Having carved out an initial footprint in the booming mini-notebook market with its NanoBook reference design, Taiwanese IC manufacturer Via revealed a next-gen competitor to the Asus Eee and its ilk on Tuesday. The Via OpenBook will bring a larger screen along with high-speed wireless connectivity to the ultra-mobile-PC scene.
Although Via has taken a page from Asus in widening the OpenBook’s screen to 8.9 inches, it will leapfrog even Asus’s latest Eee 901 with support for WiMAX, HSDPA, or EV-DO/W-CDMA wireless Internet built in. Like the NanoBook before it, the OpenBook will use Via’s C7-M ULV processor, but will pick up a new integrated graphics chipset from the company, the VX800.
