The blogosphere tends to be fairly polarized in terms of netbook reporting. In the western world, where most of the English-speaking bloggers, readers and advertisers are, we have a slick range of style-oriented designs that are mostly based on the Intel Atom processor. In other parts of the world, the situation is rather different. The focus is on functional, simple and extremely low cost PCs.

In developing countries, where SMS’ are used to agree contracts between remote communities, the idea of a 10" screen with a keyboard alone would be something new. It wouldn’t matter what’s inside it as long as it provides a basic computing experience and that’s why many people believe (including myself) that the big wave, the big sales numbers, will be in China, India and Africa.

VIA already does good trade in these areas with simple designs based on what we consider to an be ‘old’ C7-M processor. Microsoft already does trade with starter editions of XP, again, something we consider to be an old OS but it looks like the two companies want to get together, with a bunch of others, to really optimise their products and marketing for this segment with a new initiative called the Global Mobility Bazaar.

VIA Technologies, Inc., a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the’Global Mobility Bazaar’ (GMB), an innovative industry infrastructure program aimed at driving the rapid global adoption of affordable mobilecomputing devices.

Through the GMB program, VIA is partnering with over 15 GMB manufacturers and infrastructure partners in China on the development of a wide variety of mini-notes, netbooks, and notebooks based around VIA’s ultra low power processor platforms.

Equipped with the Microsoft Windows XP operating system, these systems will deliver an optimized mobile computing and Internet experience across a variety of form factors with screen sizes ranging from 7" to 15".

[full press release. Website]

There are two things to note here. 1) XP looks like it will live on and in this program, you can bet that its being given away for next to nothing. 2) This looks like an X86-only initiative that will be used in positioning against ARM-based netbooks.

I spoke to VIA about this program yesterday. They are obviously excited about it and rightly so. They’ve seen what happened with sales of cheap mobile phones into developing countries and they want to stimulate the same thing with low-end portable computing devices. Sandisk, AMI (BIOS) and other partners are involved and we should be seeing the first netbooks becoming available at the end of December, they tell me.

Article 1 - Digitimes reports that HP ordered 500,000 VIA C7’s and also placed an order for Nano CPUs.

Article 2 - Mobile-ITX is on target for Q4 2008 or Q1 2009.

I’m afraid the source trace ends at Digitimes for this story and there’s really not much detail here. The Nano order could be for Notebook PCs or it could be for a new HP2133. It’s anyone’s guess. As for the Mobile-ITX news, it’s just another target date. Sit-back and keep waiting with your fingers crossed!

It looks like Engadget had a slow news day on Sunday as they highlighted the full-fat video presentation I’d prepared for the visitors here. “Gigabyte M704 unboxing video excites reviewer, may put you to sleep” was the title. The cheeky monkeys! Fortunately, people that are actually interested in UMPC’s appear to have got something out of it and see that it’s quite an interesting UMPC. The refresh over the U60 has turned this tiny 7″er into a rather useful and good-value device. Where the 1st-gen Gigabyte U60 had an 800×480 screen, this one has a far more useful and much brighter 1024×600 screen and where the mouse pointer on the U60 was difficult to use, this one is far more useable. Add the noticeable performance improvements that the 1.2Ghz CPU brings over the former 1Ghz version and the device has turned from borderline option to serious top-5 ultra mobile computing choice.

I’ve been using the M704 non-stop for the last 3-days and can’t really find any show-stopping problems with it. The fan could be quieter, the keyboard could do with a backlight, a little more styling would help and a weight reduction down to sub-600gm would help with the long-term two-handed use that is often the case due to the nice split-keyboard but that’s about it. The XP-based system (it’s a special Gigabyte build optimised with larger font sizes and pre-installed software which, as I understand it, means it can be sold until Jan 2009) is swift enough for all browser-based work and most media files. I was surprised to see a 6mbps WMV file playing with very few frame drops in the Nero8 demo software. Battery life is a true, working, 3 hours. The slider mechanism seems to be tighter than the one I tested on the Medion UMPC (version) the WiFi is strong and with the docking station, it turns it into quite a nice low-end home PC. I’d even argue that the M704 is more suited to netbook-style operations than netbooks themselves as it’s half the size, 75% of the weight and is far, far more fun although that really depends on how much typing you want to do.

Old and new. Gigabyte U60 and Gigabyte M704. Note the control key changes.

In Europe, the pricing seems to be very competitive. Certainly in Germany, if you buy an M705, you’re getting a device that’s more useful than a Q1 Ultra for about 75% of the cost but it’s double the cost of most netbooks here Sure, you get the touchscreen, 60GB disk, XP, Bluetooth and ability to add the GPS and DVB-T modules and docking station, but you’re still paying a few hundred Euros for the extra portability and niche nature of this device. As for U.S. pricing, we’ll have to wait and see what the local pricing is.

I’m continuing to add my testing notes and thoughts to this forum thread but the video, while long, probably gives you a better overview. [Click through to full article]

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10.2 is just out of the UMPCPortal coverage range (yes, the ASUS 1000 won’t get coverage here either) but this is worth noting due to it being the first device we’ve seen that will be using the VIA Nano processor.

Aving snapped the pic but there’s no hands-on or word on price or availability. I’m a little confused as to why they have the old VX700 chipset in there though. A man’s Nano-based PC requires VX800 and no less!!

Images of the device, which doesn’t look bad at all, over at Aving. Take it from us, the translation is hardly worth reading!

This could be a major marketing cock-up!

A prototype of the laptop, based on the open-source Via OpenBook reference design announced last week, was shown by contract manufacturer Quanta Computer at WiMax Expo, an exhibition being held alongside the annual Computex show in Taipei.

The laptop will begin shipping during the third quarter, Quanta said.

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.

Sony executives were not immediately available for comment.

Update: PC Advisor has the image of the Sony Manufacturer tag.

Source: PC World.

With a launch obviously timed to coincide with Computex next week and positioned to take advantage of the incredible growth in the low-cost mobile notebook market, the OpenBook Mini-Note, on first look, seems to be a much better product opportunity than the Nanobook was. While the Nanobook and Eee PC launched together one year ago, it was the Eee PC that stole the show based largely on price indicators but also on looks. With the OpenBook Mini-Note, VIA appeared to have attended to the important issue of aesthetics and using what looks like it could be a masterstroke in the pin-compatible Isaiah CPU, extended the market placement from low-cost netbook right up into an area of the market that neither Intel’s Atom or Core can currently operate in. Low cost, highly mobile Vista notebooks. Read on for images, video, Q&A and analysis.

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Its Nanobook version II! Bigger, more powerful, more stylish, using an open-source hardware design and aimed right where Intel have left a gap. The VIA Openbook reference design that you might recognise as the Cloudbook Max, has just been launched.

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 VX800 digital media IGP chipset. Together, this ultra compact, power efficient platform delivers richer computing and multimedia features, including a stunning 8.9” screen and greater video playback support, in a compact and stylish clamshell form factor that weighs just 1kg.

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. In addition, under a unique collaborative approach, the CAD files of the external panels of the reference design are offered for download under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license to give customers such as OEMs, system integrators, and broadband service providers greater freedom in tailoring the look and feel of their device to meet the diverse needs of their target markets.

There’s three important things to take note of here.

• The CAD files for the hardware design will be available to OEMS which will really help reduce cost and time to market.
• There are two internal module options. This provides excellent flexibility for radio options. Just slot in a new module and you have a 3G-enabled product for your market
• Not mentioned in any of the launch materials - the Isaiah upgrade path. You can bet that this was designed with Isaiah in mind and that it will scale to desktop-replacement speeds when Isaiah CPU is available as a CPU option

I see a device that can compete in the ULCPC space (XP Home, sub $500) with the VIA C7-M and the enhanced VX800 chipset and very importantly, a device that can create a brand new space for low-cost premium Vista and 3G-enabled devices when combined with an Isaiah CPU in the near future.

More analysis coming up on this later but in the meantime, you can read more information at VIA new website - www.viaopenbook.com

Update: Specs and links now being tracked in the OpenBook product page.

The news broke a few days through Digitimes that VIA are set to migrate their CPU’s to 45nm production by late 2009. Moving to a smaller production process means watt usage should decrease or that processing power can be increased without increasing watt usage. This move is remarkable because their first 65nm CPU (Isaiah architecture) is yet to ship.

The Isaiah CPU is said to be introduced with a 2Ghz clock speed which makes it unlikely this will be a ULV CPU, as we already speculated before. When a ULV version will be available has not yet been announced but it is not expected before the end of 2008.

Last week I highlighted some reseller pricing that was appearing for variants of the Gigabyte M704, the UMPC with the 1.2Ghz CPU and 7" 1024×600 screen in a casing that’s smaller than even the HTC Shift.

The M704 is now expected to be in stock at the beginning of July and the confirmed Euro-price, based on real Gigabyte retailer prices is just Euro 745. If you’re looking for a slider or 7" 1024×600 UMPC, this is very competitive compared to the 1200 Euro Shift and 1100 Euro Samsung Q1, especially as you can get a real docking station for just 60 Euros. DVB-T and GPS snap-on modules also exist as the M704 is built on almost the same hardware as the U60/Medion UMPC that I tested out last year.

It’s currently showing as a Windows XP-based device which is strange considering it falls into a device category that Microsoft won’t sell XP licenses for after June 30th. If it gets forced to run Vista, it won’t be a pleasant user experience and will kill the device in review scenarios so I hope Gigabyte have bought up a stack of licenses they can use in the future. As it is, with its nice accessory range and useable processing power, its quite the Euro-deal for a UMPC.

M704 details and specifications

Pricing Via Mobilx. (aff.)

I was of the understanding that Leopard  wouldn’t run on VIA but maybe I’m wrong. Either that or this is a nice little remote-desktop scam!

The Leopard install is legitimate and works quite well.  However, I am still working on two final issues which are video resolution, presently limited to 800×480, and wwan which I have not yet attempted.  Sound, wifi, power management, and usb are working fine and the system is very responsive.

I don’t know what to say at this point. Take a look at the video and make your own mind up about it. Real or Not?

Source: OQOTalk.

As expected, The Phone House, France, has put the Airis Kira into their catalogue and is expecting it to be available in Mid May. The Airis Kira is a 350-Euro, VIA-based device that uses a 1 Ghz VIA C7-M, includes 1GB of RAM and a 40GB drive. Its said to have 4.5 hours of battery life too which means it probably gets shipped with a double-capacity battery. Apart from the 1Ghz CPU, the specs echo almost exactly, the Packard Bell XS20 but the price is around 150 Euros cheaper. Its only 50 Euros more expensive than the Eee PC. 50 Euros isn’t a bad price to pay for Windows, 40Gb of storage and 512MB of RAM but at 1Ghz, the VIA C7 isn’t going to keep many people happy for long. This is definitely one to take a closer look at if you’re looking for a browser-only device and are in the vicinity of a ‘Phone House’ Keep an eye out for it in other countries too because they might have struck an EU-wide deal. Image after the break.

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