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