Linux is the first choice when it comes to pre-loading an operating system onto ultra low-cost PCs, but not for long. Microsoft is making a move to make Windows XP an option as an ULPC OS, and it should be good news to those looking for more options in their budget laptops. More details in the full article.

From the world of the ever-informative FCC exhibits comes the new Motorola A810, a Linux-powered touchscreen mobile stuffed with all the necessary good stuff such as handwriting recognition, FM radio, among others. There's something amiss about it though: the lack of bandwidth required for it to work with U.S. mobile carriers. More on this intriguing device in the full article!

Being affordable is one of the main features of Asustek's Eee PCs, and many believe that this is due to the notebook's use of the open source Linux operating system. However, it doesn't seem to be the case: Windows XP Eees have been spotted in Best Buy, and guess what? They have the same price tag as the Linux-flavored Eees. More details in the full article.

If you put pit laptops running on the Mac OS, Windows Vista, and Linux against hackers, which OS do you think would last the longest? Apparently, it's Linux. In this year's PWN 2 OWN contest, no one was able to hack the laptop running on the Linux OS. Which of the other two went down first? Better read the full article to find out.

As it turns out, trying to sell Linux pre-loaded computers from brick-and-mortal stores may not be as lucrative as selling them through online retail. So what does one need to do in this case? Quit restocking the stores with computers - and that's exactly what Wal-Mart did. This and more in the full article.

It's been a while since we've heard any news about the new Linux-based Palm OS. Those who are waiting for Palm Inc.'s new devices can rest easy (or wait impatiently) as they are scheduled to be released early next year. Details in the full article.

Chinese site eNet has posted an interesting image. It seems we've got the first flashes of the upcoming Motorola A1600. Could this be the successor to the Motorola A1200 MING? We'll see soon enough. For now, analyze the look and the features found in the detailed version. Enjoy!

The laptop market will get a bit of Linux love, now that mobile computing manufacturer Everex is prepping up its Linux-powered laptop for its release in the first half of next year. The projected price will cost only US$ 300, making it one of the more affordable mobile computing options to date. The laptops will be powered by the Ubuntu Linux 7.10 operating software.

While its good to finally have laptops optimized for Linux (no more hardware compatibility problems!), there are naysayers about the Linux laptop's success. David Milman, CEO of Rescuecom Corp, said that most people who will be looking for more affordable mobile computers will not be familiar with Linux. To illustrate the point, he made an example out of most users seeking to install Microsoft Office, only to learn that the application will not run on Linux. "They will be disappointed and return the machine," he said.

Seven big names in the online and mobile industry have banded together in an effort to release a new standard of mobile application software that will be easily available for mobile users everywhere.

ARM, a British company responsible for designing chips for cellphones, announced its plans during the fourth annual ARM Developers' Conference held this week in Sta Clara, California. ARM, along with Samsung, Texas Instruments, Mozilla, Marvell, MontaVista, and Movial have decided to design a Linux-based open source platform to base the next generation of mobile applications on.

The purpose of this new collaboration is the hope that they will be able to create products and technology at a quicker pace with the help of the online community by developing enhanced applications through this open source platform.

ARM plans to release the full platform by 2008 and expects that the first devices bearing this new platform will be available by 2009. However, some critics were saying that the iPhone already has the exact same capabilities as the ones planned by ARM and the other companies.

However, the potential of this new platform is still very high considering the amount of applications open source programmers can contribute to the effort. Mike Inglis, an execute VP at ARM had this to say about the collaboration:

Today's consumers are very knowledgeable about technology, want to be connected to the Internet and access multimedia content and applications anywhere, at anytime, yet they do not want to be restricted by short battery life and inadequate features that will limit their experiences.

By stepping up the collaboration among key stakeholders in the mobile market, we will be able to jointly deliver the devices and applications with the cutting-edge innovation consumers have come to expect.

Palm CEO Ed Colligan has announced on the official Palm blog that the Foleo mobile companion has been cancelled "in its current configuration". Colligan said that the decision is due in large part to the work they are doing on their next generation software platform. Here's a snip off Colligan's blog post:

In the course of the past several months, it has become clear that the right path for Palm is to offer a single, consistent user experience around this new platform design and a single focus for our platform development efforts.

To that end, and after careful deliberation, I have decided to cancel the Foleo mobile companion product in its current configuration and focus all of our energies on delivering our next generation platform and the first smartphones that will bring this platform to market.

We will, of course, continue to develop products in partnership with Microsoft on the Windows Mobile platform, but from our internal platform development perspective, we will focus on only one.

The Foleo, a Linux-based subnotebook intended as a companion device for Windows Mobile and Palm OS-based Treos. It was supposed to be launched this summer. It received a lot of flak ever since it was announced, with critics jumping on the Foleo's lack of computational power, multimedia features and the price tag.

There's still a chance for the Foleo to reemerge, however. Colligan noted that he and Pal founder Jeff Hawkins still believe that "the market category defined by Foleo has enormous potential" and that if Foleo II ever comes around, it will be based on the company's new platform.