Atmel unveils a cloud-ready Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo platform for IoT apps

Atmel has expanded its SmartConnect wireless portfolio with a wireless combo system-on-chip (SoC) for the rapidly growing Internet of Things (IoT) market.

The new fully-integrated WILC3000 wireless link controller combines Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth Smart-ready technologies in an ultra-small 4.1mm x 4.1mm Wafer Level Chip Scale Package (WLCSP) with lower power consumption, along with Atmel’s patented adaptive co-existence engine, making it the ideal solution for IoT and wearable applications. Atmel’s WILC3000 Wi-Fi solution offers multiple peripheral interfaces including UART, SPI, I2C, and SDIO, along with the associated cloud-ready connectivity software, making it the perfect wireless connectivity companion to any microprocessor (MPU) running Android or Linux MPUs.

Atmel is also introducing the WINC3400 network controller featuring embedded flash memory which allows the device to host network services stack, Wi-Fi stack, and Bluetooth Smart profiles for rapid design development with no wireless expertise required from the designer. The WINC3400 can be paired with any Atmel AVR® or Atmel | SMART MCUs.

“IoT requires a diverse portfolio of wireless MPUs and MCUs with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities that will enable cloud access,” said Kaivan Karimi, Atmel Vice President and General Manager of Wireless MCUs. “Adding cloud connectivity to devices in the industrial, medical, wearable, fitness and other consumer markets will require a combination of embedded Wi-Fi with Bluetooth optimized for low battery consumption, and support for out-of-the-box, cloud ready software. Atmel’s SmartConnect WILC3000 and WINC3400 address these requirements by delivering a compact cloud-ready Wi-Fi/Bluetooth-certified platform that helps bring customer products faster to market.”

The latest cloudy-ready Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo platform is optimized for low-power applications, supporting single-stream 802.11n mode providing up to 72 Mbps throughput, enabling a broad range of use cases. Both devices integrate a power amplifier, LNA, switch and power management unit providing developers with the highest level of integration together with the best link budget for maximum range. The WILC3000 and WINC3400 provide the highest integration for a lower bill of material. The only external clock sources required is a high-speed crystal or oscillator with a wide range of reference clock frequencies supported (14-40 MHz) and a 32.768 kHz clock for sleep operation.

The WINC 3400 network controller offers an On-Chip Network Stack to minimize host CPU requirements. The Network features include TCP, UDP, DHCP, ARP, HTTP, SSL, and DNS. Additionally, the WINC3400 SiP includes Bluetooth Smart profiles allowing connection to advanced low energy application such as smart energy, consumer wellness, home automation, security, proximity detection, entertainment, sports and fitness and automotive. This solution also supports Atmel’s cloud-ready software for simple cloud connectivity.

Ready to add some connectivity to your next design? Explore the entire SmartConnect wireless family here.

Atmel launches next-generation maXStylus active pen platform

With CES 2015 in full swing, we’re excited to announce that we are sampling our next-generation maXStylus mXTS220 to multiple global customers. OEMs have been looking to expand the user adoption of active stylus solutions on mobile devices by providing precise handwriting, lower system and stylus cost, and easy-to-use styli that do not require frequent battery changes.

The next-generation maXStylus mXTS220 capacitive active stylus controller elevates the user experience with superior responsiveness after every stroke which is a key requirement for a ‘pen-to-paper’ writing experience. Higher precision writing and pressure sensing, with palms resting on the touchscreen, enable an artistic writing experience with fluid strokes. The maXStylus mXTS220 solution utilizes the capacitive touchscreen controller and does not require an additional sensor layer, such as EMR (electro-magnetic resonance) technology, for optimized solution cost.

Atmel’s maXStylus mXTS220 bidirectional architecture is the best positioned in the industry to allow OEMs to build next-generation styli with flexibility to interoperate with multiple digitizers. The unique two-way architecture enables the stylus to detect various noise sources so they can be avoided – a differentiation of maXStylus that no other solution on the market offers today. Enhanced noise immunity over existing capacitive solutions allows flawless pen strokes without any line breaks or missing strokes while further extending battery life.

“The ability to create content on your mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets, notebooks and Ultrabooks, is quickly becoming a key differentiating factor in OEM designs,” said Shar Narasimhan, Atmel Senior Product Manager of Touch Marketing. “As a leader in the touch market, we are excited to bring one of the most precise active stylus solutions to the market, enabling a pen-to-paper experience on a touchscreen while meeting future OEM requirements with the flexibility of an interoperable platform.”

Interested in learning more? You can explore the entire maXStylus lineup here.

Introducing the maXTouch U family

Just in time for CES 2015, Atmel has launched its next-generation maXTouch U family, bringing the world’s first capacitive touchscreen solution to allow no compromise for designing new state-of-the-art displays and true 3D user experiences. OEMs will no longer have to worry about touch and display performance when selecting thinner stacks such as on-cell, hybrid in-cell, full in-cell touchscreens utilizing very thin film and glass substrates.

The proliferation of smart devices along with the innovation in display technologies have put many new challenging requirements on touchscreen technology. These touchscreens not only have to operate with thin noisier displays, cheaper noisier chargers and numerous environmental noise sources, but also have to work with thick gloves in cold climates, moisture in humid environments and stylus for content creation.

The maXTouch U architecture is designed from the ground-up to service these requirements, enabling the highest hover distance of 25mm while cutting the touch power by 50%. This family provides full in-cell integration without requiring costly display synchronization for the OEM, enabling the fastest touch response for users compared to any competing solution today. maXTouch U series allows multi-finger operation with moisture on the screen and supports side-buttons for an easy-to-use user experience especially in camera mode. The high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) supports very thin 1mm passive and active stylus handwriting with full palm rejection for a flawless content creation experience.

“Competing touch solutions do not have the fundamental building blocks required to support the technical demands of thinner and flexible advanced displays,” said Binay Bajaj, Atmel Senior Director of Touch Marketing. “Meeting these technological demands, the new maXTouch U family is truly a testament to the team’s innovative engineering techniques. Leading OEMs are extremely excited to use this new architecture to achieve unprecedented touch performance for next-generation products.”

The mXT874U, which will be the first sampling product in this new family, puts the latest maXTouch technology into action by adding high-voltage differential signal and a powerful maXDSP in the analog front-end. The result is unparalleled signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) that enables advanced touchscreen experiences beyond just finger touching. The mXT874U supports 25-30mm finger hover tracking, up to 5.0mm gloved touch, 1.0mm passive stylus writing, touch sensing with moisture and robust common charger noise rejection. This comprehensive array of touch features will allow you to deliver flagship next-generation mobile devices with the ultimate user interface experiences consumers crave.

Those wishing to learn more about the new maXTouch U family can do so by heading over to its official page here.

Atmel launches new series of Atmel | SMART ARM Cortex-M7 based MCUs

Atmel has expanded upon its Atmel | SMART ARM-based microcontroller family with the launch of four new series of Cortex-M7 based devices.

The new series deliver the highest performing Cortex-M7 based MCUs to the market with exceptional memory and connectivity options for design flexibility making them ideal for the automotive, Internet of Things (IoT) and industrial connectivity markets.

“As one of the first ARM licensees, we are excited to be among the first suppliers to introduce a portfolio of ARM Cortex-M7 based MCUs,” said Jacko Wilbrink, Atmel Senior Marketing Director. “Our family of Cortex-M7 based devices broaden the Atmel | SMART Cortex-M based MCUs and provide a robust feature set tailored for the automotive, industrial, consumer and IoT markets giving designers the next level of performance, along with advanced high-speed connectivity, high density on-chip memory and a solid ecosystem to meet every designers needs. We look forward to seeing more applications in the market adopt our Cortex-M7 based devices.”

All devices enable customers to scale-up performance and deliver SRAM and system functionality, while keeping the Cortex-M processor family ease-of-use and maximizing software reuse. The devices contain advanced memory architectures with up to 384KB of multi-port SRAM memory out of which 256KB can be configured as tightly coupled memory delivering zero wait state access at 300MHz. With over four times the performance of current Atmel ARM Cortex-M based MCUs running up to 300MHz, larger configurable SRAM up to 384kB and higher bandwidth peripherals, the new devices give designers the right connectivity, SRAM and performance mix for their industrial, connectivity and automotive designs. All devices come with high-speed USB On-the-Go (OTG) and on-chip high-speed USB PHY and Flash memory densities of 512kB, 1MB and 2MB.

Broadening the Atmel | SMART ARM Cortex-M based MCU portfolio, the new SAM E70 and the SAM S70 are ideal for connectivity and general purpose industrial applications, while the auto-grade SAM V70 and SAM V71 are perfectly suited for in-vehicle infotainment, audio amplifiers, telematics and head unit control.

Atmel | SMART SAM E and SAM S Series

Atmel’s SAM S70 series is based on the ARM Cortex-M7 core plus a floating point unit (FPU) extending the general purpose product portfolio with maximum operating speeds up to 300MHz, up to 2MB of Flash, dual 16KB of cache memory and up to 384KB of SRAM with an extensive peripheral set including high-speed USB host and device plus high-speed PHY, up to 8 UARTs, I2S, SD/MMC interface, a CMOS camera interface, system control and analog interfaces.

In addition to the SAM S70 series features, Atmel’s SAM E70 series include a 10/100 Ethernet MAC and Dual Bosch CAN-FD interfaces with advanced analog features making them ideal for connectivity applications. The SAM E70 is upwards compatible with Atmel’s SAM4E series.

Atmel | SMART SAM V Series

The automotive-qualified SAM V70 and V71 series offer unique Ethernet AVB support, high-speed USB with integrated PHY and Media LB, which, when combined with the Cortex-M7 DSP extensions, make the series ideal for infotainment connectivity and audio applications. The series also offers the latest CAN 2.0 and CAN flexible data rate controller for higher bandwidth requirements.

“Atmel was a lead partner for the ARM Cortex-M7 processor launch in October 2014 and the milestone of shipping automotive-qualified SoCs demonstrates significant progress,” shared Richard York, ARM Vice President of Embedded Marketing. “Atmel’s broad family of Cortex-M7 based MPUs provide high performance, advanced connectivity, flexible memory options and a solid ecosystem tailored for the automotive, industrial and general connectivity markets.”

Interested in learning more? You can check out the entire Atmel | SMART family here.

Some of the “smartest” things we’ve seen so far at CES 2015

Not surprisingly, the Internet of Things has already made a big splash here in Las Vegas. As if you needed any more validation that connected living and wearables were the focal themes of this year’s CES, a number of brands have started to unveil the latest and greatest wave of smart devices. Still a day before the show floor opens, here’s a look at some of the products we can’t wait to check out.

---

Emiota’s Smart Belt

(Source: Business Insider)

While we may not yet have self-adjusting jackets like Back to the Future II, the aptly named Belty is a smart belt can automatically loosen and tighten itself based on how much food you consume.

---

Narrative’s Clip 2

(Source: Narrative)

A successor to the highly-popular, Atmel | SMART SAM9G25 powered Clip, the team over at Narrative has unveiled a second installment of the wearable, life-logging camera featuring Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and an 8MP sensor.

---

Garmin’s fēnix 3 Multisport GPS Watch

(Source: Gizmodo)

With uncompromising details like a stainless steel bezel and sunlight-readable high-resolution color display, the fēnix 3 combines the GPS and wearable technology that Garmin is known for with a sleek new form factor that suits both the outdoors and the boardroom.

---

Zensorium’s Being

(Source: Wareable)

Zensorium’s latest fitness wearable is capable of not only tracking heart rate, activity and providing advanced sleep insights, but can track your mood as well.

---

TempTraq’s Thermometer Patch

(Source: TUAW)

TempTraq is a wearable, Bluetooth-enabled thermometer patch that works with an iOS or Android app to let parents track body temperature accurately for up to 24 hours.

---

Invoxia’s Triby

(Source: Invoxia)

Resembling an old-school radio box, Triby is a VoIP speakerphone equipped a 2.9-inch e-ink display that enables users to send typed or handwritten messages to the device from anywhere through its companion app.

---

eTape’s Smart Tape Measure

(Source: Engadget)

eTape is a modern-day tape measure that provides digital readings and instant metric conversions, in addition to being Bluetooth-enabled.

---

InBody Band

(Source: Wareable)

Not only does it boast the must-have features of any activity tracker, the InBody Band also measures a wearer’s body composition.

---

Connected Cycle Pedal

(Source: CNET)

The Connected Cycle smart pedal monitors a rider’s movements to help keep track of rides, while deterring potential bike thieves.

---

Gymwatch

(Source: Engadget)

Gymwatch is a wearable fitness tracker that precisely measures the full range of motion and strength expended in every exercise at the gym, and provides real-time personal coaching to help prevent poor form.

---

Withings’ Activité

(Source: Trusted Reviews)

Known for their assorted fashionable smartwatches, Withings has returned with another wearable: an analog timepiece called the Activité Pop.

---

MyBrain’s Melo Mind

(Source: Tom’s Guide)

The Melo Mind is a helmet-like wearable from myBrain that measures a user’s brain waves and translates it into music and meditation to help you chill out. This is all transmitted via Bluetooth to a connected app.

---

Smarter’s Wi-Fi Kettle

(Source: Wired)

The Smarter WiFi Kettle is a connected kettle that offers temperature controls and pre-boil options using a drinker’s smartphone. For those who prefer a nice cup ‘o joe, the machine can brew individual cups of coffee via a connected iOS and Android app.

---

IK Multimedia’s iRig 2

(Source: IK Multimedia)

iRig 2 is a new and improved version of the company’s groundbreaking guitar interface, which packs new features like intuitive gain control, a 1/4″ amplifier output and Android compatibility into a sleek pocketable enclosure. Goes to show, rockers will soon be replacing their guitar pedal with smartphones!

---

Will you be joining us in Vegas for International CES 2015? If so, here’s all you need to know. See you soon!

 

PubNub launches full SDK support for Atmel IoT products

Our friends at PubNub recently joined forces with us at CES 2015 to launch full SDK support for our entire lineup of MCU, MPU, and wireless SoC platforms.

As the team reveals, Atmel developers will now have access to PubNub’s secure publish/subscribe messaging with guaranteed ¼ second latencies across PubNub’s 14 global points-of-presence. PubNub delivers secure communication through firewalls, proxy servers, and on unreliable mobile networks with a security model that guarantees no open ports on IoT devices. Developers can implement important features like remote device control, firmware upgrades, and device provisioning using PubNub’s suite of IoT building blocks that includes realtime device presence detection, stream storage & playback, and data stream syndication.

“PubNub’s realtime global data stream network combined with our embedded solutions helps IoT developers reduce time-to-market and solve the challenges of reliable IoT deployments,” explained Reza Kazerounian, Atmel SVP and GM of Microcontroller Business Unit. “By removing complexity and focusing on developer-centric tools and services, PubNub shares Atmel’s philosophy of driving competitive advantage for our customers.”

As previously shared on Bits & Pieces, the Connected Home demo features an Arduino board that connects with the PubNub network, enabling it to send and receive realtime signals securely from external devices such as a mobile phone. With PubNub’s low-latency global network, developers can remotely control Atmel based embedded systems reliably and securely from anywhere in the world.

“With easy-to-use SDKs for Atmel’s platforms, IoT developers can now reap the benefits of realtime communication, and bypass the security pitfalls and configuration complexities that put IoT deployments at risk,” said Todd Greene, PubNub Founder and CEO.

Interested in learning more? You can read all about the smart home model here. Also, we had the chance to catch up with Evangelist Ian Jennings back at CES to discuss the IoT, SDK support and ongoing projects in more detail. Watch the interview below!

Atmel unveils an ultra-low power Bluetooth Smart solution for the IoT

Evident by the sheer volume of connected objects infiltrating our homes, offices, cars and nearly every facet of our life, the Internet of Things (IoT) market is set for explosive growth. With billions of devices expected to become network-enabled, designers of all levels will require a very low-power platform that allows them to develop these smart gadgets in space-constrained applications. Luckily now, there’s the BTLC1000.

The new ultra-low power Bluetooth Smart solution is capable of achieving sub-1µA in standby mode, while delivering the industry’s best dynamic power consumption and increasing battery life by as much as one year for certain applications. The BTLC1000 pushes the limits of space constrained areas with its unprecedented 2.1mm X 2.1mm Wafer Level Chipscale Package (WLCSP), making it ideal for the rapidly growing IoT and wearables spaces, including portable medical, activity trackers, human Interface devices, gaming controllers, beacons and much more.

Expanding upon the Atmel SmartConnect wireless portfolio, the BTLC1000 is a Bluetooth Smart link controller integrated circuit that connects as a companion to any Atmel AVR or Atmel | SMART MCU through a UART or SPI API requiring minimal resource on the host side. The standalone Atmel | SMART SAMB11 Bluetooth Smart Flash MCU leverages the embedded ARM Cortex-M0 core combined with the integrated analog and communication peripherals to implement application-specific functionalities and is available as a system-in-package or a certified module. Both devices are fully integrated with a self-contained Bluetooth Smart controller and stack enabling wireless connectivity for a variety of applications to be quickly implemented without the wireless expertise typically required.

“One of the primary challenges of the IoT market is system integration—connecting one or multiple devices to the gateway and cloud,” explained Reza Kazerounian, Atmel Senior Vice President and General Manager, MCU Business Unit. “Atmel’s new Bluetooth Smart solutions solve these integration issues by enabling IoT designers of all levels the ability to connect their devices to the gateway and cloud with an easy-to-use, low-power Bluetooth connectivity solution. We are excited to enable more designers to bring their connected devices to the IoT market without comprising design time.”

Bluetooth Smart devices are a new breed of Bluetooth 4.1 peripherals with only a single Bluetooth 4.1 radio connecting only to Bluetooth Smart Ready devices. For those unfamiliar with the technology, Bluetooth Smart is the intelligent, power-friendly version of Bluetooth wireless connectivity that works with an application on the smartphone or tablet you already own. In fact, Bluetooth Smart solutions set new low-power standards with at least 30% power savings compared to existing solutions on the market in dynamic mode.

The cost-effective Bluetooth Smart technology can easily provide developers and OEMs the flexibility to create solutions that will work with the billions of Bluetooth-enabled products already in the market today, not to mention is supported by every major operating system. The technology brings every day devices such as toothbrushes, heart-rate monitors, fitness devices and more to be connected, communicating through applications that reside in Bluetooth Smart compatible smartphones, tablets or other similar devices already owned by consumers.

Interested? General samples will be available in March.

Atmel expands SAM G lineup for wearables and sensor hub management

A year after its debut, we’re excited to share that we’ve expanded our award-winning SAM G series of ARM Cortex-M4-based MCUs with the new SAM G54 and SAM G55.

Targeting the rapidly emerging Internet of Things (IoT) market for battery-operated devices including wearables, such as fitness bands and smart watches, sensor hub management, healthcare, gateways, bridges, audio devices and much more, the new pair of MCUs deliver the right feature mix including higher performance, ultra-low power, smaller form factors and more SRAM. These two series also pack all the features of the current SAM G family like an Atmel | SMART ARM Cortex-M4 MCU + FPU (floating point unit), integrated sensor fusion algorithms, down to 2.84 x 2.84mm package, high-performance frequency of up to 120MHz, ultra-low power down to 102µA/MHz in active mode, and down to 5µs wake-up.

Among the other key features for the new SAM G series:

• High-performance throughput and efficiency with a Cortex M4-based MCU and FPU
• Up to 512KB of Flash and up to 160KB of SRAM
• SRAM power banking
• Down to 2.84 X 2.84mm 49-ball WLCSP with 0.4mm pitch
• Flexible serial peripherals and ultra-low power ADC
• USB host and device
• Peripheral Event System and SleepWalking
• Atmel ultra-low power picoPower® technology
• 64-pin QFP and QFN package options.

In order to maintain energy efficiency, many smart, connected devices use a sensor hub to aggregate and manage the sensors in the device, converting the information into usable data to improve power efficiency and performance. The new SAM G55 series gives designers the option to determine how much SRAM they will require to retain in sleep mode in order to achieve lower and better power efficiency for their designs by utilizing SRAM power banking.

“Designers are looking for simple-to-use solutions with an edge to help bring their differentiated products faster to market for both wearables and sensor hub management,” said Vince Murdica, Atmel Senior Director of Sensor Centric Systems. “Atmel’s new SAM G series delivers differentiation for these markets by offering ultra-low power, higher performance, more memory and smaller form factor, along with connectivity options on a single chip to fuel the innovation. Atmel’s expanded SAM G series builds on our portfolio of touch, security, connectivity and software solutions for this rapidly growing market.”

To accelerate the design, a SAM G55 Xplained Pro evaluation kit is currently available for the SAM G55 series. The ATSAMG55-XPRO evaluation board includes an embedded debugger, Atmel Studio integrated development platform and the Atmel Software Framework. The kit is also fully supported by third party partners IAR and Keil.

Interested in learning more? You can check out Atmel’s entire SAM G lineup here.

Atmel stays ahead of the curve with its next-generation car center console

Connected cars are expected to be among several of the key trends at this year’s International CES. With up to a hundred million lines of code, at least 30 MCU-controlled devices — and some with as many as 100 — the vehicle is the ideal application to bring smart, connected devices in the era of the Internet of Things (IoT). Not only will these vehicles be packed with next-gen functionality ranging from navigation and parking assistance to diagnosis and road conditions, they will become much more intuitive and integrated with smartphone-like interfaces. In order to provide this, the automobile of tomorrow will feature a curved center console display offering a large amount of real estate for information to drivers. And, the newly-announced AvantCar™ 2.0 will make this possible.

The successor to the concept introduced a year ago, the AvantCar 2.0 is equipped with an array of Atmel technologies including a 2.5D model of a car connected to a fully-functional central display demonstrating car access, car networking, MCUs, audio streaming over-Ethernet-AVB and CryptoAuthentication™ products. The futuristic AvantCar 2.0 sports active touchscreens, curved form factors, personalized color schemes and navigation menus via touch buttons and sliders in a cutting-edge sleek center console.

Focusing on user requirements for future generation automobiles, AvantCar 2.0 delivers an advanced human machine interface (HMI). The new concept boasts curved touchscreens highlighting HMI in upcoming automobiles using Atmel technologies like maXTouch touchscreen controllers and XSense flexible touch sensors, as well as Atmel’s QTouch™ with proximity sensing, LIN networking for ambient lighting controls, and automotive-qualified AVR MCUs.

“As a leading provider of smart, connected devices with sophisticated, easy-to-use HMI, Atmel is committed to delivering a state-of-the-art connected experience in the automobile,” Rob Valiton, Atmel SVP and GM of Automotive, Aerospace and Memory Business Units. “Atmel’s AvantCar 2.0 showcases the connected car and delivers a futuristic center console showcasing our latest technologies in a sleek, slim center console with increased performance and fully connected throughout the car. We are excited to bring this next-generation concept to the public demonstrating the future of HMI in the connected car.”

Upon quick glance, one thing you will notice is that the AvantCar 2.0 is a bit different than your typical console — no more mechanical buttons or clunky knobs. 

Instead, the touchscreens integrated capacitive touch buttons and sliders enable users to navigate general applications typically found within an automotive center displays. The second generation demo is slimmer than its predecessor, offering a more appealing aesthetic with improved performance including Silicon Image’s MHL® (Mobile High-Definition Link) solution — a technology that allows users to easily transmit content from a smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device to larger displays such as in-dash automotive displays, while charging the mobile device.

“The last one wasn’t as tailored to automotive standards for display quality,” Paul Kopp, Atmel Director of Automotive, told Venture Beat in a recent interview. “It also has curved liquid crystal displays (LCDs) that weren’t available before. It will look more like a curved surface. The designers really want that in automotive now. The lines will blend more with the vehicle itself.”

While carmakers have been using haptic feedback, it’s apparent that the trend has shifted towards much larger screens and easier touch technology. Tomorrow’s displays will likely be pretty big. While the average is currently about 8 inches diagonal now, it could, in fact, head closer to 10 inches or 12 inches in future models.

“When Tesla came out with a 17-inch main screen, that woke up a lot of the American manufacturers to the idea of bigger displays in the car,” Kopp told Venture Beat. “The right size for the user? The jury is still out.”

Those heading to Vegas for the world’s largest electronics show can experience the newly-unveiled AvantCar 2.0 concept by speeding on over to the Atmel booth (#MP25760) in the LVCC South Hall.

Home is where the smart is!

It’s that time of the year again — the exciting rush right after the holidays and fresh on the heels of 2015 International CES in Las Vegas. As we look back at the last few years, the smart home category has always been prominent, particularly in 2013 and 2014.

Room by room, appliance by appliance, it’s becoming clearer than ever that our homes are becoming increasingly more connected. With major backing from corporations like Apple and Google as well as an onset of smart home startups on Kickstarter, it is clear that the market is ready to grow at a rapid pace. From security systems and meters to remote controls and utensils, a new generation of intelligent products is set to power and revolutionize our daily lives.

As we head into 2015, we will undoubtedly see the rise of the connected home and a variety of products infiltrate new markets, not to mention existing ones as well. We will see once ordinary household items become Internet-enabled, which not only converges both our digital and physical worlds, but will usher in a more intuitive and automated home. From the living room to the kitchen to the garage, a multitude of trends were certainly apparent on this year’s CES show floor.

In the living room

Never leave the sofa again. Speakers connected through Wi-Fi, ZigBee-controlled smart light bulbs, motion sensors on windows and universal remotes that command all your entertainment devices, touchscreens on the wall, thermostats that adjust to your preferred temperature…what more could you ask for?

In the bedroom

Not only enhancing your day-to-day functions while awake, there will also be a wide-range of connected devices designed to aid users sleep – these include smart gadgets that monitor and analyze sleep patterns to those that enable you to wake up smoothly at the optimal time of a sleep cycle.

Outside the front door

Smart cameras and burglar deterrents are ushering in an entirely new realm of home security. Cameras won’t only be capable of recognizing faces, but sounds and voices as well. This connected equipment will accurately detect those approaching your home, while also allowing you to see and speak to them using your smartphone. Meanwhile, other devices can learn and replay lighting patterns while you’re out of the house, which give off the impression of a lived-in home. Pretty soon, you’ll have your own smart bellhop and security guard.

In the garage

CES 2014 demonstrated that the futuristic automotive features had indeed arrived. The era of constantly connected vehicles are headed into the fast lane, with a number of carmakers looking to smartphone integration and more dynamic interfaces. Expect to see more capacitive touchscreen, smartphone-like dashboards and enhanced app integration. As we look ahead, we are inching so close to the day of self-driving vehicles, which will most likely be more prevalent in the coming months. Furthermore, keyless entry, passive start and vehicle-to-vehicle communication will all play an integral role in 2015. Soon, Disney won’t be the only place to find talking cars.

In the closet

2014 was a significant year for wearables, particularly wrist technology However, don’t be too surprised over the next 12 months if you see the tremendous growth of smart garments as well as devices that clip and attach. The technology is out there and being quickly adopted. Meanwhile, there will be a number of new devices looking to set the tone for health and fitness technology, while smaller companies will emerge — evident by the sheer volume of recently-launched crowdfunding campaigns. Talk about smarty pants!

Staying ahead of the curve

Back at CES 2014, we saw what the mere beginnings of curved screens through televisions. As we get closer to Jan. 6, you can expect to see a couple curved and bendable smartphones throughout the show floor. Companies are getting closer and closer to developing a truly flexible display that would let a user fold up their phone and contort it into whichever shape to easily slide into a pocket. We’re bringing flexy back! Yep!

DIY at home

Another CES, another year closer to ubiquitous 3D printers, home-brew smart devices, DIY drones in the backyard, and customized robots navigating around the house. In fact, this year’s show will see a much larger presence located inside its Robotics Marketplace. One day, we will have more open-source, programmable and autonomous bots carrying out our daily tasks, capable of observing, listening, feeling and reacting specifically to various environments. Additionally, with the widespread adoption of development platforms like Arduino, expect to see more Makers create their own web-connected projects – from home automation to smart remotes.

Securing the house

A trend that we’ll continue to see when discussing the smart home is the world emerging with security and connectivity. As the Internet of Things continues to emerge throughout our products and appliances, the need for security has never been more important than now due to the rapidly expanding number of IoT devices, which drastically multiplies the potential exposure points of attack.

---

This article, written by Atmel VP of Marketing Sander Arts, originally appeared on ECNMag.com on January 2, 2014. Those heading to CES 2015 can discover all the latest innovations around the smart home at #MP25760 in South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, as well as explore next-gen wireless and lighting solutions in the Sands Expo at both the ZigBee Alliance Pavilion located in booth #71023 and the Connected Lighting Alliance in booth #70432.