markup Language See XML. (language, text) Extensible Markup Language - (XML) An initiative from the W3C defining an "extremely simple" dialect of SGML suitable for use on the World-Wide Web. http://w3.org/XML/. that is becoming the dominant common approach for information sharing and application interoperability around the world. PocketLinux also supports bi-directional data synchronization via the Internet. A proxy server framework enables translation of online content, and a portal infrastructure enables rapid configuration and personalization of PDAs and other PocketLinux devices. The powerful PocketLinux Platform lets developers build innovative applications rapidly and deploy them across multiple platforms quickly and easily. The PocketLinux environment also includes an integrated frame buffer graphics library. This allows direct rendering of graphics without an external windowing system, such as the X Window System popular in the Unix community. This powerful feature allows the construction of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that run on even the most resource-constrained information appliances and Web-equipped mobile telephones, a bonus for developers, application service providers (ASPs), content providers and users. New Resources for Partners and Developers Simultaneous with the initial Developer Release of PocketLinux, Transvirtual also launched www.pocketlinux.com, a Web site devoted to the PocketLinux framework for developers, partners and other interested parties. This new online resource will include online discussion facilities and other tools and community-building resources for developers. That site will also includes a repository for applications and other resources developed with and for PocketLinux. More information is available at www.pocketlinux.com on the Web. Also at the Linux World conference here, Transvirtual announced plans for a new PocketLinux Partner Program. The program will provide support and other resources for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), application developers and other licensees of PocketLinux technologies. Current Transvirtual partners include leading computing, software and networking companies such as Compaq, Debian, Ennovate, Intel, LynuxWorks, Microdigital, Microsoft, Netgem, Red Hat, Schlumberger, Vtech, Whistle. Transvirtual also launched a newsletter, available via e-mail and on the Web, that will chronicle the growth and successes of PocketLinux, the Embedded Linux Consortium, Transvirtual and its partners, as well as relevant industry events. PocketLinux Availability The first PocketLinux Developer Kits were sold at Transvirtual's Linux World exhibit here. PocketLinux is available now for Compaq iPaq and VTech Helio PDAs, with support for other client platforms to follow. Transvirtual provides each of its PocketLinux Partners with a solution tailored uniquely to meet both their technical requirements and their business needs. Developers, manufacturers and others interested in PocketLinux or information about licensing Transvirtual technologies can obtain more information directly from Transvirtual, or from the Web sites www.pocketlinux.com and www.transvirtual.com. About Transvirtual Transvirtual Technologies, Inc., is a Berkeley, California corporation that provides multiple-platform solutions for embedded systems, Internet appliances, and desktop machines. Transvirtual's major customers include Compaq, Microsoft, and Schlumberger. Tim Wilkinson, Transvirtual's founder and CEO, was the original developer of Schlumberger's SmartCard. Transvirtual's flagship product, Kaffe, won the 1998 JavaWorld Editor's Choice Award for the Best Java Virtual Machine A Java interpreter. The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is software that converts the Java intermediate language (bytecode) into machine language and executes it. The original JVM came from the JavaSoft division of Sun. , beating both Microsoft and Sun. Over 100,000 copies of the free Open Source version of Kaffe have been downloaded from the Web. Kaffe is bundled with Red Hat and Debian's Linux distributions. Further information is available by telephone at (US) +800/828-3022, by fax at (US) +510/559-3287, by e-mail to info@transvirtual.com or at www.pocketlinux.com and at www.transvirtual.com on the Web. |
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