Lineo and Espial forge strategic alliance

<%=company1%> and Espial have announced that they will form a strategic partnership and sign a global distribution agreement. Under terms of the agreement, Lineo will be a preferred embedded Linux vendor for Espial TotalIA, the only complete and fully integrated software solution for multimedia Internet appliances such as WebPADs, screenphones, digital TV set top boxes, and in-vehicle computing. The combination of Espial TotalIA running on the Lineo Embedix operating system will offer Internet appliance manufacturers "one-stop shopping" for a best-of-breed software solution to significantly reduce time-to-market risks for their next generation of smart devices.

"Lineo and Espial have banded together to provide Internet appliance manufacturers with a Linux-based software solution that surpasses their expectations," said Bryan Sparks, CEO, Lineo, Inc. "Together we are now providing Internet appliance manufacturers with a fully brandable embedded software solution while maintaining an extremely small software footprint. Our complimentary software solutions will make for a powerful offering to this market." The resulting solution from this partnership will bundle the Lineo Embedix SDK software tools with the Espial TotalIA. Both companies will market the Espial TotalIA for Lineo Embedix, providing an additional sales channel for reselling software to the Internet appliance market.

"Our partnership with Lineo strengthens the smart device element of the Pervasive Internet ecosystem," stated Jaison Dolvane, President and CEO of Espial. "We recognize that Linux is a powerful force in the consumer electronics market, and that every consumer device will soon be connecting to the Internet. Device manufacturers must deliver feature rich, easy to use, and branded solutions in record time to be successful. TotalIA offers device OEMs an out-of-the-box solution with significant value and time to market advantages by enabling device OEMs to differentiate and focus on innovation, core value add, and brand. Additionally, device manufacturers have instant access to the growing catalogue of applications on the devicetop.com developer portal."

The Linux platform offers several advantages for the development of Internet appliances. Linux is a mature and stable OS that is modular and scalable. In addition, Linux has a large developer community and large base of open source code that makes it simpler to meld the OS with hardware and peripherals across smart devices.

Espial TotalIA is a complete and fully integrated software solution that offers a variety of core Internet appliance technologies, which will allow device manufacturers to differentiate and customize features to suit their needs. Espial TotalIA includes Espial DeviceTop service delivery platform, Espial Escape Web browser, Espial Assistant personal information manager and Espial Ebox, e-mail client, Tao Group's intent, Java Virtual Machine (JVM), and multimedia support for MP3 and Macromedia Flash.

The Lineo Embedix distribution is an embedded Linux-based software solution that adds the power and connectivity of Linux to customized embedded devices. It is engineered specifically for the unique speed, memory and storage requirements of embedded devices. The Embedix operating system is based on a popular desktop Linux distribution and is currently available for Motorola PowerPC, x86, SuperH, and ARM microprocessors. Embedix technology provides the power of Linux, the flexibility of feature selection, and the hardware support that enables device manufacturers to create a customized kernel for multiple solutions.

Edited by Bruce A. Bennett
Managing Editor, Embedded Technology.com