VIA Technologies, Inc., today announced the launch of the VIA ARTiGO A630, an ultra-slim fanless gateway system with flexible customization options for a broad spectrum of commercial M2M and IoT applications. Featuring a high-performance 1.0GHz VIA Cortex-A9 dual-core SoC, multiple network connectivity options, and a rich combination of I/O, the VIA ARTiGO A630 adds a cost-effective solution to the growing range of VIA Enterprise IoT gateway devices designed to manage the connection and control for a wide spectrum of connected HMI and automation applications.

"The VIA ARTiGO A630 bolsters our already diverse range of ARTiGO Series M2M and IoT gateway systems," said Richard Brown, VP International Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. "Providing a rich mix of connectivity and performance in an ultra-compact design that can be rapidly customized, will help customers speed time-to-market and unlock the full potential of their IoT deployments."

QNAP Systems, Inc. today announced the release of the TS-x31 series Turbo NAS for SOHO and Home users. Powered by a dual-core 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, it provides a high-performance yet economical solution for file storage, sharing, and data backup coupled with the easy-to-use cloud-based note-taking application and a wide range of multimedia functions.

Available in 1, 2, and 4-bay models, the TS-x31 series is an easy-to-use network storage center for backup, synchronization, remote access, and home entertainment. "Due to the privacy concerns of pubic cloud services, the TS-x31 is ideal for establishing a secure and large-capacity private cloud where users can store, share, and access their files anytime, anywhere," said Jason Hsu, product manager of QNAP.

Shuttle Computer Handels GmbH, the European subsidiary of Shuttle Inc., one of the leading developers and manufacturers of compact PC solutions such as the world-renowned XPC Mini-PC Barebones, now introduces robust, ARM-based Android PCs.

The DSA2LS is equipped with a Freescale i.MX 6DualLite (i.MX6DL) 1 GHz dual-core processor and 1 GB of DDR3 memory. It comes with 4 GB Flash memory already fitted for apps, media and operating system which can be expanded up to 64 GB with a theft-protected SDHC card reader. Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) is pre-installed and prepared for new versions with an integrated update function (online or offline).

GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced that Rockchip's next-generation mobile processors are ramping to production on GLOBALFOUNDRIES' 28 nm High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) process technology. Based on a multi-core ARM Cortex-A9 design, the RK3188 and RK3168 chips are optimized for tomorrow's high-performance, low-cost tablets that require long-lasting battery life (see product specifications in annex).

The combination of Rockchip's design and GLOBALFOUNDRIES' 28 nm HKMG process technology resulted in a mainstream tablet System-on-Chip (SoC) capable of operating at up to 1.8 GHz performance, while still maintaining the power efficiency expected by mobile device users. The chips began sampling to OEMs in early 2013 and are now ramping to support a wide range of manufacturers.

FXI, pioneer of the Cstick Any Screen Micro Computer, announced today that it releases a full system solution for ARM Linux and Android developers on its Cotton Candy device platform, targeting developers. The agreement and close collaboration with ARM will enable FXI to take full advantage of the resources of the Mali development community, while providing an easy to use, innovative development platform for Mali GPU developers. Existing owners of the Cotton Candy device can download development versions of Ubuntu Linux for ARM v12.04 and Android 4.0 in both source and binary forms by visiting this page. Developers can get Cotton Candy from here.

FXI is working closely with ARM to take full advantage of the capabilities of the ARM Mali-400 MP GPU (and other ARM technologies). The Cotton Candy Any Screen IP enables developers to work with the Cotton Candy device inserted in their PC and develop with their existing tool chains directly on the Cotton Candy. The combination of the ARM Cortex-A9 and Mali-400 MP can be found in a wide range of devices ranging from smartphones, tablets and smart TVs. By using Cotton Candy, which also uses this combination, developers can target a wide range of Cortex processors and Mali GPU based platforms -or for Cotton Candy itself- can develop on actual market leading Mali silicon.

FXI announced today that the highly anticipated Cstick Cotton Candy any screen microcomputer development platform has passed CE and FCC certification and is available now for sale and immediate delivery to global software, hardware and system developers.

"The demand for Cotton Candy as a platform for mobile enterprise clients, mobile entertainment systems or as a generic computer within a wide range of industry niches including security, health, public sector, digital signage, etc. has been enormous," said Borgar Ljosland, FXI CEO. "These companies wish to provide a secure, mobile computing experience that meets their unique brand profile within a custom and controlled computing environment."

GLOBALFOUNDRIES and ARM today announced a multi-year agreement to jointly deliver optimized system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for ARM processor designs on GLOBALFOUNDRIES' 20-nanometer (nm) and FinFET process technologies. The new agreement also extends the long-standing collaboration to include graphics processors, which are becoming an increasingly critical component in mobile devices. As part of the agreement, ARM will develop a full platform of ARM Artisan Physical IP, including standard cell libraries, memory compilers and POP IP solutions. The results will help enable a new level of system performance and power-efficiency for a range of mobile applications, from smartphones to tablets to ultra-thin notebooks.

The companies have been collaborating for several years to jointly optimize ARM Cortex-A series processors, including multiple demonstrations of performance and power-efficiency benefits on 28nm as well as a 20nm test-chip implementation currently running through GLOBALFOUNDRIES fab in Malta, N.Y. This agreement extends the prior efforts by driving production IP platforms that will enable customer designs on 20nm and promote rapid migration to three-dimensional FinFET transistor technology. This joint development will enable a faster time to delivering SoC solutions for customers using next-generation ARM CPUs and GPUs in mobile devices.

You could soon have NVIDIA Tegra 3 processors running entry-level PCs. COM (computer-on-module) and IPC (industrial PC) designer Kontron developed an NVIDIA Tegra 3 system board in the slim mini-ITX form-factor (170 mm x 170 mm), which is compatible with most ITX/ATX cases. The board has most common PC peripheral interfaces, and is fit to drive an entry-level PC. The KTT30/mITX from Kontron features an NVIDIA Tegra 3 SoC, with 4+1 ARM Cortex-A9 cores clocked at 900 MHz and GeForce ULP graphics. The GPU is fit to drive 1080p displays with H264 MPEG-4 encoding/decoding acceleration. Display outputs include HDMI 1.4a (up to 1920x1080 pixels), and LVDS 24-bit (up to 2048x1536 pixel @ 18bpp).

The Kontron KTT30/mITX packs 2 GB of DDR3L memory. For storage, it has an mSATA 3 Gb/s port, two SD card slots, and a bootable eMMC slot. Two mPCIe slots and a SIM card slot (for 3G HSDPA) handle on-board expansion. System interfaces include two RS232 (serial/COM), three USB 2.0. Apart from 3G HSDPA, the board supports gigabit Ethernet. For audio, there's 2-channel analog and multi-channel digital (S/PDIF) audio outputs. The board draws power from a 2-pin DC input. The board should be able to run most distributions of Linux for ARM (including Android and Chrome OS), and technically should also be able to run the upcoming Microsoft Windows 8 RT operating system.

TSMC today announced its 28 nm high performance ARM Cortex-A9 dual-core processor test chip achieved 3.1 GHz performance under typical conditions.

The TSMC 28 nm HPM (high performance for mobile applications) process technology that achieved these results addresses applications requiring both high speed and low leakage power. Using various design signoff conditions, ARM A9 at TSMC 28HPM delivers performance speed range from 1.5 GHz to 2.0 GHz, suitable for mobile computing, and up to 3.1 GHz for high-performance uses. With its wide performance-to-leakage coverage, the 28 nm HPM process was developed for devices targeting networking, tablet and mobile consumer product applications.