Scenix is a recently formed microcontroller manufacturer. Although they started out making
PIC-microcode compatible
Harvard architecture processors, they have have since gone nuts with the speed and now you can have 100
MIPS in an 18 or 28-pin chip. What can you do with all that POWER?
Virtual peripherals for one thing: with very thin time-slices, they have pulled off code implementing high-speed UARTs, modem functions FSK, FFT, IrDA, a JVM, and network stacks all with minimal accessory chips!
So it is sort of a cheap DSP, internet interface, and universal widget all in one. Price in singles is about $5: given the cost of the support chips and board real estate you save, they look very appealing.