Hasta La Gadget!

If you’re itching to park that AMD or Intel PC beside your TV as a dedicated home theater device, OpenELEC would like to offer up the first stable release of its Linux distro, version 2.0, for your consideration. The new build is now available for free (with the option to donate, of course), and the group behind it says that the installation takes less than five minutes and requires “zero Linux experience.” Once you’ve done that, it’ll be ready to serve your media needs in less than 10 seconds from a cold start, according to OpenELEC, with only a remote control needed to start surfing. The system updates automatically, including the XBMC V11 media core, and now includes PVR support, improved AMD functionality, CEC adapter compatibility, NFS, AFP, CIFS and SSH shares and Airplay / Airtunes support. If you’re already Mac- or Windows-centric, an OpenELEC system will play well with all your existing media, so if you’re ready to see how the Linux media crowd rolls, hit the source.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD

OpenELEC-2.0 Linux distro released, turns your PC into an ‘appliance-like’ home theater device originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 07:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  OpenELEC  | Email this | Comments

Yes, we’ll admit that we borrowed that pun in the title. MooresCloud founder Mark Pesce’s Xzibit reference is still a very apt description of the Light, his company’s Linux-based LED lamp. The Australian team’s box-shaped illumination runs the open OS (including a LAMP web server stack) on an integrated mini PC with an accelerometer and WiFi. The relative power and networking provide obvious advantages for home automation that we’ve seen elsewhere, but it’s the sheer flexibility of a generalized, web-oriented platform that makes the difference: the Light can change colors based on photos or movement, sync light pulses to music and exploit a myriad of other tricks that should result from a future, web-based app store. When and how the Light launches will depend on a Kickstarter campaign to raise $700,000 AUD ($717,621 US) starting on October 16th, although the $99 AUD ($101 US) cost is just low enough that we could see ourselves open-sourcing a little more of the living room. At least, as long as we don’t have to recompile our lamp kernel before some evening reading.

Continue reading MooresCloud Light runs Linux, puts LAMP on your lamp (video)

Filed under: Household

MooresCloud Light runs Linux, puts LAMP on your lamp (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Oct 2012 10:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink ZDNet  |  MooresCloud  | Email this | Comments

For all of the many directions Ubuntu One’s cloud storage has gone, it hasn’t headed the Mac’s way. Official clients have been the province of Linux devotees (naturally, Ubuntu is recommended) and their Windows friends across the aisle. A newly available Mac beta puts all three major desktop platforms on an even keel, very literally — the OS X port is almost identical to what you’d get in Linux or Windows, including a few rough points where other interface concepts clash. Still, the Ubuntu One test build has a handy Mac-specific menu bar item, and it’s one of the few cloud options that will natively support both the Ubuntu box in your den and the MacBook Pro in your bag. Grab your copy at the source link if you can deal with a few unfinished elements.

Filed under: Internet, Software

Ubuntu One reaches Mac in beta, completes the cloud storage circle originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink OMG Ubuntu  |  Ubuntu One  | Email this | Comments

Has the lack of NAND flash storage-optimized file systems been bugging you? Then you’ve got something in common with Samsung, which has developed F2FS (or “Flash-Friendly File-System”) for the memory of choice for mobile devices and its specific “internal geometry.” It’s based on a log-structured method, but tackles problems associated with older file systems intended mainly for retro, spinning-disk storage. The company isn’t keeping its hard work behind lock-and-patent either — it’s gone open-source and submitted the file system to the Linux kernel, meaning you could see it implemented in Android hardware of the future. It’s nice to see Sammy contributing code for the greater good, and if you’ve got the skills to understand it, a low-down of F2FS is available at the source below.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Samsung

Samsung creates F2FS file system for NAND flash storage, submits it to the Linux kernel originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 11:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phoronix  |  The Linux-Kernel Archive  | Email this | Comments

After releasing one long-awaited update back in April, venerable media PC platform MythTV has quickly pushed out another update to version 0.26. The changelog isn’t particularly long this time around, though it does claim HTTP Live Streaming playback and recording, some clock tweaks and the requisite performance improvements. With that wrapped, the team has already shifted its focus to the next version, 0.27, which it says should be a more exciting release. It’s scheduled for release in April of next year so we’ll mark our calendars — in pencil, not pen.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

MythTV updated to 0.26, hints at ‘more exciting’ 0.27 coming next year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  MythTV  | Email this | Comments