CIE Components in Electronics
Atmel has announced sampling of the maXTouch S Series touchscreen controllers that have been designed for the rapidly growing Ultrabook and notebook markets. Building upon the success of the maXTouch S Series, the new Windows 8 Certified Atmel mXT3432S is a touchscreen controller with a small footprint that has been optimised for touchscreens up to 17.3 inches.
As a co-engineering collaborator with Microsoft, Atmel has helped to develop high performance touchscreen specifications to support prominent features of Windows 8 including: first-touch latency, finger separation, and support for up to 10 simultaneous touches on the screen as well as edge gestures.
There is growing demand from manufacturers for thinner, lighter devices with larger touchscreens requiring higher noise immunity due to the adoption of shieldless sensors, as well as more data processing due to higher node count. The mXT3432S looks to enable designers to develop a new class of touch-optimised products that meet those requirements. The new controller not only supports Windows 8, but also Linux and Android.
The mXT3432S is Atmel’s first touch controller for Ultrabooks and notebooks featuring patented technologies. Noise immunity technology ensures a more robust performance with various chargers in noisy environments. Atmel also offers a technology that allows the use of thinner and lighter touch sensors that do not require an extra indium tin oxide (ITO) shielding layer, reducing thickness and cost to help system designers create thinner, lighter and larger Ultrabooks and notebooks.
“The Ultrabook and notebook markets are forecasted to reach nearly 300 million units by 2015,” said Randy Lawson, principal analyst and manager, display electronics and consumer electronics research at IHS. “And with the upcoming Windows 8 launch, it is anticipated that touchscreens will quickly make their way into these devices.”
“The rapid adoption of our maXTouch S controllers in smartphones and tablets confirms that we are meeting our customer demands for thinner, lighter and larger touchscreen displays,” said Jon Kiachian, vice president of touch marketing, Atmel Corporation. “And now, with the introduction of the mXT3432S, consumers can soon expect to find Ultrabooks and notebooks with rich and easy-to-use touch capabilities. By using Atmel maXTouch S touchscreen controllers, designers can integrate touch performance, ultra-low power consumption and noise immunity into a variety of touch-enabled applications—ranging from smartphones to tablets, and now Ultrabooks and notebooks.”
