Low power MCU adds functionality to next-gen wearable

30th October 2015

Ambiq Micro

Nat Bowers

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Datasheet

Ambiq Micro has revealed that its Apollo MCU has been selected by Misfit as the ‘brain’ in the Misfit Shine 2 Fitness and Sleep Monitor. Announced last week, the next-gen Misfit Shine 2 provides new features, functions and capabilities without sacrificing its market leading 6-months of battery life.

Shine 2 tracks activity and sleep more accurately with a 3-axis accelerometer and newly added 3-axis magnetometer, displays progress and tells time in a halo of rainbow-coloured lights, and gets users motivated with Misfit Move, a feature that encourages users to be active with a vibrational nudge. Text and call notifications and a silent vibration alarm are also new with Shine 2.

The Misfit Shine 2 also incorporates dramatically improved touch responsiveness with capacitive sensing technology, faster syncing, and extended Bluetooth range. Its 12 lights display over 16 million colours and are bright enough to be seen in direct sunlight.

Steve Diamond, Vice President, Hardware Engineering, Misfit, commented: "Shine 2 would not be what it is without this processor. It allowed us to focus less on power optimisation and more building a next-gen product with the same great battery life."

The Apollo MCU will operate as the central processor and controller in the new Misfit Shine 2, handling overall device operations including processing inputs from the device’s motion and environmental sensors and also controlling wireless communication with the outside world.

Mike Noonen, interim CEO, Ambiq Micro, added: “The selection by a major wearable electronics leader such as Misfit to use the Apollo MCUis a significant endorsement of our unique production ready technology and our ability to work closely with world-class consumer companies. The Ambiq Micro team is thrilled that our order of magnitude low power advantage is used so effectively in the Shine 2.”

The dramatic reduction in energy consumption is achieved using Ambiq’s patented Subthreshold Power Optimised Technology (SPOT) platform. In addition, the Apollo MCU offers best-in-class power consumption numbers in both active-mode and sleep-mode - a capability that is unique in the industry. The Apollo MCU consumes an industry-leading 34µA/MHz when executing instructions from flash memory and features sleep-mode currents as low as 140nA.

The Misfit Shine 2 will be widely available for purchase in November, in time for the high-volume seasonal end-of-year retail market.