VIA Technologies today introduced the new VIA OpenBook mini-note reference design targeted at the global market for ultra-portable notebooks. The VIA OpenBook builds on the VIA NanoBook reference design launched last year.
The VIA OpenBook mini-note reference design introduces a host of new innovations, including the next generation of VIA Ultra Mobile Platform, based on the VIA C7-M ULV processor and the new all-in-one VIA XV800 digital media IGP chipset. Together, the ultra compact and power efficient platform is claimed to deliver richer computing and multimedia features, including a 8.9" screen (1024 x 600 pixels resolution), VIA Chrome DirectX 9.0 3D graphics, video acceleration for MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV9, VC1 and DivX video formats, a VMR capable HD video processor and 8-channel HD audio.
The VIA OpenBook features a flexible internal interface for high-speed broadband wireless connectivity that provides customers with the ability to select from a choice of WiMAX, HSDPA and EV-DO/W-CDMA modules appropriate to their market. Additional connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and AGPS. In addition, under a unique collaboration approach, the CAD files of the external panels of the reference design are offered for download under a Create Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license to give customers such as OEMs, system integrator, and broadband service providers greater freedom in tailoring the look and feel of their device.
Measuring 1.43 by 9.46 by 6.9 inches and weighing 2.2 pounds, the VIA OpenBook supports a wide range of operating system environments such as Microsoft Windows Vista Basic, Windows XP and various Linux distributions. The device features up to 2GB DDR2 DRAM and can be equipped with a choice of hard disk drive and solid state storage options. The VIA OpenBook also comes with three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA port, audio-in/audio-out jacks as well as a 4-in-1 card reader (SD/SDIO/MMC/MS) and a 2-megapixel dual-headed web camera.
Check out our hands-on impressions of the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC (powered by VIA technology and offers similar physical measurements) to get an idea of how one of these new Mini-Note ultraportables would look like.
Cellphone Cameras to Go to 8 Megapixels with Ominvision's BSI Sensor?
Omnivision is already the the largest supplier of CMOS image sensors in the world, and now its new OmniBSITM chip design promises the world's first consumer 8 megapixel cellphone camera. The new chip uses a technique that's been around for a while, called backside illumination, that allows more light to reach each pixel. And that allows the chip to use a small 1.4-micron pixel that's better than current larger versions.Normal CMOS sensors use "front side" illumination: incoming light travels through many shallow layers of electronics before hitting the sensor pixels themselves. Backside illumination simply turns all that the other way up, so that incoming photons don't have to journey through interfering layers before they hit the pixels. That means less get lost along the way, meaning the pixels are more sensitive to light, and can be made smaller for the same responsiveness.
Omnivision is busy testing an 8-megapixel camera sensor, and is ready to start shipping sample products out before the end of June. And that should mean that at some point in the future cellphones with 8-megapixel sensors will be available.
Microsoft's LaserTouch prototype brings hand control to any display
We'll go ahead and get this out of the way: the fantastic product you're about to hear more on has "no plans" to go commercial. Now that we've thoroughly killed your buzz, let us introduce to you the LaserTouch. Said device is a prototype that recently emerged from Microsoft Research's labs, which essentially allows people to retrofit any display (monitor, projector, etc.) so that they can use their own hands to control the on-screen action. According to Andy Wilson, who played a vital role in the unit's creation, an infrared camera is used to track how a person touches the screen, while software that he developed handles the majority of the magic. Too bad this could totally undercut Surface sales, right?
Nokia "definitely" preparing Linux-based phones, flavor unknown
by Chris Ziegler, posted May 20th 2008 at 3:42PM
With Nokia's dedication to Maemo and the recent Trolltech acquisition, it's no secret that Espoo has its eyes firmly locked on the Linux prize -- but outside the whole Internet Tablet phenomenon, there hasn't been a lot of product to show for it. Looks like that's all about to change, with CFO Rick Simonson commenting this week that the company will "definitely" be releasing some Linux-based cellphones in the future, marking a pretty big move for a company with strong tradition in its long-lived Series 40 dumbphone and S60 smartphone platforms. Simonson refused to get into the nitty gritty details about what flavor of mobile Linux would be used; borrowing from its tablets might make sense, but the Android and LiMo juggernauts seem like they're going to be pretty hard to ignore as well -- not to mention that Google is said to have chatted briefly about Android with Nokia in the not-too-distant past. So what does this all mean? Is S60 Touch in danger here?
[Via Thumb Report]
Update: A closer look-see at Reuters' report (ignoring the misleading headline) indicates that Nokia has not specifically committed to rolling out Linux on phones -- rather, it has simply said that it intends to expand its use of Linux across its product portfolio. We figure that handsets are bound to get swept into the mix at some point, but technically, we could just be looking at other kinds of devices. Always room for another Internet Tablet or three, we suppose. Thanks, Eric!
Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV Is Way Better Than Cable or Satellite
Microsoft's Mediaroom is the company's IPTV solution that brings TV into to your house (much like cable and satellite) over the internets. You might be familiar with it in its commercially released service forms such as AT&T U-Verse here in the US or BT Fusion in the UK. The features out now—quick channel changing, multiple channel records simultaneously without a hardware (CableCard) limit, multi-room viewing, multiple picture-in-picture—are pretty fantastic, but we had a visit with Microsoft earlier this week and learned that what's coming soon is even better.
First, let's go over the features that Mediaroom offers now. With a simple set-top-box, you can grab high quality HDTV that's better quality (seeing as Comcast has been compressing their HDTV shows like mad) than what you'd otherwise get on cable. If you've got two set-top-boxes, you can stream shows off of each other so you don't have to record a program twice to be able to watch it in your living room and bedroom. You can even watch the same TV broadcast or recorded shows on your Windows PC or Xbox 360, a feature that's been announced since CES by Microsoft, but is up to the actual service provider (AT&T, BT) to roll out. In AT&T's case, it won't be available until the second-half of 2008.
This leads us to the new feature Microsoft showed off: Applications. Since IPTV is a two-way street, your Mediaroom set-top-boxes are able to pull down information from the net, leading to very interesting interactive programs that people can code up for shows.
http://gizmodo.com/391338/microsoft-mediaroom-iptv-is-way-better-than-cable-or-satellite
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