VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced the VIA EPIA EK-Series mainboard, designed for a new generation of network based ultra compact digital media appliances and boasting a maximum power consumption of just 19W.

As the first VIA EPIA Mini-ITX to be based on the VIA Luke CoreFusion processor platform, the VIA EPIA EK is available in a 1GHz or 800MHz fanless option and offers dual LAN with the option of a Gigabit Ethernet port, as well as hardware based security with the VIA PadLock Security Engine to help protect network communication and locally stored information, making the mainboard ideal for use in firewalls, servers and other secure networked devices.

The VIA EPIA EK integrates hardware MPEG-2/4 decoding acceleration and the VIA Vinyl VT1618 multi-channel audio codec to enable smooth digital media playback, and offers unparalleled connectivity with a DVI/LVDS module connection, Digital I/O (4 GPI/GPO), and up to four COM and USB ports. Optimized for use in POS, kiosks, and other networked digital media applications with greater multimedia and security requirements, the VIA EPIA EK also serves as an upgrade path from the popular VIA EPIA PD-Series Mini-ITX mainboards.

"Leveraging the power efficiency and rich integration of the VIA Luke CoreFusion processor platform, the VIA EPIA EK offers a true low power, feature packed Mini-ITX solution," said Daniel Wu, Head of the VIA Embedded Platform Division, VIA Technologies, Inc. "We are seeing explosive growth in demand for secure, bandwidth-efficient networked devices, especially in multimedia applications that have greater computational requirements, and our VIA EPIA range gives developers the solution they need on a single x86 platform."

More information about the VIA EPIA EK-Series Mini-ITX mainboard may be found on the VIA website at: www.via.com.tw/en/products/mainboards/motherboards.jsp?motherboard_id=420

About the VIA EPIA EK-Series Mini-ITX mainboard
Designed for a new generation of network based digital media appliances, the power efficient VIA EPIA EK-Series Mini-ITX is available with the 1GHz or fanless 800MHz VIA Luke CoreFusion processor platform and boasts a comprehensive suite of connectivity that includes dual Ethernet ports with a Gigabit Ethernet option.


The VIA EPIA EK Mini-ITX offers a powerful set of digital media features that includes the VIA UniChrome Pro IGP integrated graphics processor with hardware MPEG-2/4 decoding acceleration and the VIA Vinyl VT1618 multi-channel audio codec. When combined with DDR400 memory support, Digital I/O (4 GPI/GPO), a DVI/LVDS module connection, a PCI slot, Serial and Parallel ATA hard drive support, a printer port and up to four COM and USB ports, the VIA EPIA EK Mini-ITX enables developers and system integrators to easily create a new generation of bandwidth efficient network based digital media devices.

Integrated into the VIA Luke CoreFusion processor platform is the VIA PadLock Security Engine, a comprehensive collection native x86 security tools. Featuring the world's fastest x86 AES encryption engine and a quantum based random number generator to provide an unshakable foundation for security, the VIA PadLock Security Engine enables developers to seamlessly offload the computational process involved in complex encryption algorithms freeing processor loading to handle more data faster.

VIA EPIA EK Availability
The VIA EPIA EK mainboard will be available this month through authorized distributors. For pricing and availability, please contact your local VIA sales representative.