Linaro 11.12 Release with Kernel 3.1.5

Linaro has just released version 11.12 based on Linux Kernel 3.1.5 and further support for Android 4.0 including graphics hardware acceleration on Snowball and Origen development boards. Here are the highlights of the release: Android Linaro ICS is built with the Linaro toolchain. Linaro ICS is running on all supported boards. DS-5 with Gator is supported in all Linaro Andoid ICS builds. The latest version of libpng (1.5.7) has been integrated in Linaro ICS. An AOSP master build is now available from linaro. ARM® Mali™ Hardware Accelerated Graphics is supported on Origen and Snowball. libjpeg-turbo has been integrated into all Andoid ICS builds. Developer Platform The linux-linaro and lt-panda kernel packages are now automatically generated by the CI build scripts DS-5 with Gator is supported in all Ubuntu LEB builds. XBMC packages, with Gstreamer and OpenGLES support, are now available at the Ubuntu Overlay (supporting only Panda initially) U-Boot-Linaro is […]

Android 4.0 on Archos 70 G8 Tablet

“LeTama” has ported Android ICS to Archos G8 Tablet based on OMAP3630. The video below shows Android 4.0 running on Archos G8 70S. The user interface seems a bit sluggish at times, but this is an alpha version with only 3D/Touchscreen working and more work needs to be done to have a fully functional release. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

Graphics Hardware Acceleration for Android 4.0 on Origen and Snowball Development Boards

Last week, Linaro Android team announced that graphics hardware acceleration (2D and 3D) was coming to Android 4.0 for ST Ericsson Nova A9500 Snowball and Samsung Exynos 4210 Origen development boards. They have now release 2 videos to show the progress on the implementation. The first video (around 5 minutes) showcases Samsung Origen development board running Linaro’s build of Android ICS with 2D and 3D demo. The second video (1:21) shows 2D hardware acceleration on ST Ericsson Snowball board. Snowball Android 4.0 daily snapshots and instructions are available at https://android-build.linaro.org/builds/~linaro-android/staging-snowball/ and Origen builds at https://android-build.linaro.org/builds/~linaro-android/staging-origen/ The official December 2011 releases should also come pretty soon are available at http://releases.linaro.org/11.12/android/. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

Special Developer Edition (SDE) for Archos G9 Tablets

Back in October, Archos released the GPL source code for Archos G9 Tablets and at the time the Special Developer Edition (SDE) was not released even though it is available for G8 devices. Now the SDE has still not been officially released, but I found a forum post on XDA Developers Forum explaining how the SDE Menu could be enabled by following the instructions below. Root your device with Paul O’Brien’s root here. (it won’t work if the device is not rooted) Unzip the content of gen9_enable_sde.zip to a directory. Launch the script enable_sde. Reboot into recovery mode, you should have the SDE menu now, you can flash your own kernel+initrd the same way it was done on previous generation. One trick: the initramfs should be still named initramfs.cpio.gz, but it should be compressed with lzma with current kernel. Another trick: to get rid of paul’s root as it messes up […]

Archos 70b Internet Tablet: 199 USD Android 3.2 Tablet

Archos announced the 199 USD Archos 70b Internet Tablet (Archos 70b IT) , a 7″ Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) based on a 1.2GHz processor (probably OMAP3630) with 512 MB RAM, and offers a 1024 x 600 capacitive touchscreen, 8GB of storage, HDMI output, and support for Google apps and Android Marketplace. Archos product naming is rather confusing, as they also have an Archos 70b running Android 2.1. So if you go shopping for the new device, make sure it reads Archos 70b Internet Tablet and not just Archos 70b. The Archos 70b IT is an enhanced version of the Archos 70 G8(Generation 8). The CPU (OMAP3630 Cortex-A8 processor) clock rate has been boosted from 1GHz to 1.2GHz, RAM has doubled to 512MB, the resolution resolution has increased to 1024×600 (was 800×480) and the price has dropped to 199 USD from 275 USD.  Other features remain the same, as the tablet features […]

Bsquare Releases TestQuest 10 for Android and Windows Embedded

BSQUARE announced the availability of TestQuest 10, a new test automation technology suite that brings together key features of TestQuest Pro (automated test solution for embedded systems) and TestQuest CountDown (mobile devices and applications testing) and adds new functionality to create a new and powerful test automation solution, that aims at reducing test costs and complexity. Here are TestQuest 10 highlights: Reduces per test pass costs and complexity of test case development by integrating with popular tools Scalable automation enables test case reuse across multiple devices increasing execution accuracy Supports test execution on desktop prototypes, emulators and simulators enabling test execution to start before production hardware is available Supports testing for devices running on Android and Windows Embedded platforms Improved intelligent text recognition and language capabilities — up to 92% processing speed improvement TestQuest 10 is comprises of three components: Test Designer – Creates automated tests quickly for test case […]

Adobe Flash Player 11.1 now Supports Android 4.0

Adobe has recently release an update of its Flash Player for Android, which now supports Android 4.0 (ICS). Flash Player 11.1 is available for download on Android market. Android ICS will be the latest Android version with support for flash, as Adobe has announced it would discontinue developing Flash past 11.1 on mobile platforms. Adobe will also release AIR Android 3.1.0.556 and AIR SDK for Android 3.1.0.488 later this week. Adobe AIR is the runtime that enables developers to deploy standalone applications built with HTML, JavaScript, ActionScript, Flex, Adobe Flash Professional, and Adobe Flash Builder across platforms and devices. The update brings Flash to 11.1.112.60, and apart from Android 4.0 support, it does not bring any other new features, security enhancements or bug fixes. Adobe still lists some know issues: Seeking while video is paused will not update the frame on ICS device StageVideo using On2 and Sorenson does not […]

Android 4.0 Source Code For MIPS is Now Available

In the last few weeks, MIPS has already released the Linux Kernel for MIPS Android and shown us a low cost (99 USD) Android ICS Tablet. Today, they announced the official release of MIPS Android 4.0 source code. The latest version of Android 4.0 is “mr0″ and you can read the release notes for further details. Before downloading the Android source code be sure that you have a correctly setup Linux workstation. Now, here are the instructions to checkout MIPS Android 4.0:

The first time you run the repo sync it will download several gigabytes of source code to your machine so be patient and it may take a few hours.  Once the download is completed future updates may take only a few minutes since only the code changes are downloaded. If you just want to have a look, All MIPS Android source code can also be viewed online at http://www.github.com/mips. […]

EmbeddedTS embedded systems design