Atmel Expands into Rapidly Growing Ultrabook and Notebook Markets with New Windows 8 Certified MXT3432S

As a co-engineering collaborator with Microsoft, Atmel has helped develop high performance touchscreen specifications to support prominent features of Windows 8. These include first-touch latency, finger separation, and support for up to 10 simultaneous touches on the screen as well as edge gestures.

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are demanding touch integration into Ultrabooks and notebooks. The move to thinner, lighter devices with larger touchscreens requires higher noise immunity due to the adoption of shieldless sensors, as well as more data processing due to higher node count. The mXT3432S enables designers to develop a new class of touch-optimized products that meet their design requirements. The new controller is designed to meet the requirements of Windows 8, and also supports Linux and Android.

The mXT3432S is Atmel’s first touch controller for Ultrabooks and notebooks featuring patented technologies. Atmel’s patented noise immunity technology ensures robust performance with various chargers in noisy environments. Atmel also offers a technology that allows the use of thinner and lighter touch sensors that do not require an extra indium tin oxide (ITO) shielding layer, reducing thickness and cost to help system designers create thinner, lighter and larger Ultrabooks and notebooks. These two technologies also result in the industry’s highest signal-to-noise ratio, enabling mXT3432S controller-based Ultrabooks and notebooks to deliver high-performance touch capabilities.

“The Ultrabook and notebook markets are forecasted to reach nearly 300 million units by 2015,” said Randy Lawson, principal analyst and manager, display electronics and consumer electronics research at IHS. “And with the upcoming Windows 8 launch, it is anticipated that touchscreens will quickly make their way into these devices. Atmel’s launch of the maXTouch mXT3432S, designed to support Windows 8 and touchscreens up to 17.3”, is aimed directly at touch-enabled displays within the notebook PC space and rapidly growing Ultrabook segment of the market.”

“The rapid adoption of our maXTouch S controllers in smartphones and tablets confirms that we are meeting our customer demands for thinner, lighter and larger touchscreen displays,” said Jon Kiachian, vice president of touch marketing, Atmel Corporation. “And now, with the introduction of the mXT3432S, consumers can soon expect to find Ultrabooks and notebooks with rich and easy-to-use touch capabilities. By using Atmel maXTouch S touchscreen controllers, designers can integrate unparalleled touch performance, ultra-low power consumption and superior noise immunity into a variety of touch-enabled applications—ranging from smartphones to tablets, and now Ultrabooks and notebooks.”

Availability
Production quantities of the Atmel mXT3432S controllers are available now.