Oslo, Norway, February 21, 2011 – Energy Micro, the energy friendly microcontroller company, has announced it is making its EFM32 Gecko and Tiny Gecko product lines available in the space-saving QFP48 package.  The smaller 48-pin ARM® Cortex(TM)-M3 based microcontroller options will enable manufacturers to take device footprint down to 7mm x 7mm at a pin pitch of 0.5mm.

The QFP48 Gecko product offers the same range of low energy peripherals as its larger QFP100 packaged variant, including a multiple sensor interface, UARTs, LCD Controller, 12-bit ADC and AES encryption/decryption engine.  Energy sensitive target applications for the device span smart metering, building automation, security systems and portable medical and lifestyle equipment.

Andreas Koller, VP of World-Wide Sales and Marketing at Energy Micro said, “The new QFP48 package options make the EFM32 even more accessible to designers facing strict microcontroller size and energy constraints, and are a perfect complement to an already comprehensive choice of package and memory sizes.”

The QFP48 packaged EFM32 Gecko and Tiny Gecko microcontrollers will be available from April 2011, and pricing starts at $1.41 each in 100k quantities.

Consuming a quarter of the energy needed by other 8, 16 and 32-bit microcontrollers, Energy Micro’s first product, the ultra low power EFM32 Gecko microcontroller family was launched in 2009.  The company last year announced advance details of its software and pin-compatible Tiny Gecko and Giant Gecko products, and is set to reveal more product news during Embedded World 2011, Nuremberg, March 1-3.  Energy Micro is exhibiting at the event, Hall 12, Booth 350.