Samsung Selects Atmel’s Low-power Sensor Hub MCU for Galaxy S4 For More Responsive End-User Experiences

Featuring a 4.99-inch touchscreen with a full 1080p resolution, 2600 mAh battery, quad-core processor and a 13-megapixel dual-shot camera, the recently launched Samsung Galaxy S4 is packaged in a thinner, lighter form factor than its predecessors.

The Galaxy S4 has increased awareness of its surroundings through a number of sensors that detect motion including an accelerometer, RGB light, digital compass, proximity, gyro, humidity, barometer and gestures. The Atmel sensor hub management MCU gathers and processes data from all the connected sensors in real-time, providing a better user experience for a range of applications including gaming, navigation and virtual reality. Atmel’s sensor hub MCU lowers the overall system power consumption, using picoPower technology, to enable longer battery life in the device.

“Our customers have come to expect the ultimate experience from our flagship Samsung Galaxy smartphones,” said Sueng-jun Park, Senior Engineer, Samsung Electronics. “For that reason, we selected the Atmel sensor hub MCU to ensure the motion-related applications, including gaming, navigation and virtual reality, are hyper sensitive to real-time direction and orientation. We are excited to bring this new, innovative capability to the market in a way that we feel will enable far more responsive and intuitive applications and personal experiences.”

“Samsung’s new Galaxy S4 illustrates how motion sensing is an important function in the new device,” said Ingar Fredriksen, Senior Director of Flash-based Microcontrollers, Atmel Corporation. With a sensor hub management solution, Atmel allows Galaxy S4 users the ability to enjoy applications requiring real-time motion sensing, without ever compromising battery life. We look forward to teaming with Samsung on future designs.”