Viewsonic VOT132 nettop gets a review – ION Goodness

The Viewsonic VOT132 is a nettop sporting an ION GPU coupled with Intel Atom 330 Dual Core processor running at 1.6GHz. Packing 2GB RAM and spacious 320GB hard disk, it runs Windows 7 Home Premium and has 6 USB 2.0 ports which should be enough for plugging-in almost all the hardware you have.

ION 2 to ship later this year – will have more shaders

Nvidia’s boss has confirmed that they will start shipping its Ion 2 chipset at the end of the year, 2009. While he remained tight-lipped about any specific designs as this depends on the customers. By customer, he meant the OEMs and netbook manufactures and vendors.

The next generation ION, the ION 2 will have support for other processors too: including Pentium 4 processors and VIA Nano. Of course, the Intel Atom is obviously supported. Support for CULV processors is also in the tunnel

The ION 2 is expected to have more shaders and ofcourse, better graphics.

Intel Atom CE4100 unveiled – this thing is a beast!

At IDF 2009, Intel announced a new Atom processor, Atom CE4100 media chip. This chip is designed to run on set-top boxes and Blue-ray players. It is the most powerful Atom chip ever made by Intel.

When we say that it is powerful, we really mean it. It has the ability to take two 1080p video streams simultaneously, 3D rendering and much more.

It even supports capturing uncompressed 1080p video including support for almost all the high-end audio codecs. However, Intel has no plans to bring to netbooks or nettops. Gratifying, but looks like, we have no choice, but to settle with ION chipsets from Nvidia

Emtec to launch ION-powered nettop

Emtec is planning to launch an nettop powered by ION-chipset. The nettop will come with 160GB hard disk, 1GB RAM and will run Windows XP.

It comes with 6 USB ports (4 at the back and 2 on the front), Ethernet, WiFi, Mic and headphone jacks. Expect the price to be around $300 (£180). According to pocket lint, there will be two models: one with HDMI port and one without one. Of course, you will have to shell out a bit more for the one with HDMI port.