The Paradox of Atmel No More

The Paradox of Atmel No More
by Majeed Ahmad on 09-21-2015 at 12:00 pm

Technology pundits said Atmel is one of the best-positioned companies in the Internet of Things (IoT) realm, if not the best IoT company outright. The San Jose, California–based chipmaker boasts an enormous portfolio of microcontrollers and a deep expertise in security and automotive electronics hardware. Yet its underperforming… Read More


Atmel’s L21 MCU for IoT Tops Low Power Benchmark

Atmel’s L21 MCU for IoT Tops Low Power Benchmark
by Majeed Ahmad on 03-30-2015 at 7:30 am

The Internet of Things (IoT) juggernaut has unleashed a flurry of low-power microcontrollers, and in that array of energy-efficient MCUs, one product has earned the crown jewel of being the lowest-power Cortex M-based solution with power consumption down to 35µA/MHz in active mode and 200nA in sleep mode.

How do we know if AtmelRead More


Atmel’s new car MCU tips imminent SoC journey

Atmel’s new car MCU tips imminent SoC journey
by Majeed Ahmad on 02-26-2015 at 4:00 pm

The automotive industry has reached a new era marked by giant initiatives like infotainment, connected car and semi-autonomous vehicles. And no one seems more excited than the MCU guys who have been a part and parcel of in-car electronics for the past two decades. However, the humble microcontroller is going through a profound… Read More


Ready to Wear Sensor Hubs

Ready to Wear Sensor Hubs
by Majeed Ahmad on 02-04-2015 at 3:00 am

Atmel Corp. has beefed up its sensor hub offerings for wearable devices with SAM D20 Cortex M0+ MCU core to add more functionality and further lower the power bar for battery-operated devices. The SAM D20 Cortex M0+ microcontrollers offer ultra-low power through a patented power-saving technique called “Event System” that allows… Read More


Not Mobile, Automotive to See Max Semiconductor Growth!

Not Mobile, Automotive to See Max Semiconductor Growth!
by Pawan Fangaria on 11-22-2014 at 9:00 am

There is no denying that mobile market is almost matured, the growth in the semiconductor industry has to pick up somewhere else. Although it’s expected that worldwide cellphone subscription will exceed the world population in 2015 (already exceeded in many parts of Europe) and continue for some time (while CAGR in unique subscription… Read More


Are you SmarCoT or IoT?

Are you SmarCoT or IoT?
by Eric Esteve on 11-14-2014 at 4:00 pm

No need to explain the IoT acronym (Internet of Things) except that IoT doesn’t really describe a reality: do you really know about any “Thing” being directly connected to the Internet? In fact, there is probably some intermediate system linking this thing with the Cloud, like a smartphone, an Internet box, a PC, etc. Just take a … Read More


Maker Movement Embraced by Major Semiconductor Companies

Maker Movement Embraced by Major Semiconductor Companies
by Tom Simon on 10-09-2014 at 10:00 pm

How the Arduino Changed Embedded System Development Forever

In 2005 with the development of the Arduino, everything changed for people building things that required a microcontroller. The Arduino brought with it a low price standard, and open, hardware platform and an easy to use open source development environment. It was … Read More


A Re-look at TI’s Businesses, Strategies & Future

A Re-look at TI’s Businesses, Strategies & Future
by Pawan Fangaria on 06-09-2014 at 8:00 am

In recent days I’ve seen several long discussions about Texas Instrumentslosing its grip in semiconductor industry when it came out of a business it was strong in, i.e. wireless business. It seems the semiconductor community has not digested the fact that TI, very rightly, came out of the OMAP business at the right time. The smartphone… Read More


MCU Performance Customers: The Cavalry is Coming Over The Hill

MCU Performance Customers: The Cavalry is Coming Over The Hill
by Ed McKernan on 07-31-2011 at 7:30 pm

cavalry lg

The under the radar, sleepy microcontroller market is about to undergo a rapid transformation the next several years with new entrants and the rise of 32 bit cores that will redefine the parameters for success. This will revive growth and result in new winners and losers. But lots of questions remain.

My first job out of college in… Read More