via to power the first linux-based internet media player – imp- prototype
VIA C7 Mobile-ITX platform is to power The MTube being the first -Linux OS/ X86 Architecture-Based IMP
The MTube is the first of its class in two major ways: it's the first sub-5" device to be based on x86 architecture and it's also running Linux. The processor inside is the VIA C7-M developed by VIA Technologies Inc., which happens to be The 1st OEMs' choice and one of the most commonly used processors at this form factor and is very likely to be of the category of Credit Card sized Mainboard the Mobile-ITX.
VIA has named this new device category as an “Internet Media Player” or –IMP- for short, and its name MTube; M for Micro and Tube surely alluding to YouTube.
The specification and features that have been released so far about the MTube that it's built atop VIA's Mobile-ITX motherboard, features a 2.8-inch, 640 x 480 touchscreen, 8GB of flash memory, a 1GHz VIA CPU, and is running some form of Linux. The new, miniscule ITX form factor apparently also includes a CDMA baseband chip, WiMAX & Ethernet connectivity which opens up wireless possibilities for devices of this type.
Being essentially a tiny computer, what would play on a desktop PC would play on the hardware of the MTube. It supports over half a dozen popular codecs. But the name of the MTube suggests its focus is on online media. Right now this is just a prototype, but production is planned for 2009, and once VIA's credit-card sized motherboard hits the market, we suspect we'll be seeing all kinds of new gadgetry like this popping up.
