VIA’s got a new fanless platform aimed especially at car PCs. The IVP-7500 can be tucked away inside single- or double-DIN dashboards “as well as discrete, in-seat and headrest designs.” The board includes a built-in GPS chip that hooks up to an external I-PEX antenna that you can mount on the outside of your car.
Other features include:
- 1.0GHz VIA Eden ULV CPU
- VIA CX700M2 Unified Digital Media IGP chipset
- Up to 1GB of RAM (one socket)
- VIA UniChrome Pro II GPU with MPEG-2/4 and WMV9 decoding
- TV-out, V-Cam, A/V in, and IR receiver
- Onboard GPS, Bluetooth
- FM transmitter
- Can operate between 32 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit at up to 95% humidity
- Measures 4.5” x 7.3”
- Runs embedded OSes (XP Embedded, Linux, WinCE)
That built-in FM transmitter feature is pretty cool. You’ll notice there’s no built-in Wi-Fi, which probably isn’t a huge deal breaker, although it’d be cool to be able to sit in your driveway and transfer a bunch of songs to your car PC over your home network. Of course, you could add a USB Wi-Fi connection. Most people might opt for a mobile data connection as well.
No word on price or availability yet, although “VIA is currently offering samples of the VIA IVP-7500 board to project customers,” so a full release shouldn’t be too far off.
Here’s the press release:
New VIA In-Vehicle Platform for Driving Next-Generation Car PCs
VIA IVP-7500 board with advanced multimedia features offers system integrators the perfect in-vehicle PC platform
Taipei, Taiwan, 19 March 2009 – VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today released the VIA IVP-7500 board, the first in a series of dedicated x86 in-vehicle platforms for developers of car PCs and intelligent transportation devices.
The continued evolution of the PC as a multimedia playback device for audio and video entertainment means that car owners are now demanding access to their digital media library whilst on the road. In-vehicle PCs offer access to intelligent global satellite positioning services for accurate location tracking, route planning and navigation.
Today’s cutting-edge consumer can employ in-car mounted cameras for video assisted parking and highway surveillance recording, while commercial customers can have access to license plate recognition, fleet management, digital tachograph, odometer and security applications.
Designed from the ground up for the rigours of in-vehicle computing, the VIA IVP-7500 is a versatile, scalable and highly power-efficient processor platform with strong multimedia performance. Customers have the option of fanless design implementations for industrial and grade stability. The flexible VIA IVP-7500 measures 114mm x 185.5mm and can be employed in a variety of dashboard implementations, including one or two DIN designs as well as discrete, in-seat and headrest designs.
“Intelligent transportation devices are making the transition from an enthusiast to mainstream audience,” said Daniel Wu, Vice President, VIA Embedded, VIA Technologies, Inc. “The VIA IVP-7500 carries our expertise in developing stable, compact, energy-efficient systems to this high-growth sector, bringing with it faster product development cycles and the flexibility to offer consumers more than just a car PC.”
About the VIA IVP-7500 Board
The VIA IVP-7500 is powered by a fanless 1.0GHz VIA Eden processor and supports up to 1GB of DDR2 system memory. A range of display technologies are supported including an LCD (TTL) panel interface, TV-out and VGA outputs and camera ports including A/V (via mini-USB) and V-CAM for monitoring applications.
Storage includes IDE 1.8” hard drive support with FFC cable and SD card support. HD audio is provided with optional SPK (R+L) and Mic-in connectors.
Communications technologies include a GPS module with IPEX antenna, an FM stereo transmitter and Bluetooth. Two USB 2.0 ports plus a COM port are included as well as an infra red adapter for hands-free applications.
VIA is currently offering samples of the VIA IVP-7500 board to project customers. For more information please visit:
http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/mainboards/motherboards.jsp?motherboard_id=790