Wednesday, October 05, 2005

VIA and Mini-box Announce the VoomPC

VIA and Mini-box have revealed the ultra-compact x86 VoomPC, a barebones computer system for your vehicle priced between US $299 to $399. The VoomPC integrates the Mini-box M1-ATX 12V power supply unit, this is specially designed for vehicles since it can protect itself from power surges, it can also eliminate car battery drain by monitoring car battery levels, even when the car is off.

Vehicle manufacturers will be able to easily integrate a wide range of GPS navigation, communication, entertainment and information functionality into private cars or professional service vehicles such as law enforcement, rescue and commercial transport, where access to data on the road is essential.

The processor powering the system is VIA’s C3 1000MHz chip, it consumes a low wattage of about 15-30 watts, this less than the dimmest parking lights found in any car. The VoomPC also features advanced audio control, with 'anti-thump' technology that keeps car amplifiers turned off while the PC starts, eliminating annoying speaker thumps and pops, while the VIA Vinyl Audio Six-TRAC audio codec enables stunning six-channel surround sound for a more authentic listening experience with greater depth.

Compatible with all standard Linux or Microsoft Windows operating systems and built within Mini-box’s signature compact chassis of just 21cm x 25cm x 6.7cm, the VoomPC is equipped with rich peripheral connectivity, multimedia and telematics options afforded by the feature-packed VIA EPIA Mini-ITX mainboard, including USB2.0, Firewire, Ethernet, PCMCIA types I and II CardBus interface for GPRS/Wifi, S-Video, VGA and six-channel audio.






























Source: http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/313/C4775/