Realtime announces world’s smallest motherboard

Realtime Distribution has announced the launch of the world's smallest motherboard, based on the Pico-ITX form factor from VIA that is expected to be adopted for a wide variety of applications by the manufacturing, safety, security and defence industries.

Designed for use in ultra-compact embedded PCs, systems and appliances, the VIA EPIA PX Pico-ITX 10000G measures just 100mm by 72mm compared with VIA's Nano-ITX motherboard annouced in 2003 that measured 120 mm by 120 mm, which is substantially smaller than the Mini-ITX motherboard, which measuring 170 mm by 170 mm.

"The new PX10000G fits in the palm of your hand, which means you can have a cigarette-box sized PC that can run anything," said Chris Bloxham, product manager at Realtime.

Practical applications of the ultra-small motherboard include computers to run digital signage systems, digital services kiosks, and computing systems for cars, remote controlled devices, including toys, and anywhere else computing power is needed in a confined space, said Bloxham.

VIA's energy efficient C7 processor and the lower-power DDR2 system memory, enables the new motherboard to run standard productivity and multimedia applications at under 13 watts, making it "ridiculously" power efficient, said Bloxham.