Amazon is holding an event on September 28, 2021 when the company is expected to announce new hardware including updates to its Echo line of smart speakers and displays. According to a new report from Bloomberg, some of those devices could be a 15 inch smart display designed to be mounted to a wall and/or a TV sound bar with built-in support for the Alexa voice assistant. Those are just two of the new products Amazon is said to be developing, although it’s unclear if everything mentioned in the Bloomberg report will be officially announced as soon as next week.

In other recent tech news from around the web, Phoronix has run some benchmarks on SiFive’s new HiFive Unmatched RISC-V computer/dev board and found that while it’s a promising platform, it’s also not nearly as fast as an ARM-based Raspberry Pi, Google has revealed plans to bring the Linux kernel used for Android closer to the upstream Linux kernel, and Nintendo plans to bring Nintendo64 and Sega titles to its Switch Online service soon.

Amazon Working on Large Wall Echo, Sound Bar and New Auto Device [Bloomberg]

Amazon is allegedly developing an Alexa device with a 15 inch display designed for wall-mounting, an Alexa sound bar for TVs, and a 2nd-gen Echo Auto for cars. Alexa could also be built into some car systems. Some new devices could be announced next week.

SiFive HiFive Unmatched Hands-On, Initial RISC-V Performance Benchmarks [Phoronix]

The SiFive HiFive Unmatched is one of the most powerful RISC-V dev boards/single-board PCs available to date. But RISC-V is still in its infancy. Initial Linux benchmarks show that a $70 Raspberry Pi 400 runs circles around the $700 HiFive Unmatched.

Android to take an “upstream first” development model for the Linux kernel [Ars Technica]

Google’s Android operating system uses a Linux kernel, but it’s usually forked first by Google and then by device makers, which makes applying bug fixes and updates a headache. But Google is working to bring it closer to the upstream Linux kernel.

Ubuntu 21.10 Beta released, here’s what’s new [DebugPoint]

Ubuntu 21.10 Beta Impish Indri is now available for download ahead of an October launch. It includes Linux kernel 5.13, a customized GNOME 40.2 desktop environment, a new desktop installer, and updated packages for things like Firefox, LibreOffice, etc.

More GPD Pocket 3 details revealed (processor, memory, and storage) [Liliputing]

Update: GPD has provided some specs for the upcoming Pocket 3 handheld PC. Expect an 8 inch display, Pentium N6000 and Core i7-1195G7 processor options, 16GB RAM, and up to 1TB of NVMe storage.

Nintendo Switch Online “Expansion Pack” will add N64 and Sega Genesis games [Neowin]

Nintendo Switch Online is getting an “Expansion Pack” offering that will bring N64 and Sega games to the console. Nintendo will also sell $50 N64 and Sega Genesis-style controllers for the Switch to Switch Online subscribers.


Keep up on the latest headlines by following Liliputing on Twitter and Facebook and follow @LinuxSmartphone on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news on open source mobile phones.

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,545 other subscribers

6 replies on “Lilbits: Amazon’s Echo plans leaked, SiFive HiFive RISC-V dev board benchmarked, and more”

  1. Really Android should just be a touch ui for Linux, the other graphic, hardware etc feature should be adopted by Linux mobile, tablet, media mini PC. More people engage with their mobile computer on Android than on a RPI 4. Touch UI is more user engaging for customers, but not profitable for those paid by the hour to type at the command line.

    1. Stop latching on that nipple! Unity taught us a hard lesson – “convergence” is a bad idea.

      1. For a moment I was thinking what does that Game Engine have anything to do with it?

        Then I realised you meant the Unity (GUI) from Canonical. At the risk of sounding like a defender, I will say they had the right idea and spirit of it. They simply stuffed up everything else about it. It’s a really shiet interface/execution, after all things said.

        1. I wanted to like Unity, but I just couldn’t find an enjoyable way to configure and use that Dash menu.

  2. The improvements to Android’s use of the Linux kernel are good to hear. It’s reassuring because I’ve been somewhat suspicious over the past year that Android might be moving away from the Linux kernel, and possibly replaced with Google’s new Zircon kernel (the one they’re using in Fuchsia).

Comments are closed.