How to turn a cheapie tablet into a cool device

The VIA WonderMedia WM8650 chip can be found in many 7 and 8 inch tablets that are manufactured in China and being sold for around the $100 mark. The specs are low, with an 800MHz processor, 256MB RAM and just 2GB internal storage. But for the price, the First Arkansas News has discovered that with a bit of tweaking, you can have yourself a fun mobile Internet device.

"Ah, but rooting the Cerebro is worth it. Prior to doing that, I had no Android Market, games were so slow they were unplayable and even the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook applications were painfully slow. All of those problems were fixed after I rooted the machine and that’s a good thing as I wanted the Kindle and Nook apps to work so I could turn this into a cheap ereader. The root kept me at Android 2.2 (Froyo) instead of moving to Android 3, but at least the thing behaves a lot better than it did."

The specific tablet in question is the Cerebro from Lightinthebox.com.

VIA Wondermedia "home" tablet

Engadget spotted something a little different in the tablet space on the VIA booth. There were half a dozen tablets all lined up in a row on the Wondermedia section of the VIA booth, and one of them featured an interface on top of Android 1.6 that gives it a "home" tablet sort of look, like something you might use on the kitchen bench to keep an eye on the time, weather, etc ... with quick links into the music and video folders as well. Quite a cool idea!

Japanese site shows VIA QuadCore vs AMD E-350

As VR-Zone quite rightly reports, the benchmarks that Impress PC Watch have published are from a Powerpoint presentation put together by VIA, so they are of course going to be in VIA's favor. Never the less, some of them are rather impressive, although you do also have to remember that the VIA processor has an extra two cores over the AMD E-350.

"We wouldn't take any of this numbers as definite results, but they do at least show that VIA's new QuadCore has some potential."

"netbooks just got a boost of excitement" says HotHardware

HotHardware has joined the crowd of IT news sites who are writing up their opinions on VIA's new QuadCore processor which was announced last week. The 1.2GHz VIA QuadCore is 21% more energy efficient than any competing processor, and HotHardware's Ray Willington is quick to realize the potential boon this could be for netbooks.

"It's hitting the market this month, feature a highly optimized, energy-efficient multi-core architecture that's said to provide multi-threaded performance across the board for multi-tasking, multimedia playback, productivity and internet browsing in a low power envelope. With a TDP (Thermal Design Power) of only 27.5 watts, the 1.2+ GHz VIA QuadCore processor is 21% more energy efficient than the nearest competitor and ideal for a wide range of desktop PC, notebook, small form factor PC, all-in-one PC, and mini-server system design applications."

Nano gets bigger says Anandtech

One of the biggest tech sites out there has reviewed the new VIA Nano Quad Core processor. The story in the write-up, by non other than Anand himself, is that VIA's creed that power consumption really matters is already accepted by consumers when it comes to smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. He is optimistic that VIA's processors have what it takes, but less certain about whether VIA can make the right business connections to get into the game on a mass scale. The article goes over the highlights of the new processors and then takes a tour of Centaur's facilities, where VIA processors are designed, including two videos.

New at Cutting Edge Guy

Tablets based on the VIA WonderMedia WM8650 are becoming more readily available. Some of them are actually just simply being called "VIA 8650" like this seven inch design clocking in at 70 Euros. The Android 2.2 tablet can be shipped anywhere and came up on a search I did for WonderMedia tablets in Australia.

* CPU：VIA WM8650 (800MHz CPU+400MHz DSP) * Operating system: Android 2.2 * Language：Support multi-language * Memory: 256MB * Storage Device: 2GB FLASH ( Support external Micro SD card, maximum capacity of 32GB * G-Sensor: 4-Dimensional G-Sensor * LCD: 7" WVGA wide-screen 800*480 * Touch Panel: TFT Resistive Touch Screen( Two point touch), allows for pinch and zoom * Network: Cable Internet: 10/ 100M adapter * WIFI: IEEE802.11b/g/n wireless network * 3G USB Dongle: WCDMA ( Huawei E220/ E230/ E160X/ E169G/E1750, Alcatel X060S/X200 CDMA2000: Bora 9380/AWIT-U8) * I/O Port: 30pin USB switch interface*1; Headphone*1; MIC*1; DC JACK*1l Micro SD card reader Audio: 3.5mm headphone jack * High-quality stereo loud speaker * Built-in Microphone * Media File: * Audio file formats supported: MP2, MP3, WAV, AAC, WMA * Video file formats supported: [MPEG1/2/4,MJPG,H263](1280×720) resolution,H264 (720× 480) resolution. * Photo file formats support: JPG, JPEG, BMP, and PNG. * Camera: Built-in 0.3 mega pixels * Power adapter: 9V, 1.5A * Battery: 1450mAh * Size: 20.58cm * 15.75cm* 1.1cm * Battery life: standby time- above 10 hours/ Video play--3 hours

Suntoo tablet already available in Aus; not under $100 yet

It's close but no cigar for the Suntoo E86 tablet which features the new(ish) VIA8650 SoC from Wondermedia. The 8 inch tablet which runs Android 2.2, supports Flash and I've even read that it supports Android Market ... unconfirmed that this stage ... is advertised on OzBargain for $139 including shipping. It was touted to be one of the first sub-$100 tablets, so I suppose that considering that the shipping is free, $139 is just about right.

VIA Nano X2 perfect for tablets

This site, which looks like it's one of those sites that exists only to profit on the "content is king" Internet dream, has published an article about the VIA Nano X2 Dual core processor. They cover the basic technical details and conclude that "Consumers wanting to do work on the go will welcome these new processors with open arms." Source: Egglets.com.

7 inch iPad look Android tablet

Just to prove that VIA Wondermedia tablets are making their way into Australia I thought I'd point out this Aped Iped which has found itself for sale on eBay Australia. The seller is in Western Australia. I hope it's not due to lack of satisfaction that this "hardly used" tablet being sold. It features the VIA WM8505 chip, 1GB flash storage, 1.3 megapixel camera and supports microSD for more memory.

Look what's in the Gumtree

For two hundred smackers you can pick up a 7 inch Android tablet on Gumtree that is based on the VIA Wondermedia WM8505 ARM 9 chip. It is running an older version of Android, v1.6 and it only has 2GB of onboard flash storage, but what would you expect for $200? The size would make it nice and comfy for surfing the web, social networking and light email when you're on the couch, or ... since it has 2 USB ports you could easily plug in a USB wireless modem and use it for access to the web on the train or whilst studying in a library. It says it has 4 hours battery life which is not bad. Check it out here.

Compal ODM ARM plans

VIA has worked with Compal in the past, supplying processors and chips for ODM netbook and notebooks. DigitTimes has revealed that Compal hopes to bounce back from a loss in 2010 by supplying ARM-based ODM tablets PCs. If the business and project managers at VIA, and/or their subsidiary WonderMedia, are working hard then this could involve VIA ... 'tis all I'm saying!

Android set for big gains with tablets in 2011

CIO Australia has written up quotes from some of the big analysts about Android's predicated rise in popularity in 2011. The catalyst is affordable tablets, much like those made possible by VIA's WonderMedia chip, as well as mobile phones.

"Android is growing as a distributive force against Apple,” Telsyte research director, Foad Fadaghi, said in a statement. “The quality of the platform is improving and gaining significant traction in the developer community.”"

Source: CIO Australia

More on the Nano X2

Lilputing seems to have stopped in at the Lunch @ Piero's event in Vegas over the weekend. The picture above, which is featured on their website, is of the new Nano X2, which they note in pin-compatible with the current Nano. They note, however, that the dual core Nano X2 is most likely to find its way into systems in China and other SEA countries, since they could only think of three recent examples of consumer targetted systems in the US to feature VIA processors. It's much the same case here in Australia, but with more and more people buying systems direct from China, we might find more VIA Nano and Nano X2 making their way to Australia.

VIA's displays "during" CES include Android tablets

For many years now, VIA has chosen to run it's own event in Las Vegas when the Consumer Electronics Shows (CES) is being held, but not actually as a company on display at CES. The event is called Lunch @ Piero's and it's in that restaurant that you'll find VIA's whares on display.

In 2011 the focus is on the new Nano X2 processor, Android tablets featuring WonderMedia chips, and the VIA Labs USB 3.0 platform.

VIA has shown the WonderMedia Prizm platform devices at the Lunch @ Piero's event for two years already, but in the past they were smartbooks ... remember that segment that never really took off? Now they're focusing on a design, the tablet, that has already gained wide acceptance.

More info here.