Samsung selects Via for its UMPC

Samsung last year put out the first ultra-mobile PC with an Intel chip. But now they are using processors from tiny Via Technologies from Taiwan as well.

An attendee at the Computer Electronics Show showed me a Samsung UMPC powered by a Via chip. Samsung hasn't advertised this, but it's genuine. The unit I saw had a Via sticker on it and if you clicked on the unit's properties, it revealed that it had a Via chip.

What's the big deal? For Via, it's a major design win with a name brand computer maker, a rarity for the company. And it shows that Via has kept to its promises that it will produce energy-efficient processors.

However, I was not able to confirm what markets Samsung will sell this unit in.