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.