u-blox Enters Embedded CDMA Wireless Market by Acquiring Fusion Wireless
u-blox has acquired Fusion Wireless for $900,000 in cash, plus existing debt of $2.1 million. Fusion Wireless is a provider of CDMA wireless modules for consumer and M2M applications in North America. In addition to gaining Fusion Wireless’ wireless module products, the acquisition will give u-blox access to the embedded CDMA market in North America for both consumer and M2M applications.
octoScope octoBox Wireless Testing System
octoScope introduced their octoBox wireless testing system. octoBox is a tool for the OTA testing of conventional and MIMO wireless devices. It features a customizable refrigerator sized anechoic (non-echoing) enclosure that replaces expensive walk-in anechoic chambers and facilitates test setup. octoBox can be used to design, test and verify multi-radio devices such as smartphones and USB dongles. octoBox is available now.
Digi XBee Wi-Fi Embedded RF Module
Digi International announced their XBee Wi-Fi embedded RF module. The XBee Wi-Fi delivers serial to IEEE 802.11 connectivity. With the new Digi module, engineers can create a single board design for wireless products that supports 802.15.4, ZigBee, ZigBee Smart Energy, 2.4 GHz, 900 and 868 MHz, Wi-Fi and proprietary DigiMesh protocols. It is ideal for energy management, process and factory automation, wireless sensor networks, and intelligent asset management. XBee Wi-Fi development kits are available now for $149.
Connect One Nano WiReach SMT WiFi Module
Connect One rolled out their Nano WiReach SMT, which is a secure embedded Wireless LAN module that easily connects embedded devices to 802.11b/g Wireless LAN, 10/100BaseT wired LAN and cellular WAN. The WiFi module features iChip CO2144 IP Communication Controller chip, Marvell 88W8686 WiFi chipset, multiple hardware interfaces, extensive firmware functionality, 3G routing, WiFi client and access-point capabilities. It supports secure Internet protocols for up to eight WiFi users in its router or access point mode. Nano WiReach SMT is now available at $26 for high-volume projects.
White Paper: Moving Beyond Zigbee for Star Networks
Laird Technologies published a new white paper, Moving Beyond Zigbee for Star Networks. The technical paper addresses the requirements of star networks, and the need of finding the correct wireless solution beyond traditional means. The white paper details the data flow through a network, and how most networks that are point-to-multipoint (or multipoint-to-point, depending on the perspective) form a star topology. The technical paper also presents possible solutions and features a model comparison of some of the key attributes of a Laird Technologies LT2510 100 mW transceiver versus a typical Zigbee 10 mW transceiver.
NVIDIA Acquires Icera, 3G and 4G Baseband Processors
NVIDIA will acquire Icera for $367 million in cash. Icera is one of the few remaining independent baseband processor providers for both 3G and 4G cellular phones, data modems, and tablets. The remaining independent suppliers are specialized in either 3G or 4G (but not both 3G and 4G). The acquisition has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors and is expected to be completed, subject to customary closing conditions, in about 30 days.
Texas Instruments bq51013 Wireless Power Receiver
Texas Instruments announced the bq51013 receiver integrated circuit (IC) for wireless charging. The TI chip combines voltage conditioning and full wireless power control in a small 1.9-mm x 3-mm WCSP package. The bq51013 wireless power receiver supports up to 5 W of output power, provides up to 93% efficient AC/DC power conversion and is the only IC required between the receiver coil and system. The Qi compliant IC is available now in a 1.9mm x 3mm WCSP package. It is priced at $3.50 (quantities of 1,000).
ZMD ZWIR4512 Wireless Data Communication Module
ZMD introduced the ZWIR4512 wireless data communication module for sensors and other small devices. The ZWIR4512 implements full data networking based on the IPv6 Internet protocol. 6LoWPAN is used to optimize IPv6 packets for embedded low-power device networks. Data encryption and authentication is provided by the Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) protocol suite. IPSec keys can be exchanged and renewed automatically based on the Internet Key Exchange version 2 (IKEv2) protocol. The ZMD ZWIR4512 IPv6 wireless module features a 32-bit ARM Cortex M3 microcontroller, GPIO and peripheral interfaces, and up to 192kB of flash memory and 32kB of RAM for the user application.
LiMo 4 Linux Based Platform
LiMo Foundation introduced version four of the Linux based LiMo Platform. LiMo 4 Platform offers complete middleware and base application functionality. It enables flexible disaggregation of the device platform and the service propositions such that operators and device manufacturers can more freely shape user propositions and secure sustainable long-term value. The first LiMo 4 devices are expected to be brought to market during the second half of this year. LiMo Foundation is a global consortium of mobile operators, device and handset vendors.
Apple iPad Users Unlikely to Switch to HP TouchPad
HP launched their new TouchPad a couple of days ago. On the surface, the TouchPad is an iPad clone. The sleek TouchPad has a 9.7″ touch display and weighs 1.6 pounds. However, the HP tablet features a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 1024×768 resolution, and webOS, which HP acquired when it purchased Palm last year. According to In-Stat, the key differentiators are not enough to compete with the Apple iPad and other tablets.
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