News Release

VIA Focuses on Home Automation and Digital Entertainment at Net at Home 2004

Demonstrates the benefits of x86 architecture in the connected home with innovative residential gateway and media center systems based on VIA processor platforms

Taipei, Taiwan and Net-atHome, Nice, France, 1 December 2004, - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced that it will demonstrate the HogarDigital Residential Gateway and Tranquil Media Center systems based on power efficient VIA processor platforms, at the Net-atHome event in Nice, France on Wednesday 1st December 2004.

In the connected home there is a real need for x86 platforms that not only share and play digital content on various devices in the home network, but also to act as a gateway between the home and the Internet so that networked home automation and entertainment devices can be accessed and managed remotely.

However, while traditional x86 processors and platforms cannot cater to the specific needs of residential gateways and personal electronics due to their design for use in large PC towers with multiple high speed cooling fans and large power supplies, power efficient VIA processor platforms offer compatibility with the broad spectrum of x86 technologies and outstanding performance in critical areas such as digital media playback and information security yet offer ultra low power consumption, enabling system developers to enjoy greater design flexibility for stylish, living room friendly devices that can function fanlessly for quiet, reliable operation. This platform power efficiency is achieved through VIA’s unique distributed performance design philosophy that reduces the work load on the processor by spreading the work load over the whole silicon platform.

“With features such as MPEG-2 decoding in the chipset and fanless operation from the VIA Eden processor, VIA processor platforms are ideally positioned for home automation and entertainment systems,” said Werner du Plessis, Project Marketing Manager, VIA Technologies, Inc. “At this year’s Net-atHome event we are demonstrating how VIA x86 platforms provide the essential gateway between the devices in the connected home and the vast resources of the Internet.”

VIA at Net-atHome 2004
VIA will speak about x86 platforms for the connected home during a keynote address on Wednesday, 1st December. Innovative technologies and platforms on display at the VIA booth at the event include the low profile VIA EPIA MS Mini-ITX, the VIA EPIA SP Mini-ITX and the VIA EPIA N Nano-ITX mainboards. Also on display will be the Tranquil Media Center based on a VIA EPIA Mini-ITX digital media platform and runs Microsoft® Media Center Edition software, and the HogarDigital Residential Gateway system that uses the VIA EPIA ME6000 Mini-ITX.

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