Many people may have not heard of Via in the x86 world with AMD and Intel being the dominant figures. But Via manufacture and make their own cost effective x86 processors and their own small form factor motherboards. They may not be able to compete on performance with the likes of Intel and AMD but they can replicate good performance per watt. They have announced that their VIA EITX-3002 Em-ITX motherboard is now supporting the Android operating system fully which makes the platform more cost effective as there is no need for a Windows license.
According to Via the key features:
Include leverage of Android development resources and existing apps, rich I/O flexibility, greater CPU performance as well as higher display resolutions of up to 1920 x 1080. In addition VIA has released SMART ETK, an Embedded Tool Kit which allows monitoring and control of peripheral devices through the Android OS, allowing for greater environmental control of kiosk and other installed environments.
“VIA has a long history of offering a wide range of options and customized solutions for our embedded customers,” said Epan Wu, Head of the VIA Embedded Platform Division, VIA Technologies, Inc. “The addition of Android OS support to our embedded x86 boards adds increased flexibility and further broadens our ability to meet their needs.”
VIA EITX-3002
The EITX 3002 motherboard series is one of Via’s latest creation and although it targets mainly commercial customers it still has an impressive feature set:
- Em-ITX form factor: 17cm (W) x 12 cm (L)
- Low profile design
- Dual-sided multiple I/O connector coastlines
- Integrated VIA Chrome9™ HD with DX9 3D/2D graphics
- Hardware acceleration for MPEG-2, WMV9, VC1, and H.264 codecs
- Versatile display configuration inc. VGA, HDMI and LVDS multi-display
- Two Gigabit Ethernet ports
- COM ports inc. dual RS-232 and dual RS-232/422/485
- 2 USB 3.0 ports (optional)
- Six USB 2.0 host ports
- Supports 5-wire/4-wire resistive touch interface connector
- Fanless and ultra low power consumption
