ASUS preparing NVIDIA Ion-based Eee Box B1006?

In a brief snippet of a rumor, DigiTimes is reporting that ASUS is planning an Ion-based Eee Box B1006 for Q3 of 2009. Ion's a good start, but if they shackle it to an Intel Atom 230 processor and once again bludgeon our dreams of a low-cost home theater PC capable of handling full-screen Flash video, well, somebody's going to get hurt. Ion-based Eee PC netbooks are coming too, but those don't have a production schedule yet according to the Taiwanese tattle-rag.

[Information Central @ Jun 1st 2009 7:44AM]

Full-screen Flash video?

You're kidding, right?

[Argot @ Jun 1st 2009 7:49AM]

Umm, of the Eee Box B1006 or what? I don't see anything.

[JohnnyRico @ Jun 1st 2009 8:04AM]

No, we're not. Hulu, youtube, and assorted other video sites all have flash video, and it's annoyingly all CPU intensive. The little Atoms don't handle full-scren flash very well. Maybe a higher clocked Atom? A Quad-Core atom? (In my dreams, I know.. but could happen)... anything, we just want full screen flash!

[Nick @ Jun 8th 2009 11:39AM]

Full-screen Flash HD should be possible with this: http://www.dvhardware.net/article35806.html
Now if only that would be integrated on the PCB of this new Eee Box...

[ShirkPower @ Jun 1st 2009 7:54AM]

what is it...

[Jakub @ Jun 1st 2009 8:06AM]

What is this guy talking about? Who in the world would want full-screen Flash video?... Lame...

[rcarm @ Jun 1st 2009 8:14AM]

People who want a "low-cost home theater PC capable of handling full-screen Flash video"?

[Mike @ Jun 1st 2009 8:45AM]

you mean to tell me you've never watched anything on hulu or youtube or any other video site in full screen?

[Blackster @ Jun 1st 2009 8:52AM]

@mike: no, i for one haven't.
hulu's not working in germany if i am correct!

[fikhl @ Jun 1st 2009 9:43AM]

Mii

[ioannisnousias @ Jun 1st 2009 8:01AM]

"Somebody gonna get a hurt real bad!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lQFee3A4Zw

[r3loaded @ Jun 1st 2009 8:12AM]

Darn, beat me to it :)

[ShirkPower @ Jun 1st 2009 8:10AM]

is this a modem or something?

[bos4 @ Jun 1st 2009 8:58AM]

I'd like to see Adobe clean up Flash, stop blaming the manufacturers and fix it instead.

[hexydes @ Jun 1st 2009 9:25AM]

Amen. You can rip a 1080p Blu-ray/HD-DVD to H.264 in an MKV container, 10-12Mbps, and it will use fewer CPU resources than Flash player playing a standard non-HD YouTube video. It's pathetic.

[Conceyted @ Jun 1st 2009 8:59AM]

If Asus releases the Ion as a nettop before making a netbook I might just scream. Why are these companies so reluctant to make a netbook with gaming capabilities. Someone release an Ion based netbook already! (I know about the Lenovo s12, but that, IMO, is not a netbook)

[thedankone @ Jun 1st 2009 3:51PM]

because they want you to buy a expensive gaming rig, that they happen to sell. No one ever talks about the asus n10 n270+ 9300m, been out for ever.

[Phil @ Jun 1st 2009 9:00AM]

I'm still confused with all the comments about the Atom not being able to show full screen flash based content. I have no problem watching YouTube videos on my Eeepc901. Ocassionally it can get a bit choppy, but swithing to "Super Peformance" mode (i.e. overclocking to 1.8Gz) sorts out any problems.

[superhobo @ Jun 1st 2009 9:09AM]

Flash already has GPU accelleration. Hulu needs to use it.

[AlexNC @ Jun 1st 2009 9:11AM]

Thank you Engadget for calling them out on the full screen flash video!!!
This really needs to be pushed hard by these blog sites. There are so many consumers in the US dieing for this ability so we can ditch our cable/satellite for Hulu/Netflix/Amazon, etc. But until they start putting decent processors in these little buggers, we are going to continue to not buy them, due to the Atoms inability to handle full screen HD Flash video =(

[sam @ Jun 1st 2009 9:20AM]

As far as I can tell it isn't nettop manufacturers or processor vendors who need to make full-screen Flash video happen; it's Adobe.

Full-screen flash is usually a low-resolution video being enlarged to the full screen, which is something that a graphics chip - any graphics chip from the last decade with any 3D support at all, however crappy - can do with both hands tied behind its back. Unfortunately, Flash uses the CPU for this. This might result in better decoding quality (depending on the compression) but eats CPU for breakfast. The solution is for Adobe to detect slower CPUs and decode the video at its original size, then enable graphics acceleration to enlarge it.

At least that's how I understand it - if your machine can play Flash video at normal size then it should be able to play the same video zoomed to fit the screen. It's possible that people are talking about something else where the video's native resolution is massive; in that case there are no easy answers and you do need faster processors of one type or another.

[CastorTray @ Jun 1st 2009 9:35AM]

We still waiting for B208,
and they are already planning new model, ehh...

[TREX6662k5 @ Jun 1st 2009 12:30PM]

Excactly

[dagamer43 @ Jun 1st 2009 9:52AM]

I wish I would see more powerful CPUs in these things. Atom is pretty meh.

[Jamus @ Jun 1st 2009 9:54AM]

Agreed about the Flash. Give me 480 full screen running smoothly and I can live it, but I would prefer at least 720. And from what I have seen so far, it just ain't happening with anything packing an Atom. Could Adobe tweak the Flash plugin to better run on these? Maybe, but we still need something with a little more horsepower when it comes to Flash.

[NoAndThen @ Jun 1st 2009 12:33PM]

Indeed.

..And the crowd starts chanting: ULV! ULV! ULV!

[Fanfoot @ Jun 2nd 2009 1:25AM]

Once somebody confirms that a Solo (single core I assume) ULV processor can actually play back full screen "HD" flash content when hooked up to a TV screen (at 720p say, requiring some scaling), then that will be an option, sure. Until then...

[Raid0 @ Jun 1st 2009 2:43PM]

It can't be N230 because the core clock is 1.66GHz so it must be N280.

Source:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=find_a_product.showProductDetail&pd_id=1156390&pgw_code=CO&pd_code=DES&resultsPerPage=59&sortParameter=brand_name&startnum=1&letter=A

[Kerry @ Jun 1st 2009 3:03PM]

the very least they could do is put in a dual core atom 330 in place of that single core atom 230 then they may have something worthwile.

[Fanfoot @ Jun 2nd 2009 1:23AM]

Which kinda misses the point. As Anantech has already noted, the 330, even with an Ion, can't handle full screen flash decoding of "HD" Hulu content.

[Eric @ Jun 2nd 2009 9:23AM]

Doesn't the Asus n10 have basically the same CPU and GPU as an "Ion" platform? Or does the Ion have a better chipset?

[bionicad @ Jun 24th 2009 4:56AM]

what would u prefer? ..XP or Vista on this "machine"?

[Anthony @ Jun 26th 2009 1:54AM]

Were SO far away from ditching Cable/Sat because the content is just not there yet. Two weeks ago, us hard core Road Racing lovers got all 25 hours of coverage of the 24 hours of Le Mans, which 5 or 6 hours of it was available via Speedtv.com. It was the HD stream and used Flash.

Sorry kiddies but its Sports and P0rn that move technologies forward, there isn't enough casual interest in "The Family Guy" and other shows to push things forward.

Besides power will just shift from content providers to telephony companies, so yea BRING on Internet based TV and within 10 years you'll be bitching about ditching your phone company because they are charging too much for TV....