9 June 2015, element14 has announced the introduction of the Rohm Multisense Evaluation Kit  add-on sensor platform opening up hot swappable sensor capability to projects.  Customers can test and interchange six of the most popular sensors from Rohm for portable applications on most platforms with USB host support.

The sensor kit includes the baseboard for connecting to a host system platform and six sensor modules including a hall effect sensor, analog ambient light sensor, digital ambient light sensor, UV light sensor, MEMS motion sensor, and a temperature sensor.

The multi-sense base board interfaces with the host through a USB connection and holds one sensor breakout module board at a time.  Additionally, drivers are available for popular platforms like Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone Black and others including Windows.

This broad array of sensors lend themselves to home automation, lighting, IoT device and security applications – all of which element14 wholly and thoroughly supports.  In fact, the DreamBoard initiative, held on the element14 Community, which allowed members to create their own unique development kit design, placed temperature sensors and accelerometers and at the top of their list for required sensors on their own ultimate development kit. 

In a recent study by element14, 68% of respondents out of a total of 3,500 consumers placed healthcare at the top of a list of areas where technology should be a main focus, followed by renewable energy and the environment. This kit, priced at $43.07, is ideal for incorporating the latest in sensing technologies into these rapidly developing areas.

The latest in a market leading range of development kits, the Rohm Multisense Evaluation Kit is available from Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 in Asia Pacific.

Ends

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. Trading as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific, it had sales last year of £960m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,000 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.



Premier Farnell works to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available 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 and the Design Center enables design engineers to compare kits from the world’s greatest range of development tools.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

• Operations in 38 different countries
• More than 4,500 employees
• More than 3,000 leading suppliers
• More than 600,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand

·         Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global PR Agency:

Andrew Hill/Jhanvi Gudka/Marta Kot

Wildfire PR

Tel: +44 208 408 8000

Email: element14@wildfirepr.com

European Contact:

Jen Patterson

PR Manager, Europe and Global

Tel: +44 113 2484904

Email: jpatterson@premierfarnell.com

APAC Contact:            

Christina Loh

PR Manager, APAC

Tel: + 65 6671 8769

Email: cloh@element14.com

North America Contact:

William Polk

PR and Social Media manager

Tel: +1 773 907 5199

Email:  wpolk@newark.com

Small prototype board comes with three of the latest sensing technologies;

3D accelerometer, gyroscope and 3D magnetometer

3 June 2015, element14 has added the Freescale 9-axis sensor toolbox breakout board to its extensive portfolio of technology products, which includes the largest range of development kits available globally from one single source.

The new 9-axis Freescale Sensor Toolbox Breakout Board, BRKT-STBC-AGM01,  features three of the latest sensing technologies incorporated onto a single board, and is a smaller-footprint version of the recently launched FRDM-STBC-AGM01.

These sensing technologies allow users to determine motion, position and location as well as angle of rotation. Moreover, as this breakout board can be simply soldered on to an existing design, it enables designers to easily test applications that need to detect motion, orientation and location information, such as:

·         Freefall and motion detection

·         Vector-magnitude change detection

·         Pulse and tap detection (single and double)

·         Industrial and consumer grade robots, UAVs, and RC vehicles

·         Gyro-stabilized electronic compass

·         Gesture-based user interfaces and Human Machine Interface (HMI)

·         Mobile phones and tablets

·         Virtual and augmented reality devices (including glasses)

David Shen, Group Chief Technology Officer at element14 said, “This breakout board is an innovative approach in allowing designers to incorporate the development kit directly into their prototypes.  The ability to test the onboard 3-axis gyroscope and the integrated e-compass in real world environments will significantly improve a prototype’s accuracy and help shorten the final designs time to market.”

The breakout board is supported by the Freescale Sensor Fusion Toolbox and works with most Freescale Freedom boards. It features a FXAS21002C gyroscope and FXOS8700CQ integrated e-compass.

The Freescale 9-axis sensor toolbox breakout board is priced at £8.99 and ships from Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America (US$11.95), and element14 in Asia (S$20.50); details are available at http://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-75622.

Ends

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. Trading as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific, it had sales last year of £960m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,000 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.



Premier Farnell works to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available 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 and the Design Center enables design engineers to compare kits from the world’s greatest range of development tools.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

• Operations in 38 different countries
• More than 4,500 employees
• More than 3,000 leading suppliers
• More than 600,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand

·         Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global Contact:

Ken Leitch

Global Head of Corporate Communications

Tel: +44 207 851 4145

Email: kleitch@premierfarnell.com

Global PR Agency:

Darren Willsher/Andrew Hill

Wildfire PR

Tel: +44 208 408 8000  Email: element14@wildfirepr.com

European Contact:

Jen Patterson

PR Manager, Europe and Global

Tel: +44 113 2484904

Email: jpatterson@premierfarnell.com

APAC Contact:            

Christina Loh

PR Manager, APAC

Tel: + 65 6671 8769

Email: cloh@element14.com

North America Contact:

William Polk

PR and Social Media manager

Tel: +1 773 907 5199

Email:  wpolk@newark.com

28 May 2015 – element14 today announced that it is now an official distributor of MATLAB® and Simulink® Student Suite, a professional grade suite of tools allowing students to model, simulate and analyze projects in software and then program hardware using the same tools commercial engineers and scientists use every day. MATLAB and Simulink Student Suite includes all the software tools needed by a student user to create great projects with popular low-cost platforms with free hardware support packages.

MATLAB and Simulink brings Model-Based Design – a mathematical and visual approach for the development of complex control systems – to the student, hacker, maker and non-commercial audience making it easier to create more complex projects with no knowledge of programming required.  Users build important career skills because MATLAB and Simulink are widely used in engineering and science industries.

The product includes MATLAB, Simulink and 10 add-on products. Hardware support packages for Arduino and Raspberry Pi are available for free. With these add-on toolboxes the user can customise the software to suit their application needs in controls, signal processing, test, measurements and create a wide range of projects ranging from a personal weather station to a face-detecting robot. The 10 add-on products include toolboxes for control system, data acquisition, DSP system, image processing, instrument control, optimization, signal processing, statistics and machine learning and symbolic math.

“element14 and its online community provide a resourceful learning environment for students and makers who bring ideas to life with hardware platforms such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi”, said Amnon Gai, manager, corporate development and partner programs at MathWorks. “MathWorks is pleased to partner with element14 to become a part of the community and accelerate the pace of technology and innovation.”

To find out more about how to use MATLAB and Simulink a number of webinars are available on the element14 Community at http://www.element14.com/community/groups/mathworks-simulink.  Follow the Teacher’s Pet Students’ Robotics Challenge where participants will design programmable robots using MATLAB and Simulink to create a solution to a common student problems.

To find out more about MATLAB and Simulink join the Google Hangout on 10th June at 3.30pm BST.  MATLAB Simulink costs £62.35 and is available from Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 in Asia Pacific.

Ends

About MATLAB and Simulink

MATLAB is a high-level language and interactive environment that solves numerical problems quickly. It is used to capture and analyze sensor data by communicating with popular hardware platforms like Arduino and Raspberry Pi.

Simulink is a block diagram environment for simulation and Model-Based Design. It is used to model, simulate, and analyze dynamic systems. Simulink automatically generates embedded code from a model and can install it directly on hardware boards.

MATLAB and Simulink are registered trademarks of The MathWorks, Inc. See mathworks.com/trademarks for a list of additional trademarks. Other product or brand names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. Trading as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific, it had sales last year of £960m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,000 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.



Premier Farnell works to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available 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 and the Design Center enables design engineers to compare kits from the world’s greatest range of development tools.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

• Operations in 38 different countries
• More than 4,500 employees
• More than 3,000 leading suppliers
• More than 600,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand

·         Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global Contact:

Ken Leitch

Global Head of Corporate Communications

Tel: +44 207 851 4145

Email: kleitch@premierfarnell.com

Global PR Agency:

Darren Willsher/Andrew Hill

Wildfire PR

Tel: +44 208 408 8000

Email: element14@wildfirepr.com

European Contact:

Jen Patterson

PR Manager, Europe and Global

Tel: +44 113 2484904

Email: jpatterson@premierfarnell.com

APAC Contact:            

Christina Loh

PR Manager, APAC

Tel: + 65 6671 8769

Email: cloh@element14.com

North America Contact:

William Polk

PR and Social Media manager

Tel: +1 773 907 5199

Email:  wpolk@newark.com

20 May 2015, element14 has announced the addition of the Texas Instruments(TI)  MSP-EXP430FR6989 LaunchPad Kit to its extensive portfolio of technology products, which includes the largest range of development kits available globally from one single source.

An easy-to-use Evaluation Module (EVM) for the ultra-low power MSP430FR6989 FRAM microcontroller (MCU), the MSP-EXP430FR6989 LaunchPad Development Kit includes on-board emulation for programming, debugging and energy measurements as well as a 320-segment Liquid Crystal Display (LCD).

David Shen, Group Chief Technology Officer at Premier Farnell said, “The MSP-EXP430FR6989 LaunchPad highlights our partnership with Texas Instruments to bring the latest products and technologies to its popular LaunchPad development ecosystem. This easy-to-use dev kit simplifies rapid prototyping as it supports a wide range of BoosterPacks and includes advanced features such as TI’s EnergyTrace++ technology to enable real-time power consumption readings and CPU and peripheral state updates through the EnergyTrace GUI.”  

The MSP430FR6989 microcontroller features ultra-low-power consumption with 128 KB of embedded FRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory), delivering high endurance and high speed write access. It also comes with demo examples including a stopwatch and a simple thermometer application using the on-chip temperature sensor. Free software development tools are also available, such as TI’s Eclipse-based Code Composer Studio (CCS) integrated development environment (IDE) and IAR Embedded Workbench.

The Texas Instruments MSP-EXP430FR6989 LaunchPad Development Kit is priced at £12.85 and ships from Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America ($17.99), and element14 in Asia (S$31.60); details are available at http://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-74652. 

Ends

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. Trading as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific, it had sales last year of £960m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,000 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.



Premier Farnell works to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available 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 and the Design Center enables design engineers to compare kits from the world’s greatest range of development tools.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

• Operations in 38 different countries
• More than 4,500 employees
• More than 3,000 leading suppliers
• More than 600,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand

·         Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global Contact:

Ken Leitch

Global Head of Corporate Communications

Tel: +44 207 851 4145

Email: kleitch@premierfarnell.com

Global PR Agency:

Darren Willsher/Andrew Hill

Wildfire PR

Tel: +44 208 408 8000

Email: element14@wildfirepr.com

European Contact:

Jen Patterson

PR Manager, Europe and Global

Tel: +44 113 2484904

Email: jpatterson@premierfarnell.com

APAC Contact:            

Christina Loh

PR Manager, APAC

Tel: + 65 6671 8769

Email: cloh@element14.com

North America Contact:

William Polk

PR and Social Media manager

Tel: +1 773 907 5199

Email:  wpolk@newark.com

Data from 2,400 board designs reveals the connectivity options, sensors and features that engineers want from development kits

19 May 2015 – element14 has unveiled the 16 finalists in its global DreamBoard initiative to find the ultimate development kit. Shortlisted from more than 2,400 boards created using an interactive tool on the element14 Community, the finalists reveal a strong preference for ARM-based 64-bit Quad Core processors, along with SD memory and an improved mix of sensors.  

The 16 finalists, from Europe, North America and Asia, will now see their boards competing in a four- round voting knock out, starting on 18 May. They represent the best applications and designs in areas including marine, automotive, prototyping and home automation, as judged by VIP members and technical specialists from the element14 Community. The final two boards will go head to head in a vote starting on 9 July, which will see the ultimate DreamBoard winner announced on 22 July. 

The entire data from over 2,400 submitted designs also reveals new insights into the components and technical options that engineers are looking for in today’s development kits.

Selected for 74% of the boards, Linux is the preferred operating system, followed by Android, which featured in just over 1,000 designs. By far the most popular feature is Wi-Fi, appearing on 70% of all boards, then Bluetooth (47%), a reset button (44%) and battery management (39%).

The top interface and connectivity options are SD/Micro SD, HDMI/Micro HDMI and Ethernet, In contrast, camera interfaces, LCD displays and USB connectors were much less important. For sensors, the most popular were temperature, accelerometers and gyroscopes.

Dianne Kibbey Global Head of Community, element14, comments: “Our global DreamBoard initiative really captured the imagination of engineers across the world, with members creating and sharing more than 2,400 development kit designs. As a result, we have uncovered unique, rich insights into the potential development kit applications that are inspiring the designs of today’s engineers and what the development kits of the future need to look like. The final 16 demonstrate how the members of the element14 Community are pushing the boundaries of innovation and leading the way in early stage design.”

In the voting rounds, pairs of DreamBoards will go head-to-head and the most popular, as voted by element14 Community members, will go through to the next round. More information about the 16 finalists, listed below, can be found at element14.com/dreamboard, including the line-up of DreamBoard pairs for voting.

1.     Germany - Hendrik Lipka – The SensorBoard

2.     USA – Jason Daniels – Quad Core PGC board

3.     USA – Charles Cumings – Atmospheric Research Prototyper

4.     UK - André Collins – Marine Aquarium Interface Board

5.     India – Manjuprasad Basangi – PC64, 64-bit architecture PC in automobile

6.     USA – Christina Harrison – Radio System Base Board

7.     India - Ashok R – Flyot, smartboard designed for IoT

8.     USA – Justin Box – FreeNAS board

9.     UK - Shabaz Yousaf – Stripboard++

10.  Italty - Graziano Ullucci – Arduino environment compatible FPGA

11.  India – Shrenik Shikhare – The MobiBoard

12.  USA – Katryna Gaither - PicoITX

13.  India – Antariksh Bahekar – IndustrioBoard

14.  USA – Justin Sander – Minitacular

15.  USA – Edgar Barranco – High Altitude Balloon Data

16.  USA – Draven Umbra – Mother H.E.N.

Ends

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. Trading as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific, it had sales last year of £960m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,000 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.



Premier Farnell works to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available 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 and the Design Center enables design engineers to compare kits from the world’s greatest range of development tools.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

• Operations in 38 different countries
• More than 4,500 employees
• More than 3,000 leading suppliers
• More than 600,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand

·         Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global Contact:

Global PR Agency:

Andrew Hill/Jhanvi Gudka/Marta Kot

Wildfire PR

Tel: +44 208 408 8000

Email: element14@wildfirepr.com

European Contact:

Jen Patterson

PR Manager, Europe and Global

Tel: +44 113 2484904

Email: jpatterson@premierfarnell.com

APAC Contact:            

Christina Loh

PR Manager, APAC

Tel: + 65 6671 8769

Email: cloh@element14.com

North America Contact:

William Polk

PR and Social Media manager

Tel: +1 773 907 5199

Email:  wpolk@newark.com

7 May 2015, element14 is today launching the ADALM1000, a complete low cost learning ecosystem for mixed-signal circuit designs from Analog Devices. 

Priced at £24.69, the ADALM1000 is ideal for teachers, students, electronic design engineers, hobbyists and makers that can benefit from a portable, low cost source measure unit that works by streaming to a desktop computer or laptop.

Benefitting from an open source hardware platform, the included software operates on Windows, Linux, OS X, Android, and BSD platforms and provides interactive data visualisation and analysis software that helps users test and measure many types of electronic circuits.

With the ADALM1000, users can build and test a wide range of components and circuits as well as download pre-defined projects and video lectures. C, C++, MATLAB and Python support is also included.

The Active Learning Module uses the USB connection from the user’s computer to provide integrated dual voltage and current supplies and can also act as a basic signal generator.  The module also includes probes that allow users to do basic circuit measurements as well as more complex performance visualisation and analysis through the use of 16-bit, 100kSPS signal conversion which is displayed on the user’s computer display.

David Shen, Group CTO at Premier Farnell, said: “We are excited to add this product to our portfolio as it provides a low cost, powerful electronic test and measurement tool to a broad range of new audiences that may not have regular access to a complete test bench.  To support the module, we will also be releasing an accessories kit in the coming weeks that will be used in upcoming online classes and tutorials.”

The ADALM1000 kit includes the module, USB cable, I/O cables, header-pins, Quick Start Guide and is supported by a diverse online network.  For additional information, please visit the element14 Design Center.

To get started and make the most of the ADALM1000 element14 will also be supplying a kit of 234 components in a plastic storage container that support a series of labs and learning experiments available for free download.  The Analog Devices Active Learning Program Parts Kit is available from Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 in Asia Pacific.

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. Trading as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific, it had sales last year of £960m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,000 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.



Premier Farnell works to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available 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 and the Design Center enables design engineers to compare kits from the world’s greatest range of development tools.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

• Operations in 38 different countries
• More than 4,500 employees
• More than 3,000 leading suppliers
• More than 600,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand

·         Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global Contact:

Ken Leitch

Global Head of Corporate Communications

Tel: +44 207 851 4145

Email: kleitch@premierfarnell.com

Global PR Agency:

Darren Willsher/Andrew Hill

Wildfire PR

Tel: +44 208 408 8000

Email: element14@wildfirepr.com

European Contact:

Jen Patterson

PR Manager, Europe and Global

Tel: +44 113 2484904

Email: jpatterson@premierfarnell.com

APAC Contact:            

Christina Loh

PR Manager, APAC

Tel: + 65 6671 8769

Email: cloh@element14.com

North America Contact:

William Polk

PR and Social Media manager

Tel: +1 773 907 5199

Email:  wpolk@newark.com

Healthcare, renewable energy and the environment should be the top priorities for technology and innovation according to a global study of 3,500 consumers released today by element14, the global online network of more than 325,000 engineers and technology enthusiasts. The study, Engineering a Connected World, also explores consumer interest in and adoption of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), driverless cars, robotics and gesture control.

The results of the global consumer research, carried out in Australia, China, France, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States, reveal that 59 percent of people identified healthcare as a top priority for technology and innovation, followed by renewable energy (56 percent) and the environment (47 percent). Opinions vary considerably by region, however. For example, education is more of a priority in India than elsewhere, space exploration and aerospace is almost three times more important in China than the rest of the world, and those living in Germany are most interested in advancing entertainment via technology.

The study also reveals some specific technologies that consumers would like to see become a reality in 2015, such as universal high speed internet (68 percent) and flexible or foldable screens (40 percent). Thirty-seven percent would like to see self-driving cars become a reality this year, and space tourism is appeals to 15 percent of those questioned.

The study, presented in a new report available today on element14.com, is part of element14’s broader “Engineering a Connected World” initiative which includes a series of global design challenges over the next 24 months. The challenges will focus on innovation in energy efficiency, food production and medical technology, and in leading them Farnell element14 will oversee the development of more than 100 engineering concepts and prototypes.

“As the world’s largest community of engineers and technology enthusiasts, we wanted to know consumers’ perspectives on where engineers should apply their abilities in design and innovation,” said Dianne Kibbey, element14’s Global Head of Community. “Our broader ‘Engineering a Connected World’ initiative is designed to reflect those priorities and will connect engineers to powerful new ideas, the latest technologies and to each other to create innovative solutions to everyday problems. Through our design challenges, our Community can actively explore technology that will make people’s lives better, more fulfilling, more exciting or make a difference to how they live and work.”

The first “Engineering a Connected World” challenges are already underway. “Enchanted Objects” tasks engineers with re-imagining everyday objects using embedded IoT technology. “Sci Fi Your Pi”, sponsored by Raspberry Pi creator Pi Trading, challenges engineers and enthusiasts to use the Raspberry Pi 2 to design applications inspired by science fiction.

New challenges are also planned around vertical farming and smart vehicle technology. Specialist experts from each field have been enlisted to judge entries and mentor finalists, and element14 will provide support in the form of parts, tools, software and advice.

For more information on “Engineering a Connected World” or to view the research report, visit element14.com.

- ENDS -

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. Trading as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific, it had sales last year of £960m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,000 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.



Premier Farnell works to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available 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 and the Design Center enables design engineers to compare kits from the world’s greatest range of development tools.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

• Operations in 38 different countries
• More than 4,500 employees
• More than 3,000 leading suppliers
• More than 600,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand

·         Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global Contact:

Ken Leitch

Global Head of Corporate Communications

Tel: +44 207 851 4145

Email: kleitch@premierfarnell.com

Global PR Agency:

Darren Willsher/Andrew Hill

Wildfire PR

Tel: +44 208 408 8000

Email: element14@wildfirepr.com

European Contact:

Jen Patterson

PR Manager, Europe and Global

Tel: +44 113 2484904

Email: jpatterson@premierfarnell.com

APAC Contact:            

Christina Loh

PR Manager, APAC

Tel: + 65 6671 8769

Email: cloh@element14.com

North America Contact:

William Polk

PR and Social Media manager

Tel: +1 773 907 5199

Email:  wpolk@newark.com

Easy-to-use sensor expansion board for accelerometer, magnetometer and gyroscope

14 April 2015, element14 has announced the addition of the Freescale 9-axis sensor platform shield to its extensive portfolio of technology products, which includes the biggest range of development kits available globally from one single source.

This new easy-to-use 9-axis Freescale Sensor Solution, FRDM-STBC-AGM01, features three of the latest sensing technologies incorporated on one board and has been manufactured at its Embest facility in China. These technologies that are typically found in high end consumer devices are now available in a single, low cost shield allow users to determine motion, position and location as well as angle of rotation.

David Shen, Group Chief Technology Officer at Premier Farnell said, “We are delighted to work with Freescale to continually add the newest technologies to our portfolio. This expansion board uses one of the most popular accessory shield interfaces and allows designers from all industries to easily design in the latest accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer functionality into their designs.”

This 9-axis sensor expansion board for the FXAS21002C gyroscope and the FXOS8700CQ integrated e-compass, is compatible with most Freescale Freedom boards and is supported by the Freescale Sensor Fusion Toolbox. The FRDM-STBC-AGM01 is ideal for a wide range of applications requiring motion, orientation and location including:

·         Industrial and consumer grade robots, UAVs, and RC vehicles

·         Game controllers

·         Gyro-stabilized electronic compass

·         Gesture-based user interfaces and Human Machine Interface (HMI)

·         Mobile phones and tablets

·         Virtual and augmented reality devices (including glasses)

The Freescale 9-axis sensor platform shield is priced at £12.85 and ships from Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America ($15.95), and element14 in Asia (S$26.90).

Ends

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. Trading as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific, it had sales last year of £960m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,000 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.



Premier Farnell works to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available 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 and the Design Center enables design engineers to compare kits from the world’s greatest range of development tools.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

• Operations in 38 different countries
• More than 4,500 employees
• More than 3,000 leading suppliers
• More than 600,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand

·         Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global Contact:

Ken Leitch

Global Head of Corporate Communications

Tel: +44 207 851 4145

Email: kleitch@premierfarnell.com

Global PR Agency:

Darren Willsher/Andrew Hill

Wildfire PR

Tel: +44 208 408 8000

Email: element14@wildfirepr.com

European Contact:

Jen Patterson

PR Manager, Europe and Global

Tel: +44 113 2484904

Email: jpatterson@premierfarnell.com

APAC Contact:            

Christina Loh

PR Manager, APAC

Tel: + 65 6671 8769

Email: cloh@element14.com

North America Contact:

William Polk

PR and Social Media manager

Tel: +1 773 907 5199

Email:  wpolk@newark.com

Pre-configured ARM^® mbed^™ enabled microcontroller development board now in stock from element14, featuring an ARM Cortex^®-M4 processor and IBM's BlueMix cloud service.

13 April 2015 - element14 has secured an agreement with ARM to be the first to stock the recently launched ARM mbed IoT Starter Kit – Ethernet Edition for IBM Internet of Things Foundation, opening up opportunities for tech enthusiasts across the world to experiment and innovate with the Internet of Things (IoT).  Available now from element14, priced at £79 the new development kit enables people with limited or no experience of embedded design or web development to create IoT applications and devices in a matter of minutes.

The agreement reinforces element14’s commitment to providing electronic components and development kits that support design innovation for the Internet of Things.  Worldwide interest in IoT is high, with a recent global survey of more than 3,500 adults, commissioned by element14, revealing 43% want to be able to connect more devices and appliances to the Internet. This figure rises to 71% across China and India.

David Shen, Group CTO at Premier Farnell, said: “The new ARM mbed IoT Starter Kit is an ideal ecosystem to develop IoT enabled applications.  The out of box experience is outstanding as it allows designers of all skill levels to get their device connected to the cloud and begin reading the kits sensors remotely in a matter of minutes.  This agreement is another example of how we are leading the market in opening up new opportunities for innovation and making the right tools and expertise available to engineers and enthusiasts across the world.”

“The agreement with element14 makes the ARM mbed IoT Starter Kit easily available to any developer, almost anywhere on the planet, at a price they can afford,” said Zach Shelby, vice president of Marketing, IoT business marketing, ARM. “A major focus for mbed is to lower the barriers to IoT innovation, enabling anyone to become an entrepreneur. This kit helps to deliver on that ambition.”

The new development kit, which guides users through the processes for developing cloud-ready IoT devices, comes with an ARM mbed-enabled development board, built on the Freescale FRDM-K64F Kinetis microcontroller, which has an ARM Cortex-M4 processing core running at 120MHz.  An Ethernet connection links the kit to IBM's Bluemix cloud service, which acts as a guide on how to use the board.

The kits also features a sensor expansion board, which contains a 128 x 32 graphics LCD, 256KB RAM, 1MB of flash storage, a speaker, five-way joystick, temperature sensor, accelerometer, potentiometers and a PWM (pulse-width modulation) control line to receive digital signals.

The ARM mbed IoT Starter Kit is available from Farnell element14 in Europe, MCM and Newark element14 in North America and element14 in APAC. Data sheets and application notes can be found on the product pages together with a range of associated accessories and 24/5 live tech support is available for any queries. 

The element14 Community provides a rich resource for user of the new development kit, where more than 300,000 electronics engineers are on hand to share experiences, knowledge and advice on developing IoT-enabled applications and systems. For additional information please visit the element14 Design Center.

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. Trading as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific, it had sales last year of £960m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,000 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.



Premier Farnell works to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available 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 and the Design Center enables design engineers to compare kits from the world’s greatest range of development tools.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

• Operations in 38 different countries
• More than 4,500 employees
• More than 3,000 leading suppliers
• More than 600,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand

·         Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global Contact:

Ken Leitch

Global Head of Corporate Communications

Tel: +44 207 851 4145

Email: kleitch@premierfarnell.com

Global PR Agency:

Darren Willsher/Andrew Hill

Wildfire PR

Tel: +44 208 408 8000

Email: element14@wildfirepr.com

European Contact:

Jen Patterson

PR Manager, Europe and Global

Tel: +44 113 2484904

Email: jpatterson@premierfarnell.com

APAC Contact:            

Christina Loh

PR Manager, APAC

Tel: + 65 6671 8769

Email: cloh@element14.com

North America Contact:

William Polk

PR and Social Media manager

Tel: +1 773 907 5199

Email:  wpolk@newark.com

March 31, 2015 – element14 today launches the GIZMO Explorer Board, a companion board for the GIZMO 2 platform from GIZMOSPHERE. The board offers features and peripherals that are ideal for use in motor control, human machine interface and control system application designs so users can get their projects started quickly.

The GIZMO Explorer Board is the only board of its kind to offer a keypad, LCD, motor control hardware and a generous prototyping area for GIZMO 2 users. The board connects to the GIZMO 2 platform via the low-speed expansion connector.

Motor control applications for the GIZMO Explorer Board include a wide variety of applications ranging from robotics to antenna rotators, and it is ideal for speed control and direction or position control. Interface applications include operator interfaces, household appliances and office equipment.

Features of the board include:

·         GPIO header

·         Processor I/O signal access break out access

·         Interfaces to SPI/I2C/UART

Priced $19.95 and available with next day delivery, the GIZMO Explorer Board is available from Newark element14 in North America, Farnell element14 in Europe and element14 in APAC.

Ends

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. Trading as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific, it had sales last year of £960m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,000 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.



Premier Farnell works to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available 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 and the Design Center enables design engineers to compare kits from the world’s greatest range of development tools.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

• Operations in 38 different countries
• More than 4,500 employees
• More than 3,000 leading suppliers
• More than 600,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand
• Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global Contact:

Ken Leitch

Global Head of Corporate Communications

Tel: +44 207 851 4145

Email: kleitch@premierfarnell.com

Global PR Agency:

Darren Willsher/Andrew Hill

Wildfire PR

Tel: +44 208 408 8000

Email: element14@wildfirepr.com

European Contact:

Jen Patterson

PR Manager, Europe and Global

Tel: +44 113 2484904

Email: jpatterson@premierfarnell.com

APAC Contact:            

Christina Loh

PR Manager, APAC

Tel: + 65 6671 8769

Email: cloh@element14.com

North America Contact:

William Polk

PR and Social Media manager

Tel: +1 773 907 5199

Email:  wpolk@newark.com

March 9, 2015 – CHICAGO – element14 has launched the new Freescale Kinetis KL27/17 Cortex-M0+ based Freedom Platform with USB. The board is ideal for evaluating low power Cortex-M0+ based designs that require USB capability.

The Kinetis KL series of MCUs is one of the most energy efficient MCUs in its class. The new Kinetis FRDM-KL27Z Cortex-M0+ based Freedom Platform with USB OTG features a Flex I/O module, ROM Bootloader and low power crystal-less USB functionality. The energy efficient 48MHz ARM Cortex-M0+ core, multiple low power modes and autonomous low power peripherals including USB ‘Keep Alive’ Mode make this ideal for low power or battery operated applications.

Tool support includes free Kinetis Design Studio IDE, Software Development Kit and Processor Expert. The main silicon is available in an ultra-small 36XFBGA (3.5x3.5x0.5mm) package as well.

Example uses for the new product include portable and handheld consumer devices like home health, remote controls and rechargeable devices.

The new FRDM-KL27Z can be purchased Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 in Asia Pacific for £9.46.

Ends

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. It trades as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific. With sales last year of £968m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,500 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.



Premier Farnell works with key strategic suppliers to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available through 43 local language transactional websites, with customer support provided by degreed engineers. The element14 Community allows buyers and engineers to access a wide range of independent technical information, tools and the latest resources.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14news; @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

• Operations in 36 different countries
• More than 4,300 employees
• More than 3,500 leading suppliers
• More than 500,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand
• Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global Contact:

Ken Leitch

Global Head of PR

Tel: +44 207 851 4145

Email: kleitch@premierfarnell.com

Global PR Agency:

Darren Willsher/Andrew Hill

Wildfire

Tel: +44 208 408 8000

Email: element14@wildfirepr.com

European Contact:

Jen Patterson

PR Manager, Europe and Global

Tel: +44 113 279 0101

Email: jpatterson@premierfarnell.com

APAC Contact:            

Christina Loh

PR Manager, APAC

Tel: + 65 6671 8769

Email: cloh@element14.com

North America Contact:

William Polk

PR and Social Media manager

Tel: +1 773 907 5199

Email:  wpolk@newark.com

North American PR Agency

Allison Dreiband

Walker Sands Communication

Tel: +1 312 648 6010

Email: allison.dreiband@walkersands.com

element14 also kicks off Design Challenge encouraging Internet-of-Things innovation

19 February 2015, London – New research conducted by the element14 Community, an online community of more than 300,000 electronics engineers, has revealed high consumer interest worldwide in the Internet of Things (IoT) and a huge potential value to developing economies.

The study, conducted as part of element14’s mantra, “Engineering a Connected World,” included more than 3,500 people in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. When asked if it would be beneficial to connect more devices and appliances to the internet, 43 percent agreed. However, the research highlights a notable thirst for increased internet connectivity in developing economies, hinting that IoT has the potential to continue the trend for increased access to the internet in developing economies that mobile has created.

On average, 31 percent of consumers in Australia, France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. agree that the more devices in their home that connect to the internet, the better. This figure more than doubles to 71 percent for consumers in both China and India, newly industrialised countries with lower percentages of population with internet connectivity (according to World Bank data).

The research findings give new credence to the launch of the latest Design Challenge from the element14 Community, Enchanted Objects. As part of the challenge, Community members across the world are encouraged to re-imagine everyday objects using embedded Internet of Things technology, as explained in this video.

Other findings from the study include:

• Respondents in China and India are also more likely to agree with the statement “The more of the world that is connected to the internet, the better,” indicating that desire for connectivity extends beyond their homes. On this statement, 73 percent and 86 percent concurred for each country respectively, compared to just a 55 percent average across Australia, France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S.
• People in China and India are much more open to wearing a connected device such as a smartwatch or smartglasses, with 66 percent and 63 percent agreeing, compared to 26 percent on average in the other countries surveyed.
• In the U.S., more than two thirds (68 percent) are concerned about notification overload as an effect of connected devices, highlighting the need for intelligent automation and minimal interaction in IoT technology
• With regards to the privacy implications of IoT, France was revealed to be the most concerned nation with 81 percent agreeing this was an issue for them. The average number was only marginally lower (77 percent), showing IoT technologies must be transparent and address privacy concerns.
• Aside from India and China (which were 59 percent and 63 percent respectively), Brits and Germans are the most gadget-obsessed nations, with 50 percent of both agreeing that they cannot live without their gadgets and technology.

The Enchanted Objects Design Challenge will be judged by a panel of IoT experts. This includes Dr. John Barrett, Head of Academic Studies at the Nimbus Centre for Embedded Systems Research at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) and Group Director of the Centre's Smart Systems Integration Research Group.

Barrett commented, “The IoT has immense potential, but individuals and companies also have very valid concerns about security and privacy in an interconnected IoT world. In Nimbus, security and privacy are an integral aspect of our research and application development, and worthwhile IoT devices need to reassure users they will get something they value in return for allowing their data to be collected. I’m very much looking forward to what participants in the Enchanted Objects Challenge produce.”

Dianne Kibbey, element14’s Global Head of Community, added “Everyone – from our component suppliers to manufacturers of consumer products - is talking about the Internet of Things because its potential and importance will be revolutionary. IoT offers so many opportunities for new functionality and capabilities outside of existing products, and many companies and product designers are being forced to rethink their traditional businesses. While some are struggling to realize and understand IoT’s significance, this research shows key geographies and applications where IoT has strong potential.”

“On the element14 Community we’re ‘Engineering a Connected World,’ and the Enchanted Objects Design Challenge is about giving ordinary objects a new life – “enchanted” by the power of IoT. We’re excited to see what our members can imagine and deliver against this challenge.”

To learn more about the Enchanted Objects design challenge, visit the homepage.

For more thoughts on the research in this release from one of element14’s technology experts, read Sagar Jethani’s blog post here.

ENDS

Methodology

Research was conducted by Research Now on behalf of the element14 Community with 3,500 consumers, 500 in each of the following countries: Australia, China, France, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States.

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. It trades as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific. With sales last year of £968m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,500 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.

Premier Farnell works with key strategic suppliers to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available through 43 local language transactional websites, with customer support provided by degreed engineers. The element14 Community allows buyers and engineers to access a wide range of independent technical information, tools and the latest resources.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
 Twitter - @element14
 YouTube – element14
 Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

•    Operations in 36 different countries

•    More than 4,300 employees

•    More than 3,500 leading suppliers

•    More than 500,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand

•    Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global PR Agency:

Alex Warren / Andrea Berghall

Wildfire

Tel: +44 208 408 8000

Email: element14@wildfirepr.com  

Demonstrating a comprehensive portfolio of dev kits and design software to help engineers get their designs off the ground and achieve fast time to market

Exclusive highlights at Farnell element14’s booth:

•       The latest development boards from Freescale, TI, AMD, ST and Atmel

•       A first look at the new Raspberry Pi 2

•       The latest PCB software from Altium and CadSoft, available now through the element14 Design Center

16 February 2015 – At Embedded World 2015 Farnell element14 will showcase the industry’s widest range of development kits. Alongside new PCB design software from Altium and CadSoft, these dev kits provide professional engineers with the early stage design building blocks they require, ensuring that their innovative designs get the best possible start. Key dev kit products from leading brands - including Atmel, Microchip, Freescale, ST, ADI, TI and Gizmosphere (AMD) - will be on show on Stand 221 in Hall 5.

Enabling technologies for the Internet of Things (IoT) will feature heavily on Farnell element14’s stand, with a range of products to inspire innovation and support engineers in designing for a connected world. These include:

·         Atmel’s SAMA5D4 Xplained Ultra - with advance security features and 720p hardware video decoder

·         RIoTboard – an open source evaluation platform ideal for Android and Linux development using the ARM Cortex-A9 architecture running at 1GHz

·         Texas Instruments CC3200 Launchpad - the industry’s first single chip WIFI solution integrating WIFI, internet, security and a programmable Cortex-M4 MCU designed to aid the development of faster, easier solutions for the IoT

The Gizmo2 open source development platform for gaming, digital signage and robotics from Gizmosphere will also be on display. Gizmo2 provides the power of a high performance computer and the I/O capabilities of a microcontroller through the use of an AMD Embedded G-Series System-on-Chip (SOC). 

Altium’s CircuitStudio PCB software is a new addition to the element14 Design Center and visitors to the Farnell element14 stand at Embedded World can get a first-hand look at its streamlined and easy-to-use interface, created to help engineers complete complex PCB designs. CircuitStudio offers a vast component library of over 350,000 parts, native 3D editing and has powerful and professional capabilities for schematic capture, PCB layout and routing.

Providing the right software for different requirements and levels CadSoft will also be demonstrating the latest release of its CadSoft EAGLE V7 PCB design software, featuring enhanced autorouter, hierarchical design, 3D Tool and GUI makeover.

Visitors to the Farnell element14 booth will be able to see the recently launched Raspberry Pi 2 Model B. Six times faster than the previous model, and now boasting 1GB of RAM, the Raspberry Pi 2 will open up the Pi to a raft of bigger and more powerful projects.

Richard Slee, Business President Sales & Marketing Europe, Premier Farnell said: “Embedded World is a platform for us to really demonstrate our commitment to supporting engineers through each step of the design process, and in particular our strength in early stage design. We continue to offer the industry’s widest range of development kits, and, with software now playing such a key differentiating role in the design process, we’re pleased to now be able to supply great tools like CircuitStudio and EAGLE 7 to our customers. Ultimately, by connecting customers with leading suppliers and technology, and providing unique channels like the element14 Community and element14 Design Center, we are becoming the global destination for electronics customers.”

After a successful debut at electronica, Farnell element14’s booth will once again feature the Dev Kit Vending Machine. Here, visitors can claim one of 400 popular development kits from suppliers including Atmel, Microchip, Freescale and Cypress, in exchange for a ‘Dev Kit Dare’.

Finally, Farnell element14 is to partner with Analog Devices for the Embedded World student day. Together they will demonstrate the ADALM1000 University Kit, a complete low-cost learning tool for mixed signal circuit design, with interactive data measurement, visualisation and analysis software.

- ends -

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. It trades as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific. With sales last year of £968m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,500 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.



Premier Farnell works with key strategic suppliers to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available through 43 local language transactional websites, with customer support provided by degreed engineers. The element14 Community allows buyers and engineers to access a wide range of independent technical information, tools and the latest resources.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14news; @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

• Operations in 36 different countries
• More than 4,300 employees
• More than 3,500 leading suppliers
• More than 500,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand

·         Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global PR Agency:

Darren Willsher/Andrew Hill

Wildfire

Tel: +44 208 408 8000

Email: element14@wildfirepr.com

European Contact:

Jen Patterson

PR Manager, Europe and Global

Tel: +44 113 279 0101

Email: jpatterson@premierfarnell.com

Development kit from Atmel with video decoder and advanced security features

15 January 2014, London, element14 has launched the Atmel Xplained Board, (SAMA5D4-XULT) which features an ARM Cortex-A5 microprocessor. This development kit allows users to evaluate, prototype and create high performance, application-specific designs.

The SAMA5D4-XULT includes 4Gb DDR2 external memory, one Ethernet physical layer transceiver, two SD/MMC interfaces, two host USB ports and one device USB port, one 24-bit RGB LCD and HDMI interface and debug interfaces.

In addition, the rich peripheral set is ideal for a range of user interface applications. The 720p video decoder and playback at 30fps alongside the LCD controller with graphics accelerator are ideal for consumer and industrial designs including terminals and Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

The SAMA5D4-XULT leverages the advanced security features found on the board’s microprocessor which include ARM Trust Zone, secure boot, encrypted DDR bus, tamper detection pins and secure data storage.

Seven headers, compatible with Arduino R3 (Uno, Due) and two Xplained headers are available for various shield connections. 

“Our partnership with Atmel continues to grow with the latest addition to the Atmel Xplained family of development kits,” said David Shen, Group Chief Technology Officer at Premier Farnell. “The comprehensive security features and display capabilities of the SAMA5D4-XULT are key to the advancement and implementation of IoT applications where the user interface and security information are critical.”

More features, downloads and purchase information on the Atmel SAMA5D4 can be found on the element14 Design Center.

Ends

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. It trades as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific. With sales last year of £968m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,500 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.



Premier Farnell works with key strategic suppliers to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available through 43 local language transactional websites, with customer support provided by degreed engineers. The element14 Community allows buyers and engineers to access a wide range of independent technical information, tools and the latest resources.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14news; @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

• Operations in 36 different countries
• More than 4,300 employees
• More than 3,500 leading suppliers
• More than 500,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand
• Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global Contact:

Ken Leitch

Global Head of PR

Tel: +44 207 851 4145

Email: kleitch@premierfarnell.com

Global PR Agency:

Darren Willsher/Andrew Hill

EML Wildfire

Tel: +44 208 408 8000

Email: element14@emlwildfire.com

European Contact:

Jen Patterson

PR Manager, Europe and Global

Tel: +44 113 279 0101

Email: jcooke@premierfarnell.com

APAC Contact:            

Christina Loh

PR Manager, APAC

Tel: + 65 6671 8769

Email: cloh@element14.com

North America Contact:

William Polk

PR and Social Media manager

Tel: +1 773 907 5199

Email:  wpolk@newark.com

element14 adds Timesys Professional Linux Support and TimeStorm IDE seats to help engineers bring their custom embedded Linux products to market faster and more cost effectively.

Timesys’s world-class Linux support connects software and design engineers to a responsive team of expert Linux engineers with full embedded Linux life-cycle experience. Their support packages include BSP, SDK and application development support through the use of the LinuxLink development framework which supports both Yocto project and Timesys own Factory build system.

Support is offered through simple, project based support packages with each package including one project, one processor, and three designated customer contact points for filtering questions.  Additional options can be added for special project requirements like multiple processors or additional support time as needed.

TimeStorm is a Eclipse-based Integrated Development Environment (IDE) with a powerful suite of integrated tools designed to optimize the application developer’s workflow for easier coding and debugging of complex applications and BSPs.  TimeStorm is available in 12 or 24 month single seat licences.

For nearly 20 years, Timesys has been a leader in embedded open source software, support, services, and training and has experience in over 1000 embedded Linux projects with over an 80% loyalty rate.

5 January 2015, Farnell element14 has announced the new Panasonic NFC Tag ICs and evaluation boards with built in FeRAM and AES-128 encryption

Panasonic’s new NFC Tags provide a number of value added connectivity features including high security, high speed Near Field Communication and data storage, high radiation resistance using 4kbit Non-Volatile FeRAM Technology and have ultra low power consumption.

The products are compliant with NFC forum standards and support ISO/IEC14443 TypeB & FeliCa RF Interfaces.

The Tags and evaluation boards support a wide variety of applications including Internet of Things, energy harvesting (battery-less operation possible), latest consumer electronics such as wearable devices and audio/visual, home appliances and devices in industrial, medical and healthcare environments.

Farnell element14 was formally recognised by Panasonic for its number one customer base for Panasonic Push Products in 2014 at electronica in November.  The award recognised NPI commitment and return to sales growth in Europe in 2014.

The NFC range will be one of Panasonic’s leading Push Products for 2015 and will enable Farnell element14 to further support growing customer demand for NFC products driven by increased mobile and Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology usage.

Ends

About the Premier Farnell Group

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. It trades as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific. With sales last year of £968m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,500 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.



Premier Farnell works with key strategic suppliers to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.

The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available through 43 local language transactional websites, with customer support provided by degreed engineers. The element14 Community allows buyers and engineers to access a wide range of independent technical information, tools and the latest resources.

For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14news; @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page

Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com

Premier Farnell Key facts

• Operations in 36 different countries
• More than 4,300 employees
• More than 3,500 leading suppliers
• More than 500,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand

·         Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation

For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.

Global Contact:

Ken Leitch

Global Head of PR

Tel: +44 207 851 4145

Email: kleitch@premierfarnell.com

European Contact:

Jen Patterson

PR Manager, Europe and Global

Tel: +44 113 279 0101

Email: jpatterson@premierfarnell.com

About PAISEU

Panasonic Automotive and Industrial Systems Europe (PAISEU) is a company that provides unparalleled expertise to leading car manufacturers, industrial customers and OEMs.  It researches, develops, manufactures and supplies key electronic components, devices and modules up to complete solutions across a broad range of industries; and provides production equipment which builds the manufacturing lines of global corporations.

Globally, Panasonic's Automotive and Industrial Systems company is responsible for over one third of Panasonic’s overall revenue.

For further product information, please visit: http://eu.industrial.panasonic.com/