Alpha Micro announces availability of Lantronix xPico® Wi-Fi® Module

Aug. 14, 2013 - PRLog -- M2M specialist, Alpha Micro Components, today announced the availability of the new  xPico® Wi-Fi® module from Lantronix, a compact, embedded wireless device server designed for easy and fast machine-to-Wi-Fi connectivity.  Highly flexible, the pin and form factor compatibility with the wired xPico enables engineers to create a single PCB design suitable for both wired and wireless applications.

"xPico Wi-Fi addresses a critical need in the M2M market, and further entrenches Lantronix as a leading connectivity and solutions provider," said Ron Frederickson, vice president of product development for Ticker Communications, Inc (http://tickercom.ca/). – a leading provider of broadcasting digital content for LED signs and other digital media. "Our development strategy requires smaller footprints, seamless integration, and easy deployment – along with the ability to support applications with more and more robust feature sets including Soft AP, Wi-Fi capabilities, and zero-host load, to name a few. xPico Wi-Fi fits the bill, and we look forward to leveraging it in our future designs."

Tablet and Smartphone-enable Your Devices
Simultaneous access point and client functionality, a key differentiator for the xPico Wi-Fi module, allows the creation of its own secure Wi-Fi network for direct access as well as maintaining a Wi-Fi client connection to the existing Wi-Fi network. This allows machines to be directly accessed via smartphone or tablet.

"We have already found the new xPico Wi-Fi to be an easy-to-use, yet incredibly powerful chip alternative for our designs," said Claudio Foscan, head of development for technology and engineering consulting firm ECOnovis Engineering AG. "Not only does the product significantly speed the time to market for our new designs, but the ability to access and manage device data from iPhones® and iPads®, as well as Android devices, puts us on the cutting edge."

Quick Time to Market - No Host Software to Load and No Code to Write
With Lantronix' Zero-Host Load architecture, there is no need to manage or load drivers on the system or write a single line of code. The xPico Wi-Fi has been optimized to bring easy and secure wireless functionality to a wide range of machine to machine applications from small battery powered devices to large industrial installations.

"We have been an xPico Wi-Fi beta customer for the past few months, and have found it to be much more than just a module – it provides a full-featured production quality software platform," said Michael Springmann, head of development for A2000 Industrie-Elektronik, GmbH. "From the robust device management capabilities to its unified configuration interface to the network services offload engine, the xPico Wi-Fi will be a welcomed addition to our development team and product offering.

"We believe the xPico-WiFi offers the ideal combination of small size, power efficiency and functionality to the M2M marketplace," said Kurt Busch, president and CEO of Lantronix. "With the secure access point functionality, instead of looking up cryptic codes, a technician or operator can now use a tablet as the primary interface to a machine, bringing increased productivity along with a rich user experience."

Commenting on the availability of this new component, Christos Papakyriacou, Managing Director, Alpha Micro Components said, “The xPico Wi-Fi adds further value to our M2M portfolio. It is a very welcome addition which I believe will prove to be extremely useful to today’s design engineers.”

 

xPico Wi-Fi device: Key Features and Benefits
With the xPico Wi-Fi embedded module, Lantronix brings its industry-leading machine-to-machine connectivity expertise into one of the world's smallest and easiest to use machine-to-Wi-Fi device servers. The xPico Wi-Fi device boasts a tiny footprint of 24mm x 16.5mm, and is pin and form factor compatible with other members of the Lantronix® xPico® product family.

§  Easy to deploy and use: No need for software development or to write a single line of code

§  Innovative form factor: Compact footprint: 24mm x 16.5mm

§  Mobile-ready: Enables direct access to device data via smartphones, tablets and connected PCs

§  Soft AP: Unique simultaneous Soft-AP and Client mode, allows for easy points of access while maintaining a secure network

§  Robust: Device server application suite hardened by Lantronix over the last decade

§  Secure: 256-bit AES Encryption

§  Industrial-ready: Operating environment at extended temperatures: -40° to +85° C

§  Standards-based: Conforms to latest WLAN and IP internetworking standards, ensuring interoperability and eliminating vendor lock-in

§  Customizable: Designed with customizable capabilities for rapid OEM adoption

§  Power: Low-power profile optimized for battery-powered devices

§  Peripheral Connectivity: Serial, SPI, USB, ADC, GPIOs

§  Ease-of-Migration: Easy migration path for xPico Wired designs

 

§  Guaranteed: 5-Year limited warranty.