Enea's Summer Road Show

Software supplier Enea plans to launch an international roadshow starting in July to provide seminars, discussions, and partner presentations in roughly a dozen cities worldwide.

Called "Application Acceleration," the Enea tour will kick off in North America with presentations in Boston, Chicago, San Jose, and Ottawa, the company says. The tour then will move to selected cities in Europe and Asia.

Participating partners for the roadshow include Freescale, S3, and Kontron, though Enea is open to considering other companies, too, according to Tom Hayes, VP of corporate marketing. Telecom will be the main industry focus, appropriate for a vendor that gets more than half its revenue from that industry.

Enea insists the roadshow will focus on developer-centric, rather than vendor-centric, solutions. "Companies are looking for specific ways to change," Hayes says.

Watch for updates on Enea's site.

Posted at 01:20 PM | Comments

QNX Scores Deals With Two Automakers

QNX recently announced two auto-infotainment contracts, one with DaimlerChrysler, the other with Renault Samsung Motors.

DaimlerChrysler will outfit its research labs in the U.S. and Germany with advanced embedded software from QNX. DaimlerChrysler will use a variety of automotive-grade software from QNX, including the full suite of embedded development tools, the QNX Neutrino RTOS, middleware, and value-added components that include development kits, board-support packages, and source code. DaimlerChrysler will also receive early access to emerging and evolving technology areas, including power management, multimedia, graphics, secure partitioning, and networking.

The deal makes DaimlerChrysler the first company to take advantage of QNX's OEM Innovation Labs (OIL) Program, QNX says. The OIL program lets automakers obtain early access to QNX technologies for their research groups. More info: DaimlerChrysler Outfits Advanced Lab with QNX Software Suite.

Renault Samsung, meanwhile, has chosen the QNX's Neutrino RTOS for a new infotainment system in its SM7 line of cars. The new infotainment system, called INS-700, provides telematics, car device control, reception of multimedia broadcasts, and more. Details here: Renault Samsung Motors Chooses QNX for High-end Car Infotainment System

Posted at 12:38 PM | Comments

Is It Really Linux Time?

There's lots of talk (and, admittedly, a lot of action, too) regarding Linux for devices. But not everyone's convinced. For the latest Linux thinking -- both pro and con -- check out DSO.com's just-posted In Depth article, The Debate Over Linux. I'm confident you'll find writer Larry Lange's article a provocative eye-opener.

Posted at 03:17 PM | Comments

Freescale, Wind River Offer Infotainment Kit

At this week's Telematics Update conference in Detroit, Freescale and Wind River announced the Wind River Platform for Automotive Devices Product Evaluation and demonstration kit. It's their first pre-integrated solution reference for auto telematics/infotainment.

The kit provides auto OEMs with 25 to 60 percent of the code they need to develop an infotainment device, the companies say.

The solution is being demo'd on a working car using Freescale's Media5200 development platform, Datalight’s FlashFX Pro and Reliance flash file system, and Tilcon’s graphics engine and library.

The announcement is the first since Freescale and Wind River announced a strategic alliance earlier this month; you can read our story about that here.

And here's the Auto Devices kit press release.

Posted at 08:36 AM | Comments

DSO News Update: Enea, Gartner, More

DSO news is on the march this week, with announcements from Enea, OC Systems, Eclipse, and Gartner analyst Theresa Lanowitz:

DSO market watcher Theresa Lanowitz has left Gartner to start her own company, voke inc. In her new venture, Theresa will focus on both enterprise IT clients and DSO. Check out her new company at www.vokeinc.com. Theresa also is writing a blog with four postings so far. Those with good memories will remember this DSO.com interview with Lanowitz in which she explained why Gartner had added DSO to its proprietary Hype Cycle.

Eclipse Foundation has launched a community portal site, Eclipse Plug-in Central ( EPIC), to makes it easier for developers, software vendors and enterprises to find open source and commercial plug-ins, tools and add-on services to enhance their Eclipse development efforts. Visit the new site at www.eclipseplugincentral.com

OC Systems Inc. announced a partnership with DSO vendor Wind River to deliver development services centered around the Wind River Management Suite announced earlier this week. The new suite uses OC's advanced instrumentation technology, called Sensor Points, to enhance root-cause analysis. This, in turn, lets developers more effectively record, isolate, diagnose, debug and correct device faults in deployed devices, leading to faster development of higher quality device software, the company says. Can't argue with that. More info from OC Systems here. And for more on the Wind River Management Suite announcement, read our news story.

Enea this week announced the availability of its OSEck RTOS for Freescale’s MSC8144 multicore digital signal processor, saying the operating system is the first to support this processor. OSEck takes full advantage of the MSC8144's multicore architecture and high-speed packet processing capabilities, Enea says. OSEck also provides high-performance message-based LINX interprocess communications (IPC) services, which greatly simplify the design of complex telecom infrastructure applications spanning multiple MSC8144 cores and processors. More info from Enea here. And if you missed DSO.com's exclusive, in-depth profile of Enea, be sure to read it now: The Swedish Are Coming!

Posted at 10:13 AM | Comments

Year One in the Rearview

I'm just back from Wind River's worldwide user conference, where, a year ago, this site was launched. Here, then, are some observations as we enter DSO.com, Year Two:

* DSO is real. An article in the May 13 Economist quotes Tim O'Reilly, who came up with "Web 2.0," saying: "We think of ourselves as an enzyme. When we see something coalescing, we give it a name." Same deal with DSO, IMHO. Something--actually, quite a lot of things--coalesced, and Wind River put a name on it. Those who snipe with "Old wine, new bottle" are simply wrong. The user conference featured a panel discussion with knowlegeable representatives from Smith's, Motorola, and Philips; they certainly didn't have any doubts about DSO's veracity.

* DSO is growing. With the announcement of Wind's Management Services, we now have DSO pushing out to devices that have already been deployed in the field. For competing vendors, the market has become a moving target, and they'll need to scramble to keep pace.

* But not everybody knows about it yet. John Bruggeman, chief marketing officer at Wind River, acknowledged this in his opening presentation. Bruggeman said the No. 1 question he gets asked by customers is, "What is DSO? And how is it different than embedded?" Spreading the word is taking a while.

What do you think? Please use our comments field below and share your views with the community.

Posted at 12:29 PM | Comments

Aonix Ports Perc to VxWorks RTOS

Just in time for Wind River's annual worldwide user's conference, Aonix has ported its Perc Ultra real-time virtual machine for embedded targets to Wind River's VxWorks 6.x RTOS.

The Perc Ultra port to VxWorks 6.x supports Java apps running within the VxWorks Real Time Process (RTP) protected memory model, Aonix says. PERC development tools also plug directly into the Eclipse-based Wind River Workbench environment.

Perc, introduced nine years ago, is a widely used real-time virtual machine for Java developers. It's used in telecom, telematics, avionics, space exploration, and office automation apps. Perc supports several RTOSes and target processors, including PowerPC, XScale, ARM, and Intel x86.

I don't see anything about the VxWorks porting on the Aonix site yet, but a site called TMCnet has posted the BusinessWire press release here.

Posted at 10:44 AM | Comments

QNX, Microsoft, Eclipse Shorts

Short items from QNX, the WinXP Embedded team, and Eclipse:

* We hear QNX will demonstrate a new multimedia solution highlighting a full multimedia player and other connectivity technologies at Telematics Update 2006 later this month. I'd keep an eye on the QNX site for possible details.

* The Windows XP Embedded development team is blogging from Microsoft's Mobile & Embedded Developers Conference 2006 in Las Vegas this week. Check it out here.

* If you're attending JavaOne in San Francisco next week, make time for the Eclipse party. It will be held on Wednesday, May 17, from 7 to 10 pm at the Thirsty Bear Brewing Co., not far from the Moscone Center. More info and a link to get on the attendee list here. But don't look for me; I'll be hanging with the Wind River user conference in Orlando.

Posted at 04:25 PM | Comments

Wind River's User Conference - Next Week

DSO vendor Wind River is holding the 2006 edition of its worldwide user conference next week in Orlando, Florida. Based on last year's event, this should be a doozy.

It was just a year ago that Wind River CMO John Bruggeman smashed his way (literally) onto the stage with the DSO manifesto. This year, the conference lineup is scheduled to include keynotes from Steven Levitt, author of the bestselling book "Freakonomics," poker pro Phil Gordon, Wind River CEO Ken Klein, and Bruggeman. I'll be there with my reporter's notebook; hope to see you, too.

Tons of details here: Wind River Worldwide User Conference site

Posted at 01:36 PM | Comments

BMW Called Most Telematics-Savvy Automaker

BMW leads the auto industry in putting high-tech features in its cars, according to Telematics Research Group, a market research firm.

TRG made the call based on its Automotive Technology Index, which comprises 30 criteria. These criteria, in turn, are organized into five main categories: digital entertainment, headunit, phone, telematics, and driver assist.

In TRG's overall ranking, BMW was followed by Mercedes-Benz in second place, Cadillac in third, Infiniti in fourth, and Lexus in fifth place.

More info here: BMW Leads the Way in High-Tech Auto Features (TRG press release).

Posted at 01:24 PM | Comments

MEDC Las Vegas, Nice

I'm not going to Microsoft's Mobile & Embedded DevCon in Las Vegas next week, but I wish I were, if only to hear Peter Knook's presentation. In addition to sharing my initials, Knook is SVP of Microsoft's mobile and embedded devices division. He'll be presenting something called TechFest 2006, which promises to demo several future products.

Other speakers at MEDC '06 Las Vegas will include Jim Wilson of JW Hedgehog, .NET architect Darren Schafer, and Maarten Struys of PTS Software. It's being held May 8-11, and you can get more info here.

For those on the other side of the (Atlantic) pond, there's always MEDC Europe, being held this year in Nice, France, June 6-8. Nice!The keynoter will be Todd Warren, Microsoft's corporate VP, Mobile & Embedded Devices. More info here.

Posted at 04:29 PM | Comments

Telematics Update Coming to Detroit

Conference season is still officially with us. So if you're involved with auto devices, update your calendar to include Telematics Update 2006, which will be held May 23-24 in Detroit.

Speakers will include John Bruggeman, CMO at Wind River; Anand Ramamoorthy, GM of infotainment, multimedia and telematics at Freescale Semiconductor; Larry Wu, senior director of auto emerging technologies at JD Power; and Vijay Sankaran, enterprise technology group manager at Ford (and the subject of an exclusive DSO.com interview you can read here).

Learn more, register here: Telematics Update Detroit 2006 site

Posted at 12:59 PM | Comments

Three Announcements from Green Hills

Out at the Systems & Software Technology Conference in Salt Lake City, Green Hills Software made three announcements today:

* The Integrity-178B RTOS now complies with the March 2006 update of the ARINC-653 standard, which sets interface requirements between the application software and OS services, says Green Hills.

* The Integrity-178B RTOS is also being fully tested with the TechS.A.T. NetLoader data-loading utility. The benefits, says Green Hills, are less development risk and greater speed-to-market.

* Green Hills' Integrity Workstation OS has been certified to the Posix.1 standard under IEEE 1003.1. This is the first desktop/enterprise-class system to be so certified, says Green Hills.

I was supposed to get a briefing today from Green Hills on these announcements, but our session was postponed until tomorrow. With luck, I'll have more insights then. Meantime, you can view the three Green Hills press releases on this GH news page.

Posted at 02:06 PM | Comments