VIA and Mobile-ITX and Nano orders from HP and…who?

DigiTimes is reporting that VIA is prepping to launch Mobile-ITX, which is supposed to be even smaller than Pico-ITX. Read that again: smaller than Pico-ITX. I have to wonder if that’s a typo considering how ridiculously small Pico-ITX is, especially when you consider that Mobile-ITX is going to support the C7 and Nano. DigiTimes speculates that this could be applied to robotics, but I’m wondering what about a Nano based phone or internet tablet?

DigiTimes is also reporting that HP has placed an order for an unspecified amount of Nano processors. Keep in mind that HP currently uses the C7 in its Mini-Note netbook, and that CPU choice is part of the reason why it has received poor reviews when looking at its performance. However, also keep in mind that the Nano can be dropped into an existing C7 platform and should work (no idea if a BIOS update will be required). That means that the Mini-Note, which has otherwise received pretty good marks, could turn into a really interesting netbook that may take the market by surprise.

What’s really interesting, however, is that DigiTimes also mentions that VIA is reporting that a “first-tier” notebook vendor has also placed an order. Is this the right time to spread rumors that Apple may be interested in Nano for the much-rumored tablet everyone seems to think they’re working on? Considering how Apple is a very media conscious company, a Nano might be a better choice for media playback on such a device than an Atom. Granted, at that size resolution shouldn’t be an issue, but the Nano’s better overall performance is still compelling enough to consider it for that type of device.

Idle speculation on my part, but I imagine we’ll know soon when either VIA or that unnamed notebook vendor spills the beans.