VIA to manufacture mobile phone chips?

An interesting blog on the Wall Street Journal has caught my eye. Matthew Rivera has spoken with a VIA VP Richard Brown about how VIA, a Taiwanese company, sees business with mainland China in the future. Brown suggests that VIA will branch out into other areas such as mobile phones, and possibly work with smaller Chinese companies which they see as having potential to become major players in the furture.
"To Via, the shanzai look like the kinds of companies that could mature into big players in a few years, which is why it’s beginning to build more than just semiconductors. Via is now working with other manufacturers to build cellphone hardware ... "

Mio smartbook features VIA platform

Clamshell design devices seem to be the most popular type of mobile computing device. UMPCs and tablet PCs still do a good trade, but for the everyday consumer, a notebook or a smaller version of it is usually the type chosen. The battery life on netbooks hasn't been fabulous. The designs of x86 processors like VIA's C7-M and Nano series have come a long way in addressing the issues of power consumption and that's why they've been favored in netbook designs but when you take a clamshell design even smaller, to 7" screen devices, manufacturers are opting for ARM processors instead, not x86 processors. This doesn't leave VIA short-changed since they have cleverly invested in a subsiduary company, WonderMedia, who manufacture ARM-based platforms for mobile internet devices (MIDs) like smartbooks. Smartbooks are a new breed of ultra portables that shorten the list of features you'd expect on a netbook and increase the battery life.

WindowsForDevices brings news of a smartbook from Haleron which features an ARM 9-based Prizm 8510, one of WonderMedia's babys. "Haleron doesn't specify the resolution provided by the Mio Smartbook's seven-inch screen, but other devices of this type have displayed 800 x 480 pixels. The device comes with 128MB or 256MB of RAM, from 1GB to 4GB of flash storage, and includes an SD expansion slot, according to the company.

As well as offering stereo speakers, a microphone input, and a headphone output, the Mio Smartbook is said to include 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11b wireless networking, and three USB ports. The system can be booted from a USB memory stick containing an alternative operating system such as Linux or Android, the company claims. (Misleadingly, Windows XP is also cited as possible, though Haleron elsewhere concedes that this OS requires a $55 "processor upgrade.")"

Months ago the gadget type sites starting murmoring about smartbooks saying that most manufacturers would have them out before the end of the year. With 5-6 weeks left of pre-Christmas sales, the Haleron Mio is already on the market for US$190. Haleron ships worldwide, taking orders online.

VIA launches Nano 3000 series processors

VIA has announced the new VIA Nano 3000 series of processors. This brings two new editions to the L series of Nano processors and four to the U series. The highest speed Nano will now be the 2.0GHz L3100, sporting an idle power of 500mW. The idle power in these top speed processors hasn't dropped from previous models, although the press release from VIA highlights a dramatic 20% reduction of power consumption. Once you get down to the 1.4, 1.3 and 1.2GHz models you see what all the fuss is about. The idle power is down from 200mW to half that at 100mW from previous models of the same speed. The press release does also tout a 20% increase in performance although no figures are provided.

Samples of these new processors are available to OEMs and motherboard manufacturers right now, with mass production not expected until Q1 2010.

VIA has kept the same package as they've used for generations of their CPUs now, NanoBGA2, which means that it's a drop in replacement to upgrade existing designs to cater for the new models.

The new Nano 3000 series are being aimed at light notebooks, desktops, "all-in-one" systems and energy-efficient server designs.

Netbooks and VIA enjoy gains

John Peddie research has released figures showing a jump in growth for the GPU market, including sales increases for VIA of 100% in the last quarter. The growth has been accounted for because of IGPs being used in notebooks and netbooks, sales of which increased by 27% in Q2. Fast on the heals of the announcement that the US has climbed out of recession, things are also looking up for GPU manufacturers - except for Nvidia, which lost 4% market share in the same period.

"A total of 119.45 million units were shipped in the third quarter, exceeding the record 111 million units in the third quarter of 2008," said Dr Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research.

"So the market has caught up with, and exceeded, last year's highs. The crash of Autumn 2008 is now behind us." - V3.co.uk

Linux to gain more foothold in mobile space?

As the year rolls on we're seeing more and more specs released for smartbooks. They're kind of like netbooks but even smaller and with crazy battery life - battery life like you're used to on a mobile phone in fact. I might have to change my blog name if they really can deliver what they promise. A lot of these smartbook designs use ARM processors and almost all of them run Linux. Both ARM and VIA joined the Linux foundation this month. Is the use of Linux on mobile devices about to increase with smartbooks?

"Two designers of low-power microprocessors – ARM and Via Technologies – this month joined the Linux Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to standardizing Linux operating system. Both companies said that see huge opportunities for Linux in mobile devices, but while ARM processors power the vast majority of mobile phones, chips from Via are only found in a few netbooks (which are sold only in China) and low-power desktop/embedded applications." - XBitLabs.

ANOTHER category: NetNote

Sometimes it's useful to coin a new phrase, develop a new terminology, for a new segment in the IT market. Sometimes marketing peeps in companies just like to come up with new words. When I first saw the title of VIA's Press Release, "VIA Unviels SurfBoard Platforms and Turnkey Systems for New NetNote Category" I thought ... "Oh no! Here we go again! What is it this time? Smaller than a netbook? I thought that was a smartbook!?" But actually, there may be a plausible reason for the new NetNote term. Whether or not it'll become a mainstream term is far less likely, however.

Have you ever taken the back off a notebook or netbook? Underneath you'll find an odd shaped motherboard that has the graphics and processor embedded on it. For a quick and easy way for manufacturers to make a netbook, VIA launched the SurfBoard platform in March this year. It paired the then quite new VX855 media system processor with a C7-M. Today VIA has improved the specs by offering the Nano as an option as well, plus support for an HDMI port and 3G module options.


Rather than decreasing the size of the platform they're targetting, the NetNote SurfBoard platform is aimed at notebooks which are 10.1" - 12.1" and crucially, supporting 1080p HD video. They must also be ultra-portable (fat and heavy designs need not apply) and cheap (sorry, not a good marketing word, but that's the cold hard fact). So it's in those four factors where the distinction lies for VIA between a notebook and a NetNote: medium size screen, supports 1080p playback, light and thin, and affordable. That's not to say that there aren't notebooks that fit that description already, but they may not be VIA-based, so I guess there's the fifth distinction!


The Press Release goes on to highlight VIA’s GMB Alliance, which sees VIA working closely with Chinese manufacturers. VIA are holding another GMB event in China, Friday week, where they’ll be demonstrating the NetNote turnkey solution.

12 inch becomes the new netbook

Netbooks were small notebooks, so small in fact that they felt a bit like pretend notebooks when you picked them up. But 12 inches seems to be the new trend. A 12 inch version means that you don't need to squint or scroll so much and the keyboard size is better for adults. Digitimes reports that VIA chips are being sought after for new 12 inch designs:
"The new products will be marketed as netbooks, although they will feature screen sizes in excess of 12 inches. However, don't expect them to be as thin and stylish as CULV-based products, nor as powerful for that matter. On the upside, they could end up rather cheap, and offer punters a cost effective alternative to cramped netbooks or pricey thin-and-lights. " - Fudzilla.

Tongfong S30A: The zero figure notebook

There’s no doubt that mini-notebooks have been given a new spice of life with the VIA Nano processor. Many mini-notebook manufacturers have gone for the VIA Nano because of its low power consumption. Be it Samsung, Lenovo or HP – they all have VIA Nano powered mini-notebooks. The opinion is unanimous – the VIA Nano is the ultimate processor when it comes to modern day mobile computing … and now that includes notebooks. The VIA Nano processor has shown up in one of the thinnest notebooks I have ever seen. The leading Chinese manufacturer, Tongfong, has put the VIA Nano processor in its flagship notebook, the S30A.

Read more.

VIA Nano can get you a bigger screen!

In this world of cutting technology, netbooks and mini-notebooks are getting remarkably popular. When people choose a model, it's often a toss-up between portability and display size. If you're worried by the Atom chip manufacturer’s confession that it won’t cope so well with screens larger than about 10 inches, don’t worry, VIA Nano powered netbooks are the ultimate solution. The latest example is the Samsung NC20, which supports resolutions up to 1280x800 on it's 12.1” screen. The VIA Nano has no problems with that!

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