After seeing the VIA Nano versus Intel Atom video, where the VIA Nano basically destroys an Intel Atom, albeit at a slightly higher wattage rating… you’d think that things at VIA were going better than great.

They even have the VIA Nano, which looks to be a killer low-watt CPU, they have the Pico-ITX platform which can essentially put an x86 based in the palm of your hand.

However, it seems like VIA is exiting the motherboard business to concentrate on building better processors:

Previously one of the best chipset makers for enthusiasts looking for high performance on a budget, VIA has told Custom PC that it now sees no future in making chipsets for third parties such as Intel and AMD.

Speaking to Custom PC, VIA’s vice president of corporate marketing in Taiwan, Richard Brown, explained that: ‘One of the main reasons we originally moved into the x86 processor business was because we believed that ultimately the third party chipset market would disappear, and we would need to have the capability to provide a complete platform.’

‘That has indeed come to pass,’ said Brown. He also added that ‘Intel provides the vast majority of chipsets for its processors and, following its purchase of ATI, AMD is also moving very quickly in the same direction.’

I know that right now, in my Chaintech motherboard, I have a VIA 4-n-1 chipset for audio, video, memory and USB2 controllers. And I know that VIA has supplied drivers and hardware for pretty much the last three or so builds of machines that I’ve had around here in the last few years.

Regardless… guess it’s a tough business to be in. Can’t wait to see what else VIA pulls out next.

Link to the original article…

VIA’s at it again… making things smaller, faster, and oddly enough, better. Details below:

New VIA EPIA P700 board features in-line I/O pin-headers and extended feature set including Gigabit LAN, S-ATA II and an integrated power adapter

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the VIA EPIA P700 Pico-ITX board that couples more features within a streamlined, ultra compact footprint designed for low profile systems, with extended I/O port options through two companion boards.

Now featuring native S-ATA II support, Gigabit LAN, and support for GPIO, SM bus and LPC devices, the 10cm x 7.2cm VIA EPIA P700 is based on the VIA VX700 unified digital media IGP chipset and is powered by a 1GHz VIA C7 or fanless 500MHz VIA Eden ULV processor. An integrated power adapter coupled with the 5-volt S-SATA power cable negates the need for a separate power daughterboard, saving considerable space for ultra compact systems.

Linear on-board pin-header placement means developers can use a single cable to effortlessly connect various I/O devices in a streamlined way that reduces cable clutter. Flexible battery placement is also geared towards improved miniaturization, making the VIA EPIA P700 the most slimline Pico-ITX board yet.

Two companion boards make light work of design implementation and product testing. The P700-A board features an RJ45 port, a VGA port and a COM port, while the P700-B sports four USB ports and three audio jacks for multi-channel surround sound. The two companion boards fit seamlessly with the streamlined linear pin-headers on either side of the VIA EPIA P700 to enable ultra low profile devices.

“VIA has listened to its customers to learn how we can add even greater features to our products,” said Daniel Wu, Vice President, VIA Embedded Platform Division, VIA Technologies, Inc. “Pico-ITX continues to evolve in tandem with the needs of our customers, addressing the challenge of producing full-featured, ultra compact embedded systems that can be brought to market as quickly and as easily as possible.”

Read more about the VIA EPIA-P700 right here.

Via is at it again. Not content with making motherboards and CPU’s that could easily fit in your pocket - wow, the geek jokes are endless on that one, they’ve now come out with a motherboard that supports dual displays. Yep… their platform that fits in the palm of your hand now supports dual monitors.

The key to the outstanding multimedia performance of the VIA EPIA M700 is the latest media system processor from VIA, the VIA VX800. An all-in-one, highly integrated digital media IGP chipset, the VIA VX800 offers incredible versatility and multimedia performance on the latest display standards on a single chip measuring just 33×33mm…

As today’s information, entertainment and commercial display system feature ever more immersive content, the VIA EPIA M700 addresses the increasing demands for enhanced media playback and visual clarity across multiple displays in digital multimedia applications with support for dual-DVI or DVI plus HDMI configurations with unique resolutions, pixel depths and refresh rates.

Featuring a 1.5GHz or a fanless 1.0GHz VIA C7® processor, the VIA EPIA M700 leverages the uncompromising multimedia performance of the VIA VX800 unified chipset with its integrated VIA Chrome9™ HC3 integrated graphics core for DirectX™ 9.0 3D graphics and up to six-channel VIA Vinyl HD Audio rich surround sound, while the VIA Chromotion™ video engine provides advanced hardware video acceleration and an improved visual experience for MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV9, VC1 and DivX video, plus a VMR capable HD video processor.

As multimedia file sizes grow, so speedy server connectivity is becoming increasingly important in dynamic digital signage and kiosk solutions, so the VIA EPIA M700 boasts two PCI-Express based Gigabit LAN ports to facilitate wideband data transfer for large video and other files over networks.

Read more over at Via’s website.