An improved version of Via Technologies’ Nano processor is on track to ship later this year, with a dual-core version set to follow soon after.
The improved Nano chips will offer better performance and lower power consumption, while the dual-core version will make the company’s offerings more competitive against low-power, dual-core processors made by rivals Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.
Volume production of the Nano 3000 will start during the third quarter, with laptops based on the chips to hit the market during the fourth quarter, a Via executive said Friday, confirming that the production schedule announced by the company earlier this year remains on track.
Samples of the Nano 3000 are currently available.
Made using the same 65-nanometer process technology as earlier versions of the Nano, the Nano 3000 is modified for better performance and lower power consumption. Via estimates users will see a 15 percent to 20 percent gain in performance at the same level of power consumption, allowing hardware makers to increase the performance of existing Nano-based laptops, like Samsung Electronics’ NC20 and a version of Lenovo Group’s IdeaPad S12.
The Nano 3000 will also give hardware makers the option of maintaining current performance levels of performance with lower power consumption, allowing them to use the chip in laptops that are thinner than current models.
A dual-core version of the Nano is also on the way, with two Nano 3000 silicon dies inside a single chip package. It is scheduled to enter volume production during the fourth quarter.
While Via once struggled to win business from multinational PC makers, the Nano has changed this with several key design wins, including the laptops announced by Samsung and Lenovo. Another key win was Dell’s Fortuna server, which it described as “arguably the most power-efficient and densest server in the marketplace.”