Cypress unveil new Development Kit for iPhone, iPad and iPod Audio Accessories

##IMAGE_1_R##The comprehensive reference design enables the quickest path for MFi program licensees to develop consumer products such as speaker docks, headphones and game controllers, as well as music creation devices such as keyboards, mixers, guitar interfaces, microphones, MIDI controllers, and DJ turntables.

The consumer and professional audio markets demand bit-perfect quality, and the Lightning connector advances this trend by upgrading audio from analog to digital. Additionally, accessory developers must design at a breakneck pace to keep up with Apple’s product and software releases. Cypress’s reference design connects PSoC 3 to Apple devices instantly to enable developers to bring concepts to production within a matter of months. The solution is compatible with both Apple’s Lightning and 30-pin dock connectors, and with Cypress’s patent-pending USB audio clock synchronization and recovery scheme, PSoC 3 ensures bit-perfect audio with minimal external components at multiple sample rates (at standard intervals up to 24-bit audio, 48-kHz or 96-kHz sampling rate).

“With the Cypress PSoC 3 MFi Digital Audio solution, Avid was able to bring our Fast Track Solo and Duo MFi products from a concept on paper to full production in less than six months,” said Bruce Yaung, Vice President of Supply and Hardware Technologies at Avid Technology. “Not only was their development kit helpful from a time-to-market perspective, but it delivered the studio-grade digital audio quality our customers expect from Avid products.”

“The PSoC 3 MFi Digital Audio solution is the de facto standard in the music industry, and the shift from analog to digital audio further strengthens PSoC’s position in the consumer audio market,” said Leon Tan, marketing manager for Cypress’s MFi and consumer solutions. “With this new PSoC 3 development kit, our customers can quickly implement the Apple MFi protocol and bring bit-perfect digital audio quality to consumer audio applications at an affordable price. By accelerating development of accessories compatible with the new all-digital Lightning connector, we are enabling continued expansion of Apple’s ever-growing and evolving ecosystem of iOS devices.”

The CY8CKIT-033A kit works with any Core Audio or Core MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) iOS app, including Apple’s GarageBand, and music streaming apps like Pandora and Spotify. To jumpstart development with the Apple External Accessory framework, the kit comes with Cypress’s EA Console example iOS app, enabling bidirectional communication between apps and accessories attached to an Apple device. For example, EA Console can be used to deliver firmware upgrades from the Apple device to a connected accessory. The PSoC 3 MFi Digital Audio solution integrates Cypress’s market-leading CapSense solution for capacitive touch-sensing buttons, sliders and proximity sensing to enhance the end products’ user interface and aesthetic appeal.

The CY8CKIT-033A PSoC 3 MFi Digital Audio Development Kit for Lightning is now available to licensees of Apple's MFi program through Apple’s authorized MFi component distributor for $199.