Macnica releasing Mpression Odyssey IoT Kit with FPGA, Bluetooth and sensors to work with smart phones

Lowering hurdles for developing IoT equipment using FPGA and sensors with wireless capability

November 4, 2014, Yokohama, Japan and San Diego, California, USA – Macnica, Inc., a leading technical added-value distribution company with headquarters in Yokohama, Japan together with its North American company Macnica Americas, Inc., today announced it is releasing a new IoT development platform using a MAX®10 FPGA from Altera, WICED™ SMART Bluetooth module from Broadcom, EFM32™ MCU and sensors from Silicon Labs and an accelerometer from Analog Devices.

The Mpression Odyssey MAX10 FPGA Eval Kit (ordering code: ODYSSEY-MAX10-KIT) is a development and evaluation kit for IoT applications enabling users to use a dedicated Odyssey smartphone application on iPhone and Android phones to read and write data through Bluetooth SMART interface on the Odyssey kit consisting of the FPGA board with the MAX10 FPGA and 30-pin external header, the BLE Sensor board with the Broadcom WICED SMART module, Silicon Labs EFM32 MCU and temperature/humidity sensor and UV/light/proximity sensor, and Analog Device's accelerometer, and the Battery board with a coin cell holder. Details can be found athttp://www.m-pression.com/solutions/boards/odyssey-fpga .

The Odyssey kit is bundled with a number of FPGA designs and MCU codes called "personalities" utilizing MAX10 FPGA features and various sensors on the kit. The Odyssey phone app can be downloaded for iPhones and Android phones for free and the users can activate the app for free by registering. The personalities can be switched in the Odyssey app and the users can experience different features of MAX10 FPGA and sensors. A web portal enables users to customize the app by changing names of the channels and set read and write parameters to create a custom IoT app very easily without writing any code. The external header pins are placed to be compatible with popular open source Arduino Nano hardware to enable combining Odyssey kit with bread boards and other components and boards to create new electronic gadgets and use the kit for proof of concept platform for IoT projects.

Macnica starts taking orders for the Odyssey kit from the end of November or early December this year under its global product brand Mpression. Until the official sales launch pre-order is open in Mpression web site for the Japan and North America regions. North American customers can reserve their MAX 10 Evaluation kits through Macnica Americas by clicking on the link on the MAX 10 Kit page at http://www.m-pression.com/solutions/boards/odyssey-fpga.

About Macnica Group

　Macnica Group, a leading technical distributor operating worldwide, provides services and high-value products, including semiconductor components, electronic devices, network equipment and software, to electrical and electronics manufacturers and to IT and enterprise customers. Since Macnica was founded in 1972 in Japan, it has focused on technical support and continuous advancement of its technical capabilities. Macnica's business extends globally through its 34 local business centers worldwide, and aims to evolve from a unique Japanese company to a unique global company. Macnica operates in different brands in regions: Macnica (Japan, APAC, North America, Brazil, & Europe), Altima (Japan), Elsena (Japan), Kogent (Japan), Cytech Technology (China & Hong Kong), Cytech Global (ASEAN & India), and Galaxy Far East (Taiwan & China). For more details, please visit http://www.macnica.co.jp/en/

About Macnica Americas

Macnica Americas is a fully franchised semiconductor distributor covering North America with expertise in design services, IP, applications support, and logistics. We are a division of Macnica Inc, a $2.4B global leader in semiconductor distribution and design services. The Macnica Americas IP portfolio includes solutions for high speed networking, broadcast video, DSP and embedded applications.

Find out more about Macnica Americas products and design services at www.macnica-na.com
The Macnica logo, the Mpression logo, and the Macnica Americas logo are trademarks of Macnica, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

EDITORIAL CONTACT:
Steve Sharp
Macnica Americas, Inc.
380 Stevens Ave., Suite 206 Solana Beach, CA 92075
(858) 771-0846
steve.sharp@macnica.com