The Proliferation of Linux

VIA has updated its seven year old Mini-ITX specification.  Included in the update is better support for modern technologies such as PCIe, Blu-ray and SATA II.  The updated specification also mandates that integrated graphics processors must support DirectX 9.0.  DirectX 10 support can be added via PCIe.
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Sony appears to be ready to ship a notebook based on the VIA OpenBook reference design.  A prototype by Quanta Computer was apparently spotted at the WiMax Expo.

A check of the laptop’s properties confirmed the laptop is based on a 1.6GHz C7-M processor from Via and listed Sony as the manufacturer. When the existence of Sony’s name on the machine was pointed out to a Quanta executive manning the booth, he quickly closed the properties window and declined to explain why Sony was listed as the manufacturer.

The VIA OpenBook is a reference design for a sub-notebook that was released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license.  For more information on the design, go to viaopenbook.com
Yahoo News [via Engadget]

VIA has unveiled new x86-compatible processors based on its “Isaiah” micro-architecture.  The new “Nano” processors are pin-compatible with VIA’s existing C7 product line and have similar power requirements but are said to have double or quadrupal performance.

Linux Devices has the full story.

UPDATE: Ars Technica has more details and analysis on the Nano.

[ Linux Devices]

Yesterday VIA announced a new addition to their family of Pico-ITX boards.  The VIA EPIA PX5000EG uses the 1-watt VIA Eden ULV processor (clocked at 500MHz) and is completely fanless. It includes both LVDS/DVI and VGA support, integrated 5.1 channel audio, fast 100/10 Ethernet, both IDE and S-ATA drive support and up to six USB ports and a COM port.

This board offers many exciting possibilities for Linux enthusiasts, especially when you consider VIA recent release of the code to their framebuffer driver.