From LinuxDevices.com on my two favorite topics of the moment (Linux and Google):

Google’s first mobile phone will run a Linux operating system on a Texas Instruments “Edge” chipset, and will likely ship to T-Mobile and Orange customers in the Spring of 2008, according to unconfirmed reports. “GPhone” call minutes and text messages reportedly will be funded by mobile advertising.

News of the so-called “GPhone” or “G-Phone” broke quietly about two weeks ago in the island nation of Singapore, where Jennifer Tan of Reuters subsidiary Anian Research filed a report on July 12.

Tan cited “industry sources,” “U.S. sources,” and “manufacturing and component supply chain sources” in backing her assertion that after year-long delays finding a manufacturer, Google contracted Taiwan-based smartphone maker High Tech Computer (HTC) to design its phone hardware. HTC is best-known for its Windows Mobile smartphones, however, and Tan offered no conjecture about who might supply the phone’s Linux-based operating system. 

Read the rest of the details at LinuxDevices.com

 From LinuxDevices.com:

This article describes how to build your own silent, fast, eco-friendly Linux-based PC for use in a digital music listening system. The PC is based on a high-end Via mini-ITX board, passively cooled case with heatpipe technology, Debian Linux, and a little creative embedded elbow grease.

(Click for larger view of final installation)

This system is the fourth dedicated Linux-based music server that I’ve built over the past eight years. For the first time, though, I tried to do the job right, rather than just making do with spare parts. After all, digital music is no longer an interesting experiment, but the primary focus of my listening setup, despite all of that vinyl gathering dust in the basement.

Sonos Digital Music System

Vendors of Linux-based music equipment (Sonos comes to mind) often poke fun at amateurs like me who still roll their own — arguably for good reason. Commercial systems like the Sonos Digital Music System (pictured at right) have slick features like synchronized multi-room playback that are light years beyond my crude hacking capabilities.

Yet, a real Linux computer is a toolbox that can do anything the user is capable of doing with it. For about the cost of an entry-level Sonos setup, the system described here can also serve as a LAMP server and development host, a digital video recorder with high-definition component video capabilities, or as a silent livingroom Web and email kiosk, to name a few possibilities. So, there are tradeoffs on both sides of the build/buy equation.

Read the rest of the article at LinuxDevices.com 

Scheduled for October 2007 Launch

TAIPEI, Taiwan, June 7, 2007 – Canonical Ltd., the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, announced more details on Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded Edition at Computex 2007 in Taipei.

Following discussions at the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Seville Spain and a great response from the developer community generally, the target specifications and technical milestones for the project have been agreed.

Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded Edition will provide a rich Internet experience for users of Intel’s 2008 Mobile Internet Device (MID) platform. To achieve this, Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded will run video, sound and offer fast and rich browsing experiences to the MID target user. Optimized for MIDs based on Intel’s low power processors and chipsets, Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded edition is expected to deliver fast boot and resume times, and reside in a small memory and disk footprint.

“We are delighted with the progress of the Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded Edition” commented Jane Silber, Director of Operations at Canonical. “we have had a great response to our first announcement with many developers showing interest in the project. With a clear roadmap, an active developer community and a date for release - we look forward to bringing Ubuntu to Mobile Internet Devices.”

The first full release of the software will be available in October 2007 corresponding with the normal release cycle of the Ubuntu operating system. Working collaboratively with Intel, Canonical is working to deliver software on actual devices from system manufacturers in 2008.

Read the entire press release…

This has absolutely NOTHING to do with technology other than I found it while looking for a birthday gift for my son who turns 13 in less than a week. I can totally see how this would be beneficial to hikers and such but I know that people with fanny packs typically let them hang down quite a bit, and the weight of a pack of water should really weigh it down…. which led to the visual image of someone walking around with a straw in their mouth coming from their groin area. Stupid mental auto play, I am now completely disturbed.

Life takes us off the WiFi grid and it should, but your servers might not be so sympathetic. What do you do when you get a page while on the sidelines at your kid’s soccer playoffs or catching that sold out concert? Here are a few ways to help you keep your servers happy and help you maintain your life…

Read suggestions and the rest of this post at my other site, Ask GeekGirl… 

A U.S. government- and industry-led coalition aiming to equip every car and roadside in America with wirelessly connected computers has tapped Linux for a prototype design. The Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Consortium (VII-C) hopes to lower driver death rates, reduce traffic jams, and media-enable cars before 2017.

The VII-C is funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), along with AASHTO, ten State Departments of Transportation, and seven vehicle manufacturers already involved in the U.S. DOT’s Intelligent Vehicle Initiative: BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Nissan, and Toyota.

The VII-C says that 21,000 of the 43,000 traffic fatalities in 2003 were caused by vehicles leaving the road or entering intersections when they should not have. It hopes a massive network connecting cars to each other and to roadsides can help.

More at LinuxDevices.com

The Optimus Maximus keyboard is now available for preorder. This is the coolest keyboard ever! What makes it so incredibly awesome! Every key on the keyboard is a display. Boy howdy, that is nifty! You can preorder yours here and you might be lucky enough to get it shipped by January 2008. Warning, this sucker isn’t cheap. Price on the site is listed as approx. $1,564.37 USD.