You know that thing about robots eventually taking over the world? Or computers? Or robots with computers in them and at first you’re like, “Hey cool, I’m friends with a robot and we play Scrabble together because he has a computer in him,” but after a while the robot gets all moody and you start to notice stuff missing from your room and all of a sudden the robot is, like, locking you out of your house and punching you in the upper arm for no reason? Maybe that robot would have one of these VIA Mobile-ITX boards in it. It’s small, is what I’m saying.

VIA has introduced its updated line of Nano processors, built for netbooks and all-in-one computers. The 3000 series promises a 20% performance boost over existing Nano CPUs while managing to reduce overall power consumption by 20% as well.

VIA’s got a new Mini-ITX setup that ought to appeal to HTPC builders, as it features a dedicated GPU capable of handling 1080p video, four distinct video outputs (two HDMI, DVI, and VGA), RCA audio output, and a quiet, cool 1.6GHz VIA Nano processor.

Netbooks are too underpowered, notebooks are too bulky and expensive – “SILENCE!” shouts VIA. All hail the new “NetNote” category, if you please. We’re basically talking netbooks with 10- to 12-inch screens that can handle 1080p HD video without breaking stride.

VIA’s “How To Be Mobile” blog takes a look at the Dr. Mobile Freestyle 1300n series of netbooks powered by, of course, the VIA Nano 1.3GHz CPU. The 1300n is an 11.6-inch machine with a 1366×768 resolution, weighs just under three pounds, and is less than an inch thick.

VIA’s got a new fanless platform aimed especially at car PCs. The IVP-7500 can be tucked away inside single- or double-DIN dashboards “as well as discrete, in-seat and headrest designs.” The board includes a built-in GPS chip that hooks up to an external I-PEX antenna that you can mount on the outside of your car.

The bane of small form factor PCs and netbooks so far has been the inability to play HD video without blowing a gasket. VIA hopes to change all that with the VX855, a media system processor (MSP) that “offers full hardware acceleration of the widest variety of leading video standards including H.264, MPEG-2/4, DivX and WMV9, allowing smooth playback of high bit-rate 1080p HD video.” The chipset sips 2.3 watts and is 27mm square.

Quick Version: Much more functional than a NAS hard drive but not as expensive or large as most home server boxes, the VIA ARTiGO A2000 threads the needle between performance and price. And it looks good, to boot.

Something I never really even considered about the various form factors of PCs I’ve set up in my time are that most of the inputs and outputs are clustered on one side. Of course, that’s because it makes a lot of sense, for a desktop situation where most of your stuff should be plugged in the back, but what about embedded/small form-factor systems where you don’t have space to be running cables around, or the density of I/O ports in one tiny area becomes hazardous? Why, you just shift a bunch of them to the other side, like VIA’s done.

No surprise here, but VIA’s issued a press release officially announcing that Samsung’s NC20, the 12-inch successor to the NC10 netbook, does indeed have a VIA Nano CPU – a fact that’s been known for quite some time now. Along with the news, we’ve got some official specs for the soon-to-be-released computer, although we still don’t have official pricing or launch dates.

That firecracker CEO of Nvidia, Jen-Hsun Huang, has revealed that Nvidia will be putting out an “Ion 2″ platform using VIA Nano processors instead of Intel’s Atoms. The pairing isn’t surprising, considering that the Nano processors are supposed to be quite as capable as Atoms, and Nvidia’s relationship with Intel right now isn’t exactly all fun and games.

We may see Lenovo netbooks packing NVIDIA and VIA chips pretty soon here. Digitimes is reporting that “Lenovo plans to launch 11.6-inch and 12.1-inch netbooks combining Intel’s Atom processor and Nvidia’s Ion platform in the second quarter of this year.”

I’m in the middle of reviewing VIA’s latest barebones system, the Artigo A2000. Essentially a tiny PC in a tiny box like other barebones setups, the Artigo sports the latest Nano-ITX mainboard and uses a sort of netbook-level processor, the VIA 1.5GHz C7-D. It’s a simple little device to set up, although getting the RAM in was a bit of a chore. Everything else works like a charm; I’ll have video in a day or two showing it boot up the latest Ubuntu and hopefully working as my own little media server.

Click on through for the video.

Word on the (Italian) street is that Samsung will be releasing the NC20 netbook sometime around February. It’ll be a netbook like the NC10 except it’ll have a nice, big 12.1-inch screen and it’ll swap out the Intel Atom processor for the new VIA nano CPU.