VIA Introduces New VIA Nano 3000 Series Processors

VIA’s fastest and most power efficient processors yet deliver richest mobile and all-in-one desktop computing experience

Taipei, Taiwan, 3 November 2009 – VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today introduced its new VIA Nano 3000 Series processors, bringing enhanced digital media performance and lower power consumption to Windows 7 thin and light notebook and all-in-one desktop PC markets.

Based on the 64-bit superscalar ‘Isaiah’ architecture, VIA Nano 3000 Series processors deliver the most compelling thin and light notebook computing experience with their rich HD entertainment capabilities, including support for flawless playback of high bit-rate 1080p HD video, as well as low power consumption resulting in longer battery life.

With a host of advanced features including 64-bit support, advanced CPU virtualization technology, SSE4 for enhanced multimedia processing, and the industry-leading encryption and security capabilities integrated in the VIA PadLock™ Security Engine, VIA Nano 3000 Series processors also provide a secure, high-performance solution for emerging cloud-based computing environments.

“With the VIA Nano 3000 Series, we are launching our fastest and most power-efficient processors yet,” commented Richard Brown, VP International Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. “Coupled with our market-leading digital media chipsets, they enable the richest experience across a broad range of mobile and all-in-one system designs.”

VIA Nano 3000 Series

VIA Nano 3000 Series processors are built on the successful 64-bit, superscalar architecture that powers the VIA Nano 1000 Series and 2000 Series processors, which have been adopted by leading OEMs worldwide for a growing number of market-leading mini-note, small form factor desktop, and energy-efficient server designs.

Available at speeds from 1.0GHz to 2.0GHz, VIA Nano 3000 Series processors deliver up to 20% higher performance using up to 20% less power than current VIA Nano processors and boast a number of new features including support for the SSE4 multimedia instruction set and VIA VT virtualization technology.

Fully compatible with all Microsoft operating systems, including the new Windows 7, as well as all popular Linux distributions, the VIA Nano 3000 Series processors use the NanoBGA2 package, making them pin-to-pin compatible with VIA Nano 1000 Series, VIA Nano 2000 Series, VIA C7, VIA C7-M and VIA Eden processors for easy upgrades of existing designs.

VIA Nano 3000 Series Availability

VIA Nano 3000 Series processor samples are currently available for OEMs and motherboard vendors, and will enter mass production in Q1 2010.

AUO is also showing a new high-def 3D panel that that can scale from 8- to 65-inches in size. It’s got a 2D/3D switch, and has a higher resolution and greater viewable angle compared to previous 3D TVs that don’t need glasses. Finally, they’ve also got a new 58-inch Ultra Wide TV panel with a resolution of 2560×1080. It’s 2.35:1 ratio is designed to present 2.35:1 films without black bars.

A sign of things to come? I’m really not sure about viability of all three, but we’ll see I guess. [AUO via OLED-Display.net]

For about $US122, the HD8800 will play back your media in glorious HD on its 4.3-in. screen. Or on a TV, where you can boost the portable’s 800×480 image all the way up to true 1920×1080 HD.

The player supports *deep breath* RMVB, MOV, AVI, VOB, MKV, MP4, WMV, TS, TP, MPG, Flash, and can play MP3, WMA, FLAC and APE music files. [Ownta via PMP Today]

The kit includes a remote, 2.5-inch space for a you-provided HDD, three USB slots, Ethernet, and support for more than a few file formats. It launches, well, soon, as there’s no date and it’s currently in pre-order. [Amazon via The Gadget Site via Engadget]

Ok, so the laser targeting deal isn’t all that new for VholdR—it’s been in some of their helmet cams since late 2007—and the general shape and feature set of the camera hasn’t really changes since the first ContourHD, which only shot 720p, but the latest version is nothing to scoff at: The ContourHD1080p shoots in full HD, 960p, and 720p 30fps and 60fps modes; records through a 135-degree wide-angle lens; lets you adjust metering, exposure, contrast and microphone gain; and comes with a three-hour rechargeable battery. On top of that, it’s weather and shock resistant, but not waterproof without an extra case.

VholdR’s also pretty excited about their new video sharing site, which accepts 1080p uploads, but I imagine most folks who would buy something like this already have specific plans for sharing their rad stunts, epic air, etcetera, so I’m not really sure what that’s worth. The camera, however, is worth precisely $US330, and will be available in time for Christmas. [VholdR]

Inside, this nettop is pretty much traditional netbook save for the graphics, which means affordable 1080p HD video watching, if you’re so inclined, for a respectable price. As we’ve said before, this is a feature that’s changed cheap consumer computing, like, forever.

The rest of the deets are your standard netbook fare:

1.6GHz Intel Atom processor
1GB of RAM
160GB hard drive

However, as Liliputing notes, since Adobe Flash isn’t optimised on this graphics processor just yet, there will be some choppy playback of high quality/HD video on sites like YouTube and Hulu. Also, it kind of looks like a kid’s toy. A pretty powerful, cheap little kid’s toy. [Newegg via Blogeee via Liliputing]

The camera, shown today at IDF, is just a prototype, made up of a few components form other companies (a Sony IMX036 CMOS image sensor, for one), but it’s damn impressive. Due to the speed of USB 3.0, the webcam is capable of streaming and displaying its 1920×1080 video without compression, which makes for huge files but also extremely sharp image quality. The camera lacked autofocus but manual focus let it capture incredibly crisp images, even all the miniscule elements of a PCI-Express card. Of course, as USB 3.0 isn’t exactly widely available, you have to run it through that PCI-Express-to-USB-3.0 card, but Point Grey says it’ll be ready for release in either very late 2009 or early 2010. [Point Grey]

There’s a ton of stuff here, some of it quite similar, but it’s pretty certain these will be popped into smartphones and other mobile devices come next year. The most interesting to me is that “5 megapixel CMOS system on a chip camera, which can process 1080p at 30 fps”, which could make for a pretty badass lens in a smartphone — I don’t think we’ve ever seen video recording that sharp. But they’ve also got a slew of ARM processors and a few low-power 1GHz chipsets called OneDRAM, along with a lot of other internals that may not be flashy but will doubtless be powering our mobile gadgets. [Engadget]

Intel’s Ion also runs HD video pretty nicely, but Via’s really paying attention to media playback. Via’s EPIA-P710 motherboard, a Pico-ITX, is the first to pack the VX855 Media System Processor, which allows some of that 1080p HD output despite needing only a heatsink and not a fan. Look for this combo to start popping up in higher-end netbooks soon—a wimpy Atom just isn’t going to cut it anymore with this on the market. [Engadget]

The FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player leverages a docking system unique to Seagate FreeAgent Go(TM) portable drives and accessories, providing a quick and easy way to connect your external hard drive to your television or home entertainment centre. After loading the drive with your favourite movies, videos, music and pictures from the home PC, simply slide it into the FreeAgent Theater+ dock to get instant access to your digital media library. With the FreeAgent Theater+ player, you can just sit back, relax, point, click and enjoy as digitally captured memories and your favourite movies come to life in 1080p HD video, DTS(TM) 2.0 + Digital Out, or Dolby Digital technology. The interface is easily navigated with the included remote control, and you can choose from video, photos or music with the up/down arrows on the remote to make your selection.

The Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player includes two additional USB ports for connecting other USB attached storage devices. Also incorporated into FreeAgent Theater+ is an Ethernet port for network connectivity, which allows access to digital media through your home network. Seagate intends to launch a USB Wireless adaptor in October to enable this same access with 802.11n wireless connectivity to a home network. Enjoy it all, with the included new and improved remote control, from the comfort of your couch.

“There is so much media that is now being captured and created through various methods and stored on the PC, yet the computer is not the ideal way to enjoy these photos and videos,” said Terry Cunningham, senior vice president, Seagate Branded Solutions. “The FreeAgent theatre provides the easiest way to view and enjoy video and photos on your HDTV. Simply load up a Seagate FreeAgent Go(TM) hard drive and drop it into the FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player dock. It’s a behaviour we’ve all been familiar with for years with VHS and DVDs, but now with digital HD enjoyment.”

The new FreeAgent Theater+(TM) HD media player solution includes:

HDMI with 1080p HD video playback for high-definition content viewing
Dolby(R) Digital and DTS(TM) 2.0 + Digital Out audio support surround sound where available.
Unique docking system eliminates fumbling with cables and connections
Ethernet connection for accessing shared content on your network or streaming of content from the Internet
The optional wireless connectivity feature, expected to be available in October, will allow you to access stored content on any networked computer in the home at your fingertips
Two additional USB ports and one front-mounted port for digital cameras and additional storage devices
Simple sync software for PC and Mac(R) computers
Intuitive user interface with DVD-style navigation
Support for Windows(R) XP, Windows Vista(R), Windows(R) 7, and Mac OS(R) X operating systems, as well as NTFS, FAT, FAT32, HFS+ file support
Component video and Composite video support
Optical S/PDIF audio and Stereo RCA sound options
The software included with FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player is a rich media-specific synchronisation application that enables the automatic transfer and organisation of all photo, music, video and movie files stored on your computer.

Technical Specifications

The Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player now supports even more Audio/Video and sound formats including MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (VOB/ISO), MPEG-4 (DivX(R)/Xvid formats), DivX HD, Xvid HD, AVI, MOV, MKV, RMVB, AVC HD, H.264, WMV9, VC-1, M2TS, TS/TP/M2T, JPEG files up to 20 megapixels, BMP, GIF, PNG and TIFF. Audio formats supported include 5.1 channel surround sound, where available, and popular digital audio formats including: AAC, MP3, Dolby Digital, DTS, ASF, FLAC, WMA, LPCM, ADPCM, WAV and OGG. The FreeAgent Theater+ player also offers support for SAMI (smi), SRT and SUB subtitles. To download and transfer content to a Seagate FreeAgent Go portable drive using a Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 operated PC, a 256MB RAM and an available USB port is required. Mac computer users must be running Mac OS X 10.4.11 or 10.5.6 or later and have an available USB port. FreeAgent theatre connects to any TV with composite, component video or HDMI connection and stereo, optical S/PDIF or HDMI audio connection

Pricing and Availability

The Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player is available immediately via Seagate.com and other online retailers. It comes as a stand-alone unit for use with any USB storage device for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $US149.99, or bundled with a 500GB FreeAgent Go drive for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $US289.99. The FreeAgent Theater+ Wireless adaptor is expected to be available in October as a separate accessory through Seagate.com for $US69.99.