Oslo, Norway, 1. October 2012 – Energy Micro, the energy friendly microcontroller and radio company, has launched the Lizard Lounge, a user community for technical discussions related to the company’s energy-friendly microcontroller, the 32-bit ARM-based EFM32 Gecko MCU. At the same time, the company has announced a design competition for the best low power design that uses its products. To join the design competition, participants only need to enter their ideas before 31st October 2012.

To help realize their concepts, 40 participants will receive an EFM32 Cortex-M3 starter kit, and the person submitting the winning implementation receives the first prize of 2000 USD for his or her energy-saving design.

For all EFM32 Gecko designers, the community includes FAQs, technical how-to guides, and a user forum where both fellow EFM32 users and Energy Micro’s own technical experts contribute. Community members also get early access to better versions of new tools and software.

Energy Micro’s Support and Training Manager, Rasmus Larsen, commented, “Designers are used to share information and helping each other online, so we’ve set up this platform for those who need to achieve the most energy efficient applications based around microcontrollers.”

EFM32 ARM-based devices are the world’s most energy friendly microcontrollers. They come with Flash memory configurations up to 1024KB with the option of embedded USB connectivity, direct drive TFT, EBI and CPU speeds up to 48MHz. Depending on the version, the MCUs are offered with AES encryption, pulse counter, low energy UARTs and autonomous sensor interface, LESENSE, and on-chip operational amplifiers. Package options include small QFN24 to large BGA120.

About Energy Micro

Energy Micro is a global provider of energy friendly microcontrollers and RF transceivers based on the ARM® Cortex(TM) processor core.  Consuming a quarter of the energy of competing products, the company’s ultra low power EFM32 Gecko MCUs and EFR4 Draco radios target energy sensitive applications, including smart metering, building automation, security systems portable health and fitness equipment and smart accessories.  The products are supported by Energy Micro’s Simplicity Studio, the easy-to-use software console that helps to reduce embedded system development times by a half. Further information is available at www.energymicro.com