RS Components has launched a simplified Chinese language version of its eTech magazine as an iPad application. The new Chinese app replicates the existing English and Japanese language versions of the interactive publication and has been developed to enhance accessibility to the company’s range of electronics products and online resources for customers and suppliers in the fast-growing Chinese market. The eTech iPad app is available to users free-of-charge and complements the online page-turner format in all three languages.

The new Chinese eTech iPad app is the first publication of its kind to be produced in the local language, and supplements the suite of online tools recently introduced by RS Components to support design engineers in China. Providing unequalled depth of content and functionality, the app allows readers to view the articles while downloading them and incorporates a push-messaging feature, which automatically sends a message when an update is available. Full instructions in Chinese are also included to enrich the user experience.

“The introduction of the eTech iPad app in Chinese marks another stride in our ambition to provide engineers across the globe with free access to information and design resources in easily downloadable formats,” said Glenn Jarrett, Head of Electronics Marketing at RS Components. “By providing data in the local language, our aim is to further ease the design process for engineers in a highly competitive market.”

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RS Components and Renesas Electronics Europe, a wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corporation, the world’s number one supplier of microcontrollers (MCUs) and a leading provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, have signed a joint distribution agreement with the purpose to offer online sampling services to the engineering community.

Under the terms of the agreement which commenced on 5 April, RS will be offering online services to supply customers across Europe with newly introduced products in the Renesas microcontroller range as well as useful resources such as datasheets, demos and application notes. Samples will be delivered within 24 hours to meet the urgent requirements of design engineers and small batch production buyers.

In addition to enabling customers to purchase Renesas samples, RS will later offer all parts in the Renesas Electronics product portfolio, comprising microcontrollers, SoCs, as well as analogue and power devices, together with supporting development tools.

Fred Knowles, Head of Product Management – Electronics at RS Components said, “Renesas Electronics is ranked top of the league of microcontroller suppliers and this agreement with a first-class semiconductor vendor underlines our commitment to provide engineers with the utmost quality and selection of products for their designs.”

Achim Mescher, Director of Sales Distribution Europe at Renesas Electronics Europe added, “In order to optimise our sampling services, and to enhance our Ecommerce platform for the European customer base, we have decided to enter a partnership with RS Components. RS Components operates a highly efficient distribution service throughout Europe, and we are convinced that RS Components is the right partner to complement our current distribution network in Europe. RS Components’ outstanding Ecommerce expertise combined with their active support for designers and the company’s unrelenting dedication to new product introductions motivated us to appoint RS as a distribution partner for our European electronics business.”

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RS Components will present Raspberry Pi at Sci-Fi-London 2012, the 11th annual international festival of science fiction and fantastic film to be held on 5-6 May at London’s BFI South Bank.

At the weekend-long event, RS, one of the two global distributors of Raspberry Pi, will feature two demonstrations of this new low-cost credit card sized computer board designed to revitalise interest in computer programming among children and hobbyists worldwide.

One of the two Raspberry Pi boards will run the classic computer game ‘Manic Miner’ using Fuse, the Free Unix Spectrum Emulator, originally developed for Sir Clive Sinclair’s ZX Spectrum computer which this year celebrates 30 years since its creation. The other Raspberry Pi will display the speed and power capabilities of the new module.

Bill Marshall, Central Content Editor at RS, who will be on hand at the event to answer technical questions and advise on the accessories required to operate the Raspberry Pi, said, “The simplicity of the Raspberry Pi is reminiscent of the Spectrum which gave many of today’s software engineers their first taste of coding. Raspberry Pi has been created to seed the next generation of programmers and it has already provoked a huge amount of excitement through its promise to make programming accessible to all.”

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RS Components has expanded its electronics offer with the introduction of the new Hercules safety microcontroller platform from Texas Instruments. Designed to help developers obtain IEC 61508 SIL 3 and ISO 26262 ASIL-D system certification for safety-critical medical, industrial and transportation applications, the platform consists of three ARM Cortex-based microcontroller families that deliver scalable performance, connectivity, memory and safety features for applications that require a high level of reliability.

Hercules microcontrollers implement safety capabilities in hardware to detect random faults and protect against systematic faults, thus reducing software overheads. The dual ARM Cortex-R4F floating-point cores in lockstep provide the highest level of on line diagnostics with cycle-by-cycle error checking, while built-in self-test for the CPU and RAM enable periodic diagnostic routines for the detection of potential latent faults.

The CPU features error correction code (ECC) for Flash and RAM to monitor data for corruption without impacting performance. A memory protection unit on the CPU ensures that each bus master is allocated memory to prevent the transfer of corrupt data. Parity on peripheral RAMs, dual analogue-to-digital-converters (ADCs) and timers, as well as voltage and clock monitoring, provide additional diagnostic coverage.

Coupled with robust tools, software and safety documentation, this advanced on-chip functionality enables developers to differentiate their end products and speed time to market.

“The addition of the Hercules microcontrollers to the RS electronics line is a step forward in augmenting the choice of application-specific products to customers, and introduces a new range of safety-critical, high-reliability devices to our offering,” said Fred Knowles, Head of Product Management – Electronics at RS Components. “Our next-day despatch service guarantees fast delivery on parts, enabling engineers to start working quickly on their designs to meet increasingly tough deadlines in bringing products to market.”

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RS Components and Allied Electronics are commencing shipments of Raspberry Pi, the credit-card sized computer board designed to seed a new generation of programmers. The shipments are being sent to the first group of customers from around the world, all of whom registered for a Raspberry Pi from RS and Allied.

Invitations to place an order on the new RS and Allied Raspberry Pi online store have been sent out to customers on a first-come, first-served basis in line with registrations of interest placed on the companies’ websites and to match the number of boards available from RS and Allied in the first production run. This process will be repeated once the next batch of boards becomes available. RS and Allied have implemented this procedure to ensure that all orders for Raspberry Pi are fulfilled with a confirmed delivery date. Due to the exceedingly high demand for the product, and limited quantities available from the manufacturer at this time, orders are currently restricted to one board per customer.

When ordering Raspberry Pi from the dedicated online store, customers can click through to the associated parts and accessories required for activation of the board. These include USB A-B cables, HDMI cables, power supplies and SD memory cards from a range of leading suppliers, all available to purchase from stock. By ordering these cables and other accessories from RS and Allied at the same time as the Raspberry Pi board, customers can make a saving on the delivery cost, as the same total shipping charge is applicable.

“There has been a huge wave of anticipation and extraordinary levels of demand for Raspberry Pi since it was launched, so we are delighted to be delivering the first boards to initial customers,” said Glenn Jarrett, Head of Electronics Marketing at RS Components. “We are working very closely with the manufacturer to bring subsequent batches of boards into stock so that we can fulfil every customer order for Raspberry Pi as quickly as possible.”

Eben Upton, Raspberry Pi founder and trustee, commented, “This is an exciting and momentous phase for Raspberry Pi as the boards start heading out to customers from our distributors. We know from the incredible amount of interest in Raspberry Pi that there is a huge impetus among enthusiasts and educators for a product that brings computer programming to the masses, and we encourage these new programmers to share their experiences and results with us.”

RS and Allied are currently developing a variety of tools and initiatives to support Raspberry Pi users and the companies’ DesignSpark electronics design community is seeing many people discussing ideas and thoughts on Raspberry Pi. Recent additions to the site include a series of Pi Perspectives, where leading UK academics and scientists share their views on Raspberry Pi, and information on a Raspberry Pi experimenter’s kit now being developed. Various tutorials covering everything from initial set-up to a guide to the different Linux flavours, including a Fedora Mix start-up guide, are also available.

For developers, there is the free schematic capture and PCB layout tool from RS and Allied, DesignSpark PCB. It has already won awards from across the globe, and the company is seeing more developers adopt it with some already creating prototyping boards to use with Raspberry Pi.

The Raspberry Pi boards from RS and Allied are priced at £21.60 plus a shipping charge of £4.95 to any destination worldwide, plus VAT and import duty as applicable.

The Raspberry Pi board was created by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a charity based in Cambridge, UK, and was conceived to encourage and enable children to learn and apply computer programming.

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RS Components (RS) and Allied Electronics (Allied) have taken delivery of the first batch of Raspberry Pi, the credit card sized computer board designed to prompt the development of programming skills among children and IT enthusiasts.

Invitations to place an order in the bespoke online Raspberry Pi store will be sent out shortly to the first group of customers, in sequence according to the time that they registered their interest in Raspberry Pi on the RS and Allied websites. Due to limited availability of Raspberry Pi at this time, and as part of their delivery promise to customers, RS and Allied are inviting orders only when they can guarantee the allocation of a Raspberry Pi from stock. Orders are currently restricted to one board per customer. This process will be repeated until full production quantities of the boards become available later this year, when customers will be able to order multiple quantities.

Glenn Jarrett, Head of Electronics Marketing at RS, said, “We are delighted to have the first batch of fully compliant products in our warehouse and to be able to invite the first wave of customers who registered for a Raspberry Pi to place their orders from this initial stock. There has been a great deal of anticipation for Raspberry Pi since its launch at the end of February, and it is important that we provide a delivery guarantee to customers when they place their order.”

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RS Components and Allied Electronics have announced that compliance testing has been completed on the first batch of Raspberry Pi, the low-cost credit-card sized computer board designed to enable children and IT enthusiasts to develop programming skills.

The first boards have passed emission testing to Class A standard and comply with the requirements of the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) directive EN50081-2 (1993) for the use of information technology equipment (ITE) in industrial or office environments. Equipment used in a residential environment may be susceptible to radio interference and to ensure that Raspberry Pi customers are fully aware of this, each of the boards will be supplied with a warning statement in accordance with EMC regulations.

“This is excellent news for Raspberry Pi customers,” commented Glenn Jarrett, Head of Electronics Marketing at RS Components. “We have thousands of people eagerly awaiting their boards, and this brings us another step closer to delivering Raspberry Pis across the world.”

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RS Components has launched an exclusive promotion on its range of oscilloscopes from Tektronix, a leading supplier of test, measurement and monitoring instrumentation. The special offer enables RS customers to trade-in a working oscilloscope, signal generator or frequency/counter timer from any manufacturer and receive a 15% discount on a new model from the Tektronix range.

Available for a limited period until 31 May 2012, the trade-in scheme provides embedded system designers with a cost-efficient means of upgrading their test equipment with the latest generation of high-performance products from an industry-leading manufacturer.

Tektronix offers a comprehensive range of test and measurement instruments and application software to quickly find and diagnose problems in complex designs. The MSO3000 Series and DPO3000 Mixed Signal Oscilloscopes Series, for example, allow users to analyse up to 20 analogue and digital signals with a single instrument. Bandwidths up to 500 MHz and a minimum of 5 times over sampling on all channels ensure the performance necessary for many of today’s mainstream applications.

“Today’s engineers are under pressure to meet increasingly demanding deadlines while getting to grips with ever more complex technologies. Tektronix’s intuitive tools for device design validation and debug play a significant role in easing the process by producing fast, intelligent results,” said Fred Knowles, Head of Product Management – Electronics at RS Components. “This exclusive offer gives engineers access to the most sophisticated equipment available on the market at cut-down prices and exemplifies RS’ value-for-money electronics offering as well as our commitment to maintaining strong relationships with suppliers and customers alike.”

“It is clear that the provision of a value-added service is a priority for RS. As a supplier, we can feel confident that our customers will have a highly efficient purchasing experience through RS’ ongoing find, design-in and buy initiatives,” Nigel Bentley, Channel Partner Manager, Tektronix, added. “By partnering with RS for this offer we are highlighting the most advanced test and measurement equipment available to engineers, while giving them the opportunity to replace old equipment at significantly reduced prices.”

Further information on this exclusive offer is available at http://www.rs-components.com/tektronix-recycle

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RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the world’s leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products, has released an update on the pricing and availability of Raspberry Pi, the credit card sized computer board designed to encourage a new generation of PC users to discover and develop their programming skills.

Since the Raspberry Pi was announced on February 29th, RS has received more than 200,000 registrations of interest on its websites across the globe. RS is one of only two distributors licensed to sell the Raspberry Pi boards worldwide.

The first batch of boards is due to arrive into RS warehouses towards the end of March and will be despatched to customers on a first-come, first-served basis in line with customer registrations. Due to the huge demand for Raspberry Pi, orders will be restricted initially to one board per customer. All customers who have registered an expression of interest will be notified when they can place an order for Raspberry Pi via the new, dedicated RS Raspberry Pi webshop.

By connecting a Raspberry Pi to a monitor or TV and keyboard, budding computer programmers can use the power of the Raspberry Pi to develop new programs, games and apps, enabling the board to then handle many of the tasks traditionally performed by a PC, such as Internet browsing.

The Raspberry Pi boards from RS will be priced at £21.60 plus a shipping charge of £4.95 to any destination worldwide, plus VAT and import duty as applicable. Raspberry Pi users will require accessories such as a USB A-B cable, HDMI cable, power supply and a SD memory card. Where customers order these cables or other accessories at the same time from RS, the same total shipping charge will apply.
On behalf of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, Liz Upton, said, “We’ve every confidence that our chosen distributors are doing everything possible to satisfy the amazing demand for our first product. The level of demand has really taken us by surprise but we know that RS has committed all available resources to ramp up production and deliver Raspberry Pi boards to eager customers as soon as possible.”

Glenn Jarrett, Head of Electronics Marketing at RS Components, said, “We have never experienced this level of interest in a product and it has been challenging to address the unexpectedly high levels of demand. However, rather than simply rush Raspberry Pi to market, our priority is to ensure that customers receive a product of outstanding quality and reliability. I know it’s frustrating for those waiting to receive a board but I’m certain they will be delighted when they get it. We’d like customers to know that RS is working on a number of initiatives to help them get the most from these innovative, educational computer boards and we’ll be announcing these over the coming weeks.”

RS will be in regular communication with customers regarding the order process and availability of the Raspberry Pi. PayPal and Visa or MasterCard credit and debit cards will be accepted.

The Raspberry Pi concept was created by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a charity based in Cambridge, UK, and was conceived to encourage and enable children to learn and apply computer programming.

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Following today’s announcement on the launch of Raspberry Pi, the revolutionary credit card sized computer created as an educational tool to re-ignite interest in building and customising computers, RS Components (RS), has experienced an unprecedented demand for the product on its website.

Chris Page, General Manager, Electronics at RS Components, said: ”With tens of thousands of customers looking to order on the RS website since the launch of Raspberry Pi earlier today, this is the greatest level of demand RS has ever received for a product at one time. We clearly understand how excited customers are about this ground-breaking product and we are working closely with Raspberry Pi to satisfy this unprecedented demand.”

Customers can continue to register their interest in Raspberry Pi on www.rswww.com and www.designspark.com. RS expects to receive the first batch of boards into warehouses late next week, with the shipping of products on a first come, first served basis in line with customer registrations. As deliveries of the Raspberry Pi boards arrive at RS, registered customers will be kept up-to-date with the progress on availability.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a charity established to promote the development of computer development skills in education across the globe. Further information on the Raspberry Pi Foundation can be found at www.raspberrypi.org.

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