Case mod memory lane #6: The Spidercase

This mod is certainly one of the most creative and unique. Rather than putting a VIA EPIA Mini-ITX motherboard inside something that already exists, this mod was made from scratch. It was not without cost ...

"After cutting openings for the legs, I had to figure out how and what to make the legs with. Originally I had planned for the aluminum look but finding a cheap CNC cutter + blocks of aluminum in only a few days seemed nearly impossible. So I decided to go with my reliable source of acrylic at www.tapplastics.com. Since there was a local store within a mile of my house, I quickly made some templates and ran off to get some acrylic. About halfway through cutting the legs out, I stuck my middle fingertip into a table saw and found out first hand why people wear gloves. One stitch and 3 hours later I was back in the garage cutting again. I'll spare you the pictures. The thighs were 1-1/4" thick and only 6 were made at the time because the template picture I was going off showed only 6 legs on the spider. Later I changed it to 8. As I was cutting the lower portion of the legs, I routed my thumb and figured out for the second time why I should learn things the first time (wear gloves!!!@#). Since I couldn't use my right hand for the last few leg parts, I took them to Tap Plastics and they gladly cut out the shapes I needed cheap. This was after they laughed at me for cutting my hand for the 2nd time."

More on Mini-ITX.com.

VIA case mod memory lane #5: The teddybear

It's all class this week with a look back at the computer case mod that has a teddy bear stuffed to the brim with a VIA EPIA-based computer.

Was that the best place for the power cord? Seriously though, it was good thinking to include a fan on the top. VIA embedded motherboards do run without passive cooling, but maybe not when they're inside a fur coat. More on Mini-ITX.com

VIA case mod memory lane #4: The Playstation PC

It's ironic that consoles really do have the innards of a PC these days and in this mod, Per Samuelsson, gutted an old-school, grey Playstation and crammed inside a VIA EPIA Mini-ITX board 6GB hard drive, 256MB RAM, 145 Watt PSU, power switch, power connector and an extra fan. It was a tight squeeze.

"The EPIA mainboard fits exactly into a Playstation chassis, what luck! Of course I had to remove the gameports - to make them look like real gameports I filed them down until I had a 2.5mm thick frame, then glued the memory flaps into place and fitted the controller pins on black cardboard. Now they really looked like real Playstation gameports. I installed the Ram on the mainboard and tried to fit the cover. Fat chance Buster! It was too high. Dremel, Dremel, Dremel..."

It looks like someone's trying to smuggle something in there! Full story on Mini-ITX.com

Case mod memory lane#3: The iGrill

Continuing on with the kitchen theme, this week we take a look at the George Forman grill that was turned into a PC back in 2005 by James Goldsmith.

James actually bought the grill new and what's the first crazy thing you have to do with a mod like this?

"Of course, the first thing to do when a new toy arrives is to completely take it apart. So 5 minutes with philips-head and pro-drive screwdrivers later, it was down to the bare components. With hindsight, I probably should have done this with some kind of due care and attention, as it took me as long again to figure out which bits belonged where. I had intended to use the original power cabling, and mod the psu to use them, but this proved unfeasible, as I had to slice the cabling in two just to open the damn thing up."

Yes, the VIA Mini-ITX platform has been the cause for parts of many machines to be strewn across people's living rooms in pursuit of the ultimate case mod. You can read more about this mod on Mini-ITX.com.

Case mod memory lane again: the waffle iron

The chrome casing to this waffle iron provided a classy look to an otherwise cooky mod for the VIA EPIA M1000.

Find out more on Mini-ITX.com.

ARM and VIA embedded

ARM processors, as oppossed to x86 processors, have become the platform choice for a lot of things that were once the domain of low power processors like VIA's C3 and then C7 line.

VIA themself now have five product lines that feature ARM processors. They are:

• ARM based VAB series of Pico-ITX boards
• VIA Alta DS digital signage solutions
• VIA ARTiGO embedded computers (Pico-ITX board inside)
• VIA M’SERV embedded computers (Nano-ITX board inside)
• Fanless AMOS series of embedded computers

What do all of these have in common? VIA Embedded Pico-ITX and Nano-ITX boards that feature ARM processors. ARM processors, coupled with VIA's expertise at embedded high quality and feature rich chips onto loa profile embedded boards, offer the best performance per watt solution available.

Introducing VIA Embedded's MagicView

VIA and S3 graphics have had a long collaboration in designing embedded graphics solutions. Their latest partnership, however, has seen the development of an Android based development software solution for digital signage. MagicView is an ...

“advanced digital signage solution developed by VIA Technologies in collaboration with S3 Graphics comprised of a VIA embedded system and content management software called MagicView. In comparison with other digital signage solutions on the current market which require high-performance CPU capability which lead to high costs to build up systems, VIA Magic Box supports hardware decoding acceleration technology and enhanced HD video playback of the most demanding HD video formats, including, WMV9, VC1 and H.264 at screen resolutions of up to 1080p.”

The Canadian company Capital Networks is the first company announced as a development partner using VIA's ALTA DS system and MagicView. [Source]