Not particularly thrilled with the performance of your HP Mini-Note 2133? If you're vigorously shaking your head up and down as that render chugs along in the background, take a listen at this. The folks over at HP 2133 Guide took the time to benchmark their Vista / XP systems and then apply VIA's recently released drivers for the CN896 chipset and Chrome9 integrated graphics. Not surprisingly, they found the update totally worthwhile. Based on pure numerical changes, there's not a lot to phone home about, but critics did note that "video playback was improved quite a bit on each OS," and that YouTube / Hulu vids were actually watchable post-update. Not a lot of downside to upgrading, so head on over and see what the new drivers have in store for you.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

It only makes sense that VIA's contribution to the quickly growing netbook world -- the OpenBook -- get ripped wide open, wouldn't you agree? Better still, this isn't your typical dissection, as the invasive Tim Brown tears apart his own product on video. Three minutes of teardown is just one click away.

Remember middle school? These guys do. NVIDIA, AMD, VIA and now SiS (only two capital letters? Not trying hard enough) have all teamed up in a fight against Intel of truly pubescent proportions. Intel has denied accusations of hiding the USB 3.0 spec, since it's not their spec to hide, and claims it has no obligation to disclose its actual host controller specification before it's ready. This apparently has the other chip makers scrambling to make their own host controller, so they aren't beholden to Intel's schedule. That could cause problems for the end product -- if they don't build theirs exactly like Intel's, and with Intel's already being on the market by the time they're done, they'll have to return to the drawing board and possibly delay their release by nine months. They claim this could give Intel two years of zero competition in the USB 3.0 space, but Intel figures since it plans to release the spec for free, is investing heavily in its development, and isn't done yet anyways, it doesn't owe those companies a thing. This just gets better and better.

It's been far too long since we've seen a gizmo from any walk of life get torture tested, but the wait for another is over at long last. As part of the Naked Pico Challenge, the crazy cats over at TechnoVoyance set out to see just how long the VIA PX5000EG Pico-ITX board could operate without any cooling whatsoever. After it hummed along for a fortnight without even a hiccup, the line had been drawn, and it was finally time to see precisely what could shut this thing down. We hate to spoil things, but suffice it to say, even this athlete-of-a-motherboard couldn't withstand the pressure of an 1,800-watt hair dryer for more than a minute or two. Head on past the break to see the softcore abuse on video.

Sweet, and likely salty. That's VIA's "special assistant to the president," Timothy Chen, giving NVIDIA's Drew Henry, general manager of its MCP business, a little sugar. The moment was captured after the unveiling of the Mini-ITX 2.0 spec at Computex last week. Why? We're not exactly sure, but we imagine things can get a bit emotional when old enemies join forces against a foe as formidable as Intel. Now give eachother a firm slap on the back, punch to the shoulder, and possibly, if it feels right... a noogie. There's much to do if NVIDIA's Tegra and VIA's Nano are to supplant Intel's Silverthorne and Diamondville in future MIDs and netbooks, respectively.

[Thanks, Richard L.]

We've seen companies toss out kit that claims to showcase the third-dimension without requiring a set of those face-consuming spectacles, but we're having an even harder time believing it would go over well (or at all) on a 'roided-up do-it-all handheld. Details are scarce on this one, but the Telson prototype / reference model device looks to be hung somewhere between the land of gaming handhelds and unadulterated UMPCs. Within, you'll find a VIA C7-M processor, 512MB of RAM, a 30/60GB hard drive and a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 resolution panel that's reportedly capable of displaying 3D imagery without special glasses. Can't say we're huge fans of the design / idea / etc., but we'll be keeping an eye out just in case this somehow makes it into production.

[Via SlashGear]

Today VIA announced their Mini-ITX 2.0 platform for mini PCs. The standard calls for a high-performance, power efficient x86 processor like the VIA Nano, DirectX 10 graphics for Blu-ray Disc playback, 6-channel surround support, and a PCI Express x16 slot for video expansion. An optimized 2.0 system combined with a 1.8GHz Nano processor, CN896 chipset, nVidia GeForce 8600 card and 64-bit Windows will even kick its way through Crysis just as VIA has been saying all along. Don't believe us? Check the video after the break.

Read -- Mini-ITX 2.0 announcement
Read -- Crysis

Talk about being behind the eight ball. With the Eee PC 901 and 1000 getting official, not to mention the onslaught of potent competitors, GeCube's 10.2-inch alternative isn't likely to steal much of the spotlight in Taipei. Nevertheless, the seemingly unnamed machine is ready to fight the losing battle with a 1.6GHz VIA C7-D processor, 512MB of DDR2 RAM (with an additional slot open), 1,024 x 600 resolution panel, 80GB SATA hard drive, stereo speakers, Ethernet, WiFi and three USB 2.0 jacks. Reportedly, the unit will come loaded with gOS (but it will support Windows XP if that's more your style), and while no price is mentioned, we'd suggest keeping it remarkably low until a Nano / Atom shows up inside.

Stop the presses, UMPC Portal (AVING really) spotted the first netbook pumping VIA's Atom-hating Nano processor at its core. The 10.2-inch Imini S1 Mini-Note from TongFang is just a customized VIA OpenBook reference design. Still, it does our Intel-weary, competitive hearts good to see a 1.2GHz VIA Nano CPU listed in the specs.

[Via UMPC Portal]

Man, we've waited so long for Intel's Silverthorne to become Atom to become product that we're feeling a bit misty at the sight of all those Atom-based netbooks pictured above. Intensified by the fact that VIA has apparently come to the show without a single Nano-based netbook of its own. Hold tight while we await official word from Dell about their "mini-Inspiron" netbook expected sometime today.

Update: We found a VIA Nano device!

Read -- Atom
Read -- VIA Nano

As if things weren't confusing enough in the world of tiny computers, Qualcomm went and blurted off news about a $299 machine that will run Windows Mobile 7 on its Snapdragon mobile chip set. Qualcomm's senior veep Luis Pineda boasted that the machine will run WinMo7 and is more efficient than its competitors from the likes of Intel, AMD, and Via. When pressed, he wouldn't give up any additional hardware specs, but he promises a "big presence in Snapdragon-based devices at CES 2009". This isn't the first time we've seen mention of Windows Mobile 7, but it's quite possibly the first tie-in with a specific product group. We look forward to the Snapdragon-Intel-AMD-Via mobile computing war in the coming year, indeed.

Although late in arriving, Sony appears ready to join the low-cost, ultra-portable, netbook, mini-laptop party. An apparently generic prototype based on the Via OpenBook was just spotted at the Quanta booth at WiMax Expo. It seems that a quick check of the properties revealed a 1.6GHz Via C7-M processor and more interestingly, Sony as the manufacturer. When the Quanta exec demonstrating the box noticed "he quickly closed the properties window and declined to explain." Sony refused to comment. In other words, expect to see it in Q3.

Today is a day that PC Perspective is calling "one of the most pivotal days in the history of VIA Technologies." That isn't just hyperbole either, son. Via's Isaiah processor is now official and re-dubbed Nano. The Atom-spanking (at least preliminarily), 65-nm processors come in U (ultra-portable) and L (desktop and laptop) classes with a maximum power rating pegged between 5W to 25W. The 1GHz U2300, 1.3+GHz U2400, and 1.2GHz U2500 pull just 5W, 8W, and 6.8W, respectively with an itty bitty 100mW idle draw. Products are expected to hit shelves (and your palm) sometime in Q3. We'll bring you the detailed Nano vs. Atom vs. Puma benchmarks just as soon as we get 'em.

[Thanks, Ryan]

We got to spend a little bit of time with a prototype of VIA's new OpenBook reference design, and while it's not going to revolutionize anything, VIA does seem to have a pretty good grasp on the balance of value, size and power necessary to compete in the subnotebook game. They were showing it off with Vista (though it will be available in XP and Linux versions as well), with an interface that was plenty responsive, and while the video we saw wasn't an incredible display of multimedia showmanship, it was neat to see on the C7-M all the same. Our two main gripes are the seeming thickness of the device -- 1.4-inches might be par for the course, but with this small of a laptop it seems awkwardly thick -- and the itty-bitty, cheap-looking keyboard that doesn't utilize the whole width of the laptop. The hope with a reference design is that some manufacturer might even be able to improve on VIA's version, and we'd say the first problem point to address is the keyboard. That said, we're quite impressed that VIA's crammed as much inside the OpenBook as it has, and perks like 3G / 4G connectivity, a trio of USB ports and a media card reader are making that MacBook Air look positively last century. Now the waiting game for one of the dozens of OEM types to start pumping these out of factories and into the arms of cherub-faced mini-note fans the world over. Video is after the break.

VIA's trying its hand once again at the "mini-note" form factor, with a new OpenBook reference design. Its first go round, the NanoBook, was generally panned in light of the ultra-successful Eee PC, but certainly wasn't ignored. The new design is right in line with the new wave of subnotebooks, with an 8.9-inch 1024 x 600 screen, connection options including WiMAX, HSDPA and EV-DA, three USB 2.0 ports, VGA out, a 4-in-1 card reader and front and back 2 megapixel webcams. There's also room for 2GB of RAM and a 2.5-inch HDD, and you can run Vista, XP or your Linux flavor of choice. It's all based around a new VIA VX800 chipset running that trusty ol' C7-M ULV processor, with some video acceleration tweaks to make multimedia possible. You'll be able to get about 3 hours of juice out of a 4-cell battery. The entire design is being distributed as a CAD file under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license, which means OEMs can take these designs and run with them -- and also means that we'll be seeing plenty of versions without all the trimmings mentioned here. The real test of this new unit might come down to price, and since that's up to manufacturers VIA isn't saying where it'll land just yet, but it'll probably be closer to $600 than the $300-ish price points of the last gen.