Atmel maXTouch Controller Empowers Touch for Sharp SH8128U Smartphone in China

SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 13, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Atmel® Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML), a leader in microcontroller and touch solutions, today announced that Sharp® Corporation has selected Atmel's maXTouch™ mXT224 touch controller to power the SH8128U smartphone. Atmel's maXTouch solution will offer Sharp SH8128U smartphone users the ability to reject unintended touches, more precise touch performance, and better battery life for an overall better user experience. Available in the China market today, the new Sharp smartphone runs on Tapas OS—an operating system based on Android that is optimized for the Chinese Network. The Sharp SH8128U smartphone with a 3.5-inch 480 x 800 pixels WVGA touchscreen display is available through China Telecom. This smartphone also includes Bluetooth®, WLAN, microSD card slot and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with flash.

"We selected the Atmel maXTouch controller for its touch accuracy and low-power consumption to enable longer battery life," said Shigenobu Yanagiuchi, group deputy general manager of Communication Systems Group, Sharp Corporation. "These features, including the unlimited touches and ability to reject unintended touches, offer our Sharp SH8128U smartphone users an overall better experience. In addition, Atmel maXTouch is one of the few touch solutions in the market with extreme touch precision. We believe these touch features, along with our packaged options, enable us to bring a very competitive smartphone to the China market."

The Atmel maXTouch devices support an unlimited number of touches to greatly enhance the user experience. In addition, Atmel maXTouch devices offer smartphones, tablets, Netbooks, mobile Internet devices and other application users advanced touch functionality which include built-in gestures and the ability to ignore unintentional touches to make the user interface more intuitive, satisfying and reliable.

"We are excited the Atmel maXTouch controller has helped quickly bring the first Tapas OS-based smartphone to market," said Jon Kiachian, senior director of touch marketing, Atmel Corporation. "The Sharp SH8128U is an excellent smartphone for the Chinese market. Atmel maXTouch technology will continue to power a number of applications from smartphones to tablets, PCs, notebooks and mobile Internet device touch screens for the worldwide market."

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About Atmel maXTouch Technology

Atmel maXTouch technology provides best-in-class configurability to exceed today's user interface requirements. Advanced touchscreen functionality includes unlimited touches and rejection of unintended touches; stretch/pinch and rotate gestures; handwriting and shape recognition, including face detection on mobile phones; grip suppression and palm rejection on MIDs and Netbook screens.

To learn more about Atmel maXTouch technology, visit the Atmel website at: http://www.atmel.com/products/touchscreen or visit the Atmel YouTube Channel at: www.atmel.com/youtube. Follow Atmel on Facebook at www.atmel.com/facebook or on Twitter at www.atmel.com/twitter.  

About Atmel

Atmel Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, capacitive touch solutions, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions focused on industrial, consumer, communications, computing and automotive markets.

About Sharp

Sharp Corporation is a worldwide developer of innovative products and core technologies that play a key role in shaping the future of electronics. As a leader in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and digital technologies, Sharp offers one of the broadest and most advanced lines of consumer electronics, information products and electronic components, while also creating new network businesses.

For more information, please visit Sharp's website at http://sharp-world.com/index.html.

©2010 Atmel Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Atmel®, Atmel logo and combinations thereof, and maXTouch™ and others are registered trademarks and others are trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Sharp is registered trademark of Sharp Corporation. Other terms and product names may be trademarks of others.

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