A new white paper from Texas Instruments explains how to get the most out of coin-cell batteries in wireless-device designs.

A new "branch" of TI's MSP430 MCU family runs on 0.9V and offers ROM and RAM-based versions. An analog "pool" of devices lets designers create a variety of analog peripherals.

Enter the Renesas Electronics America RX Design Contest, get a free RX62N demo kit, and compete for a $US 5000 top prize, or one of many other prizes from Renesas and its Alliance Partners.

Three new wireless kits from Texas Instruments give engineers a way to quickly work with RFID, short-range communication, and ZigBee wireless devices. These kits build on TI's earlier Stellaris DK-LM3S9B96 kit.

Not everyone needs a development or evaluation kit with all the bells and whistles. More companies could start engineers with a basic board that lets them get used to hardware and software and then add the I/O devices they actually need to take an evaluation closer to their actual design implementation. Facing a board with a dozen or so unfamiliar I/O devices might seem like an adventure to some engineers and a roadblock to others.