Via has introduced VAB-1000 Pico-ITX board at Embedded World 2014. This new embedded board features VIA Elite E1000 dual Cortex A9 SoC together with 2GB DDR3 SDRAM, 4GB eMMC Flash memory, and numerous I/Os. The board targets interactive kiosk, digital signage and HMI (Human Machine Interface) applications running Android or Linux.

VIA VAB-1000 Specifications:
- SoC – VIA Elite E1000 dual core Cortex A9 SoC with unnamed 2D/3D GPU with Unified Shader Architecture featuring 64 stream processors
- System Memory – 2GB DRR3
- Storage – 4GB eMMC + microSD slot
- Back panel I/O
- 2x HDMI connectors for HDMI-in and HDMI-out
- 2x mini-USB 2.0 port
- 1x MicroSD slot
- 1x Gigabit Ethernet port
- 1x DC-in Jack.
- Front panel I/O
- 1x pin header for two additional USB ports
- 1x pin header for SPI and 8-pin GPIO
- 1x pin header for three I2C and two COM ports
- 1x pin-header for front audio (Line-in/Line-Out/Mic-In).
- Internal I/O
- 1x dual channel LVDS connector
- 1x S-video pin header
- 1x Mini-PCIe connector.
- Misc – Watchdog, RTC
- Dimensions – 10 cm x 7.2 cm, Pico-ITX form factor
I’m never heard about VIA Elite E1000 SoC before, and I can’t find any information about this new processor at this time.
The board supports Android and Linux OS, and developers can either use VIA Android Development package with Android 4.1, a Smart ETK (Embedded Tool Kit) comprising several APIs for Watchdog Timer, GPIO access, COM port access, RTC for auto-power on, as well as a sample app, or VIA VAB-1000 Linux Development Package which comes with a pre-built OS image, the kernel and bootloader source codes, and a toolchain (GCC?).

As an option, VIA can also provide VAB-1000 I/O extender card, which adds Line-In, Line-Out and Mic-In audio jacks, two USB ports, one suspend LED power indicator, a power on/off button and pin headers for one COM port (TX/RX support only) as well as 3 board-to-board connectors and one USB board-to-board connector.
The extender card is part of VAB-1000 Starter Kit pictured above, which also includes the pico-ITX board, a serial debug cable, as well as spacers and screws, and comes pre-loaded with either Android or Linux.
Sample units are available now. You may find further details on VIA VAB-1000 page.

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress