Linux makes the move to China

Germany's Tuxia, an embedded Linux startup, on Friday announced a deal to bring the company into the expanding Chinese market for Internet appliances. Tuxia is to co-develop Linux-based gadgets like thin client terminals, set top boxes, PDAs and Web pads with Beijing Orient Electronics Group, a large manufacturer of electronics components and displays.

The Chinese IT market is still nascent, but is eventually expected to explode because of the country's huge untapped population. China's Ministry of Information says the country's market for handheld Internet devices alone has grown by 300 percent in the past two years, and is to grow from 6 million units this year to more than 10 million units in 2002. Full story. --Matthew Broersma, ZDNet U.K.