VIA and Digital Brilliance at Computex 2004

The fifth VIA Technology Forum 2004 held in Taipei and Beijing attracted over 1200 knowledgeable participants as senior executives from some of the industry's leading players shared their vision and expertise in a compelling program of keynote speeches and specialist High Definition Computing and Digital Lifestyle technology track presentations.

Introducing Digital Brilliance

VTF Taipei was opened by VIA President and CEO, Wenchi Chen, who illustrated the theme of "Digital Brilliance" as the fusion of advanced technologies and intelligent design that is inspiring new markets and applications for the x86 platform and driving the new category of "Personal Electronics", next generation smart digital entertainment and information devices for the home, office and beyond. Hear Wenchi define Digital Brilliance here

This theme echoed throughout the event, with other keynote speakers sharing their vision of how Digital Brilliance is being enabled, applauding VIA for taking the lead in defining this trend, and highlighting the evolution of Personal Electronics from an "industry mind shift" to "industry driving force".

Among the esteemed speakers were the distinguished Dr Morris Chang of TSMC, who outlined the key market trends in the semiconductor industry over the next ten years and predicted strong growth for the industry this year; Dirk Meyer from AMD, who reinforced how the compatibility of the x86 platform improves end-users' technology experience, Tang Kai Choon of Infineon, who gave an in-depth review of the World DRAM Market, and Albert Sisto from Phoenix, who in his keynote emphasized security, safety and trust and underlined the need for more secure products, rather than more security products. Last but not least of the morning's keynotes was Toby Farrand from Digeo, whose address titled: "Moxi Media Center -The Quest for the Best DVR" caused considerable excitement as he outlined they have developed a wide array of new applications for the Moxi Media Center, including digital video recording, to cable operators and how this would enrich the way we interact with the television of the future.

Key challenges highlighted during the keynote session include the transition from commoditization to customization, growing opportunities for on-demand services for communication, entertainment and education and the shortening of product development cycles. In the VTF2004 addresses, VIA and our partners provided the direction the industry needs to meet these challenges

Wenchi welcomes on stage a personal assistant robot from National Chiao Tung University, based on the VIA EPIA Mini-ITX Mainboard

Technology Tracks - Enabling Digital Brilliance

Demonstrating how the fusion of advanced technologies and intelligent design leads to the emergence of exciting new products and markets, the two Specialist Technology Tracks, High Definition Computing and Digital Lifestyle featured high level industry representatives sharing their expertise and insights with the audience on how to enable Digital Brilliance.

» High Definition Computing Technology Track
Focusing on advanced PC technologies, this track kicked off with Dr Jon Peddie, providing in-depth market research information. This was followed by presentations on a variety of High Definition Computing subjects, including PC, TV and Digital Audio Evolution, Server Clustering, Storage Market and Technologies, DDR2, QBM I and the Transition to QBM II, and PCI Express, given by from Kurt Holman of AMD, Kevin Deierling of Mellanox, Dr Hungwen Li of Agilent Technologies, Susumu Hatano of Elpida Memory, Badawi Dweik of Kentron Technologies, Elie Ayache of Cypress Semiconductor, and Eric Chang of VIA, providing in-depth technical information and the strategic outlook for the year ahead.

For High Definition Computing Technology Track speaker info and presentation downloads, please click here.

» Digital Lifestyle Technology Track
Looking beyond Total Connectivity and examining the trends and developments in the proliferation of digital intelligence, this track featured a number of fascinating presentations shedding more light on tomorrow's digital life and the creation thereof, as well as specialist information on niche markets within the Digital Lifestyle such as Thin Clients, the Living Room, Personal Digital Entertainment, the Store of the Future, Gaming and Hi-Def Video-Graphics. Presenters included Kathleen Maher of Jon Peddie Research, Steven Lee of VIA, Spencer Kuo of Maxtor, Steve Mosher of Creative Labs, Mike DeNeffe of Wyse Technology, Yutaka Itoh of IBM Japan, Anne Yang of Microsoft, Rahul Sood of VoodooPC and Dr Gerry Liu of S3 Graphics.

For Digital Lifestyle Technology Track please click here.

Digital Brilliance Spotlight

During the VIA keynote, Mr Chen showcased some of the leading edge technologies and applications that are spearheading imaginative new products and markets.

At the silicon level, VIA's distributed performance strategy of integrating greater functionality into the silicon building blocks was exemplified by the streaming of an encrypted movie from a server to a client over a wireless link. The client comprised the forthcoming VIA EPIA SP mainboard, the first Mini-ITX platform to feature the CN400 North Bridge with built in MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 acceleration, which demonstrated its ability to flawlessly stream a movie, wirelessly, with full AES decryption performed simultaneously by the onboard 1.4GHz C3 processor using its advanced integrated hardware security features, yet keeping CPU utilization rates down to an incredibly low 5-8%.

Tim Handley, Marketing Manager at VIA, demonstrating VIA's distributed performance innovation.

Click here to download a video clip of Tim Handley, Marketing Manager at VIA, demonstrating VIA's distributed performance innovation.

At a platform level, VIA's technologies have inspired a wide array of new products and applications aimed at enhancing the consumer experience and connectivity. LocustWorld's MeshAP Router, based on the VIA EPIA Mini-ITX mainboard, is a compact, self-contained wireless communications device providing a WiFi access point with auto-configuration and dynamic routing within a mesh of nodes to enable always-on coverage. UK-based LocustWorld, at the forefront of this edge networking field, has seen successful deployments around the world, from remote villages to suburban areas and dense cities, simply and cheaply bringing broadband connectivity to thousands. More information on mesh networking can be found here.

Click here to download a video clip of Richard Lander, CEO of LocustWorld, explaining the benefits of mesh networking.

For more information on VTF2004 speakers, presentations, sponsors and exhibitors, please follow the links in the side bar.