<s>
The	O
BlackDog	B-Application
is	O
a	O
pocket-sized	O
,	O
self-contained	O
computer	O
with	O
a	O
built-in	O
biometric	O
fingerprint	O
reader	O
which	O
was	O
developed	O
in	O
2005	O
by	O
Realm	O
Systems	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
plugged	O
into	O
and	O
powered	O
by	O
the	O
USB	B-Protocol
port	I-Protocol
of	O
a	O
host	O
computer	O
using	O
its	O
peripheral	O
devices	O
for	O
input	O
and	O
output	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
a	O
mobile	O
personal	O
server	B-Application
which	O
allows	O
a	O
user	O
to	O
use	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
ones	O
applications	O
and	O
data	O
on	O
any	O
computer	O
with	O
a	O
USB	B-Protocol
port	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
host	O
machine	O
's	O
monitor	O
,	O
keyboard	O
,	O
mouse	O
,	O
and	O
Internet	O
connection	O
are	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
BlackDog	B-Application
for	O
the	O
duration	O
of	O
the	O
session	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Identified	O
as	O
the	O
BlackDog	B-Application
,	O
the	O
Project	O
BlackDog	B-Application
,	O
or	O
Original	O
BlackDog	B-Application
,	O
the	O
first	O
hardware	O
version	O
was	O
touted	O
as	O
"	O
unlike	O
any	O
other	O
mobile	O
computing	O
device	O
,	O
BlackDog	B-Application
contains	O
its	O
own	O
processor	O
,	O
memory	O
and	O
storage	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
completely	O
powered	O
by	O
the	O
USB	B-Protocol
port	I-Protocol
of	O
a	O
host	O
computer	O
with	O
no	O
external	O
power	O
adapter	O
required.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
created	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
Realm	O
System	O
's	O
Project	O
BlackDog	B-Application
Skills	O
Contest	O
(	O
announced	O
on	O
Oct	O
27	O
,	O
2005	O
)	O
which	O
was	O
supposed	O
to	O
raise	O
interest	O
,	O
and	O
create	O
a	O
developer	O
community	O
surrounding	O
the	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
BlackDog	B-Application
was	O
publicly	O
available	O
for	O
purchase	O
from	O
the	O
Project	O
BlackDog	B-Application
website	O
in	O
September	O
2005	O
for	O
those	O
who	O
wished	O
to	O
enter	O
the	O
contest	O
or	O
to	O
experiment	O
with	O
the	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Feb	O
15	O
,	O
2006	O
,	O
during	O
the	O
Open	O
Source	O
Business	O
Conference	O
,	O
San	O
Francisco	O
,	O
Terry	O
Bayne	O
was	O
announced	O
the	O
grand	O
prize	O
winner	O
of	O
the	O
contest	O
and	O
received	O
US$	O
50,000	O
for	O
his	O
creation	O
"	O
Kibble	O
,	O
"	O
a	O
tool	O
for	O
building	O
integration	O
solutions	O
between	O
the	O
host	O
PC	O
and	O
the	O
BlackDog	B-Application
device	O
using	O
a	O
SOAP-based	O
RPC	O
mechanism	O
to	O
send	O
arbitrary	O
LUA	B-Language
code	O
to	O
be	O
executed	O
on	O
the	O
host	O
PC	O
from	O
the	O
BlackDog	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
this	O
conference	O
,	O
the	O
second	O
iteration	O
of	O
the	O
BlackDog	B-Application
,	O
the	O
K9	O
was	O
publicly	O
announced	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Identified	O
as	O
the	O
K9	O
Ultra-Mobile	O
Server	B-Application
,	O
or	O
K9	O
,	O
this	O
version	O
was	O
announced	O
at	O
the	O
Open	O
Source	O
Business	O
Conference	O
in	O
February	O
2006	O
with	O
expected	O
availability	O
in	O
the	O
third	O
quarter	O
of	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
terms	O
of	O
hardware	O
,	O
it	O
differed	O
from	O
the	O
Original	O
BlackDog	B-Application
in	O
these	O
aspects	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
iD3	O
was	O
a	O
variant	O
of	O
the	O
K9	O
,	O
using	O
the	O
same	O
hardware	O
specifications	O
,	O
intended	O
for	O
corporate	O
use	O
with	O
a	O
matching	O
management	O
router/server	O
identified	O
as	O
the	O
iD1200	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
switched	O
to	O
using	O
Olmec	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
plugged	O
into	O
a	O
USB	B-Protocol
port	I-Protocol
of	O
a	O
Windows	O
XP	O
machine	O
,	O
the	O
BlackDog	B-Application
initially	O
presented	O
itself	O
to	O
the	O
host	O
as	O
a	O
virtual	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
drive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Via	O
an	O
autorun	O
application	O
the	O
BlackDog	B-Application
then	O
automatically	O
launched	O
the	O
X	B-Operating_System
Window	I-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
for	O
Windows	O
Xming	B-Application
and	O
a	O
software	O
NAT	B-Protocol
router	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
those	O
applications	O
were	O
running	O
,	O
the	O
virtual	O
USB	B-Protocol
CD-ROM	B-Device
drive	O
disconnected	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
USB	B-Protocol
presented	O
itself	O
as	O
a	O
virtual	O
Ethernet	O
adapter	O
,	O
enabling	O
network	O
access	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
further	O
configuration	O
steps	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
possible	O
to	O
also	O
run	O
the	O
BlackDog	B-Application
on	O
Linux	B-Application
and	O
Mac	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
short	O
Engadget	B-Application
review	O
stated	O
that	O
"	O
it	O
runs	O
Firefox	O
fine	O
,	O
and	O
should	O
be	O
great	O
for	O
taking	O
your	O
own	O
browser	O
,	O
e-mail	O
,	O
and	O
chat	O
clients	O
for	O
use	O
wherever	O
\[ you	O
are	O
\ ],	O
though	O
that	O
will	O
probably	O
be	O
about	O
all	O
this	O
little	O
400MHz	O
guy	O
can	O
handle.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
contained	O
some	O
sample	O
default	O
applications	O
such	O
as	O
xterm	O
,	O
XBlast	O
,	O
and	O
XGalaga	O
and	O
allowed	O
installation	O
of	O
the	O
Firefox	O
webbrowser	O
,	O
an	O
email	O
client	O
and	O
other	O
additional	O
software	O
available	O
through	O
official	O
and	O
community	O
APT	B-Application
repositories	O
hosted	O
by	O
the	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
attempted	O
to	O
stimulate	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
further	O
applications	O
and	O
use	O
cases	O
for	O
the	O
BlackDog	B-Application
by	O
building	O
up	O
a	O
community	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
and	O
discussion	O
infrastructure	O
,	O
termed	O
DogPound	O
,	O
used	O
an	O
installation	O
of	O
the	O
project	O
hosting	O
software	O
(	O
SourceForge	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
SDK	B-Application
with	O
a	O
QEMU	B-Application
emulator	O
environment	O
for	O
Windows	O
XP	O
,	O
Linux	B-Application
and	O
Mac	O
OS	O
X	B-Operating_System
was	O
released	O
to	O
facilitate	O
the	O
creation	O
and	O
porting	O
of	O
applications	O
to	O
the	O
BlackDog	B-Application
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
BlackDog	B-Application
software	O
was	O
free	O
software	O
,	O
the	O
device	O
contained	O
some	O
proprietary	O
technology	O
and	O
intellectual	O
property	O
developed	O
by	O
Realm	O
Systems	O
Inc.	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
later	O
transferred	O
to	O
Echo	O
Identity	O
Systems	O
and	O
finally	O
ended	O
up	O
belonging	O
to	O
Inaura	O
Corporation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
in	O
late	O
2007	O
,	O
Olmec	O
Linux	B-Application
was	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
Blackdog	B-Application
and	O
K9	O
devices.	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
a	O
Debian-derived	O
Linux	B-Application
distribution	O
geared	O
for	O
small	O
embedded	O
platforms	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
gumstix	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
sold	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Inaura	O
Inc	O
.	O
product	O
offering	O
,	O
BlackDog/K9	O
was	O
using	O
the	O
Olmec-based	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
all	O
of	O
Realm	O
's	O
assets	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
iD3	O
and	O
K9-series	O
hardware	O
,	O
their	O
operating	O
systems	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
enterprise	O
management	O
router	B-Protocol
code	O
,	O
were	O
bought	O
out	O
by	O
a	O
new	O
firm	O
,	O
Echo	O
Identity	O
Systems	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
registered	O
as	O
a	O
Salt	O
Lake	O
City	O
company	O
on	O
February	O
1	O
,	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
former	O
Realm	O
Systems	O
website	O
redirected	O
iD3	O
and	O
BlackDog	B-Application
customers	O
to	O
a	O
transitional	O
support	O
website	O
informing	O
about	O
the	O
asset	O
change	O
,	O
Realm	O
Systems	O
closing	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
product	O
support	O
would	O
be	O
done	O
by	O
Echo	O
Identity	O
Systems	O
(	O
though	O
no	O
explanation	O
as	O
to	O
the	O
extent	O
of	O
the	O
support	O
is	O
provided	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Based	O
on	O
unconfirmed	O
community	O
reports	O
(	O
September	O
2007	O
)	O
,	O
it	O
appears	O
new	O
developer	O
prototypes	O
of	O
the	O
K9	O
have	O
been	O
seeded	O
to	O
the	O
Project	O
BlackDog	B-Application
contest	O
winners	O
.	O
</s>
