Attempting to take on the Apple TV comes Myka, an open-source digital media receiver that trades movie studio approval for a standalone BitTorrent client and more A/V codec support than you could shake a metaphorical stick at. Packing hard-drives up to 500GB in capacity, the compact box also supports remote access from any internet-enabled PC or cellphone.
Video demos after the cut
MSI are planning to demonstrate a netbook running Google’s Android OS at Computex 2009, according to the Chinese-language paper Economic Daily News. The company will apparently be using the event to sell the Android Wind reference design to PC vendors; the original MSI Wind netbook was a great success as a white-box product, rebadged by other companies.
Google have never been shy when it comes to their plans with Android, and consumers should prepare to see it on more than just cellphone screens. The next big market for the open-source platform looks to be the netbook; over at NetbookNews they’ve been playing with an i-Buddie Atom N270-based netbook running the latest build of Android.
Video demo after the cut
It was only at CES 2009 that we played with the latest iteration of the OpenMoko FreeRunner, there running the Google Android OS. Now the company’s CEO, Sean Moss-Pultz, has announced that production of the FreeRunner has ceased, and that 50-percent of OpenMoko’s staff have been cut in an attempt to bring costs down to manageable levels.
It’s been a while since we saw the first video demo of a completed pre-production Pandora open-source gaming handheld, and now a Stormtrooper-white version is here to show off its 60fps Quake skills. You’re still not looking at finalized hardware, but all the buttons, D-pads, LEDs and keys are doing what they should.
Video demo after the cut
Back when Neuros offered developers cash prizes for adding new functionality to their LINK media device, one of the primary goals – and most interesting – was getting Netflix working. Well, coders put down your pens, as the $2,500 bounty has been claimed and there are now instructions to get it running on your own open-source set-top box.
The Pandora open-source gaming project have released new renders showing their updated casing designs, including a different keyboard – with non-final fonts, thankfully - and some tweaked key locations. Perhaps more excitingly, a member of the software team has got the OS working with a 3G USB modem, meaning the Pandora can be taken outside of WiFi range but still get online.
As Intel’s investment into the Moblin OS gets increasing attention, and more non-technical users are introduced to Linux-based platforms in the shape of low-cost netbooks, 2009 will see open-source become more mainstream than ever before. Under the hood there’s much that makes Linux safer, more efficient and secure than rival systems, but for most new users it’s what they can see on-screen that counts. SlashGear caught up with Xfce creator Olivier Fourdan, whose desktop environment has not only been selected by Intel for Moblin but can be found on many existing Linux netbooks, and talked Intel, Moblin, the future for netbooks and what challenges he sees for open-source newcomer Android.
OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte has revealed that the OLPC XO-2 – the dual-touchscreen sequel to the XO-1 – will be released with an open-source hardware design. Describing the approach “as if we were Google”, compared to the first-generation notebook which was “designed as if we were Apple”, Negroponte says that all hardware components – including the dual displays and the touch-sensitive, force-feedback, haptic keyboard – will be available to third-parties to develop.
In case your memory for open-source games consoles is a little lacking, that’s the first working Pandora handheld we’ve seen in a user’s hands. The DIY console went up for pre-order last September, and since then has been pretty much off the radar; now we get to see one of the first put together and fully-functional.
Check out the Pandora video after the cut
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