RapidRollout, provider of custom Linux platforms for computing appliances, has announced the availability of the 12.04 release series, a major upgrade to their Linux-based operating system designed for interactive kiosks, digital signs, and other computing appliances. This latest release is based on Ubuntu 12.04 and delivers a wide variety of improvements.
New in this release is support for the 64-bit instruction set implemented by newer processors from Intel and AMD. The introduction of this 64-bit version of the OS allows appliance developers to maximize performance on 64-bit hardware. 32-bit processors continue to be supported as well.
Support for mobile broadband network connectivity has also been added. When paired with a supported 3G/4G modem, appliances can now establish a reliable Internet connection in locations lacking a suitable Ethernet or WiFi network. Forest Bond, founder of RapidRollout, explained the benefits of this useful new feature:
???What we’re doing is solving common problems faced by appliance developers. I’ve had the opportunity to talk with a lot of people building appliances, and we’ve found that mobile broadband not only makes it possible to put machines in remote areas, but also provides a path around locked down and overloaded networks. Now these machines can get online anywhere???at remote locations like solar and wind farms and in high security environments like hospitals and government facilities.???
Developers can also leverage the Mozilla Firefox browser runtime for running web applications and displaying HTML content. This popular open-source web browser includes support for many exciting new HTML 5 features, making it easy to create rich user interfaces and display multimedia content.
Also included is support for the Qt 4 and GStreamer application frameworks. The powerful Qt 4 framework allows developers to quickly create attractive, touch-friendly graphical applications. GStreamer enables playback and streaming of the latest audio and high-definition video formats. Now applications built on these frameworks can easily be integrated into a custom Linux platform.
These features and more are ready for use in Workbench, RapidRollout’s innovative web-based configuration and build system. Workbench provides a control panel-style user interface that makes it easy to configure a custom Linux platform that seamlessly integrates the application and the operating system to produce a polished, branded appliance. No Linux experience is required.
Workbench is available at www.rapidrollout.com.