Operating system developer Be Inc. will be offering devices based on its BeIA (Be Internet Appliance) OS by the fourth quarter of this year, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
BeIA, launched in February, is targeted at low-cost appliances such as Web tablets, as well as entertainment devices for downloading video and audio streams from the Internet.
Be has signed an agreement with Taiwanese hardware manufacturer Arima Computer Corp. to jointly develop the Internet consumer products, which will be sold on to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and other companies. These companies will be free to customize the user interface and branding of the devices, Be said in the statement.
Teaming with Arima will shorten the time needed to get BeIA-based products in the hands of consumers, according to Jean-Louis Gass