Security in business: Intel tells business to do more

One of the debates about how well tablet PCs will do in the enterprise market centers around security concerns. After all, a tablet PC is easily stolen and if there's no passwords or encryption then full access is given. It's a corporate espionage dream. CRN reports that Intel is saying that businesses need to sharpen up their act when it comes to security. That's a fair call considering that research has shown that 70% of laptops stolen over recent years had no security on them at all.

If only VIA based netbooks or tablets were more readily available ... VIA processors have a built in security technology on the processor die. With it they can provide things like the recently released VIA VDSS software package.

"The VIA VDSS software package provides a solution to protect on-disk data at volume and disk level. This means that not only can user's files be protected, but operating system and other software and browser files can also be protected, including vulnerable cookies and passwords. This includes data that is invisible to the normal user, such as user data saved in swap files or partitions, in hibernated files, etc.

The VIA VDSS takes advantage of the VIA PadLock Security Engine which is included in VIA's x86 processors, to perform encryption and/or decryption without impacting on system performance."

Now that's what processor manufacturers need to be cooking up when it comes to mobile computing!

Android to help VIA (and others) into tablet market

The Epoch Times is citing a report called 'Impact of Connected Tablets on the CE Market – 2010 Interim Report', which suggests that tablets using the Android operating system could hold almost 30% market share by the end 2015. I actually think that this prediction is quite low. If you're really going to count the worldwide market share then you have to count the huge number of Android tablets that are already being pumped out in China. These models are often inspired by the iPad design, but with smaller 7-inch screens and of course sporting the free Android operating system. I've seen quite a number of them sporting VIA Wondermedia chips.

Looking for a VIA tablet for Christmas? Found a great one!

It is really hard to tell sometimes what hardware is powering the Android tablets that you find for sale on eBay. They all look very similar and unfortunately, the sellers rarely list the actual hardware specs when it comes to processor and integrated graphics. They focus instead on what you can do with the device. That's a fair enough sales tactic. Here's one that I do know has a VIA VT8505 ARM926 400MHz processor, the 7" iRobot or APad.

This is one of the most robust VIA tablet models that's quite easy to buy if you're in Australia, and because it supports the latest Android firmware, it has the most uses, like full support for YouTube and Skype. It also has Open Office installed. The information about what the tablet can and cannot do, and the hardware it has, is just about the most clear that I have come across on eBay.

They even have a few rods to say about VIA: "We have been selling APad since it was new in the market on July. We are selling the unit with VIA 400Mhz CPU 256MB Ram. We choose VIA rather than Rockchip as we know VIA is more reliable than Rockchip under our testing."

The price is also really fantastic at $129.99 including postage. With delivery in 3-5 business days, it's not too late to get this in time for Christmas!

Yep, I changed the name

When I first set up this blog I aimed to track VIA netbooks and their availability in Australia. But as time has gone on I've found that it's more common to find a new VIA-based tablet hitting the shelves ... usually the virtual shelves of eBay for Australian consumers ... than for a new VIA-based netbook to be announced. So I figured it was high time I adapt the blog and start following tablets as well, hence the name changed to VIA Netbook & Tablet News.

Cheap and tiny netbooks on eBay sport VIA CPUs

If you want a netbook for under AUD 100, check out eBay where you'll find small VIA Arm-based netbooks. This one has a buy now price of 87.99. It's got a 7" screen, 300MHz CPU and 128MB RAM. With those specs I'd probably call it a MID or a smartbook more than a netbook. Youd' have to use this for pretty basic stuff and although it's capable of multitasking, it would be pretty slow at doing it. There's a discussion about it on the whirlpool forums.

VIA netbook and notebooks still strong in Asia

This blog has been pretty quiet of late, especially compared to the VIA Embedded News blog and the VIA Misc blog. As liliputing.com points out, VIA processors only showed up in a few netbook models in the US and the situation was much the same here in Australia. But at Computex last week VIA had a flipping row of netbooks and notebooks. Netbook News had a good look at them in this video.

Excellent article about new Nano processor range

According to LinuxFor Devices.com, the new SKUs of the VIA Nano processors have a mobile design purpose:

"Via's new Nano E series processors are, as in the past, available in an L-series ("low-power") for mainstream desktop and mobile PC systems, and in a U-series ("ultra-low-power") for mini-notebooks and small form factor devices. They use the same 21mm x 21mm nanoBGA2 package as the original Nano, and once again are being manufactured -- likely by Fujitsu -- using a 65nm process. "

The five new processors have a very low power draw, in fact, according to VIA, they're 20% faster but 20% more power efficient than previous VIA Nano processors.

800MHz U3400, with 100mW idle power
1.0GHz U3500, with 100mW idle power
1.2GHz U3300, with 100mW idle power
1.3+GHz U3100, with 100mW idle power
1.8GHz L3050, with 500mW idle power

LinuxForDevices article gives a great history of the VIA Nano processor which puts the new models in perspective of older SKUs.

Now you can get 10 inches for $100

A 10 inch netbook featuring a VIA manufactured ARM SoC processor has got itself some attention on several English language tech sites after being showcased on a Chinese website. Toysandgadget.com is where I found out about it - and the name of that website is quite to the point. With such low specs, it's hard to know whether to place this device, from Science and Technology of Shenzen, as a toy or a true gadget. For $100, it's coming close to a consumable device for many income levels.

Toysandgadget.com point out that this is perhaps the first netbook to have been released at that $100 range that has a 10 inch screen instead of 7 inch. 7 inches really is like a toy, but 10 inches is easier to work with.

With China being so close to Australia, it's a wonder these low priced netbooks haven't hit our shelves as yet. They sell cheap set top boxes and DVD players at major grocery stores here - why not cheap netbooks as well?

Two big hitters to use VX900 in upcoming netbooks

A report in Indian media has indicated that both Lenovo and Samsung will release new netbooks featuring the VX900 media processor. Both companies enjoyed sucess with previous VIA-based netbooks, Lenovo with their IdeaPad series and Samsung with the NC20, which was the first netbook to sport a VIA Nano processor. The reports says the netbooks may be available as early as June. - Electronista The companies previous versions VIA-based were available in Australia.

OLPC orders see VIA revenue increase by over 50% from Feb to Mar

Digitimes has reported that VIA's revenue has increased by 57.6% comparing February to March. They point to orders of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) machines as the main reason for the increase, but also site "strong demand from Europe, North America and emerging markets". Orders of the VIA C7-M processor for use in OLPC netbooks are not consistent on a month by month basis as they rely on massive once-off orders from governments in emerging markets rather than a steady stream of consumer sales.

VX900: Blu-ray, PCI Express, dual monitors ...

VIA's VX series of Media System Processors has been given a boost this week with the announcement of the VX900 chip, which brings Blu-ray support and a lot of output options to the table. The VX900 is on VIA's chipset list on their website in the Mobile and Ultra Mobile chip section - so it's being targetted at ultra mobile notebooks, netbooks and mobile Internet devices.
While the VX855 supported CRT, LVDS and TTL monitors, the new VX900 supports HDMI as well. Furthermore "DuoView support allows multi-monitor extended desktop support where two independent display engines can display different content at different resolutions, pixel depths and refresh rates."
There is also a lot of upgrade capability with this new chip since it offers a PCI Express 2.0 interface with 1 8 lane and 3 single lane slots. There's also two PCI slots and an 8 channel HD audio codec.
This is a very feature rich, flexible single chip solution. ''The VIA VX900 MSP supports the latest DDR3 system memory at speeds of up to 1066MHz and is compatible with the VIA Nano™, VIA C7® and VIA Eden™ processor families. The VIA VX900 integrates all the features of a traditional North and South bridge solution into a 31mm x 31mm single chip package, offering a reduced overall silicon footprint compared with competing twin-chip core logic implementations."

VIA's Nano shown to best Intel's Atom in Lenovo IdePad S12

Computer Power User has given a fair and balanced review of the Lenovo IdeaPad S12, an ultra mobile notebook that's been around for a while now but is still readily available on New Egg and at other online and retail sales spots in the US. In Australia you can pick them up for as little as $692 from Electronic Bazaar.

The model sporting the VIA processor is cheaper than the Intel one even though, as the test results from Computer Power User show, the Nano is the better performer. However, to be fair, the better processing grunt does result in a hit to the battery life.

Better performance, lower price, reduced batterty vs higher price, better battery, lower performance. You choose!

VIA based tablet for $199

This 7 inch "iLet" - because everyone loves to use the little i in their product names these days - could be a good deal for an e-book reader. It actually runs Android OS, so it could be used for much more than just reading. The specs are on the light side, however, with a 600MHz VIA CPU (probably C7-M), 128MB RAM and 2GB onboard flash. But the price is very nice indeed. So long as the batter life is not on the lite side, it could make for a very nice way to read the paper online. - Source

VIA makes minor gain in desktop PC processor segment

IDC has released the figures for processor sales in 2009. While Intel still well and truely holds top position, AMD and VIA both enjoyed a percentage gain last year. While AMD clawed back small gains in the server/workstation and mobile PC segments, VIA gained 0.1% in the desktop PC segment. Surprisingly, in the same year, mobile PC processor sales for VIA fell by 0.05%. You win some and you loose some! - Source

VIA releases new logo for China market: consumers are goal

TMCNet are reporting that VIA released a new logo specifically for China last week as part of a new marketing strategy to become a consumer brand name in the country rather than just being the chips that no one has heard of inside the devices that have brand names that they know.

"VIA points out that the release of the logo indicates a strategy change. In the future, it will guide the development of the chip industry and the behavior of customers in partnership with terminal makers."

The new logo apparently sports heart shaped curves emanating from chips. Unfortunately I couldn't find a copy of the logo. Google translate wasn't being nice when I tried to find it on the Chinese language website that was TMCNet's source and VIA is such a hard company name to search for because it's also a word, via. Let me know if you find the new logo!

Shuttle Alliance with big plans for notebooks

Just before CES I posted news that Shuttle were going to announce an Alliance of second tier hardware manufacturers, who would work together to increase their overall netbook market share. That alliance has now been announced as the Shuttle New Notebook Ecosystem.

"Shuttle revealed more members of its alliance at CES 2010 including CPU makers AMD and VIA Technologies, keyboard maker Chicony Electronics, power supply maker Lite-On Technology, battery module maker Simplo Technology, Korea-based panel maker LG Display and Japan-based DRAM maker Elpida Memory." - Digitmes.

The group hope to ship 150 000 notebooks in the first quarter. The concept is similar to VIA's Global Mobility Bazaar which sees Chinese manufacturers work together to build netbooks.

Shuttle starting netbook alliance?

I've been on holidays so I am still catching up with news from the past couple of weeks. Digitimes reported on 23 December that Shuttle would announce an alliance for second tier notebooks makers:

"In addition to Intel platforms, the alliance will also be open to adopting platforms from AMD, VIA Technologies and ARM. Since the alliance already has partnerships with several component makers and OEMs, second-tier notebook players will be able to purchase components at costs and with quality competitive with first-tier players, the sources noted. Shuttle also plans for the alliance to offer a complete after-sales service channel."

Their goal is to increase second tier notebook manufacturers' market share to 15% for 2010. But in that news, it was stated that the alliance was to be announced by the end of December and now it's 4th Jan and I can't find any more news about it. Maybe they'll be launching at CES this week?

OLPC XO 1.5 to launch this month

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is now in its third year and a new model will start being produced this month which drops the AMD Geode processor for a VIA C7-M ULV. The change in processor will increase the processing speed and improve battery life. The price target is $200 and it will be able to run Windows although it's most likely that most orders will ship with Linux since it's more easily tailored for local languages and has a lower cost.

The project also has further models planned for 2011 and 2012, the latter being the most interesting - a tablet PC design. The glossy concept photos look fantastic, but I wonder how robust such a thin device would be in remote parts of Africa?! - Daily Tech.