News Briefs - Hardware:

gumstix Intros Smallest Available Linux Boards And Computers

The world's smallest commercially available Linux boards and computers were officially introduced today by gumstix, inc., a start-up that produces and sells high performance Single Board Computers (SBCs) and peripherals. Based on Intel's PXA255 processor with Xscale technology, gumstix tiny boards measure 20mm x 80mm x 8mm. At nearly half the price of and a third the size of competitors, gumstix enables software developers to create smaller and more price conscious embedded devices, applications and products for the growing Linux market.

"With the growing demand for Linux devices, coupled with strong growth in the embedded architecture market and the demand for increasingly smaller computing platforms, gumstix provide the ideal solution for developers," said Gordon Kruberg, founder of gumstix, inc. "The tiny gumstix boards and computers offer greater flexibility for the development of handheld appliances and peripherals, and robotics."

Stackable for easy custom board add-ons, gumstix boards draw <250 mA at 400MHz and can be powered by three AAA NiMH batteries. A gcc toolchain offers complete access to open source software for easy porting. gumstix boards ship with 4MB flash containing u-boot-1.0.0, kernel 2.6.4 and a root file system.

The waysmall computers offer a 83mm x 36mm x 15mm form factor, and include a 0.65mm wall adapter (4.0V) power supply. The mini-B port uses Linux USB gadget drivers to connect to a host. The gumstix boards provide GPIO pins, serial ports, a USB 1.1 client, an MMC card slot as well as an I2C bus.

The installed software includes a busybox implementation with web server that allows users to establish a network connection over any of the USB or serial ports. A complete Linux kernel, including all source code, plus a cross- compiler let users develop applications on a host PC and then load them to the gumstix board or waysmall computer to run.

Founded on the belief that market demand for wireless technology -- particularly products that support open source solutions such as Linux -- is shifting toward a ubiquitous computing environment, gumstix, inc., was formed to develop a compact product line that enables developers to create and manage embedded devices and applications at a fraction of the size and cost of current board and system solutions.