First Mobile Linux Development Kit (MKitTM) Is Now Available

Posted by Hominger on Apr 20, 2007 3:57 AM EDT
LinuxDevices.com
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Unicon Systems has started shipping its Linux-powered development kit based on "chip-on-film" technology similar to that used in Motorola's ultra-thin "Razr" phones. The "MKit" design includes an application-ready Linux OS and tools, and targets consumer devices such as portable media players, PDAs, and UMPCs (ultra-mobile PCs).

Unicon announced MKit at last year's LinuxWorld trade show (a photo of marketing VP Dimitriy Ivanov with a prototype can be seen here). Prior to that, the company pitched a ready-to-manufacture Linux-based MCopy design positioned as the first "gadget-to-gadget bridge" for inter-device file transfers without a PC.

The MKit has a tri-fold design comprised of two boards and an LCD display interconnected via film -- hence the "chip-on-film" designation. One of the boards is a processor module, while the second is an I/O baseboard module.

Unicon System-on-Display Unicon separately offers a "system-on-display" product (pictured at right) comprised of film-connected processor and LCD modules.

The MKit's processor board is based on a Samsung S3C240A processor, an SoC (system-on-chip) based on an ARM9 core clocked at 266MHz. The board has 32MB each of SDRAM and flash, expandable via an optional SD card slot.

The standard display is a 3.5-inch QVGA (320x240) TFT LCD touchscreen supporting 16M colors. Other display options include 4.3- and 7-inch widescreen LCDs.

I/O includes: 2 x USB 2.0 high speed ports

1 x USB OTG

1 x host USB 2.0 full speed

1 x device USB 2.0 full speed

802.11b WiFi

IrDA

2 x RS232

I2C

SDIO

JTAG

Stereo audio I/O

2D motion sensor

The MKit comes with a Linux 2.6.13 kernel, complete with a graphics framework based on Nano-X, FLTK (fast-light toolkit), and a "UML state machine GUI engine." The GUI provided by this combo is said to be fast, powerful, and customizable.

Also included are toolchains for native and cross-development on Intel-based Linux and Windows hosts.

A Unicon spokesperson said, "With Unicon Systems' innovative technology, developers only need to worry about designing the application. Unicon provides a complete turn key solution."

Availability

The MKit is available now, priced at $600, including a plastic case, serial/JTAG adapter board, and mini-USB AC adapter. Waiting in the wings are a variation without WiFi, to be priced at $550, and a variation with SDIO instead of WiFi, to be priced at $1,000.

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