The Hi-Fi PC - a device that completely bridges the PC and CE market space and is the most likely yet to push the PC platform far beyond the traditional home location of the den and into the living room and bedroom. "Vital to extending the PC platform into the home is the development of stylish looks, advanced multimedia capabilities and ease of use typical of consumer electronics, while providing all the functionality of a PC," said Wenchi Chen, President and CEO of VIA Technologies, Inc. "While there are devices on the market that fulfill some of these requirements, the Hi-Fi PC is the first system to offer the best of both worlds, and completely embodies all the expectations of consumers for a living-room based device." Read more... The Hi-Fi PC combines instant-on playback of all the latest digital video and audio formats, including CD, DVD and VCD with the flexibility, power and connectivity of a standard PC system. Housed in a compact, sleek aluminium case, the Hi-Fi PC has the modern appearance of a consumer electronics unit but performance and flexibility that far exceeds most current devices. To complete the CE picture, a unique infra-red remote control device enables full control functionality in a multimedia environment from anywhere in the living room, as well as an ultra modern design 3-speaker set producing stunning sound quality. PlayNow!, a full functioned multimedia player on the Flash memory of the BIOS, is the key to the instant-on application, enabling rapid optical disk play capability at the touch of a button. Boot up the machine and full Microsoft® Windows® XP provides all of your computing and connectivity needs. "With all the features and applications packed into this attractive small footprint chassis, the Hi-Fi PC is an excellent example of a true home entertainment center," continued Mr Chen. "The compatibility, reliability and stability of VIA's advanced platform engineering constitute a fundamental benchmark for the platform solutions that will drive Total Connectivity." Central to the Hi-Fi PC is the VIA EPIA M mainboard, a new platform solution to be launched soon that is optimized for the killer digital media applications, such as watching movies and listening to music. The VIA EPIA M mainboard is based on the acclaimed VIA Apollo CLE266 chipset with an integrated MPEG-2 decoder and 2D/3D graphics capability to provide superb DVD playback, and integrates several VIA technologies that provide high quality audio, Fast Ethernet networking and support for the latest communications standards USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394 'Firewire'. There is also a TV-out, enabling output to the family television set, whether analog or digital. And all this on an ultra compact mainboard measuring just 17cm x 17cm. "We believe that our EPIA M digital media platform will be the key to the PC platform making that leap into the living room, as it will enable our customers to build systems that meet the technical, ergonomic and aesthetic requirements of this largely untapped but demanding market," continued Chen. "Most importantly, this marvellous innovation is ready now. It contains proven technology that offers enormous flexibility, yet is affordable enough to form the basis of a whole range of connected digital media devices." The aluminium chassis for the Hi-Fi PC Concept Design measures just 19cm wide x 19cm high x 34cm deep. VIA will be working with industry partners to introduce Hi-Fi PC systems to the market in Q1 next year. Source: VIA