VIA releases embedded industrial Box PC
(by Kirk Linsky)

On February 25, 2009 - VIA Technologies, Inc, which is best known for its power efficient x86 processor platforms and has recently gotten into panel PCs, announced the VIA AMOS-3000, which is the company's first embedded box computer and designed for a range of x86 applications such as gaming, digital signage, industrial automation and in-car entertainment.

Embedded box computers are sturdy, compact and usually fanless PCs with rugged enclosures, and that is what VIA had in mind with the AMOS-3000. It is a robust, custom-designed system based on the company's ultra compact and versatile EPIA-P700 Pico-ITX board.

VIA's press materials poetically describe the AMOS-3000's design as "inspired by classical Chinese architecture," probably referring to the unique heat fin design that provides heat dissipation to the AMOS-3000 chassis that's made of heavy-duty steel, aluminum and copper. Constructed of a total of only five mechanical pieces—top cover, bottom plate, front and rear I/O access plates and DOM module—and measuring a minuscule 5.3 x 1.8 x 5.15 inches, the VIA AMOS-3000 is built to be strong, durable and thermally efficient, yet tiny enough to fit into the palm of your hand. The device easily installs using simple table, wall and VESA mounting options.

The VIA AMOS-3000 is a complete system that uses no moving parts at all—just wha's needed for use in mission-critical applications in harsh industrial environments. The VIA EPIA Pico-ITX board is powered by either a 1GHz VIA C7 processor or an Ultra Low Voltage 500MHz VIA Eden processor. It uses VIA's VX700 Unified Digital Media chipset and supports up to 1GB of DDR2 SO-DIMM system memory.

The integrated VIA UniChrome Pro II IGP supports both DVI-D and VGA (and dual displays) and also provides MPEG-2/4 and WMV9 hardware acceleration for smooth media playback. Storage is provided through a 44-pin IDE interface for a Disk on Module Flash drive, and an optional storage sub-system expansion chassis offers support for a standard 2.5" S-ATA drive. An onboard RJ45 connector provides Gigabit networking while the VIA VT1708A brings HD audio. Additional features include four USB 2.0 ports, an onboard GPIO port, a COM port and a programmable Watchdog Timer. System LED indicators show power and HDD activity.

In terms of ruggedness, the VIA AMOS-3000 has an operating temperature of -4 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, a vibration tolerance of up to 5Grms, and a shock tolerance of up to 50G.

"We have drawn on the strength of our engineering expertise in developing our boards and form factors and taken the step of developing our own custom-designed systems. This has allowed us to produce some truly compelling embedded system designs," said Daniel Wu, Vice President, VIA Embedded Platform Division, VIA Technologies, Inc. "The VIA AMOS-3000 represents the first of many diverse embedded system products based around our own exclusive range of EPIA boards."