Viosoft announces Android adoption kit for MIPS-based digital multimedia designs

CAMPBELL & SUNNYVALE, USA: Viosoft Corp. announced availability of the Android Adoption Kit for MIPS-based digital multimedia designs, continuing the push of Android on MIPS solutions into the digital home and beyond.

The Android Adoption Kit includes Sigma Designs’ Vantage 8654 Development Platform, the Viosoft Arriba IDE/Debugger, access to the latest Android on MIPS and Linux source code from the MIPSAndroid community portal, and online support from Viosoft.

The Android Adoption Kit is designed for non-commercial use and includes everything necessary for individuals and organizations to rapidly explore and experiment with Android software development and deployment on MIPS-Based platforms.

Utilizing Sigma Designs’ high-performance SMP8654 Secure Media Processor, the Vantage 8654 Development Platform supports an HDMI output, two USB 2.0 host ports, two Ethernet ports and two smartcard interfaces. An optional tuner add-on board supports an ATSC, DVB-T, DVB-C, DVB-S or DVB-S2 tuner.

A significant value-add to the Android Adoption Kit is the award winning Viosoft Arriba IDE/Debugger, which provides a comprehensive integration and debug environment for the Vantage 8654. Feature highlights include:

* Source-aware, multi-language debugger (supports MIPS assembly, C/C++, and Java/Dalvik).
* Support for kernel and user-mode debugging through a single channel of connectivity.
* Support for multi-process and multi-thread debugging.
* Support for Linux shared library and loadable module debugging.

The visibility and non-intrusiveness of the Arriba environment gives users an insightful understanding into the inner working of Android Java applications, middleware frameworks and associated libraries, the Dalvik virtual machine, and even the Linux kernel.

“The availability of the Android Adoption Kit is testament to the progressive stance that MIPS Technologies and its ecosystem partners like Viosoft have been taking with Android, especially in the digital multimedia space,” said Art Swift, vice president of marketing for MIPS Technologies.

“The visibility and time-to-market advantage of the Viosoft development tools, coupled with the performance and robustness of the Sigma platform, are indicative of the roadmap that MIPS has set forth for Android. We’re pleased that Viosoft has chosen to differentiate its solution on the MIPS architecture, and we are looking forward to future efforts from Viosoft and other partners.”

“While interest behind Android has been surging, many companies, especially those without prior background in embedded Linux, have had difficulties in determining whether Android is the right solution for their future needs and applications,” said Art Lee, vice president of business development for Viosoft.

“The idea behind the Viosoft Android Adoption Kit is to provide such organizations with the ability to test the Android waters without burning holes in their pockets. Viosoft is confident that users and customers will gravitate toward Viosoft and MIPS Technologies as their solution providers should they choose Android.”

Priced at $995, the Android Adoption Kit is available now from Viosoft.