Steve Laub CEO of Atmel believes that given the increasing proliferation of smart devices throughout the world and the role microcontrollers play in it the company's day has come.
If you subscribe to the idea of intelligent devices communicating to each other,in which there are more internet-enabled devices on this planet than there are people,you understand that microcontrollers of various flavors are enabling and powering these connected devices.
MCUs are literally everywhere,and in increasing numbers.For instance,in the course of our daily lives each of us comes into contact with about 150 microcontrollers on average each day,roughly five times more than just a dozen years ago.
Atmel has a long heritage in MCUs,and they now are at the heart of our business strategy.But the silicon itself is merely a part of the equation.
Designers today require far more than just chips.They demand the ability to connect to a vast array of peripherals that provide for easy integration of MCUs into everything from smartphones and tablets to cars and home appliances.
At the same time,designers are under intense pressure and time constraints.They are being asked to deliver highly innovative designs for demanding customers who in turn are creating highly differentiated end products for their customers in record time.
Consequently,embedded designers need new software platforms and tools that make their jobs easier,optimize their skills,and dramatically reduce design times.
Optimizing the design cycle and accelerating time to market of new end products is no easy task.But,we see it as the paramount challenge of our industry,and it is a major focus for us for the coming year and beyond.
With that in mind,at Electronica,we are announcing Atmel Gallery,a suite of new capabilities and functionality that extends Atmel Studio 6 and makes it the industry's first complete Integrated Design Platform(IDP),evolving it beyond the traditional development environment.We are now the first company to bring the convenience of an'app store'and the collaborative aspects of the cloud to embedded design.
And this is just the start.Over the coming year,we will continue to extend the range of tools and capabilities available through Atmel Gallery and Studio 6.Our ecosystem of third-party software providers will continue to grow,as will our support of openly collaborative cloud-based design practices that we feel will foster shared learning among designers and speed the completion of design projects.
This effort will benefit all embedded designers,regardless of what Atmel products they are using,whether our Atmel AVR or ARM Cortex-M4 and M3 microcontrollers,or technologies involved such as our new SensorHub management,ZigBee wireless,capacitive touch,or ultra-low power'picoPower'solutions.
So,for the next year,watch as we focus on further optimizing the embedded design process and deliver MCU-based solutions that enable the creation of an entirely new generation of end customer products encompassing virtually everything we touch,hear,see and say.
