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Sonos today released several enhancements to its Linux-powered streaming audio player devices. The new capabilities, all delivered via free apps and software upgrades, include the first Android app for remote control of Sonos gear, new support for Apple AirPlay audio sources, and the introduction of iOS 4 multitasking capabilities into the remote control apps.

Despite seeming a bit more like a late-stage beta than a fully-released product, this stylish Linux-powered device has gradually taken over command and control of our non-DVD TV watching experience...

Somewhere along the line, the Ubuntu development team disabled a standardized keyboard shortcut that many long-time Linux users had grown accustomed to. Namely: using the ctrl-alt-backspace key combo for quickly and conveniently restarting the system’s X window system when needed.

Linux Mint's version 10 release advances its position as an Ubuntu-variant well worth considering when choosing a full-featured desktop Linux OS.

Roku has begun licensing its A/V media streaming set-top-box hardware and software platform to third-party device makers. The low-cost Roku player’s hardware is built on top of an ARM system-on-chip and its software has a linux 2.6 kernel at its core.

Despite Ubuntu being Boxee’s primary Linux target, Ubuntu 10.10 users have been disappointed to discover that the current Boxee beta won’t install on Maverick due to dependency conflicts.

With Android’s growing use as the OS embedded in phones, in tablets, in set-top boxes, and in TVs, we can’t help wondering: will the Linux-based OS soon dominate the entire non-PC consumer device OS market?

Having already previewed the Ubuntu 10.10 beta with good results on more than one system, I felt safe upgrading my primary desktop system from v10.04 to v10.10 once the new version went gold. To my astonishment, neither my keyboard, mouse, nor display were functioning after the upgrade.

Launched in October of 2004, Linux Mint has rapidly emerged as one of the most popular desktop Linux distributions. In this review, LinuxTrends takes a look at the latest Linux Mint release and finds it to be preferable to Ubuntu (on which it’s based) in several significant ways.

Since Peppermint Ice targets netbooks and older, resource-constrained laptops and PCs, I dusted off a well-worn ThinkPad 2662-35U, loaded it up with the Peppermint Ice inaugural release, and took the setup for a spin.

If a quick test of the beta by LinuxTrends is any indication, this new Ubuntu version could be the most user-friendly, full-featured desktop Linux distribution ever.

ver 20 sessions from LinuxCon 2010, held Aug. 10-12 in Boston, are now available for free online viewing courtesy of the Linux Foundation.

Although it won’t help Linux run Windows-specific software applications, this easy hack produces an Ubuntu desktop that looks and feels a lot like Windows 7. It’s particularly suitable for reviving older PCs or laptops on which the main activities will be web-browsing, email, document writing, and streaming music and videos from the web.

In order to get a sense of the popularity of various Linux distributions over the past several years, we entered their names into Google’s search insights tool and grabbed Google’s “embed code” for the resulting graphs. The graphs display some fascinating trends and bode well for the future of Linux.

This post provides a brief overview of each distro on today’s “DistroWatch 10? list, ranging from the beginner-friendly Ubuntu, to the sysadmin-oriented Gentoo.

The Linux Foundation (LF) is offering live streaming of many of the keynotes and conference sessions from its LinuxCon conference, being held this week in Boston.

Following closely on the heels of the December announcement of D-Link’s BoxeeBox, Syabas Technology today said it will ship a $129 Internet-based A/V streaming set-top box (STB) in March. Both new gadgets have the potential to give Roku’s popular Netflix-streaming STB a run for its money. All three devices run Linux.

D-Link unveiled its soon-to-be-released “Boxee Box” at Boxee’s preview of Boxee Beta in New York last night. Few details have been disclosed other than that it runs Boxee on Linux, provides HDMI and both analog and digital audio outputs, and hooks up to the Internet via either WiFi or Ethernet.

A 20-page downloadable whitepaper compares 10 free media center applications, including Boxee, Elisa, Entertainer, Freevo, MediaPortal, My Media System, MythTV, Neuros OSD, Plex, and XBMC.

Having recently constructed the BoxeeBox, DeviceGuru blogger Rick Lehrbaum naturally was eager to check out Neuros Technology’s somewhat similar IP-TV set-top box. Though currently at a “gamma” release, the $300 Neuros "Link" -- which runs a stripped-down Ubuntu 8.10-based OS -- shows great promise.