Android is spreading its influence to parts of the worldwide IT market other than the mobile segment, with VIA, in this case, helping it along.
The Android operating systems is one of the most widely used software platforms in the world.
It is very often encountered on smartphones and has also become the OS of choice for many tablet makers.
That said, it is now gaining some presence on the embedded market, in no small part thanks to VIA.
More precisely, VIA just announced that its embedded x86 motherboards have begun to incorporate support for the Android operating system,
The first motherboard of this type is the EITX-3002, an Em-ITX product.
Being an embedded motherboard, it comes complete with a processor, specifically the VIA NANO X2 with a clock speed of 1.2 GHz.
At least, that is one of the options: VIA also allows for the choosing of the Eden dual-core model at 1 GHz.
Whichever CPU is selected is backed up by the VIA VX900 MSP (media system processor), which has, among other things, dual-screen and Full HD playback.
The resolutions of whatever screens are connected to the platform, and the overall performance of Android, should be better than the ones today and machines using it will have peripheral support, not just reliance on touchscreens.
Furthermore, VIA threw in an onboard DC-to-DC converter (supports both AT and ATX power modes), with a power input voltage range of 7V to 36V DC.
Other specifications include a bunch of ports (HDMI, VGA, two optional USB 3.0 ports, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, two USB 2.0 ports and two RS-232/422/485 configurable COM ports) and passive cooling.
With this product release, Android has cemented its position as operating system that is more than 'just' a mobile OS.
VIA's motherboard is meant to be used in kiosks, in-car entertainment systems, etc.
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