Johnny 5 is alive :)  VIA showcased VIA EPIA Pico-ITX-based entertainment robots at the Taipei International Robot Show, being held at the World Trade Center in Taipei, Taiwan. At the VIA booth there will be three compact robots provided by PlayRobot, a Taiwan-based robot developer and distributor of educational, scientific and entertainment robots for government, academic and research institutes, as well as robot kits for enthusiasts (www.playrobot.com).

One, the popular Johnny 5 robot, has been fitted for the show with the very latest Pico-ITX board, the VIA EPIA P700 featuring the VIA VX800 unified chipset. With robotics development representing the cutting edge of technological progress, VIA' commitment to extremely compact form factors, robust performance, extensive feature sets and extremely low power consumption means that VIA's off-the-shelf EPIA boards are becoming an essential component for academic, hobbyist and commercial robot developers.