VIA announces 2 new Nano based EPIA boards

VIA has announced two new EPIA branded boards which will feature VIA Nano processors. The boards are designed for commerical multimedia applications like digital signage, ticketing and information kiosks.

The VIA EPIA-M800 is a Mini-ITX board and it's available with a 1.6GHz Nano processor or a fanless 1.2GHz version.

"The latest display technologies are supported via a front panel DVI port with pin-headers for an additional DVI or HDMI port through a daughterboard. Support for 18-bit TTL signal output as well as a digital video input is available through pin headers supporting CCIR–656/601/ transport stream video. An S/PDIF connector is also supported.

Storage includes both an IDE port with a shared Compact Flash port, 2 SATA II ports and up to 6 USB 2.0 ports, two through onboard connectors. Connectivity comes in the form of dual Gigabit LAN ports on the high speed PCI-Express bus. The VIA EPIA-M800 can withstand a wide temperature range from 0-60°C. "

The VIA EPIA-N800 is the smaller Nano-ITX, with a 1.3GHz Nano processor. All models use the VIA VX800 media system processor.

"Aimed at compact digital display and signage applications the VIA EPIA-N800 offers VGA and a multi-configuration, 24-bit, dual channel LVDS transmitter, enabling display connection to embedded panels. As well as two onboard SATA connectors, expansion options include a Mini-PCI slot, with additional COM and USB ports and PS/2 support available through pin-headers. The DRAM slot has been relocated to the bottom side of the board for easy access and maintenance from system design perspective."

VIA announces VN1000 - news south bridge creeps in as well

All the focus was on the the north bridge of the new VN1000 chipset, even though it features a new VIA south bridge as well, the VT8261. VIA hasn't launched a new south bridge for four years. But it's true to say that the north bridge is more exciting anyway.

The VN1000 features DirectX 10.1 support which means that it can have a swanky new Windows 7 drivers called a Windows Desktop Drivers Model 1.1, instead of the older type of WDDM driver. So things will look really pretty in Windows 7 with the VN1000. Are you already getting a desktop theme? Unlike most other chipsets and single chip solutions that VIA has released over the last few years, the VN1000 is a return to old stomping ground for VIA, as it's targetted at desktops - and more specifically, a new wave of all-in-one desktops. The specs sound nice for a notebook but VIA's suggestion is to pair the chipset with a VIA Nano 3000 series processor for a desktop solution.

"Offering a feature-rich specification with significant emphasis on graphics and HD video playback, the VIA VN1000 features the VIA Chrome 520 IGP, combining a DirectX 10.1 graphics engine, with support for Shader Model 4, OpenGL 3.0 graphics and OpenCL 1.0 for next-generation GPGPU applications."

VIA's characteristic power angle is still there, "Paired with the new VIA VT8261 south bridge, the VIA VN1000 represents the most power-efficient DX10.1 compliant digital media chipset on the market, consuming up to 12 watts for both north and south bridges, making it a perfect choice for Windows 7 based mini desktop and all-in-one desktop PCs designs. "

The VN1000 also offers "DDR3 system memory at speeds of up to 1066MHz, one x8 lane and four x1 lane PCI Express II expansion slots, up to five PCI slots and a VIA Vinyl HD 8 channel audio codec. An IDE controller, support for up to four S-ATA II drives, SD/MMS/MMC card reader support and 12 USB 2.0 ports are supplemented with support for PS/2, SPI, GPIO and LPC technologies."

Now, what about that new south bridge? Compared to the older VT8251 it offers 12 instead of 8 USB 2.0 ports; the Ultra V-link is increased from 16Bits to 1GB/s, memory card reader is built in and so is gigabit Ethernet.

Lovely tiny wooden PC with built in LCD

Jeffrey Stephenson has been making wooden mods with VIA integrated boards for almost a decade. I've seen designs from him using humidors, clocks and old radios. Often times his designs are inspired by old devices but not actually made out of them. Instead he crafts the wood himself - and that's what he's done here. This one is "inspired from the mantle clock design of Bayard, a French clockmaker."

The Pico Bayard looks like a fancy digital photo frame but it is in fact a complete PC. The article doesn't say what type of board it is but I'm betting on a Pico-ITX model.

"It is a shade taller than your can of coca cola, and houses a 1GHz VIA C7 processor, along with 1GB DDR2 memory."

Now tell me, what other type of hardware can be used for this type of mod other than VIA's?!

Mobile-ITX for embedded use

VIA has announced a new integrated form factor and you guessed it, it's smaller than the last. Mini-ITX was the first VIA embedded platform, launched in 2001. Then came Nano-ITX, perhaps the least sucessful. This was then followed by Pico-ITX which has enjoyed a lot of success in the embedded market. The new Mobile-ITX is half the size of Pico-ITX.

Mobile-ITX first surfaced during the Computex trade show in June 2007. Back then it was not the 6 x 6cm square that was launched yesterday. It was literally about the same size as a business card. It was also being pitched as a future platform for ultra-mobile devices where as now the Mobile-ITX, despite still having "Mobile" in its name, is being pitched for embedded applications, espcially medical and military applications.

The Mobile-ITX design as it stands now is actually quite different from the original. It has two parts instead of one, but it offers more features.

"Mobile-ITX employs a modularized design that includes a CPU module card and an I/O carrier board. This offers greater flexibility for developers who can simply drop in the CPU module to a custom designed, application specific carrier board, negating lengthy developmental design and testing phases.

CPU modules based on the Mobile-ITX form factor integrate core CPU, chipset and memory functionality and I/O that includes the CRT, DVP and TTL display support, HD Audio, IDE, USB 2.0, as well as PCI Express, SMBus, GPIO, LPC, SDIO and PS2 signals, through customizable baseboards. In keeping with VIA’s signature low power philosophy, Mobile-ITX-based modules consume as little as 5 watts, ideal for always-on, mission critical systems.

This comprehensive range of advanced technologies can be implemented on a variety of Mobile-ITX compatible carrier board designs that can be adapted to suit almost any environment, or application specific criteria. The CPU module I/O signals are mapped to two unique high density, low profile connectors on the under side of the module, with a distance between the CPU module and the baseboard of only 3mm, making it ideal for ultra-slim system designs. The connectors can also withstand vibrations of up to 5Gs making Mobile-ITX systems suitable for in-vehicle and industrial machining applications."

Other platforms that VIA has launched in the past held some allure for most tech-heads who could imagine using the small boards in cool designs. The Mobile-ITX is more complex to use than simply being a small integrated motherboard. This product will excite embedded developers, however, who now suddenly have the features they are accustomed to working with, but using half the real estate they've had to deal with in the past.

Squeezebox server built using VIA thin client

Squeezebox is Logitech's answer to a home multimedia solution - a PC prupose built for the lounge room that can play music and video files. For the Squeezebox to branch out and become a complete home solution, you need a Squeezebox server. The Crazy Hawt blog has built one using a VIA based HP thin client as the starting point. The HP T5530 features a VIA Eden processor and runs silently and reliably.

"I looked at the hardware options for a squeezebox server, and I finally decided on an HP Thin Client. I came up with that decision based on this original, great article written over at SmallNetBuilder. I took a look on eBay, and I found the HP T5530. I was able to snag it for only $50 with free shipping! I then bought two flash drives. I bought a 2GB flash drive for the Operating System, Debian Linux, and I bought a 64GB flash drive for my music."

This blog contains a wealth of information on configuring this system with Debian for use as a Squeezebox solution.

Jetway board offers great monitoring options

It's been a while since I've seen a review of a Mini-ITX board that features VIA chips but that isn't made by VIA. This isn't a revew really, but a long blog entry by an "IT person" who has got himself a new Jeyway JNF76-N1G-LF P 1.0GHz. The little board has two big heatsinks for passive cooling of the VIA Nano U2300 1GHz 533 FBS processor and VX800 media system processor. It looks as though the BIOS is a bit of an improvement over the BIOS supplied with the VIA branded board of similar specs:

"What is more, pc health status shows much more information than in VB8001. It shows CPU and System temperatures what you can't find in the VB8001. There is also a possibility to set a shutdown temperature or thermal-throttling. And one more interesting feature is to show PC health status at boot. It means you can see temperatures and voltages values at boot in the POST screen."

VIA says Intel's anti-competative nature still thrives

It wasn't that long ago that VIA sold more chipsets than Intel.
"Early in this decade, VIA was the most thriving chip-design company in Taiwan. It became a global leader that catered to almost 40 percent of the world chipset market and had annual revenue of nearly $1 billion. Back then, these achievements put VIA ahead of Intel."
VIA's VP of marketing, Richard Brown, blames Intel in part for the huge change of business for VIA. Commenting on Intel's 1.25 billion payout to AMD to settle anti-competative charges out of court, he has told TheMoneyTimes that "We do think the anti-competitive environment is still here and still needs to be looked at very carefully.”
He also pointed to a bright future ahead for VIA as the market focuses on mobility and low power consumption instead of Intel's MHz focus.

WonderMedia PRIZM support Windows CE 6.0

I think I've mentioned WonderMedia before on my other VIA-related blog about netbooks. WonderMedia is a subsiduary of VIA's and they first came to my attention when I came across a device that was smaller than a netbook, with longer battery life, featuring an ARM processor and the WonderMedia PRIZM platform. I didn't realize until now that PRIZM can be used for all sorts of designs, not just teeny tiny netbooks.
The WonderMedia PRIZM platform is a series of silicon solutions including "SmartFrame, SmartClient and network projector designs." So it really is an embedded silicon platform that can be used for digital photo frames, projectors, thin client, the list goes on. As such they now have a board support package for Windows CE 6.0. The Press Release does still highlight the most sexy segment they're targetting: "Additionally, integration of third party software such as Tencent QQ Messenger, the most popular instant messaging program in Mainland China, makes Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 especially suitable for use in the WonderMedia Smartbook – a new class of ultra-portable broadband device offering rich multimedia and communication suites."

These sort of SoC (system on chip) designs are getting powerful enough now to replace x86 designs. Both the mobile computing and embedded world need to watch this space.

No active cooling for the AMOS-5000

Not surprisingly, the new VIA AMOS-5000 chassis has no active cooling, instead opting for passive solutions that are in direct contact with the chips they cool. Gadget Folder has more:

"To ensure the normal temperature of system components, it uses separate aluminum radiator, in direct contact with the processor and chipset on the reverse side of the motherboard. In addition, there are many interfaces, the number of which can be increased through expansion modules."

4G VIA chips for China Mobile

A Chief Exec of VIA Telecom has reportedly said that they will supply China Mobile with 4G chips.
That's it - that's all the news on this one. I just find it interesting when I hear little bitty snippets of information about one of VIA's subsiduary companies. It's often easy to forget from my Australian viewpoint that parts of VIA are very active with other technologies and in other countries. - MarketWatch

VIA AMOS-500, stacking solution for Em-ITX

The VIA Em-ITX platform is a little quirky. It's a great idea, but I think it's fair to say that it's not mainstream. The idea is basically that you take a Mini-ITX board, squish it so that it's 12x17cm instead of a 17cm square, and make it so that you can have I/O ports along two sides instead of one. That gives you 200% more I/O real estate on a board that's 30% smaller. Plus, designers can add extra features with expansion cards.
Now, how do you go about fitting such an octopus of a board into a chassis? Wait until the designers of the board come up with one I guess, and that's exactly what VIA have done. The VIA AMOS-5000 is designed for Em-ITX boards and it even has the capability of stacking extra little chassis on top of the main one if you want to add those elusive expansion modules that are yet to be released. The VIA AMOS-5000, on the other hand, is available right now.
The chassis is made from heavy duty steel and it's a completely fanless design, as you'd expect. A system built with the Em-ITX and VIA AMOS-5000 can withstand temperature ranges of -20 - 55 celcius and even g-force up to 50.
"The VIA AMOS-5000 is available now and targets a wide variety of embedded segments including medical, healthcare, industrial and building automation, digital signage, kiosk, POI/POS, gaming and surveillance applications." - Press Release.

Old fashioned meets old fashioned

Today I want to tell you about an old fashioned case mod in an old fashioned Sega PC. Years ago when VIA first released the Mini-ITX and their EPIA boards, case modders went wild with creativity sticking the little boards in Star Wars toys, an ET doll, odd lamps, small briefcases - you name it, it's been done. This one might also have been done before, or at least something similar. I'm sure I've seen an Atari mod before. But what makes this particularly cool is that the keyboard actually works. So although it's a VIA EPIA Nano-ITX NX15000G inside an old chasis, which is not that original, it's actually a keyboard that is a working PC - and that is far from old fashioned. - Technabob

Em-ITX brings choice

Can we have too many form factors? The answer, according to ElectronicDesign, is no - not if they fulfill a need in the market and use connections and slots that are standard. Apparently embedded developers just can't get enough when it comes to feature rich platforms, and the article highlights the Em-ITX from VIA as an example of an innovative feature-rich design.

"I/O interfaces include an 8-bit digital port, a VGA port, dual low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) ports, dual Gigabit Ethernet, four serial ports, dual SATA II ports, six USB 2.0 ports, and HD audio. It can handle up to a 2-Gbyte DDR2 SODIMM. A Compact Flash socket is on the bottom."

S3 announces OpenCL embedded GPU

When S3 Graphics releases a new GPU you can bet your bottom dollar that their biggest support will be parent-company VIA. A lot of S3 products actually wind up being cross-purposed for use in the graphics cores found embedded in VIA chipsets, but the company does still release discrete S3 Graphics branded processors as well.
The S3 Graphics 5400E is being unvieled in China this week at the Electronic Manufacturer Exposition. It's being positioned as a chip which the embedded market can use for medical, scientific and other uses.
The 5400E has a native OpenCL engine, OpenCL being a cross-platform open standard. "Native support of OpenCL with the industry’s best GFLOPS per watt rating including a DirectX® 10.1 / OpenGL 3.1 graphics engine, ChromotionHD video core for HD video decode including Blu-ray, H.264, and VC-1, a video encode engine, and OpenVG 1.1 engine in the 5400E creates the most versatile GPU for embedded applications requiring longevity, customization, performance, features, and low power."
I can't give you a link to the Press Release. I was sent a copy by mail but S3 don't have it on their website yet!

ARTiGO A2000 recipe

Written up a bit like a recipe, a website dedicated to MS Windows Home Server has taken a look at the VIA ARTiGO A2000 barebone system, and why not? As they point out, it was designed as a Windows Home Server box. Overall they're happy with how easy it is to build and that it gives flexibility in choosing RAM capacity and disk space. On the down side, they do note that it's limited for a server in that it supports only a maximum of 2 hard drives. Still, for most home servers, 2TB would be enough and the trade off is pretty positive - that it's compact and silent.

Would you like fries with that?

The VIA Eden processor features in a new touch screen terminal from Posiflex, the KS-2010 available in the UK from DED. These 10.4" fan free terminals are built for busy PoS environments.

"Featuring an 800 x 600 SVGA screen, the standard RAM on the KS-2010 series is 256MB; an optional upgrade to 512MB is available or even 1GB if required. With a VIA Eden 500 processor, operating system support on the KS-2010 series includes WePOS, Windows CE and Linux. Windows XP Pro is also supported, but it is recommended that the upgraded 1GB RAM be used in conjunction with this operating system." - GroceryTrader.co.uk

C7-M in a nettop?

ClonedinChina.com published a quick news story (their source is in Chinese) about a mini desktop, or nettop, that is using a combo not usually found in embedded devices - the C7-M and the VX700.
"This mini pc gets a very small size, only measuring 135X123X35mm, weighing 300g. It features a 1.6G VIA C7-M processor, VX700 chipset, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, VGA output port, 2 USB ports,WI-FI and Bluetooth module."
This is kind of like a VIA ARTiGO, but a different shape and a slightly different platform. Plus, by the size measurements, it sports a notebook HDD, so it's not a storage server. So actually, come to think of it it's nothing like an ARTiGO except that it's small and features VIA chips! It's more a like a basic but tiny desktop PC. I'm guessing it's not available outside of China.

VIA AMOS gets new UK disti

The UK company 2001 is going to start supplying VIA AMOS solutions. The 2 VIA AMOS chassis, supporting Pico-ITX or Mini-ITX, start off with the basic PC and can then add modules for more options like ROM driver, PCI cards, etc. Although there's an ad in the border of their site, the link goes to the VIA product page, shown inside the main cell of their site. So pricing is not yet available. - Electronics Weekly.

Purple JetBox with CANbus port

A new industrial communication computer from Korenix features a 1GHz VIA Eden processor and the CX700M chip, with two gigabit Ethernet ports. Housed in a snazzy looking purple edged case, with the requisite fin design for passive cooling, the unit can withstand temperatures of -15 - + 70 and has an anti-shock design. The design focus is on easy networking, with support for dual OS - Windows XP and Linux Fedora 10.

"Users can benefit from the CANbus port of JetBox 8152 by extending their deployment up to 10km in applications with multiple nodes, requiring higher performance, more secure and real-time data communication. With CANbus functionality the products can be ideally used for manually controlled networks."

You can find full specs at News.Thomasnet.

VIA embedded platforms will support Windows Embedded Standard 2011

With the release of Windows 7 just weeks away, Microsoft are keen to talk up the embedded counterpart to the full desktop OS, Windows Embedded Standard 2011. Like previous versions of Windows Embedded, the OS comes in component form so that OEMs can just choose the bits they need for their designs. VIA has long been a partner of Microsoft with their embedded versions, with all (so far as I can see) their products supporting the OS. The Windows 7-based Embedded Standard 2011 will be no different, according to a Press Release issued Tuesday.
"These features include support for 64-bit CPUs, Windows Aero user interface, Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Touch (including multi-gesture touch interfaces and context-aware applications) and Windows Flip 3D navigation. These features enable developers to create product differentiation while focusing on their core competencies."

Ultimate HD platform claim acknowledged

The new VB8003 Mini-ITX board based on the Trinity platform is getting a lot of good press. Here are a few snippets:

"When you start calling your new product the “ultimate Mini-ITX HD multimedia platform” you better have some meat to back it up, but we’ve a feeling VIA’s new mainboard will be able to deliver." - Slashgear

"Remember when the PlayStation 3 was going to have dual-HDMI ports so that games could pump 1080p video to two displays simultaneously? Ahh, those were good 'ol days. That configuration obviously didn't come to pass, but VIA's looking to deliver dual-HDMI and more in its next integrated Mini-ITX solution, the VB8003, which also packs DVI and VGA ports, as well as an LVDS output, meaning it could control five displays at once (though with only four discrete signals)." - Engadget

"VIA has now expanded its low-power platform to include the fresh and really funky VB8003 aka the first Mini-ITX motherboard to come equipped with a GPU. Yes, you read it right, the board actually features a dedicated GPU, namely the S3 Graphics 435 ULP which supports DirectX 10.1, OpenGL 2.1, and boast the ChromotionHD engine, for smooth 1080p playback." - TCMagazine

VB8003 and Trinity video

VIA shot a video about the VB8003 back in June, during the Computex trade show in VIA's home town of Taipei. At the time, the board was tucked away on the booth. The VIA Trinity platform had been announced but no product had actually been released. Here's the video, which was put on YouTube just three days ago:

New VB8003 has a mean set of features

It's usually VIA's EPIA range of embedded boards that get the press; their name is certainly well known in the embedded world. Yesterday, however, VIA launched a new board in their VB series, which really is beyond par for its display options.

The VIA Trinity platform combines a VIA 64-bit Nano processor, the VX800 media chip (with integrated graphics) and an S3 Graphics processor. Double graphics! In the VB8003 Mini-ITX board, they're using the S3 Graphics 435 ULP graphics processor. S3, a subsiduary of VIA's hasn't had much luck selling their discrete solutions as video cards in that highly competative market, where two is company and three's a crowd. So it's s smart move by VIA to use S3's solid design for the budget market, which also has an excellent thermal envolope, to add extra features to their Mini-ITX solutions. With the combination of the VX800 IGP and the S3 solution, the VB8003 has 2 HDMI ports, VGA, LVDS and DVI as well. Not only that, it supports HD playback and DX10.1.

Although this board is being pimped as a solution for digital multimedia devices in more of an enterprise setting, I can't help but think of the possibilities in the home. It does after all have Blu-ray support, dual Gigabit Ethernet, supports up to 4GB DDR2, two SATA drives and 2 compact flash slots. It would make for a quiet but well featured home theatre PC.

Mini-ITX 2.0, launched in June 2008, was suggested to feature a VIA Mini-ITX board with a a Nano processor, plus NVIDIA graphics, to offer a small but quiet PC for gaming. I remember a system with that setup being shown playing Crysis. That config never made it to mainstream, but the VB8003 offers pretty much the same thing - and probably with less power consumption to boot!

"The VIA VB8003 Mini-ITX board can utilize the integrated graphics of the VIA VX800 MSP in tandem with the dedicated S3 Graphics processor to offer developers the widest possible variety of multi-display configurations, including dual-HDMI, LVDS, DVI and VGA technologies. Powering HD content playback across as many as four uniquely configured displays, with supported resolutions of up to and beyond 1080p, the VIA VB8003 is a HD powerhouse, ideal for a range of next-generation digital interactive devices and digital signage applications." More.

EPIA-P720 attracts attention of HTPC builders

The recently announced VIA EPIA-P720, the Pico-ITX motherboard, that can play 1080p and is passively cooled, has raised some eyebrows over at MaximumPC. In the comments to their short article about the palm-sized board, their readers seem most interested in sticking the tiny mobo in their lounge rooms.

"Though the presention mentions public displays, not htpc's, so I'm curious if they think it would be good as such. If so then I think this is an insanely awesome product. One major issue with htpc's is the size of the box. Now you can have one the size of your $30 dvd player."

"While mobos are flat, a gpu isn't. And rolling with mATX is still large. (as in the sese that your HTPC is about the size of an old XBOX :P)This type of PC would own at my place. My parents would love this for a computer. Theoretically, you could make an HTPC, oh say the size of a Gamecube, about the size of a lunch box."

"sounds like this mobo is like the perfect htpc mobo - at least on a term of size - that only does what an htpc should do.."

VIA launches new HD capable Pico-ITX

Imagine a digital interactive device that's about the size of a paperback and can play HD video at 1080p with no fans in the system! By combining the VX855 Media System Processor with a VIA Eden processor, the EPIA-P720 makes it possible.

"Today’s digital interactive devices give users a more immersive and enhanced experience, employing high quality, high resolution video content. Using the latest video compression technologies, like the increasingly popular H.264 codec, HD media playback usually requires a substantial processing overhead, negating the possibility of a completely fanless compact system.

With the VIA EPIA-P720, the VIA VX855 MSP takes the video decompression burden from the central processor, applying industry-leading hardware acceleration for the most compression-intensive codecs, including H.264, VC1, WMV9 and MPEG 2/4, at display resolutions up to 1080p. The VIA EPIA-P720 also boasts several display connectivity options including native HDMI, VGA and LVDS support."

Read more in the official Press Release.

VIA ARTiGO A2000 dubbed an excellent solution for budget home storage

The VIA ARTiGO A2000 barebone system is designed for a quick and easy solution to storage that is affordable, silent and small enough that your home or office doesn't need to be re-arranged. It features a VIA Nano-ITX board that has a VIA C7-D processor on it. LegitReviews ran it through a whole bunch of tests and decided that it fulfilled its design intentions admirably.

"After reviewing all of the benchmarks and taking into consideration the purpose of the ARTiGO A2000, I can say that it has shown itself very well in managing and serving data despite its apparent inadequacies in actually performing CPU or graphics intensive tasks. At $239, this low-power network server seems to run cool, quiet, and stable, while still performing well in a battery of tests that put the strain on its Nano-ITX motherboard and VIA C7-D 1.5 GHz processor. When all was said and done, the ARTiGO A2000 did what it was made for: it provided an excellent solution to network storage."

It's a long review, with lots of benchmarks. Check it out here.

VIA joins Linux Foundation

Here's an announcement that nearly slipped under the radar - VIA has become the newest member of the Linux Foundation, a non-profit group "dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux." It was about a year ago now that VIA opened up the doors to code and specs. The increase in interest of using Linux in the mobile space is behind VIA's momentum in supporting Linux. VIA's VP of Marketing, Richard Brown said, "We are seeing new momentum for Linux, particularly in the mobile space, and are excited about the potential of Linux in this segment and are investing considerable resources in supporting developments in this area."

The announcement of VIA's membership should speed up VIA's ability to get code released with new kernels and it comes just in time for LinuxCon, a new conference being held in a week's time in the US, with several other big-hitters attending as well like Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, Novell and Qualcomm.

It's French, for Linux!

Linutop SARL is the French company behind the new Linutop 3 series of thin clients, or nettops if you prefer. For about $485 you get a 1GHz VIA C7 processor, up to 2GB of flash memory, gigabit Ethernet, six USB ports and support for DVI and D-sub display connections. Open Office, Firefox and Linutop's own version of Ubuntu Linux come preinstalled. - Techfresh, Geeky-gadgets.

Linutop thin client and OS

Thin clients are more than just the hardware in a snazzy little chasis, they are a complete solution, often with a customized operating system. This is certainly true of the new Linutop thin clients which features a custom version of Ubuntu Linux 8.04. Inside they feature a VIA C7 processor.

"It has no moving parts (if you remember, I mentioned it was a fanless solution) and operates at 20W, meaning it will probably find a lot of companies wanting to employ its services. The price is set at 340 Euros (about 487 USD)."-Gadgets.softpedia.

Cute Pico-ITX cases

When this blogger researched a short piece about the VIA EPIA PX 1000 Pico-ITX motherboard, they found five cases available for it on Mini-ITX.com.
This is my favorite of them all. It looks like a PC book.

Wyse's new thin clients have it all

Writing a summary from Wyse's own Press Release, the Industrial NewsRoom has highlighted the extra features you might now have expected in a thin client. They make them sound perfect for a kitchen bench PC in my opinion:
"Integrating PC, phone, and TV functionality, Wyse C class Thin Clients are powered by VIA C7 1 GHz processor and include hardware graphic accelerator delivering video and multimedia playback up to 1080p. Devices meet ENERGY STAR v5.0 specification, drawing under 7 W of power and generating minimal heat. They include video, PS/2, Ethernet, USB 2.0, and audio in/out ports. Wyse Device Manager enables real-time asset management, health-monitoring, and remote imaging."

ACE-CNX according to EDA

Who would better understand the new ACE-CNX service from VIA than a blogger dedicated to Electronic Design Automation? Let's see how the EDA Blog describes the new service:

"VIA Technologies created the ACE-CNX security service to help customers harness the power of the Advanced Cryptographic Engine (ACE) embedded at the core of all VIA processors. With the VIA ACE-CNX service, a team of security experts will work closely with customers to implement data encryption standards that meet widely accepted international standards. The advantage of data encryption through the hardware, as opposed to software, is that the encryption is seamless, fast and entirely unobtrusive to the end user."

VIA Launches ACE Connects (ACE-CNX)

VIA’s Eden, C7 and Nano processors have an advanced cryptographic engine built right into the die of the processor. ACE-CNX, pronounced ACE Connects, is a new service that connects developers with experts within VIA, to help developers build successful secure applications using the ACE security engine provided with VIA’s CPUs.

VIA have justed announced their Security Solution Service, now known as ACE-CNX. The service will be available through the VIA Embedded Platform Division (VEPD) and like an engineering fee for new board designs, the cost will depend on the project and will be considered on a case by case basis. Customers would work with VIA’s software engineers to develop a solution specifically tailored to their needs.

With ACE-CNX, VIA engineers and the developers would work together to define the hardware setup and what they want to achieve, and then VIA would provide a tailor-made SDK (software development kit) for the company to work with. ACE-CNX would then have VIA work with the company until the solution is finalized.

To understand why the ACE-CNX solution is important, let me first explain how VIA’s embedded security works. Ordinarily, security measures don’t take effect until after the operating system has loaded. With VIA’s solution, key system files can be verified before booting starts, ensuring the integrity of files before the operating system loads. It’s all about booting securely, and then using an operating system and applications securely. In VIA’s solution, the security red tape all happens between the CPU and the memory and with the software element removed, this drastically reduces the complexity of keeping things secure.

ACE-CNX itself is not software and it’s not hardware, it’s a service where VIA helps its customers to exploit this unique security engine in the VIA Eden, C7 and Nano processors.

In case you’re confused, as I certainly was when I started to research this blog, I’ll provide a few hypothetical examples of why a company might decide to sign up for the ACE-CNX service. In all cases, the company in question is developing a product with features that require excellent security and this might include:

Communication: Traditionally, to set up secure communication, you need to set up a VPN tunnel. With VIA, instead, it’s end to end.

Digital signage: Content being displayed on digital signage can be securely remote managed.

Secure file sharing: Large organizations can secure file access between notebooks, desktops and servers.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the practical circumstances where the ACE-CNX service would help VIA customers. And it doesn’t matter what the infrastructure is, so long as it includes a VIA Eden, C7 or Nano processor; it can be a custom board, EPIA board, VB series board, etc.

In all cases, the goal is to make best use of the AES algorithm and utilize the opcodes in VIA processors to encrypt data and thereby keep that data secure. Rather than struggle to keep data secure by software, VIA’s solution keeps information safe using the circuitry in the computer itself. ACE-CNX is the service that forms a partnership between VIA and their customer to make it happen for a particular product and application.

We’d like to thank Patty Wu, Steven Wang. Peter Li, Stewart Hatson and Timothy Brown from VIA for their time in providing information for this blog post.

High rise embedded design

The VIA AMOS series allows designers to make their own mini high rise computers - tiny but with as many floors as they need.

"The guiding principle behind the VIA AMOS-1000 and VIA AMOS-2000 is the ability to add additional layers to the chassis, facilitating simple system expansion for optical drives, system storage and PCI or PCI Express AIBs.-ECNMag.com

Layer upon layer

"Layer upon layer" ... what was that annoying ad that played insesintly during the 1990's? Australian readers will know what I mean. Some bird with a fake Swedish accent advertising pastry or something? "Layer upon layer" ... Look at the different layers of the new VIA AMOS-2000 (top) and the AMOS-1000 (below). Layer upon layer you can build what you need with the VIA AMOS!

Wyse's thin client software options

I've already mentioned how the new Wyse C-class thin clients have a VIA C7 processor and only consume 7 watts of power, now let's hear a little bit about the software options for running them:
"Used in conjunction with Wyse's Collaborative Processing Architecture, the thin clients can work with VMware View 3.1 and Wyse's TCX virtualization software solutions on VMware, Citrix, and Microsoft virtual environments. The Wyse C class also supports Wyse WSM zero-client provisioning software."-GCN.com

VIA AMOS series offer huge expansion capabilities

One of these VIA AMOS chassis designs was seen on display at VIA's booth at Computex earlier in the year. I think it was the AMOS-2000 version which supports the Nano-ITX platform. There wasn't much info about it at the time but now VIA have put out a Press Release which includes information about a VIA AMOS-1000 and AMOS-2000 which are for the VIA Nano-ITX and VIA Mini-ITX platforms respectively. The chassis fit a VIA EPIA board (of the respective platform) and one 2.5" SATA hard drive and a power board. You can also fit optional component boards into the base chassis, to add wireless, COM, DVI and USB. Then on top of that you can also stack additional chassis to add more features. The extra chassis can be the same size or an ultra-slime version. With them you can add features like an optical drive, up to 3TB of storage, Compact Flash, MiniPCI port and up to two PCI or PCI Express cards for more networking or high end graphics. Really, it doesn't matter what your application or device is for, so long as a VIA EPIA Nano-ITX or Mini-ITX board can form the basis, the AMOS-1000 and AMOS-2000 chassis' versatility will allow embedded developers to build just what they need.

WonderMedia and Windows 7 provide photo frame of the future

Do you have a digital photo frame on a shelf somewhere in the house? Most people have them somewhere prominant in the lounge room and they plug them in before guests arrive so that they silently shuffle through happy snaps in the background, starting conversations and bringing forth memories. Of course they only show what you have put on them already, or what's on the USB stick sticking out the side. Windows 7 has a new feature called "Play To" which, so far as I understand, means that your Windows 7 PC or notebook can be told to show it's photos and/or videos to a wirelessly connected device in range. The WonderMedia SmartFrame is the first digital photo frame to have this support, having been awarded the Windows 7 Logo. And there's more:
"That gives the SmartFrame more than just a fancy sticker to mess up its clean bezel with, though; it means that it’s perfectly placed to use Windows 7’s “Play To” feature which allows PC users to funnel content to different displays with a simple click. The SmartFrame can show onboard video, photos and audio, or stream it from a DLNA compatible local network source; however it will also play internet-based content such as video, games, email and newsfeeds."-Slashgear

WonderMedia SmartFrame gets first Windows 7 logo

Why is a site about VIA embedded news mentioning a WonderMedia digital photo frame? WonderMedia is a wholly owned subsiduary of VIA's and they therefore use VIA chips in their (mainly) embedded designs. They don't actually usually use the mainstream VIA processors we normally report on here, but ARM processors and the PRIZM platform. According to the Press Release, PRIZM "a leading-edge SoC technology that integrates a high performance ARM processor, programmable DSP core, and video decoding and processing hardware together with essential memory, networking and peripheral controllers."
The WonderMedia SmartFrame deserves the "smart" in its name. It gives access to show "not only to photos stored on local hard drives or online, but also email, games, video, news, documents and a whole host of web services." Cool!

Wyse hitting all the tick boxes with new thin client design

Let's see, they're about $350, the size of a paperback, sturdy, consume 7 watts under load, dual monitor support, 1080p HD playback - this is what VIA has been aiming for all these years. Low cost, low power consumption but all the bells and whistles of a current PC.
Now for some maths:
“What that means is that companies that replace PCs with this client reduce their energy footprint by 90 percent in for the data center and clients and save $53 per client per year,” McNaught says. “This device, before its lifetime is over, has completely paid for itself in energy savings alone.”-ChannelInsider.

Wyse release two 7 watt thin clients

The new Fujitsu thin clients have been in the news recently because of their low power consumption. Wyse might now come up trumps with two new models featuring VIA's Eden processors and the most recent VX855 single chip solution. The VX855 draws just 3.5 watts under load, whilst still providing the option for dual monitor support. Overall, the C3OLE and C9OLE thin clients only require seven watts of power under load. That's crazy! Imagine that a light bulb consumes 60 watts and all it's doing is, well being bright! The two models run either Windows Embedded CE 6.0 or Windows XP Embedded.

The units don't look like a thin client does traditionally. In stead of the classic "I'm a book PC" chasis, they look more like a router, with sturdy little legs. More on WindowsForDevice.com.

VIA behind Fujitsu's "most frugal thin client"

The VIA Eden processor is popular in the thin client space because of the extremely low power draw and when it's coupled with the new(ish) VX800, it's even less power hungry than older designs. VIA has been paying attention to the power draw of its chips as well as its processors.
"It feels that the combination of pressures on the IT department to reduce costs, as well as the increasing focus on power consumption figures (or green IT), and new technologies such as cloud computing, are playing a major part in the increasing takeup of thin clients in corporate infrastructures."-Techworld.

Good news for Linux users

VIA have moved away from their traditional support for the OpenChrome driver project to release their own 2D driver for the Chrome 9 series.
"The new xf86-video-via driver includes the kernel DRM source-code with the package too. VIA is actually shipping with six separate copies of the DRM source-code. There is separate Direct Rendering Manager code to support the CN700/CX700M/VX700 and CN896/VX800/VX820 ASICs. Additionally, there is separate DRM folders for the Linux 2.6.24, 2.6.27, and 2.6.28 kernels."-Phoronix.
Let's hope they also work at getting it put into the mainline kernel.

EPIA N700-10EW in vehicles?

This short article about the EPIA N700-10EW suggests that the embedded market might use the fanless Nano-ITX board for infotainment devices in vehicles. I hadn't read that before, nor thought of it myself but it makes perfect sense. With the ability to withstand temperature extremes from -20 to 70, even leaving the device running on a hot summers day in a car in Australia would be ok.

"No pricing information yet, the new platform is expected to reach embedded market soon targeted for industrial and vehicle infotainment usag"

PadLock really makes a difference

Continuing on in a series of blogs about the VIA ARTiGO A2000, Fea-nux has been experimenting with VIA PadLock, which is built in security in VIA processors. This includes hardware support for AES encryption. With PadLock enabled, OpenSSL was 45x faster and Apache was almost twice as fast. There is both practical advice and results in this blog!
"Once the padlock_aes module is loaded, it can be used by programs such as OpenSSL. First, run openssl engine, and you should see output such as (padlock) VIA PadLock: RNG ACE2 PHE(8192) PMM that indicates that the VIA PadLock engine support has been compiled in. To see the difference with and without hardware encryption, for example, try running openssl speed -evp aes256."

Nice NAS with the ARTiGO A2000

Electronic design have published a detailed article about two different NAS solutions, one of them being the VIA ARTiGO A2000. The A2000 comes as a barebone system, designed to be compact and not comsume much power. This Lab Bench Online article gives details about how to set up the A2000 with FreeNAS using an image file handily distributed with their supplier of the A2000, Logic Supply.
"Things got more interesting once the WinSystems CompactFlash card arrived. Adding it was easy but first I loaded it with FreeNAS. This is a free, open source, FreeBSD-based NAS server platform complete with an extensive web-based interface. It can run a host of file services from Samba (for Windows support) to NFS to SSH. The UPNP support can work with DLNA clients. It has SMART drive support as well as firewall support. Check out the website for all of the features and screen shots of the interface."

Guilt free computer

These days, most households have enough media files on their PCs that they really need a separate PC just for storage. Having a media server or home server is also convenient because then everyone in the house can have access to the files. Movies can be streamed to the PC in the lounge room. Family photos can be viewed by anyone. MP3s can be streamed to the PC in the office. But leaving a PC on all day and night makes the environmentally concious consumer curl over in a knot. The blogger fea-nux found a solution in the VIA ARTiGO A2000.
"The past 8 months, it’s been working great as a home server. It has a very compact size, and Gigabit Ethernet is supported. "
"However, if you want a mail/web/ldap/sql server, along with a file server (NFS and Samba), the A2000 is nice because it doesn’t take up much power, so you can leave it on without feeling much guilt."

RED Box marketing device

Have you ever been on a train that has a screen set up high that shows ads on it? What about in the public toilets at a shopping centre? Or maybe in the doctor's waiting room? It's those types of applications and others that are similar, that the Rich Entertainment Device (RED) Box from Satellite Music Australia, is designed for. A device like that needs to be rock solid reliable so it can just run for hours on end with no intervention. To acheive this they have chosen the VIA EPIA EX mini-ITX board, which is small enough to fit in the design, robust enough to handle the running conditions, and well featured enough to handle the multimedia demands that are required.

"Satellite Music Australia's RED box is an excellent example of how VIA is helping to facilitate a growing number of innovative embedded products that help shape the way we do business and live our lives," said Daniel Wu, Vice President of VIA Embedded, VIA Technologies, Inc. "The VIA EPIA EX board has a high-end feature set that has been designed from the ground up to for quality multimedia delivery".

"SMA prides itself on delivering a very robust, reliable and dynamic service. Our RED Box is the engine for us in delivery this service. It provides a unique and reliable platform for our clientele," said Jonathan Champion, General Manager – Group Business. - Press Release.

Gamble away or have fun with AEWIN

"GA-1000, the entry level all-in-one gaming board, is suitable for use in slot machines, amusement gaming machines, lottery machines, fruit machine, slave unit of roulette machine, and server-base gaming machines." That's the word from Embedded-computing.com. The new AEWIN GA-1000 has a choice of a 500MHz or 1GHZ VIA Eden processor or a VIA Nano at 1.6GHz. That's quite a bit of difference in processing power between models. The Nano version is recommended for applications with dual displays.

70-20 - can handle anything

Even sites usually focused on gizmos and gadgets are impressed with the temperature range that the new EPIA N700-10EW can handle:

"VIA guarantees that this new breed of motherboards are able to maintain absolute stability within a wide temperature range from -20°C to 70°C despite taking on a fanless form factor."-Ubergizmo.

A close look at the new EPIA N700-10EW

Windowsfordevices.com really like to get down to the nitty gritty details about embedded products. In this article they really give the new VIA EPIA N700-10EW the once over, taking a good look at the design, I/O ports and options, as well as notes on how it differs from other VIA boards.

"Where the Epia N700 was available with a choice of Via processors -- either the 1.5GHz C7, or the 500MHz Eden ULV -- the N700-10EW is apparently offered with just one, an Eden ULV clocked at 1.0GHz. The latter CPU has a maximum TDP of five Watts, which, combined with the VX800's five-Watt TDP max, lets the Epia N700 use as little as 10 Watts, according to Via. Maximum memory capacity of the board, meanwhile, remains 2GB of 533/667MHz DDR2 RAM."

EPIA N700-10EW: Can be served hot or cold

Is it just more or are the temperature extremes that this little VIA board can withstand more impressive than other embedded boards?
"Guaranteed to maintain absolute stability at temperatures ranging from -20oc to 70oc, the VIA EPIA N700-10EW can be employed in environments that traditionally inhibit x86 computing."
Yep, it's another VIA EPIA board, a Nano-ITX platform variety, with a VIA Eden processor, the VX800 system media processor, one of VIA's latest, and it even has completely solid state capacitors.
"All VIA EPIA N700-10EW boards are rigorously tested for compatibility and reliability prior to shipping and are bundled with special wide temperature-verified system memory modules to ensure complete system stability." More in the official Press Release.

VIA Eden and C7 chosen for military apps

This article on COTS Journal highlights the growing use of rugged embedded computers by the military.

"The list of military programs using PC/104 in the airborne, marine, handheld and vehicular arenas continues to lengthen. Military system developers select PC/104—and its wider community of form-factors including PC/104-Plus, PCI-104 and EPIC—because of its compact size as well as the ruggedness inherent in its stacking architecture."

One example given is that of the Poseidon EPIC form-factor which uses either a VIA Eden ULV or VIA C7 processor, obviously chosen for their reliability and dpendability in tough conditions.

"For military applications that depend on remote terminals, protocol conversion or data logging in power-shy environments, the ideal SBC would combine a low-power CPU with lots of onboard communications formats."

Avalue release slim-line 22-inch panel PCs

This very clean design is new from Avalue. With a VIA Eden ULV processor running at 1GHz and the CX700M chipset, it's ideally suited to embedded applications. VIA's embedded platforms like the Eden and CX700M combo are so small, the 22 inch screen dwarfs the specs hidden in the back. But the quality of the screen output is great with 700:1 contrast ratio and 300-nit brightness rating.

Here are some more details on those specs:

Processor:
PC-22W01 -- Via Eden clocked at 1GHz
Memory:
PC-22W01 -- Up to 1GB of DDR2 memory
Display:
22-inch touchscreen
1680 x 1050 resolution
700:1 contrast ratio
5ms response time
Storage -- 2.5-inch hard disk drive or CompactFlash
Networking -- 2 x gigabit Ethernet
Other I/O:
2 x USB
1 x VGA
Audio line output
1 x RS232
Expansion:
Mini PCI slot
Type I/II CompactFlash slot
Operating temperature -- 32 to 104 deg. F (0 to 40 deg. C)
Dimensions -- 20.07 x 13.85 x 2.16 inches (510 x 352 x 55mm)
Weight -- 10.5 pounds (4.79kg)
More info at Windows For Devices.com

Strong as a pitch fork

A trident is a long three pronged weapon. The word puts an image in my head of a determined looking old man, impossibly muscly for his advanced years, lunging out of the water, with not a salad fork, but a trident held valiantly above his head. Trident, a UK company that's an off-shoot of the multi-national distributor, Avnet, chose the word well in naming the company, which specialises in embedded hardware and devices. Embedded often means - stick me somewhere dirty, hot and out of sight. Like the new AMOS-3000.

"It is constructed in five pieces: the top cover, bottom plate, front and rear I/O panels and the DOM module, and is offered with desk, wall and VESA mounting options."

Versatile and built with solid materials worthy of the Trident name.

"The VIA AMOS-3000 is a based on the EPIA P700 Pico-ITX form factor board powered by either a 1GHz VIA C7 processor or an Ultra Low Voltage 500MHz VIA Eden processor."

So, solid, but also cool running and with no moving parts. More at TMCnet.com.

New ETX board from AAEON

VIA's processors may soon find themselves responsible for entertaining folks, with the announcment of some new boards from AAEON, designed for high end entertainment devices.
"According to the specifications of the new board, customers will be provided with a 4.5 x 3.7-inch ETX COM format that boasts a 1.6GHz VIA Eden or a 2.0GHz VIA C7 processor, combined with VIA's fully integrated CX700M media system processor, or chipset. Dubbed EXT-CX700M, the board has been designed to support up to 1GB of DDR2 memory." - Softpedia.com.

New headphone and sound technology

VIA and DTS have teamed up to create the ability for a headset that has full surround sound.
"The DTS Surround Sensation Ultra PC with Head Tracker system can create a 5.1 surround sound experience with stereo headphones, tracking head movement at 30fps and across a 60-degree field and adjusting the sound accordingly. If, say, you move your head to the left, sound from the “phantom” center speaker of the virtual 5.1 setup will be louder in the right earpiece, mimicking how a true surround system would work." - Slashgear.

Environmentally friendly FUTRO S100

Thin clients are quite handy in offices, due to their ultra portability and also due to their silent mode of operation. But what is special about the FUTRO S100 thin client from Fujitsu, is its power requirement. This little device has a VIA Eden processor, running at 500MHz, with a low TDP of just one watt. It's not only power savvy but also environment friendly, as it consumes only 11 watts of power under full load.

Read more.

Fujitsu FUTRO S100: Thin, power savvy and noiseless

Fujitsu has launched an ultra thin client for those who don't have enough space to accommodate fully fledged desktops or server based thin clients at their workplace. The Fujitsu FUTRO S100 is not only thin but it's also exceptionally silent due to the presence of a fanless VIA Eden ULV processor. It also features 512MB internal flash drive, Ethernet port, four USB 2.0 ports, and serial and PS/2 ports. This 1.7-inch thick device is Linux compatible and consumes only 11 watts or less under full load. Since its announcement, a lot of technical experts have expressed their views about it. Check out a few here.