Neowin.net

Via Technologies, Inc., took the wraps off its mobile processor Tuesday, a low-power 1GHz offering dubbed Antaur that will first ship into slim and light notebooks on sale in the China market, and then into the US and Europe. The Antaur is based on the architecture of the C3 “Nehemiah” processor core and consumes a maximum of 11 watts when running at top speed. Nominal draw is about 8 watts, which is about 4 watts less than the desktop version of the Nehemiah. Via has also included its PowerSaver 2.0 technology, which can reduce power consumption by as much as 50 percent, the company said.

“With the launch of the VIA Antaur processor, we see a tremendous opportunity to expand the overall size of the notebook market by enabling a new generation of innovative, slim and light designs,” said Wenchi Chen, president and CEO of Via. “Wireless connectivity, extended battery life, and excellent performance will give people the freedom to fully enjoy the benefits of the ... mobile lifestyle.”

Similar to the desktop version, other features of Antaur include advanced branch prediction, sixteen pipeline stages, support for SSE multimedia instructions, and a 64KB L2 cache. It also includes Via's PadLock Data Encryption Engine, a Random Number Generator implemented in hardware that improves security over a network or the Internet.

News source: EETimes - Via launches mobile CPU

About 7 million U.S. households have a quilter, said Don Meyer, director of consumer and public relations of the Hobby Industry Association.

Citing independent studies, Mahan estimated the total number of quilters at about 20 million.

The hobby association says there are about 20 million scrapbookmakers in the nation, which makes the pastime the third-most-popular craft, after cross- stitch and home decor painting. Meyer said 2002 sales estimates for scrapbooking supplies ranged between $2 billion and $2.5 billion.

No revenue estimates were available for quilting, but Meyer said the craft's popularity is growing.

Although other printer companies, such as Epson and Canon, have also gone after the arts and crafts market, HP has been more aggressive in this effort in the past few years.

Gayle Hillert, a vice president at Bernina of America, which makes sewing and embroidery machines, recalled how she was surprised to find HP represented at a quilting festival in Houston a few years ago.

"You'd be in a huge convention center, and there are booths for sewing machine companies, fabric companies, thread companies and button companies, and all of a sudden, you see printers and scanners and you think, 'What in the world are they doing here?' " she said.

She said quiltmakers have become more accustomed to using high-tech devices for their craft.

"When they are sewing, they want to take it a step further, so they get a scanner, they get software, and they may even get a PC," she said.

Hillert has personally used digital technology to print photos she took on a quilt she's been making for her daughter. Technology has allowed quilters to become more creative in personalizing their work.

"You can write a story, you can write what it's for," she said. "A quilt is something you pass on to generations. It's like a painting."

Mahan declined to provide revenue figures for HP's effort to tap the quilt- making market, but he said software sales and Web site hits "have been steadily growing" since the company introduced the site late last year.

"Without a big advertising budget, we expect to start small," he said in an e-mail. "The growth is what is important."

In an interview he also said of the scrapbooking campaign, "We're doing this in a very low-key way."

The key to HP's strategy, he said, was to go directly to the hobbyists. "Most people in crafts get their inspiration from their friends and the stores where they shop and less from advertising," he said.

Meyer said the craft and hobby industry has grown steadily the past few years, from $23 billion in revenue in 2000 to $29 billion last year. As a result, the industry has attracted the attention of companies not traditionally associated with crafts, such as HP, Adobe and Kodak.

HP is already exploring reaching out to other groups, including bird- watchers and genealogy enthusiasts.

The bid for more customers comes as HP seeks to strengthen its imaging and printing business, known as the company's crown jewel.

As of the first quarter of 2003, HP was the leading seller of printers and other output devices with 44.4 percent market share, followed by Epson with 18. 7 and Canon with 13.8, according to the International Data Corp.

But the company could face a threat from PC giant Dell Computer, which recently began selling its own printers.

Some analysts warn that Dell's bid to bring its highly successful direct- sales model to the printing industry could weaken HP's position.