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UK's fears over Huawei security revolve around old software
It's now clearer why the UK is jittery about Huawei's alleged security risks. Reuters sources have learned that officials are worried in part due to Huawei's use of an old version of Wind River's VxWorks, a real-time operating system. The version Huawei is using for its telecom hardware will reportedly lose access to security updates in 2020, theoretically exposing British equipment (which will see service well past then) to attacks. The insiders said there wasn't any evidence the use of old software was deliberate, but that's clearly not enough to completely reassure the oversight board looking into Huawei's practices.
Intel snaps up Wind River, looks for that embedded systems edge
Wind River Systems has been doing Android up right for quite some time, and evidently Intel is sick and tired of sitting on the outside looking in. Disregarding that massive EU fine for a moment, the company somehow managed to find time to pen a check in the amount of $884 million in order to fully acquire the aforesaid embedded systems company. The reason? Intel knows the CPU business is morphing into something entirely more elaborate, and it reckons a solid presence in the embedded devices segment (MIDs, UMPCs, etc.) is necessary to keep those profits up in the future. Honestly, such a pickup isn't really a shock; Intel has shown great interest in being a serious player in the handheld computing market, and its fledgling CE 3100 media processor could also benefit from a respectable layer of software behind it. Meanwhile, something tells us those Wind River guys are gearing up for the weekend of their lives.
Wind River, Kyocera team to develop embedded Android systems
Embedded OS vendor Wind River Systems is no stranger to Android -- it's been in the Open Hardware Alliance from the start and we've seen prototype 'droid hardware from the company in the past -- but it looks like it's taking it's first official steps into Google's great wide yonder in partnership with Kyocera to develop a commercial Android reference platform. The two companies are targeting handset manufacturers with their first effort, but it's not totally crazy to expect a wide range of devices will eventually be based on this or similar designs -- we're hearing hints that Android will start showing up in other consumer devices in the next year, and it's certainly a tempting open-source alternative to Windows CE for devices like GPS navigators. That would be a pretty massive shift for the industry -- hopefully we'll see the fruits of this partnership soon.
Android making the jump to general consumer electronics in 2009?
While the world waits to see the first Android cellphone revealed in New York later today, others are hard at work extending the reach of the open-source OS beyond just handsets. John Bruggeman, chief marketing officer at Wind River Systems says, "We're starting to see Android get designed in on devices that extend way beyond the phone--things that might go in the automobile or things that might go in the home." Bruggeman then collects his wits and adds, "I don't want to pre-announce any design wins, I think you'll see them in 2009. I would be shocked if you didn't." Indeed. After all, Intel and Wind River (both Android Open Handset Alliance members) have been working on an open, Linux-based car-computing platform since at least May of this year -- so a switch to Android would be an over-simplified snap. It certainly makes sense for the hardware independent -- thanks to Java-based Dalvik virtual machine -- OS, middleware, and apps to spread throughout a consumer electronics industry lacking a common development platform. Whether this occurs by Google's design or just a happy by-product of Android's momentum remains to be seen.
Palm launching Linux smartphone in October?
The Palm rumor du jour calls for Palm to deliver its first, Linux-based smartphone in an October release. According to the DigiTimes source, the new OS will be based on Wind River System's flavor of Linux already in use (and buggy) in Palm's forthcoming Foleo folly. That's right, Wind River, not ALP. Really, we don't care whose OS it is, just as long as we never have to see Garnet rolled out on a new device ever, ever again. Of course, it makes sense for Palm to standardize on a low-risk, OEM-grade Linux platform so we'll play along with the rumor for now. Oh, and make it ultra-thin with WiMax, please... pretty please, with sugar? We'll even move to Baltimore if you do. Well...
Palm chooses Wind River Systems for Foleo's Linux
Just over a fortnight before the Foleo is rumored to launch, Palm has selected Wind River Systems as its preferred Linux platform provider. Reportedly, Wind River Platform for Consumer Devices, Linux Edition has been chosen as the "open standard Linux platform for future Palm Foleo software releases," and Palm seems to think that this will "help speed applications to market while still meeting the requirements for a stable and robust open mobile platform." Palm's Mark Bercow was also quoted as saying that the company hopes that building the Foleo on an open Linux-based platform and publishing the tools developers need will enable "a vibrant developer community to create new applications that extend the mobile companion's built-in capabilities." Regrettably, there's still no mention of a hard release date, but at least you open-sourcers can start dreaming up ways to better this thing as soon as it hits shelves.
