New hardware is on the way from VIA, in the form of a new addition to their wide EPIA series. The new N700-10EW board conforms to the Nano-ITX form factor and is designed specifically for “extreme” environments. Extreme as it is defined here isn't the usual PC hardware marketing term, but rather indicates the board is up to the job of being situated in extremely high or cold temperatures, at high altitudes or in other intense environments.


The new board certainly seems to boast such functionality on paper, with VIA saying it can withstand temperatures as cold as -20C or as hot as 70C. The company guarantees maximum stability at these temperatures, indicating it may operate far beyond those limits – despite its fanless design.

The N700-10EW is based on a plethora of other common VIA components, such as the VX800 chipset, onboard gigabit LAN, audio, USB and Compact Flash. They even mention its media functionality, but clearly their aim here isn't the standard media center or highly integrated niche markets they generally pursue. You can catch all the details on the product page, but things such as pricing and what sort of manufacturing differences this board has over other EPIAs are not mentioned.