Spearhead Platform Initiative - A Constructive Approach to Driving New Markets

The proliferation of the x86 platform further into the home, office and mobile space is generating exciting new opportunities for OEMs, system integrators and consumer electronics (CE) vendors. However, in order to exploit competitive advantage in these new markets, many vendors need innovative, ready-to-market solutions to reduce development time and cost.

The VIA Spearhead Platform Initiative was introduced to facilitate this transition for our partners, providing a range of dedicated, interoperable and highly compatible platform reference designs based on VIA's extensive processor platform technologies that pave the way for rapid entry into these fast-emerging markets.

Optimizing VIA's core competences in hardware and software engineering, these targeted, highly integrated platforms comprise complete reference designs at the system , board and silicon levels, offering maximum flexibility for customers to develop compact, low profile and quiet systems quickly and cost effectively.

Combining an aggressive roadmap of driving power efficiency in design and production, increasing pace of miniaturization and holistic approach to platform design together with a firm track record of anticipating rapid growth in new and emerging markets, VIA is well positioned to enable customers to take advantage of today's and tomorrow's new market opportunities.

Spearhead System Platform Reference Designs

VIA has developed a stable of complete system designs that define the future of their market segment in terms of functionality, design and price/performance, and lead their class in rich feature integration and ergonomic factors such as size, heat and noise reduction:

» VIA OpenBook Mini-Note Reference Design
The VIA OpenBook ushers in the next generation of designs for the fast growning Mini-Note PC market.  Boundless design possibilities, improved global internet connectivity choices, improved screen resolution and graphics performance are just the beginning. » Learn More.

» VIA NanoBook UMD Reference Design
The VIA NanoBook reference design embodies the Mobility 2.0 vision of complete Web 2.0 Internet abilities in an ultra portable form factor. Long battery life, small size and weight with performance to spare for efficient multitasking, prolific productivity and a rich entertainment experience. » Learn More.

» VIA Infotainment Server
The VIA Infotainment Server reference design represents the complete digital entertainment device for the living room, combining rich functionality and high quality media reproduction with a smooth design that blends in with the living room environment. » Learn More.

» VIA Tablet PC
Bridging the gap between PC and notebook, the VIA Tablet PC won critical acclaim for its sophisticated design and powerful computing and connecting capabilities, being the first in its class to run the full Microsoft Windows XP OS. » Learn More.

» VIA Web Pad
The VIA Web Pad reference design is a stylish wireless mobile device with full Internet browsing capability that anticipated back in 2001 the imminent explosion in popularity of PC mobility in the personal and commercial space. » Learn More.

» VIA Set Top Box
Foretelling the future of home digital entertainment, the VIA Set Top Box reference design was introduced in 2000 as a compact and affordable solution to turn your TV into an interactive multimedia entertainment center. » Learn More.

» VIA Information PC
Launched in 2000, the VIA Information PC reference design pioneered the compact and stylish entry-level PC and represented a new and sustainable approach to affordable computing. » Learn More.

Spearhead Board Platforms

Through a focus on power efficient design at the silicon level, VIA has been able to reduce the size of individual silicon components, and in turn miniaturize platform form factors to a remarkable degree, representing a total area reduction of over 83% from the previous board standard.

In 2001, VIA developed the Mini-ITX form factor at 17cm x 17cm, which caused great excitement in the small form factor community and has gone on to become an industry standard board form factor in both the PC and embedded markets. Over the next few years, VIA continued to shrink board sizes; this culminated in the introduction of the palm-sized Pico-ITX form factor in 2007. At a mere 10cm x 7.2cm, the Pico-ITX is 75% smaller than the Mini-ITX, and it too looks set to become an industry standard in the embedded industry, as it was adopted by the Small Form Factor Special Interest Group (SFF-SIG) in 2008 for collaborative industry development.

Also in 2008, VIA set out to redefine the Mini-ITX standard for small form factor desktop systems, called Mini-ITX 2.0, issuing a set of minimum technology specifications for vendors of Mini-ITX boards targeted at mini PCs.

Through these innovative board platform designs, PC and embedded system developers can use off-the-shelf platforms to build a host of exciting small form factor x86 systems quickly and cost effectively, saving time in development and compatibility testing, and cutting time to market.

» VIA Mini-ITX Form Factor
» Mini-ITX 2.0
» VIA Pico-ITX Form Factor

Spearhead Silicon Platform Reference Designs

With the richest blend of silicon building blocks from a single vendor and considerable experience and leadership in the embedded sector, VIA can provide complete innovative solutions to customers and spearhead new markets.

VIA Spearhead silicon platforms form the ideal foundation for a wide spectrum of digitally intelligent devices due to their excellent physical and thermal properties, rich integration, distributed platform innovation, advanced security and enhanced multimedia and connectivity capabilities.

VIA delivers complete, interoperable platform silicon solutions for system builders to reduce costs and expedite development of smaller, quieter, smarter digital devices for specific emerging markets such as mesh networking, gaming, telematics (car PCs), and robotics, and to reduce time to market for OEMs in the burgeoning target segments of ultra compact thin clients, notebooks and home entertainment centers such as IP set top boxes.

VIA Spearhead silicon platforms include:

» VIA Glory Personal Gaming Console Platform
» VIA Grace Mobile Console Platform
» VIA Mesh Networking Platform