14 DAY TRIAL // Via Technologies has officially announced today that its Nano processor has been selected by Samsung for one of the company's latest mini-notebook computer systems, the highly anticipated NC20. Although the mini-notebook has been around for some time, VIA has just provided the official list of specifications of the new portable computer system, confirming the 12-inch display and the 1.3GHz VIA Nano ULV processor.
“We are delighted that Samsung has adopted the VIA Nano processor for the Samsung NC20," said Richard Brown, vice president of marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. "This is a truly ground-breaking product that sets the new industry standard for consumer mini-notes and clearly demonstrates the advanced performance of our VIA Nano processor platform.”
Although VIA doesn't specifically use the word netbook, the NC20 does provide users with the technical specifications achieved by most netbooks on the market. It boasts a low-power processor, running at 1.3GHz and 800MHz FSB, integrated VIA Chrome 9 graphics with support for DirectX 9.0 3D graphics, 1GB of DDR2 RAM memory, a 160GB hard drive and VIA's VX800 unified Digital Media IGP chipset. The 12.1-inch LED WXGA display is capable of providing a resolution of 1280 by 800 pixels.
In addition, the mini-notebook sports an integrated 1.3MP web camera, 10/100Mbps LAN, wireless 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, 3 USB 2.0 ports and an integrated 3-in-1 card reader. The 12-inch system also sports a 6-cell battery and is said to provide users with 6.5 hours of battery life.
The system is currently only available in white, but Samsung could release more color options in the future. Although the system is entirely based on VIA's Nano platform it has the potential of giving Intel's Atom a run for its money. Price-wise the NC20 will be available for around $565, shipping with a Windows XP operating system.