VIA signs up for a new audio codec for SOC designs

VIA has signed a licensed agreement with Cadence(R) Tensilica(R) HiFi Audio/Voice DSP (digital signal processor) for a system-on-chip (SOC) design for set top box, tablets and mobile devices. It could well be that this will be used by the VIA subsidiary, WonderMedia.

"We needed a very low power audio DSP with a wide range of software codecs, so we selected the Cadence Tensilica HiFi/Voice Audio DSP," Michael Shiuan, vice president of Engineering, VIA Technologies. "This low power DSP fits well in our advanced SOC architecture and product lines. Our design-in time is also minimized due to the robustness of the complete codec support."

Cadence Tensilica HiFi Audio/Voice DSPs are the leading licensable audio DSP IP cores, licensed by more than 50 customers including many of the top 10 semiconductor manufacturers and leading system OEMs. The HiFi Audio/Voice DSPs support over 100 audio and voice codecs with very efficient processing at low power. Source: Market Watch

The connection between VIA and Christianity

I was aware that both Wenchi-Chen, the CEO of VIA, and his wife and business partner Cher Wang, Chairwoman at VIA and CEO of HTC, were active Christians. I wasn't aware of the full story though. According to an article on GospelHerald.com the two became close because of a partnership forged through business help and Cher encouraging Wenchi to attend church and turn to God for help with this business.

"It wasn't until VIA Technology faced its biggest difficulties - returned products from customers, that Wen-Chi asked for Cher's help again. Cher reminded him, "You forgot what you had promised God you would do". After that, Wen-Chi was finally really willing to spend time to understand the Christian faith and become a Christian."

VIA's Cher Wang listed in Forbes most powerful women

Forbes put out a list in May 2013 of the most powerful women in the world. VIA's own Cher Wang was listed in the 46th spot, up from last year's #56 spot. VIA wasn't mentioned in the write-up with the focus being on HTC.

Forbes

John Peddie research takes a look at SoC

Research by John Peddie Inc. has shown that Imagination Technologies Imagination sells more GPU IP than any other supplier by selling to several SoCs, but Qualcomm is the largest SoC supplier, and uses their own GPU design. The boom in this industry segment is of course do you smartphones and tablets. WonderMedia/VIA is noted in the article as a buyer of GPU IP.

Read more: http://evertiq.com/design/31688 

Case mod memory lane: Aircraft carrier

Why isn't case modding a popular hobby like it once was? Look at what you can achieve with an idea, some glue, a model kit and a low profile, low heat, fully integrated VIA embedded board:

The modder, Rus Caslis, explains:
"So I was walking around a toy store waiting for my wife to finish looking at the Barbie toys one day (before anyone asks, yes, she is more than eight years old and I love the fact that she is still into toys) and I saw this cool looking toy of the aircraft carrier Enterprise. I looked closer at it, and thought that it might be big enough to hold one of those great Mini-ITX motherboards from VIA. Since the toy was only $19.99, I decided to get it. Upon getting home, I ripped open the box and confirmed that the width of the toy at it's largest area was a little over 17cm wide. The Mini-ITX would be a tight fit, but it would work."

More on Mini-ITX.com

Case Mod Memory Lane: The Biscuit Tin

Today, the 25th July, is International Culinarians Day, celebrating the talents of those who love to cook. So we thought we'd re-visit an oldie but a goodie, the biscuit tin case mod which fitted a VIA EPIA800 into a square biscuit tin.

Inside the tin was crammed:

VIA EPIA 800 Board
Toshiba 40Gb 2.5" HDD
256 ECC SDRAM
2 Line Blue VFD Morex PSU Kit

The tin ran Windows XP Pro  and Redhat Linux Pro 8.0.

I wonder if it's still in use, hopefully in the kitchen as an Internet hub maybe? More info on Mini-ITX.com.

VIA WonderMedia brings a PC to every monitor

Some news that I missed from the Computex Trade Show in Taipei last month is Albatron's very smart and innovative idea to pop a VIA WonderMedia powered Android computer in their monitors. The suggestion is that the solution is so cheap that every monitor in the future might end up having a basic PC of this nature included in it.

"If a monitor vendor wants to combat the 30% yearly price drop, why not add a full Android media player to the mix. It won’t be a gaming powerhouse but the features could come in handy now and then. For an extra $25 on top of your next monitor, why wouldn’t you opt for it?" - SemiAccurate

It is in these sorts of applications that the physical size and price of VIA embedded solutions really bring new possibilities to existing markets.

Tablet business booming, profits not

Notebook sales are down but tablet sales are up, more than enough to replace them. That all sounds like good news, unless you are an ODM in which case you may be worried since the profits to be made from tablets compared to notebooks is less.

Digitimes reports: "Since tablets have a simpler design than notebooks, the ODMs are only able to earn about US$9-10 for each tablet made, lower than US$13-20 for notebooks. 

 In addition, fewer components needed means that ODMs will have difficulties using their purchasing advantages to earn profits, and tablet brand vendors' demand for specific components will also impact the makers' profits, the sources noted."

Suppliers of chips for tablets, like VIA and VIA's WonderMedia, are also affected by this trend since they and their competitors will have to get very aggressive in pricing in order to get sales.

World Micro appointed disti for VIA in US and Europe

World Micro has signed up to be distributor for VIA in the US and Europe, offering a new distribution parter for VIA processors and multi-media chips. This of course will also include VIA's impressive line up of embedded boards and systems. World Micro specialise in large but niche markets where VIA's passive, low power, low profile X86 computing solutions fit in nicely.

"About World Micro Components, Inc. World Micro, Inc. is a global, aerospace, military, commercial, and medical electronic component and products distributor focused on quality systems. The company also leads the industry in detection of counterfeit components and anti-counterfeit education and training. Since 1996, World Micro has helped its customers solve difficult supply chain issues through innovative research, design, sourcing, stocking, procurement, inventory, and management solutions. World Micro, Inc. is privately held with headquarters in Roswell, Georgia, and an Asian distribution hub in Penang, Malaysia. The company's website is www.worldmicro.com and can be followed on Twitter at twitter.com/worldmicro." - Source.

Mysterious photo of the VIA APC 3D Printing Bootcamp

"David is everywhere" is the tag for this photo, apparently taken at VIA's recent bootcamp. More info anyone? Source.

WonderMedia release a new dual core SoC supporting the latest Android

VIA's WonderMedia were one of the very first SoC manufacturers to put together handheld tablets when the mobile market was moving from another VIA innovation, the OpenBook, to the keyboard-less tablet arena. That first SoC was found in many whitebox tablets during the first 7-inch tablet craze.

Now the company have announced a new one that upgrades the procesosor to a 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 Dual-Core. VIA's graphics solution is replaced with an ARM Mali-400 Dual-Processor GPU. The little chip supports a range of display options and the requisite 1080p resolution. The little gem is DRR3 and is intended for tablets and also info kiosk type applications.

"With its high-performance, and feature-rich design, the WM8980 is also optimized for a wide range of innovative system design applications, including tablets, Smart TV, SmartStream for wireless display and multimedia streaming, networked projectors, digital signage, and thin clients."

VIA Labs first out with a certified SuperSpeed hub

The VL811+ SuperSpeed USB hub from VIA Labs is one of the first USB 3.0 hubs to get certification from the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF). If the company plays its cards right they should be able to offer one of the first four port USB 3.0 SuperSpeed hubs on the market.

"USB-IF certification of VIA Labs SuperSpeed USB Hub Controllers provides the assurance that devices based on these certified products will interoperate with the billions of USB-enabled devices available on the market while delivering the speed, power efficiency, and power delivery specified by the USB 3.0 standard. In addition to the VIA Labs VL811+ Hub Controllers, VIA Labs currently offers a complete USB-IF Certified product line including USB 3.0 Hosts, USB 3.0 SATA Bridges, and USB 3.0 to NAND Flash Controllers.

The VIA Labs VL811+ 4-port USB 3.0 hub controller is the third-generation single-chip hub solution from VIA Labs offering many improvements over the previous generations including optimized low-power design, support for USB power management, and the addition of an integrated USB Charging Controller to the core hub logic. The VIA Labs VL811+ is backwards compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 specifications, and fully supports SuperSpeed (5Gbps), Hi-Speed (480Mbps), Full-Speed (12Mbps), and Low-Speed (1.5Mbps) traffic. VL811+ based hubs enjoy broad cross-platform support under a variety of host controllers and SoCs, and OS support in Windows, OSX, Linux, and others. VL811+ has also passed Windows Hardware Certification Kit testing for both Windows 8 and Windows RT."

For more information, see the Press Release.