Freescale Semiconductor says it is now accepting orders for a hardware/software platform for developing Android applications on Power Architecture PowerQUICC and QorIQ processors. The initial MPC8536E-ADK Android platform, which combines an Android runtime developed by Mentor Graphics and a board based on the PowerQUICC III MPC8536E, appears to be the first Android port to the PowerPC.

A free webinar aims to show embedded Linux developers how to migrate existing code to a multi-core environment. Hosted by MontaVista Software, Freescale Semiconductor, and TechOnline, the Sept 11 webinar will use the multi-core Freescale QorIQ P4080 and MPC8641D processors as examples.

Processor manufacturer Freescale Semiconductor has announced a reference design for tablet PCs that the company believes will make products feasible at a cost of $200. The first demo devices are to be exhibited at the CES trade show in Las Vegas, which is due to start on Tuesday. They offer a 7-inch display, run on Freescale's i.MX515 ARM processor, and include Wi-Fi as well as Bluetooth.

Future Electronics and Nokia will host six full-day, hands-on workshops across the North America on using Linux and Nokia's Qt development framework to develop user interfaces (UIs) for Freescale's ARM-based i.MX system-on-chips (SoCs). Starting in Boston on May 18, the workshops will use the Freescale i.MX23 SoC as its sample platform.

Freescale Semiconductor has begun taking orders for a Power Architecture development platform for Android-based products, opening a new category of embedded devices to Google's open-source mobile operating system.

Freescale Semiconductor is introducing a new reference design for a dirt cheap web tablet using an ARM Cortex A8-based processor and running Linux or Google Android.

Kate Stewart is the manager of the PowerPC team at Freescale. As such, she has a basic customer service problem to solve: people who buy a board from Freescale would like to have some sort of operating system to run on it. That system, of course, will be Linux; satisfying this requirement means that Freescale must operate as a sort of Linux distributor.

Apple's long-trailed tablet computer had better be good. Semiconductor maker Freescale will this week announce the outline of a cheap rival device it hopes will be adopted by computer makers to boost its in-house chip technology.

MontaVista Software announced more Market Specific Distributions (MSDs) for its MontaVista Linux 6 commercial embedded development distribution. The MSDs are separated into industrial automation, multi-core networking, Android, automotive and portable multimedia, and multifunction-printer versions, and support processors from Cavium, Freescale, Intel, and Texas Instruments, says the company.