COMPUTEX, TAIPEI, Taiwan, 3 June, 2009 – Building on last month’s Moblin version 2 beta announcement, multiple operating system vendors (OSVs), independent software vendors (ISVs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) used Computex as a backdrop to announce their support for Moblin, an optimised Linux operating system project that delivers a visually rich Internet and media experience on Intel® Atom™ processor-based devices including mobile Internet devices (MIDs), netbooks/nettops, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) and embedded systems.
Also at Computex, Intel Corporation hosted the Moblin Executive Summit to discuss the growing ecosystem momentum behind Moblin and demonstrate the richness of the Moblin v2 beta environment. Intel’s Doug Fisher, vice president of the Software and Services Group, keynoted the event. He was joined by Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, who discussed the opportunity for Moblin as a unified front for the Linux community to impact the quickly growing mobile computing sector.
In addition, Wu Ming-ji, director-general of the Moblin Enabling Center (MEC) in Taiwan, highlighted such MEC contributions to Moblin as developing key OSV relationships and encouraging OEM adoption. Other notable participants who reaffirmed their commitments to deliver Moblin v2-based offerings were Campbell Kan from Acer, S.Y. Shian from Asus, Xingguo Shi from Asianux, Jon Melamut from Canonical, Stephen Lim from Linpus, Guy Lunardi from Novell and Larry Kettler from Xandros. The summit provided a holistic look at the Moblin project and highlighted the industry’s rapid efforts to productise.
Moblin v2 Beta Launches – On May 19, Moblin v2 beta was released to the Moblin community. Moblin v2 beta includes enhancements to fast boot technology, memory footprint optimisation and low power features. It also introduces integrated social networking and an outstanding visual user experience through an easy-to-use and intuitive interface. Currently available for netbooks and nettops, Moblin v2 beta for MIDs, IVI and embedded systems is expected by the end of 2009. Developers interested in Moblin v2 for any Intel Atom processor-based platform may use the current beta release as a development framework.
Moblin’s New Look – The most notable feature of Moblin v2 beta is the active, visually appealing and intuitive user interface, a first for Linux, which was designed from the ground up on clutter technology to be optimised for rich Internet and media consumption on small form factor devices. Although Moblin is a community effort, Intel was a major contributor to the new interface, using engineering expertise from its recent acquisition of mobile open source developer, OpenedHand. A video demo of the new user interface is available at http://moblin.org/documentation/moblin-netbook-intro.
OSVs and ISVs Pledge their Support – Over the past week, multiple OSVs and ISVs announced that they will deliver Moblin v2-based offerings over the coming months. Moblin v2 beta provides the structure for OSVs to incorporate robust Internet and media capabilities into their consumer Linux offerings. Supporting OSVs include Asianux, Canonical, CS2C, Good OS, Linpus, Mandriva, MontaVista, Novell, Pixart, Red Flag, TurboLinux and Xandros. During the Moblin Executive Summit, Novell demonstrated the SUSE edition of Moblin v2 preloaded on Acer, Asus and MSI netbooks. Additionally, ISVs Infraware and GyPSii announced their support for Moblin v2 beta. Moblin v2 beta will enhance current ISV product offerings by enabling a more robust user experience. Third-party press releases can be found at www.moblinzone.com.
The Future of the Moblin Project – Under the direction of the Linux Foundation, and with support and contributions from the open source community, Moblin will continue to foster growth and innovation for mobile computing. Intel expects a wide range of netbooks and nettops to be preloaded with Moblin v2-based operating systems and publicly available by the winter holiday shopping season.
About Moblin
Hosted by the Linux Foundation, Moblin is an optimised open source Linux software stack and technology framework that delivers visually rich Internet and media experiences on Intel® Atom™ processor-based devices including mobile Internet devices (MIDs), netbooks/nettops, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), and embedded systems. More information can be found at www.moblin.org.