Survey of Linux-Based Gadgets & Devices

An anonymous reader writes "NewsFactor Network recently asked: Where Are All the Cool Embedded-Linux Gadgets? Well, LinuxDevices.com has just updated its answer to that question. The Embedded Linux "Cool Devices" Quick Reference Guide now encompasses 123 Linux-based gadgets and devices in 7 categories, including PDAs, mobile-phones, IP-phones, audio/video entertainment, tablet computers, gateways/routers, servers, wireless access points, robots, web-enabled cameras, telematics, industrial controllers, wrist watches, and last but not least, a DIY category: little Linux systems for projects and products. Lots of great pictures, too."

Comments

Aibo? Asimov?

[lingqi]

Doesn't Aibo run linux? How about Honda's Asimov (the robot) I really thought they did - maybe I was wrong, though. Anybody have definitive knowledge?

p.s. I think IBM japan is renting a honda Asimov as its receptionist for nearly 100,000 dollars per year. Who wants to be that it's the highest compensated
1) receptionist - ever
2) linux powered anything - ever (okay, if it ran linux - see above)

It does irks me that a robot makes more than me, though... sigh. I don't mind a 100k/yr job as a receptionist. Fuck, I will do the job for HALF that and do The Robot (dance) for 8 hours a day to impress the people coming in.

Re:Aibo? Asimov?

[Enraged_jawa]

Aibo's don't have enough memory to run linux, but if they did I can imagine tens of thousands of them wandering the streets looking for 802.11b hotspots, finally converging in one area where their "owners" would arive and order espresso, pizzas, etc. I think the mp3 player in the Honda Element run's linux, though.

Re:Aibo? Asimov?

[BenTheDewpendent]

the element has a windows logo on the mp3 cd-drive thingy...

Re:Aibo? Asimov?

[Enraged_jawa]

32 megs not enough for you?
Well, yeah, but only if you stick a memory stick up its ass but they are real slow when used for for dynamic ram..

Re:Aibo? Asimov?

[Dylan Zimmerman]

It's Asimo. No 'v'.

Asimo might run some sort of Linux, but I seriously doubt it. I mean, the thing doesn't _need_ anything remotely resembling modern operating systems. If the Linux kernel were stripped of most of the extraneous code, it would actually run pretty quickly, but it wouldn't be anything like what most people think of when they say Linux.

It's far more likely that Asimo runs an OS specifically designed for it.

Re:Aibo? Asimov?

[aoki_taichi]

aibo's OS is Apelios ASIMO's OS is VxWorks

Linux-Based Smart Dildos!

[corebreech]

Talk about an embedded product!

When will TechTV demonstrate this I wonder?

Bring on Sumi Das!!!

Re:Linux-Based Smart Dildos!

[Kenja]

To boldly go where no Linux geek has gone before, eh?

Re:Linux-Based Smart Dildos!

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a sad day when my operating system is getting more than I am.

a growing market

[Miguel de Icaza]

The market for embedded computing systems is growing rapidly what with: PDAs, set-top boxes, computer games, smart phones, and other systems are all demanding apps that are smaller, smarter, faster: and that run on multiple platforms

I find Qt/Embedded (QtE) to be extremely resource-efficient for building really surprisingly sophisticated applications that run natively on multiple platforms with a simple recompile. QtE also integrates seamlessly with Java

Re:a growing market

[I_Heat_Sexylaid]

If you're really MdI, why aren't you running Gnome on your gadgetry?
Or did Root Mean Square give special dispensation?

Re:a growing market

[theridersofrohan]

I find Qt/Embedded (QtE) to be extremely resource-efficient for building really surprisingly sophisticated applications that run natively on multiple platforms with a simple recompile. QtE also integrates seamlessly with Java

Too bad the parent post's author is not actually Miguel de Icaza (the Gnome/Ximian guy).

The NIC is very nice.

[Matey-O]

I've got a Nic (used to be called ThinkNIC) that I turned into a DMZ webserver, running NetBSD. By pulling the CDROM and the modem daughtercard, a full size Harddisk fits perfectly. Tell it to use ports 80 and 22, and you've got a one wire in (power) and one wire out (ethernet).

Re:The NIC is very nice.

[Matey-O]

Well, it was hard, but I realized the line 'in' was bigger around. (to make up for losses due to heat, I'd presume.) ;)

Re:The NIC is very nice.

[cpeterso]

Just don't plug it into the Ether Killer.

Inventory Control Device

[alexmogil]

The furniture store my wife work at uses 802.11b wireless monochrome-screened barcode guns for inventory/zoning/price checking. I've seen these types of guns at WalMart/SAMS Clubs (actually... I had to use them. Eeek). I was, of course, trying to break the thing to see what it ran, and I eventually rebooted it to see it ran a very fast derivative of Red Hat.

I was shocked. Wish I knew who the company was that made them. Neat.

Re:Inventory Control Device

[chibiyoukai]

I worked at Wal-Mart about four or five years ago. At the time, our store used barcode scanners manufactured by Telxon for inventory and pricing purposes. They ran some variation of MS-DOS with drivers for the wireless networking. It was kinda neat to be able to break out of its autoexec.bat and force them into a command prompt. I wonder if Telxon switched over to Linux as well since I left.

It was very likely Symbol

[MondoMor]

I see a whole lot of their stuff on the way to production. A very smart company, and their forte is hand-held barcode stuff.

It doesn't mention Lunix, but here's a spiel on their embedded wireless LAN stuff.

and Xbox?

[1seconddelay]

Cant the xbox run on linux. PS2?

Re:Did anyone ever consider

[RLiegh]

Who says you can't have both a quailty product which happens to be made with linux?

Hell, some of us wilder, more extreme types consider Linux as a *sign* of quality!

Sigh

[nemski]

Great, more things my wife won't let me buy.

Re:Sigh

[primus_sucks]

Maybe you could work out a trade:)

Re:Sigh

[Grishnakh]

This gave me a great idea: Slashdot should add a "female relationships" section. Here's a topic to get it started: How you avoid women like this when you're dating? It seems most guys don't realize their future wife will be like this until after they've tied the knot.

Re:Sigh

[orcrist]

I think a lot of geeks end up going on the principle "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush", or... "a **** in the bush is worth a lot more than one in the hand". ;-)
*groan*, i know it's bad

-chris

Re:Sigh

[FroMan]

The important issue is to meet your wife in your computer science classes. You know that one gorgeous woman in your computer science class, I married her.

For my birthday this year, I was allowed to pick up my own breadboard and random resistors and circuts. For Christmas last year I bought her a new case and case modding supplies (I swear I am the only man who can claim he bought his wife a dremel for Christmas and was thanked for it).

The important issue for getting a wife that lets you get what you want, is to make sure she wants the same things.

Re:Sigh

[FroMan]

Cool beans.

Actually right after we got married she bought EQ. Well, after playing with it for a day or so, I bought a copy too. We just kicked our EQ habit around the new year. Now we play PS2 or WCIII together quite often.

Other projects are working on budget software together.

Yeah, we both want to pick up the "I love my geek" t's also. Then we can look terribley "cute" together.

Yeah, dremmels seem to be cat oriented. We built a cat tree a short while ago and the dremel was used extensively. What a wonderful device.

Dish 721 PVR

[ArkiMage]

One device I didn't see listed anywhere is the Dish Networks 721 PVR.

http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/products/rece iv ers/dishpvr721/index.shtml

The link to GNU GPL compliance http://208.45.37.181/ even runs ON a 721... Satellite receiver serving web pages, heh heh.

But but but...

[ivern76]

They forgot to list my favorite embedded Linux device :( Beowulf clusters of atomic supermen!

surprised at how little

[Anonymous Coward]

Well there are a lot of networking devices (no suprise to anyone here since it's basically a stock Linux box on cheap PC or non-PC hardware), and quite a few media devices, I'm surprised at the small number of devices in other categories.

I'm suprised we aren't seeing Linux in more phones, televisions, clocks, cameras and such. What's more, the list includes several rather exagerated "products" such as the Indrema system that was canned a long time ago and two IBM Linux wristwatches that will never go into production, but are merely interesting research projects.

The most interesting devices are the Motorola and Sony ones. It looks like both of those companies have a serious (as in credible, not as in very large) interest in embedded Linux. Even there, though, the devices are answers looking for questions, not things that are likely to generate large numbers of sales.

I've always thought that even though it is technically inferior in many ways, embedded Linux would beat out Windows CE just because of the economics of the embedded market scene. If this list is to be believed as representing the scope and penetration of embedded Linux, it is way behind and is unlikely to catch up.

Re:surprised at how little

[Lumpy]

I'm suprised we aren't seeing Linux in more phones, televisions, clocks, cameras and such.

because for most products ANY os is pure stupidity.

Car stereo? Why? a simple embedded processor running the app directly talking to the i2c reciever and audio chips is plenty and 9,000,000 time cheaper.

TV, toaster, Fridge, clocks? there is no reason to make a $49.00 alarm clock cost $299.95 just so it can run linux.

Linux is there more than Windows for embedded. but it's nowhere near RTOS and Embedded DOS.

and most critical systems run NO OS.

I agree with you about the MS versus windows in a pda.. My zaurus is the only device that I have found to be more useable than a palm device. I have a drawer full of Windows CE and pocket PC devices that are not used because CE completely sucks. and pocket PC isn't much better.

Luckily many of the HP journadas use the same LCD screen as the Pronto remote so I've been cannabalizing them...(amazing how a board-room get's enoguh physical abuse that they smash the remot's screen TWICE!) so they are useful in a way.

Re:surprised at how little

[Zathrus]

because for most products ANY os is pure stupidity.

That's not really true... many embedded devices do run an OS, but it's not one you'll have ever heard of. These OS's are designed specifically for embedded use, and embedded use only -- they're probably not much more complicated than DOS (in fact, most are much simpler as far as interfaces go).

Sure, you can get away without an embedded OS for a lot of stuff, but if you want to do file management (for data recording purposes as an example) or need to deal with anything more than rudimentary I/O then you're much, much better off getting an OS up and running than rewriting all that crap yourself. Especially since for file management you probably want to be able to interface with a floppy disk (or more recently a flash card or USB dongle) that can then be read in a standard PC.

Most critical systems DO run an OS because of this. Part of a critical system is being able to figure out WTF was going on when it failed -- and an OS can provide a lot of services toward that goal.

The key being that all of these OS's have a memory footprint a fraction of the size of Linux... but have most of the features you'd need all the same.

Re: Priorities, News for Nerds?, Rant

[Anonymous Coward]

More importantly, those pages at lInuxDevices haven't been touched since 2002. Most of those PDA's and web pads no longer exist. In many cases the companies no longer exist. Why, God? Why must they post moldy content on /. ?

I think my Zaurus SL-5500 rates as "cool"

[The_Dougster]

Yeah, its somewhat clunky as a PDA (according to the Experts - I like it) but slap in a 256Mb SD card and load it up with mp3's, get a aux audio cable or cdrom-cassette adapter, and it is an awesome mp3 player for your car. Doesn't skip, can set to random shuffle repeat, all your favorite songs, etc. An expensive mp3(ogg) player but it runs Linux, has a Arm/RISC processor, and the James Bond keyboard is slicker than shit through a tin horn.

another one for the AV category

[rumpledstiltskin]

This page has a list of systems from High End systems. The company designs robotic lighting systems, and a few years ago bought the company that designs their light boards. the whole hog lightboards run on custom rolled linux. The latest board probably runs around 15-20,000 dollars though, so it'll be a while before I buy one for my garage. :).

Missing Catagory ...

[Mooncaller]

Electrical Test equipment. Agilent has several Linux based devises. They had plans to expand its use. But MS got a hold of them (from the inside) and convinced them to use WindowsXP for all new platforms, despite the failure of other Windows based instruments, and the advise of almost every firmware engineer in the company. When Agilent markets a Windows based instrument, they promote the fact that its Windows based. This does not sell the instrument, rather it is done to have a positive effect on stock prices. In reality, press releases that highlight Linux would be appealing to tech savy investors. And its tech savay investors that would be attracted to a company like Agilent. As it is, Agilent marketing has no incentive to do this. If antention was paid to Linux based T&M equipment, Agilent marketing might take notice. Probably not enough to countermand Microsofts wishes, but enough to make a dent.

Seriously Where?

[BenTheDewpendent]

Seriously where can you buy this stuff? I remember looking at this stuff before and then looking for a tablet to buy and none could be found... FIC Aquapad for example I went to FIC and they didn't have it for sale nor did any of their retailers sell it... I think much of that stuff is a) vaporware that vaporised with the bubble b) vaporware that has yet to be finished but will see day light. I am aware some of the products are avaiable but many seem hard to find or get...

Re:switching to FreeBSD

[neurostar]

Ever try posting about BSD in a Linux group?

Bah, that's nothing... Try posting about IRIX in the Windows 95 support forum...

Does a c64 count?

[SharpFang]

There's a semi-port of Linux to Commodore 64 (called Lunix) and it provides very wide functionality (as for such a platform :) Personally I'd love to see a 100% C64 compatibile handheld running such thing. And I'm not talking about emulators - I just dream about a sentimental fully-featured 8-bit computer compatibile with some of the old ones (Atari, Commodore, Spectrum, Amstrad...) that's portable.

Re:Does a c64 count?

[Anonymous Coward]

I do not know about compatibility, but why not build one yourself... No joke. This very cool project is one of the many available at the 6502.org page. Then you could port LUNIX to your own computer...

Re:switching to FreeBSD

[RLiegh]

Bah, that's nothing... Try posting about IRIX in the Windows 95 support forum...

Or VMS in a WindowsNT support forum...?

Re:SELF MADE PRODUCT

[MoThugz]

Does your mrs work in Transmeta? I'd be going for that blood test ASAP after junior's birth if I were you.

Re:Did anyone ever consider

[kramer2718]

I don't think that the point of the article was: 'Hey these products run linux, go buy them.'

I think it was more just an encouraging note (especially to linux developers) that linux can keep up in the embedded systems market.

Are PDA's really "embedded"?

[PhilHibbs]

They have screens, some even have proper keyboards, are these really embedded systems? I always thought that an embedded system was one in which the user wasn't aware what kind of software was in it, it just did the job without command prompts, windows, or dialog boxes. As soon as you expose the operating system, you aren't embedded any more.

This was published over a year ago

[kinnell]

The Embedded Linux "Cool Devices" Quick Reference Guide (Updated Mar. 21, 2002)

When I read this article, it seemed strangely familiar. Then I realised it was exactly the same article which was posted over a year ago.

The NIC is dying...

[benjamindees]

Well, dead actually. Call the sales number and you get a recording: "The sales hotline is inactive due to the closure of the company."

TiVo Anyone?

[oniroku]

I was under the impression TiVos like my Sat-T60 are linux boxes...

Cisco content engines

[jlmcgraw]

I can attest to the fact that high end Cisco content engines are using the Linux kernel. I don't recall which version (we've since unplugged and returned them) but it sure surprised me when I saw the boot log.