Via is fighting back

According to this post from Shanzhai page,  there are plans to release a nettop using the Via C7 processor with the new chipset VX855 which should have a performance equivalent to what we have seen in the nVidia ION, recently tested by me in a netbook kindly provided to me by Ruvo.

Our contacts on the backstreets of Shenzhen, China have alerted us to the impending release of a shanzai-made mini-desktop PC that eschews Nvidia's ION in favor of VIA's CPU platform.

What has been my experiences with Via. Their processor is not bad compared with the Atom. Their graphic chipset are not bad too… but… there are only few video players in the market optimized to recognize their chipset and use them.

VIA and robots

What a UMPC and a robot could have in common?

Well, you can read the answer in the above photo, a VIA processor. And if the picture does not convince you, here is a video:

VIA Nano vs Intel Atom, HD playback, Part 2

Today in the morning I reported about a video playback comparison between the new Nano and the Intel Atom processors. And today I got a comment at my blog pointing me to a new tests this time ran by our friend JKK using the Eee with Atom processor and the same video used by VIA on that comparison and the results are completely different.

If we posted about the first video I think we should post about this second one too. To be fair. Now, I know JKK and I know that he is a master optimizing any device to get the best performance. I remember him cutting down the numbers of processes running on Vista up to a level that I never have seen on any of my UMPCs. That said, my guess is that VIA's Eee was not optimized at all and probably the Openbook was optimized. But I'm here speculating something that I should not do. Let's see what VIA has to say about this other video because I would like to hear an explanation. 

jkkmobile: VIA Nano vs Intel Atom, HD playback

VIA Nano-based OpenBook vs. Intel Atom-based Asus Eee PC

A few days ago I reported about a benchmark comparison between the Atom CPU and the VIA Nano where the last one was scoring higher. I have to confess that my previous experiences with VIA were far from being too good from the point of view of video performance. I had a lot of problems with my old Amtek T700 to get any kind of video playing well. Then I tested the OQO 02 where the graphics were a little bit better but still not there. But today I got this video from VIA where they put the VIA Nano under a test using a video that I know very well and that I have used in many of my tests. And the Nano passed that test without any hesitation. But that's not all. They put an Asus Eee PC with an Intel Atom processor under the same tests and check yourself the results in this video.

I have to add that I liked this video. It's aggressive but fair. In the last two years Intel has done anything but to play with consumers using their reputation as main marketing tool.  

Via replies back

According to this news at Engadget, Via Nano processor performs better than Intel's Atom processor thus it consumes more battery. The other good news is that it's pin compatible with current Via C7M processor, this means that OEMs do not have to change anything in the motherboard design, it's just a matter of using this new processor.

Know the inside of the VIA OpenBook

Your may already know the New OpenBook from VIA but I can tell you for sure that what you are about to see is what you never have seen before no matter how many videos hare your seen of this device: the inside of an OpenBook.

VIa's Tim Brown rips open a VIA OpenBook mini-note to reveal the internal hardware guts and show off the PCI Express Mini Cards and 52 pin edge connectors that enable the WiMAX, HSDPA, EV-DO, W-CDMA, WiFi, Blue Tooth and AGPS connectivity for the world's most open and connected Mini-Note. The USB interface and the PCIe half-Mini Card and full-Mini Card form factor are fast becoming the industry standard with more companies developing cards and reference design cards that will make manufacturing custom VIA OpenBook mini-note designs even simpler and faster.

NVIDIA's Drew Henry on VIA's Mini-ITX 2.0

VIA + Nvidia sounds like a real competition against Intel.

NVIDIA's Drew Henry talking at VIA's Computex Press Conference about VIA's Mini-ITX 2.0 platform.

I personally have been following VIA for the last two years and I think that this is a strong step in the right direction.

VIA introduces the OPENBOOK

There is not any other better way of introducing a new device to the market than a good video.

I have to confess than it was not clear for me what they meant by Openbook and this video clarified all my doubts.

VIA UMPCs at Computex 2008

Here is a video that shows what is going on in VIA's exposition at Computex 2008. 

Tim Brown gives you a a quick look at the VIA UMPC at Computex 2008.

VIA is getting stronger

And I'm going to say it one more time, the UMPC market will be dominated by VIA soon and it will keep that leadership for at least a year or even more. All depend of how long will take Intel to design something with enough power to run Vista decently in  UMPCs and still getting a good battery life. But so far... it seems to me that Intel is too busy fighting for  the MID market.

With Hewlett-Packard (HP) said to have ordered 100,000 C7-M ULV processors for its initial mini-note low-cost PC launch, (which is expected to reach 500,000 units in total in 2008) while Gigabyte Technology's new M700 series UMPC (ultra mobile PC) will also adopt VIA Technologies' CPUs, the Taiwan-based chipmaker may have a chance of recover from its long series of losses, according to industry watchers.

VIA CPUs to stage comeback in low-cost PC market

Atom CPU performance figures

 

The numbers were originally posted at Eeepcnews.de but I going to link this comment to a very good one posted by my friend Steve at UMPCPortal.com.

These figures put the Atom ahead of previous estimates which put the Atom @1.6Ghz at the same performance level as an A110 at 800Mhz. A Samsung Q1 Ultra with the A110 returns 2700 and 3000. Remember that the Atom processor can do hyperthreading. I have no idea what affect it has on the test compared to real-life scenarios.

Do you remember guys when I said that the future of UMPC was VIA? Look at these numbers, you can see clearly how Isaiah processor is performing a little bit better than the Atom and of course than the A110. Still, not has good has a Celeron M at 1.6 GHz but I would say that probably better than the one installed in my Q1 at 900 MHz.

I know that you guys from VIA read from time to time my blog. And I know that I was a furious critic of your first C7 installed in my old Amtek T700. But... I'm starting to become a believer! So... if you have any demo UMPC using the Isaiah processor around I'm more than happy to check it and write about it.

VIA VX800 Unified Chipset

A few weeks ago analyzing the Intel Atom processors for UMPC I said that to me the future of UMPC is going to be VIA. The announcement of the VX800 Chipset a IGP that works with the newest VIA Isaiah Architecture is pointing to a generation of UMPC using these technologies that will be a lot more attractive to OEMs and buyers. I don't think this is going to bring a performance of a Core Solo but I would not be surprised to see this outperforming the A110, Atom, Intel Celeron M and land with a performance close to a Pentium M.

With every release of VIA you can see a step forward. Something that I don't see on Intel in the last two years where they went from the Pentium M architecture to a weaker Atom. UMPC should be a balance between performance and battery life. And that's what I see in VIA. What I see on Intel is a unbalanced equation favoring battery life and ignoring the performance demands. Which to me is a clear indication of favoring other more weaker device such as MID.    

Key Features of the VIA VX800Uthis

• High Performance 3D Graphics: The VIA Chrome9™ HC3 integrated graphics core boasts full DirectX 9.0 support
• Powerful Image Enhancement Technology: The VIA Chromotion™ video engine delivers a Hi-Def™ visual experience, including advanced video acceleration for  MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV9, VC1 and DiVX video formats, plus a VMR capable HD video processor.
• The Warmth of HD Audio: The built-in VIA Vinyl HD Audio controller supports up to eight high definition channels with a 192kHz sampling rate, delivering a richer all-round digital media experience.
• Intuitive Memory Technology: VIA's renowned memory controller technology supports the lower power, high-bandwidth DDR2 memory modules.
• Seamless Networking: Makes Wifi connectivity easy, with added support for Gigabit Ethernet networking and 10/100 Fast Ethernet.
• Extended Peripheral Connectivity: Interconnects up to PCI Express for high bandwidth peripherals, plus hard drive connectivity up to SATA II as well as PATA (IDE), six USB2.0 ports, and four PCI slots.
• Display Flexibiity: An integrated multi-configuration LVDS transmitter enables display connection to embedded panels, as well as CRT monitors.
• Consumer Electronics Interfaces: Supports the low power device interfaces of SDIO, UART and SPI, as well as for the popular memory card interfaces of SD, MMC and MS for specialist embedded and CE designs.

VIA VX800 Unified Chipset: For Even Greater x86 Miniaturization - VIA Technologies, Inc.

Intel is loosing the battle against VIA in the UMPC field

Well, at least that's my opinion after analyzing two years of fiascos coming from Intel. Last year was completely lost because the best that Intel could release was the A110 and A100, two processors that did not give a extra battery life worth to mention because we have plenty of examples of other UMPC using even Core Solo with about the same battery life. The A110 and A100 performance was about the same than what we see in the second generation of VIA processors. Now Intel just released the Atom. And what we have there, lets check this chart posted at JKonTheRun.

 

Once again the new processor from Intel specially designed for UMPC and MID performs worse than the old Celeron M at 900 MHz. There are even few reports about A110 processors out performing this Atom score. So for two years on the road Intel has not been able to release a better processor from the point of view of performance and there are some reports that the Atom even does not support Aero in Vista. If you compare this to what is going on with VIA processors you will see a different picture there. VIA has upgraded its processors for UMPC two times in the same period and in both cases we have seen a gain in performance and battery life. So, who is winning this battle? Evidently VIA. VIA processor still do not out perform in some cases the A110 and Atom processors in performance but if they continue doing what they have been doing I wont be surprised to see a faster VIA processor before this year ends.

VIA producing movies!

VIA is getting very aggressive advertising its processors being used in UMPCs. Check this video posted on youtube a few hours ago.

The movie is a real good example of how you can use your UMPC integrating it to your social life. In another hand I liked the way they used to teach you how to get connected to a wireless network.

[Discuss this Topic]

First Intel, now VIA!

VIA Announces New processor running at the amazing speed of... 500MHz! According to VIA this processor use only 1 watts, if used in a device to total around 10 watts we should see twice the battery life that we are used to see in current VIA UMPC. Now check this table, as you can see it takes 1500 VIA's MHz to reach a performance close to a 900 MHz using no cache at all, like the one used in the old R2H. So in another words, there is not way this processor could be used in any Windows UMPC -thanks God all I would die from a heart attack.

A 500MHz processor isn’t going to be enough to run, say, Windows Vista on a UMPC but it’d be just fine for running an embedded version of Linux or similar proprietary operating system. The big draw here would be extended battery life. Typical UMPCs draw around 20-25 watts of power so if you were to use a system with this new VIA chipset totaling around 10 watts, you’d get about twice as much time between charges.

Now you see why did not applaud Intel's A110 processor. Too bad example.

Technorati Tags: Processors

[Discuss This Topic]

PS. Thanks Steve for the correction.

Solpi UMPC mock-up and specs. at UMPCPortal.com

 I don't know how I missed this one because I'm getting a lot of visits lately from UPMania at cafe.naver.com, anyway, Steve got the specifications of this new UMPC and I have to agree with him, this one looks weird!

OS:Win CE, XP,Vista

Processor: VIA C7 1.2GHz NanoBGA2

Chipset: VIA VX700 Unified Digital Media IGP Chipset

System Memory: 512/1GB

VGA:Integrated VIA UniChrome Pro II 3D/2D AGP graphics with WMV9 decoding acceleration

Screen: 5.6"SVGA widescreen TFT-LCD Transreflective touch screen(1024 X 600) OR (4.8"WXGA(800*480)
HDD: 30 / 60GB(1.8")

Connectivity: Ethernet LAN, 1 VGA port, USB 1 port, Wireless LAN, DMB,GPS navigation(option)/3D accelerated, HSDPA / Wibro(option) USB 2.0 2ports,TV out /Mic-in, S/PDIF in,Stereo Speakers,Audio out

Battery: 7600mAh(standard)

Technorati Tags: Solpi, VIA

VIA to launch new processor architecture in 1Q08

A new processor Code Name Isaiah with a lot better performance and higher power consumption will be released by VIA in the first Quarter of 2008.  

Although Isaiah's core frequency will not see any obvious increases and power consumption will be higher compared to Esther, its performance so far has been measured to be twice as fast as that delivered by the Esther architecture, and the floating point unit performance is four times greater, according to makers that are testing the new architecture.

[Via Digitimes]

Technorati Tags: VIA

New VN800 driver for eo v7110 devices

VIA has released a few days ago a new driver for the VN800 chipset, the same one used in eo V7110 devices also known as Amtek T700, aka Ago 7, aka ... well, you got the point. As it's usual in VIA, none information has been posted about what this update fixes or what has been added new.

Asus with a VIA processor

There is a rumor going on in Taiwan about Asus releasing a new UMPC next January with a VIA Processor.

The Asus is the cheaper UMPC sold in Europe for about 755 Euros, this means that probably we will see prices in Europe of around 650 Euros.