Farnell element14, The Development Distributor, is today launching a competition for tech start-ups based in Norway in partnership with CamdenBoss, Altium and Intel. Two winning organisations will be able to select a product worth up to 20,000kr. to help them take their design to the next level.

Farnell element14 has launched the initiative as it recognises that access to the right products and design support is what helps tech start-ups make their idea a reality. Two winners will be given the opportunity to select a product worth up to 20,000kr. to support their start-up design.

In 2016, Farnell element14 worked with Norwegian tech start-up Futurehome to help it bring its home automation product to market. Based on a Single Board Computer, Futurehome utilises smart technology to allow users to control, automate and monitor hundreds of smart devices remotely through a single Smart Hub gateway. Farnell element14 supplied the Single Board Computer as well as supporting Futurehome in the early stages of their development with compliance, manufacturing and engineering services. Working with one vendor to provide both products and services tailored to their individual needs freed Futurehome up to focus purely on developing the product.

Peter Birks, European Business President, Farnell element14, said: “This competition is designed to give two start-ups in Norway the boost they need to get their idea off the ground. From idea and proof of concept to prototyping and production, we are here to support the small start-ups like Futurehome to the large semiconductor manufacturers. Farnell element14 is the Development Distributor and by providing a joined up service we are able to dramatically reduce time to market, which is fundamental for so many start-ups. I am excited to see the innovative ideas that will come from the businesses that apply for this competition.”

Organisations can submit their entries at http://startup.farnell.com/no.  One winner will be announced at EIF Stavanger exhibition on 10^th May with a further winner announced in June.

Premier Farnell, The Development Distributor, is today announcing the global availability of the latest version of its exclusive PCB design software Altium CircuitStudio.

CircuitStudio V1.4 makes it easier to transition historical Eagle data into the tool, with new features and enhancements to the core technologies simplifying and reducing a customer’s PCB design time.

The addition of ‘classes’ is of particular note in this release. Within the schematic editor, ‘net classes’ can be generated using the new ‘net class’ directive and ‘component classes’ are automatically generated for each schematic sheet within the hierarchy.

Within the PCB editor a new ‘classes dialog’ can be used to create pad, polygon, component, layer, and net classes, and design rules in PCB have been improved to allow the use of these classes in rule definitions.

It is now easier to transition from Eagle to CircuitStudio with more than 20 enhancements made including the ability to directly open Eagle design files, and add Eagle libraries directly to the libraries panel.

The professionally powered PCB design software is aimed at electronic design engineers, ECAD and PCB designers and as the software market transitions to the subscription model CircuitStudio remains perpetual, ensuring lifetime access.

As the Development Distributor, Premier Farnell brings its customers closer to the world’s leading software companies to support their design journeys with its industry leading portfolio of embedded, PCB, and mechanical software and technical expertise available on the element14 Design Center.

For more information and to download a free trial visit the www.element14.com/circuitstudio.

element14, The Development Distributor, has launched the latest version of Altium CircuitStudio for download. This release includes new features and bug fixes including:

• Advanced manufacturing PCB design rules
• In-app license purchase and renewal
• Updates to the CircuitStudio Home page
• Fixed issues with importing Eagle design
• Support for IPC-2581 output
• Ability to import CircuitMaker PCB files
• A redesigned Projects page
• Support for importing Eagle hierarchical schematic format

Engineers looking to upgrade their version of the software can do this instantly through the Update System in CircuitStudio.

To download a free trial or learn more about this release and the product overall, join the element14 CircuitStudio community at www.element14.com/altium.

element14, in partnership with Altium, has released version 1.2 of Altium CircuitStudio. Built on 30 years of Altium R&D experience, CircuitStudio is a professional PCB design tool that is ready to pick-up and go. With powerful schematic capture, feature-rich PCB editing and centralised component management it will inspire designers to invent the future, instead of being preoccupied with just making it work. Now, in order to make CircuitStudio more accessible to PCB designers, it is available at a new affordable price of $995.

Altium CircuitStudio is a complete PCB design system with a balanced blend of powerful features and intuitive interfaces, making it easier than ever for designer to achieve perfection in their design process, for example:

• Design Rule Driven Interactive Routing enables designers to quickly and efficiently route without worrying about breaking any preset design rules.
• Built-In Autorouter Engine provides the routes from one pin to another automatically based on predetermined rules set by the designer, allowing more time to focus on other aspects of the design.
• Powerful Native 3D PCB Visualization Engine allows designers to ensure their boards fit their mechanical enclosures the first time, effectively reducing design spins and saving precious time and resources.

The latest version of the Altium CircuitStudio software includes improvements to usability and increased functionality including:

• Pad objects now support square and slotted holes
• Subversion (SVN) support
• Ability to generate an EDIF Netlist
• Additional Schematic and PCB shortcut keys for common object placement commands
• Rearranging library documents within the Projects Panel improved

The knowledge and support center for Altium CircuitStudio has also been improved and can be found within the element14 community. This new location for the knowledge center enable users to draw on the experience of over 400,000 community members, take part in RoadTests and learn more about the product with Quick Start webinars.

“The latest release of CircuitStudio represents a very competitive solution in the low end market space for PCB design tools” said Matt Schwaiger, VP of Customer Success at Altium. “With a reduction in price, enhanced product roadmap, and increased support CircuitStudio will become the defacto tool for PCB designers.”

To learn more about CircuitStudio v1.2 click here.

element14 offers the latest products, software and solutions from trusted supplier partners through 43 local language transactional websites. The element14 Community allows buyers and engineers to access a wide range of independent technical information, tools and the latest resources. The element14 Design Center provides customers with a streamlined software selection and purchasing experience for all the main categories of design software, offers free software trials and multiple delivery options, including instantaneous eDelivery.

This launch comes shortly after element14 expanded its proposition to include software tools and the industry’s first instant e-delivery capability for customer software purchases. Combining world-class software products with the company’s full range of semiconductor components and other electronics hardware, element14 has become the destination for engineering software.

Engineers will be able to purchase software suites and packages such as TASKING immediately via all element14’s channels - including online, call centres and field sales – for immediate download.

The TASKING VX-toolset for ARM provides developers with sophisticated technology found only in the Viper compiler framework. Developers can take full advantage of the industry-leading ARM architecture with the most efficient C/C++ compiler and comprehensive debugging tools on the market today.

The Viper technology running under the hood of this development toolset allows the C compiler to generate code with the highest execution speed and level of reliability needed for tomorrow’s automotive, industrial, and telematics applications. The C compiler for ARM also features full support for industry-standard code qualifications including MISRA C and CERT C code checking, ensuring that your code will perform at the highest level of reliability.

Key features include:

• Integrated Development Environment based on Eclipse enables extensibility through third-party plug-ins.
• TASKING’s award winning Software Platform and Pin Mapper for STM32, which includes a wide range of free-to-use middleware components, like an RTOS, support for CAN, USB, TCP/IP, web servers, and much more
• Available on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X
• Fully integrated TASKING multi-core ready debugger with debug probe support for J-Link family by SEGGER, ST-LINK from STMicroelectronics, miniWiggler from Infineon, and CMSIS-DAP.
• Efficient C, C++, and EC++ compilers that conform to industry standard guidelines including ISO, CMSIS, and ARM ABI.
• Fully compatible with TASKING VX-toolsets for C166, TriCore, RH850, and Power Architecture.
• Integrated static code analysis functionality for MISRA-C:1998, 2004, 2012 and CERT C standards.
• Standard C, C++ and ANSI/IEEE-754 floating-point libraries.
• Global type checking by compiler and linker for verification of types
• Powerful assembler and linker/locator using versatile linker-script language that provides enhanced memory layout editing, data/code overlaying facilities, data/code section allocation, and automatic/user specific target memory allocation.
• Built-in extensions for improved application code efficiency and stability. Includes run-time error checking, code profiling through code instrumentation, and syntax/semantic checks.
• Easy-to-use wizards allows you to quickly configure your next project.

The toolset is available through a free trial or to purchase starting at $1,995 for a 1 year license from Newark element14 in North America, Farnell element14 in Europe and element14 in Asia Pacific.

To learn more, visit, www.element14.com/tasking