Farnell, the leading multi-channel distributor, has enhanced its range of commodity electronic components. 9,000 new passive, semiconductor and optoelectronic products have been added from some of the electronic sector’s leading manufacturers; including Tyco, Vishay, Panasonic, Texas Instruments and Epcos.

The addition of these products aims to give engineers a greater choice for their new product designs and seeks to strengthen Farnell’s reputation as a market leader in the distribution sector. The total number of products offered by Farnell now exceeds half a million with over a hundred more added each day.

Great care was taken in the selection of the new components to ensure that they reflected the needs of customers working to produce the next generation designs for both the consumer and industrial markets.

“This program underlines the dynamicism of our business model,” said Mike Buffham, Director of Supplier & Product Management, Farnell. “The electronics industry continues to be an incredibly fast changing and innovative market sector. Our design engineering customer base is always seeking the latest components and technologies to give them an edge and to meet the tough demands of their customers. We see it as our job to reflect this in the type and choice of components we offer backed by support that makes best use of the latest functionality the Internet can offer.”

Farnell’s wide range of technical support tools that includes online data sheets, live technical chat and the now well established the element14 www.element-14.com online engineering community, help speed and simplify the informed selection of the most appropriate components for particular tasks. A range of flexible packaging options such as peel packaging, reels, tubes, waffle trays and loose quantities supports the customer with the exact quantity of parts required, supplied in environmentally sound packaging that affords appropriate levels of protection in transit and handling.

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TI Stellaris® Flash and SRAM Memory Expansion Board: DK-LM3S9B96-FS8

Mouser Electronics, Inc., known for its rapid introduction of the newest products, today announced it is stocking new product from Texas Instruments Microcontrollers.

The Texas Instruments DK-LM3S9B96-FS8 Stellaris® Flash and SRAM Memory Expansion Board is an optional memory expansion board for the Stellaris DK-LM3S9B96 development board.

The DK-LM3S9B96- FS8 TI Stellaris memory expansion board is designed to connect directly to the EPI port of the Stellaris LM3S9B96 MCU and provides external Flash memory, SRAM memory, and an LCD controller interface. This TI expansion board demonstrates the ease-of-use in connecting multiple external memories and peripherals via the Stellaris MCU’s flexible EPI configured in Host Bus 8 address / data multiplexed mode.

The TI DKLM3S9B96- FS8 Stellaris Memory Expansion Board features 8 Megabytes of Flash memory and 1 Megabyte of SRAM. To learn more, visit http://www.mouser.com/timicrocontrollers.

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Over 400 products including digital signal processors, signal chain ICs and Power-over-Ethernet devices to aid electronic design engineers

RS Components, the leading international distributor of electronic, electro-mechanical and industrial products, today announces the launch of a new product range for electronic design engineers working on developing surveillance systems.

Over 400 products have been introduced into the RS portfolio, covering a wide range of technologies that are used when creating a new surveillance system. The core of the offer is the DaVinci™ range of digital signal processors (DSPs) from Texas Instruments, specifically designed for use in video applications. Alongside these sit Techwell CODECs developed for digital video recording (DVR), which are used to simplify design, and Power-over-Ethernet (POE) devices from Akros and Davicom that allow cameras to be added to a system with minimal effort and increased safety.

RS has also introduced a range of signal chain ICs from New Japan Radio. These ICs have been selected for their performance when used in low cost video applications, enabling design engineers to increase reliability and reduce overall application costs in their surveillance systems. Supported with camera housing accessories to make installation as simple as possible, the overall Surveillance range provides design engineers with a time-saving ‘one-stop-shop’ for component selection.

Commenting on the new range, Paul Webster, Head of Product Management for Electronics at RS said, “We are committed to providing electronic design engineers with the best technologies for their new applications, and to help them reduce costs within their design. Our surveillance system product offering addresses the needs of a constantly growing market-place and gives customers choice and flexibility throughout their design.”

The new surveillance range is available online at rswww.com/electronics, complete with all the technical information necessary to enable easy and accurate product selection. The products are held in-stock for next-day delivery direct to customers.

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Farnell Adds 1300 New Products

Farnell, the leading multi-channel distributor, is placing additional focus on multimedia technology with addition of over 1300 new products specifically for use in this pervasive, exciting and rapidly developing area of technology.

Mobile multimedia devices have become affordable mainstream products for the mass market as have technologies such as LCD and plasma television and video servers. Recognising the need to give designers easy access to the very latest technology in this fast moving sector, Farnell now offers a total of 3200 products from over 112 suppliers including industry leading names such as Freescale, Maxim, Texas Instruments and Atmel.

Multimedia also provides the focus for the latest issue of Farnell’s Technology First journal which contains a range of informative articles that aim to help demystify some of the aspects of designing for multimedia applications. Popular regular features such as RoadTest and MarketWatch can also be found in the publication. Downloadable PDF and interactive online versions of the journal are available and can be accessed via the homepage of the Farnell website.

Commenting on the company’s focus on multimedia, Jamie Furness, Technology Development Manager, Farnell said: “Multimedia is perhaps the most rapidly evolving sector of the electronics industry. Consumer driven demand is leading designers to face tough challenges to integrate previously separate functionality into what are often small and portable form factors. Our focus on multimedia is timely and underlines our dedication to giving designers fast access to the very latest multimedia technologies from the most innovative suppliers.”

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Over 11,000 Texas Instruments products now available for next-day delivery from stock

RS Components is pleased to announce the launch of 8,000 new products from Texas Instruments (TI).

RS now stocks over 11,000 TI products, creating a broad range of next-day delivery direct-from-stock devices available online to customers in Europe and Asia. Electronics design engineers can select from a comprehensive TI portfolio, including over 2,000 new logic ICs, 1,800 amplifier and linear devices, 1,500 power management components, and more than 1,000 new interface and connectivity devices. Whether it’s faster speed, higher precision, lower power or smaller size, RS offers the best choice of TI solutions to engineers aiming to differentiate their design.

“Electronic design engineers are consistently looking to high-quality web-based distributors as their source for products and solutions in developing new designs,” said Christoph Gromann, Analog Marketing Manager for Texas Instruments in EMEA. “We are very pleased with the reach of RS to design engineers, the range of eCommerce solutions available to its electronics customers, as well as its robust and comprehensive product offering.”

Commenting on the launch, Chris Page, General Manager for Electronics at RS said: “The extent of the Texas Instruments range expansion gives design engineers the best offer in terms of quality, price and availability.” Page added: “We at RS are delighted that Texas Instruments is supporting us, and we believe that our customers will find the breadth and depth of this expanded offer compelling.”

All 11,000 TI products are held in-stock for next-day delivery direct to customers.

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Stock includes Flash programmers for Texas Instruments MCUs;product allows Flash programming in production

Mouser Electronics, Inc., today announced it has signed a distribution agreement with Elprotronic Inc., a full custom design, prototype, and consulting service with an emphasis on programmable MCUs from Texas Instruments.

Mouser is stocking Elprotronic’s FlashPro2000, FlashPro430, FlashPro-CC, GangPro430, and GangPro-CC. The Flash programmers allow programming of Texas Instruments’ MSP430, C2000 and CCxx (Chipcon) MCUs using powerful GUI software. By utilizing the Multi-FPA API-DLL, up to 16 programmers can be controlled from one PC via USB ports using external application software, a very useful feature in the production process.

“Elprotronic is delighted to be part of the Mouser portfolio of products,” said Gregory Czajkowski, owner and President of Elprotronic Inc. “Elprotronic’s focus has always been to support our customers design community by producing the most specialized Flash programmers. Mouser, with its leadership position in supporting design engineers and buyers with its world class catalogue distribution infrastructure, provides an effective sales channel to tap into this crucial engineering base.”

Mike Scott, Mouser Vice President of Active Products, agrees, “Mouser’s focus on the design engineer, and the desire to become their preferred provider, continues with the addition of the Elprotronic line. Elprotronic has produced these unique, very flexible Flash programmers in support of one of our key semiconductor partners.”

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Kit helps create perpetually powered wireless sensor network based on the MSP430 MCU

Mouser Electronics, Inc., announces it is stocking Texas Instruments’ Solar Energy Harvesting Development Tool, eZ430-RF2500-SEH. Texas Instruments is the world leader in digital signal processing and analogue technologies.

Mouser is stocking the Solar Energy Harvesting Development Tool, eZ430-RF2500-SEH, which is a complete kit to help create a perpetually powered wireless sensor network based on the ultra-low-power MSP430 microcontroller. The kit includes two eZ430-RF2500T 2.4GHz wireless target boards, an eZ430-RF USB debugging interface for real-time, in-system debugging, a AAA battery pack with expansion board (batteries included), a high efficiency SEH-01-DK Solar Energy Harvesting Board optimized for indoor use, and an MSP430 Development Tool CD containing documentation and software.

The eZ430-RF2500-SEH development kit features inputs for external energy harvesters and an interface to transfer data to a PC from a wireless system, and stores additional energy in a pair of EnerChip™ thin-film rechargeable solid-state batteries from Cymbet Corporation, a leader in thin film battery technology. To learn more about Texas Instruments’ Solar Energy Harvesting Development Tool, visit http://www.mouser.com/ti_ez430_rf2500_seh.

Mike Scott, Mouser Vice President of Active Products, remarks, “Texas Instruments is always on the frontier of new ideas and does not disappoint with this Solar Energy Harvesting Development Tool. Working in ambient light and compatible with the low-power MSP430 MCU, this product enables system designers to create wireless sensors for use where no powerline is available. Mouser’s commitment to offer the latest products quickly is realized again with the introduction of TI’s Solar Energy Harvesting Development Tool.

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Catalog #637 Features 48 New Pages, 25,000+ New Products, and Nine New Suppliers

Mouser Electronics, Inc., known for its rapid introduction of the newest products, today announced the availability of the latest catalogue for 2009. Catalogue #637 (Feb – April 09) features 2,184 pages of the newest products and technologies from over 390 premiere electronic component suppliers. An additional 48 pages of new products were added to Catalogue #637, while pages of products not recommended for new designs were removed, thus ensuring design engineers access to the latest, most up-to-date products available for their new design projects. In the last quarter alone, Mouser has added over 25,000 new products to the online and free print catalogue.

Just in the last year, 32 new suppliers were added to Mouser’s popular linecard, nine of which were added in this first quarterly edition, including Hirose, Tektronix, Spansion, Wurth Electronics, IAR Systems, CalAmp, Hendon Semiconductor, AXSEM, and Kamaya.

Exciting new products featured in Catalogue #637 include Texas Instruments’ 2.4GHz RF Front End Range Extender CC2591, Microchip’s FCC-certified RF Transceiver Modules MRF24J40MA, Freescale’s 8-bit MCU with 32-bit compatibility MC9S08AC128/96, Molex’s SFP+ high speed, stacked multi-port connector, and Zilog’s ePIR™ Zdots® motion detection SBC.

“Mouser excels at rapidly introducing new products so our engineering customers can quickly integrate the newest technology into their new designs,” said Mouser President & CEO Glenn Smith. “By publishing a free, entirely new print catalogue every 90 days and updating our online catalogue and website daily, we give our customers a time-to-market advantage that no other distributor in the industry offers.”

Mouser Electronics is the only major distributor in the industry to publish a new catalogue every 90 days. Due to the constant evolution of new products, new technologies, and new applications for existing products, Mouser’s free catalogue makes it easy to quickly find the latest product information. Colored logos and banners easily identify new products, new technologies, and new suppliers; while four-color, heavy stock section guides aid in quick identification of product categories.

With an annual circulation of over one million and quarterly mailings of 250,000 worldwide, Mouser’s new print catalogue is designed to work in concert with the distributor’s online catalogue featuring more than a million products for easy browse and buy. In addition, mouser.com contains more than one million cross-referenced parts, over 900,000 downloadable data sheets, as well as supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, and other technical design information.

Mouser’s globalization effort has resulted in catalogue pricing for several foreign currencies, as well as local language web domains to serve other countries.

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Texas Instruments DLP® Pico™ Projector Development Kit Available from Digi-Key

Electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation, recognized by design engineers as having the industry’s broadest selection of electronic components available for immediate shipment, announced today that it is stocking Texas Instruments‘ DLP Pico Projector Development Kit, a fully integrated and miniaturized light projection solution that can be quickly and easily integrated into the design process for new industrial, medical, and consumer products.

Priced at $349 and available now exclusively on Digi-Key’s global websites, the Pico Projector Development Kit (Digi-Key part number 296-23836-ND) is a new way of enabling developers to integrate digital projection into their own innovative applications. Potential applications for this kit include simple 3D measurement applications, virtual cosmetics, augmented reality, battery or USB powered display applications, projection of video and images, and miniature applications that do not have space for a large display.

The Pico Projector Development Kit includes an HVGA resolution, DLP projection device with a light engine that uses three solid-state color LEDs as a low power light source. The kit also includes a power supply cable and video cable specifically for connecting to a BeagleBoard, a development board that contains the OMAP35x processor and is supported by an open-source Linux community. The Pico Projector Development Kit is specifically designed to interface with the BeagleBoard to expedite development.

“We are very excited about offering TI‘s DLP Pico technology to our customers. The Pico Projector Development Kit will enable the development of a wide array of embedded systems in the high-growth medical, industrial and consumer segments, creating flexibility and options on how information and content is shared. With regard to the pairing of the pico projector and the BeagleBoard, it will be fun to see what engineers come up with using these two gadgets,” said Mark Larson, Digi-Key president and COO.

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Farnell reflects growth potential for instrumentation and medical with new products and design support

Farnell, the leading multi-channel, high service distributor supporting millions of engineers and purchasing professionals globally has enhanced its range of products and online technical resources relating to instrumentation and medical applications. The addition of 1,000 new products and added focus recognises the rapidly growing importance of this market sector and the need to support design engineers in developing industry-leading solutions.

The new product introductions include FPGAs, DSPs, high performance analogue and displays from leading suppliers such as Texas Instruments, Maxim and Freescale.

Instrumentation and medical provides the focus for the latest issue of Farnell’s Technology First Journal that contains a range of informative and interesting articles on the subject. This is supported by access to the new products via the Technology First online guide: ‘Instrumentation & Medical Electronics’ located on the Farnell website. The guide contains comprehensive information to support design work including technical datasheets, manufacturer’s guidance notes, technical articles and web casts.

The rapid growth in the instrumentation and medical electronics market is being driven by a demographic shift that is seeing a massive rise in the average age of the global population. This is stimulating demand for advanced medical electronics equipment that simplifies, speeds, and reduces the cost of healthcare.

Commenting on the focus and new product introductions, Jamie Furness, Technology Development Manager, Farnell said: “Technological capabilities are converging with huge demographic changes to create significant growth opportunities for medical electronics. At Farnell we are reflecting this situation by offering more leading-edge products and supporting them with technical information and insight to help the engineering community incorporate them into their latest product designs.”

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