 | March 1, 2000 |
Appliance acceleration
DEVELOPMENT: Modular tools promote faster design
Trying to meet the burgeoning demand for connected, multimedia-capable appliances, QNX Software Systems, Criterion Software, RealNetworks, and 3dfx Interactive have teamed to offer an open product-development tool suite. Companies that want to offer game consoles, set-top boxes, Internet radios,
and other convergence devices can significantly accelerate the design cycle using the tools. The partnership helps designers bring streaming content, game capabilities, a graphical user interface, and other features to products based on QNX's Neutrino operating system.
In December 1999, 3dfx Interactive made its Glide API open source, allowing QNX to integrate it with Neutrino. At the Embedded Systems Conference (Chicago, Feb 29 to March 2), RealNetworks announced versions of its RealPlayer 7 and G2 for Neutrino. Finally, Criterion Software has integrated its RenderWare 3-D game development system with Neutrino.
All this means product developers can turn to Neutrino to develop products with modular software support for DVD, Dolby Digital audio, MP3, RealPlayer audio, MacroMedia Flash, MPEG I/II, CD audio, and other multimedia functions. Moreover, the architecture allows dynamic update of products that use the modules via the Internet.
—by Maury Wright
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