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.