Via introduces ultra-small Mobile-ITX platform

[Justin]

<p>Via's portfolio of small hardware grew this week, with the announcement of its <a href="https://www.via.com.tw/en/resources/pressroom/pressrelease.jsp?press_release_no=4287" target="_blank">Mobile-ITX form factor</a>. Measuring a mere 6cm square, Mobile-ITX's footprint is half the size of Pico-ITX. Based on existing x86 designs, it is a modular form factor aimed at ultra-compact and low-power uses.</p> <p>The tiny frame doesn't mean Via skimped on functionality. The reference design can be expanded to include a wide range of inputs and outputs, from USB and PCIe to CRT and DVI. The small and modular design results in power consumption as low as 5 watts, supplied from a slimline power supply. Via has kept the design rugged, making it suitable for cramped and hostile environments.</p> <center><img src="https://www.techspot.com/fileshost/newspics2/2009/via-mobile-itx.jpg" width="500" height="395" srcset="https://www.techspot.com/fileshost/newspics2/2009/via-mobile-itx-j.webp 500w" sizes="(min-width: 901px) 600px, (min-width: 651px) 78vw, 100vw"></center> <p><br> The platform chipset is based on Via's VX820 media processor, which integrates many common components into a single chip. A C7-M ULV CPU and Chrome9 HC3 GPU are couple with that.</p><p><a rel='canonical' href='https://www.techspot.com/news/37193-via-introduces-ultra-small-mobile-itx-platform.html' target='_blank'>Permalink to story.</a></p><p class='permalink'><a rel='canonical' href='https://www.techspot.com/news/37193-via-introduces-ultra-small-mobile-itx-platform.html'>https://www.techspot.com/news/37193-via-introduces-ultra-small-mobile-itx-platform.html</a></p>

 

[klepto12]

this seems like a great product i cant believe how small it is and how man different things can be added. i do like that it is rugged which helps especially if you have kids or are accident prone like me lol.

 

[Technochicken]

Wow that's tiny! Any word on pricing? Since VIA's current Pico-ITX board currently runs for a bit over 200 dollars, my guess is this board will not come cheap.

 

[Serag]

Amazing how tiny sized the platform is..

 

[freedomthinker]

I will be honest , i don't even know whats this thing for ;D

 

[AnonymousSurfer]

As long as a phone has a keyboard, I'm all good...

 

[Adhmuz]

Awesome little piece of tech, now if they could show a product using it that would be even better.

 

[Moltar]

To commnet on Adhmuz, All this cool stuff gets posted but I never know what it is used for or what type of products use it. Some real world examples would be nice.

 

[Xclusiveitalian]

I can't wait till it's smaller bc it said ultra small but it doesn't look that small

 

[Tekkaraiden]

Yet another impressive piece form Via. Now if only I was able to buy one I'd be really happy.

 

[WakeMO]

Wow. I hope they make a tablet with this.

 

[BlindObject]

Looks nice and small, how does it run Crysis?

 

[sllewe]

BlindObject said:
Looks nice and small, how does it run Crysis?

Haha

And I thought the Atom/Micro ITX was small!

 

[bitMorph3r]

a tablet pc is the perfect thing this board can end up into. great competitor for tegra, albeit i don't know if it's 1080p compatible.

 

[Rick]

With the C7 at 1.6GHz, this will run worse than the Atom in most respects. VIA will probably claim it can handle 1080p, but not if you're watching DivX, xvid etc.. The Chrome GPU supports hardware video decoding, but in terms of performance, is on par with Intel's last-generation video chipsets. Needless to say, gaming is nearly an impossibility.

But at least the C7-M is 64-bit, unlike the Atom which means there is the potential to stuff this with tons of memory. I'm afraid the form factor will make that a little difficult though, but I do see this as cool for a 'carputer', file server and other special-purpose uses.

Using it as a regular computer sounds painful, though. I want my tablet to be responsive to my touches. I'm not sure this thing can deliver that except for email and Facebook.

 

[lfg18]

Well the size of this thing is certainly impressive, netbooks will become smaller haha, I don't think I would use a product based on this thing, I don't think it can handle my everyday needs and tasks, probably will be ok for students or people just wnating to check their facebook account, impressive but not for me.

 

[Puiu]

With this we'll have smaller and more powerful mobile devices. Soon we'll be holding the power of a modern PC in the palm of our hands. Doesn't the future look good?

 

[TechDisciple]

wow tiny but yet powerful, wat else can we ask for.

 

[Razerblade]

That is quite incredible! I cannot believe they have managed to back that much punch into something so small! Soon a Server will be the size of a Laptop hard drive! Imagine the space saving and cost saving from lower power consumption!

 

[manintech]

This would be a perfect platform for netbooks, they are just gonna be lighter and lasts longer

 

[ET3D]

What, even VIA doesn't want to use its Nano processor?

 

[compdata]

Faster, Smaller, Cheaper. Keep up the trend!!

 

[fref]

That is one tiny computer! Not sure if it's powerful enough, but if it can play videos, it would be great in the living room connected to a TV.

 

[Vrmithrax]

I could see something like this being incorporated into a nice big HD television, creating a sweet smart TV with limited PC capabilities... There are actually any number of interesting application (many of them dealing with industrial embedded systems) that a product like this could enhance, or even make possible.

I've actually got an older VIA single-board system attached to the back of my second monitor on my gaming system at home... I put together a nice little cheap unit that runs Linux and does nothing but host my Ventrilo communications server... A little overkill, but hey I was bored, had some extra parts lying around, and an idea popped into my head... Some of you know how it is!

 

[BlackIrish]

Too bad AMD's Congo platform is now about and it probably destroys this thing (it also has a Radeon 3200 HD, and it's made for netbooks!)