element14 launches sales of new low cost development kit built to the Freescale SABRE Lite design featuring the i.MX 6Quad processor

CHICAGO, Oct. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- element14, the first collaborative community and electronics store for design engineers and electronics enthusiasts and a part of global electronics distributor Premier Farnell [LON:PFL], today announced the order availability of the MCIMX6Q-SL development kit built to Freescale^® Smart Application Blueprint for Rapid Engineering (SABRE) Lite design, and featuring the powerful i.MX 6Quad applications processor.

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Working in close collaboration with Freescale, element14 is offering this new high-performance, low-cost development platform for multimedia and infotainment applications. In keeping with its strategy for making it easy for designers to adopt new technology, the package from element14 provides a comprehensive ecosystem solution including the development hardware and the LinuxLink for i.MX 6 BSP software and kernel from TimeSys. With this launch, element14 becomes one of the only global high-service distributors to offer a development kit built to Freescale SABRE Lite design. 

The MCIMX6Q-SL is a high-performance, low-cost development solution featuring the Freescale i.MX 6Quad application processor based on the ARM® Cortex™-A9 architecture. The four processing cores operate at 1GHz and provide powerful multi-stream video processing for applications requiring high-performance graphics and UI capability. The MCIMX6Q-SL kit for i.MX 6Quad is specifically designed to enable application development for smart devices for consumer, industrial and automotive markets. The development kit standard hardware includes 1GB of 64-bit wide DDR memory, three display ports, two camera ports and high-speed USB and Ethernet connections. The board delivers 1080p60 video output and can present 3-D video playback.

Also available from element14 to complete the development solution is the award-winning LinuxLink framework from Timesys Corporation, which gives designers access to an integrated board support package (BSP) that enables software application development for the i.MX 6 processor. The LinuxLink Free Edition for Freescale SABRE Lite Design is included with this board and provides a kernel, toolchain and debugger, a free software development kit to jumpstart application development and demo code for a seamless out-of-the-box Linux experience.  The package also includes 30-day access to TimeStorm IDE for application development and first line technical support from Timesys.

"Freescale is pleased to work with element14 and Premier Farnell to provide the Linux community broader access to the standard Freescale SABRE Lite design featuring the highly versatile i.MX 6Quad applications processor," said Paul Smith, Distribution and Ecosystem manager for Freescale's Multimedia Applications Division. "With their electronic system design expertise and enablement capabilities, element14 and Premier Farnell are the ideal resource to help Freescale customers bring their multimedia innovations to market quickly."

The MCIMX6Q-SL kit from element14, which includes LinuxLink Free Edition, USB cable, and pre-loaded SD card with software applications and quickstart guide, is priced at $179 and is available for pre-order immediately from element14. First customer delivery of the development platform will begin on December 1, 2012.

"element14's development kit built to the Freescale SABRE Lite design is a new and exciting extension of our partnership with Freescale to support the early adoption of their groundbreaking technology," said David Shen, Chief Technical Officer, element14. "The state-of-the-art graphics processing hardware, combined with industry leading Linux development software allows system developers to quickly see the advantages of the Freescale i.MX 6 series processing technology for their multimedia and infotainment applications."   

Orders for element14's MCIMX6Q-SL development kit built to the Freescale SABRE Lite design can be placed and more information can be found online here.

About element14

Launched in June 2009, element14 is the first information portal, collaborative community and electronics store specifically built for electronic design engineers. The community recently unveiled its element14 knode, a unique automated platform that enables engineers to quickly research, design, develop and prototype in a single, intelligent environment. element14 is an innovative offering from Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl), FTSE 250, a leader in multi-channel electronics distribution trading throughout Europe (Farnell), the Americas (Newark) and Asia Pacific (element14). The company had group sales of £973.9m and underlying profits of £104.6m last year.

About Premier Farnell

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, maintenance and repair. Its differentiated proposition includes 29 local language transactional websites, and the critically important element14 Community for design engineers – an industry first (www.element14.com). With sales last year of £973.1m and underlying profits of £104.6m the Group distributes its comprehensive portfolio of products and services throughout Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, supported by a global supply chain of over 3,500 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers' needs.

While global in scope, Premier Farnell recognises the individual needs of each market and has continued to internationalise its model accordingly. It trades locally as Farnell in Europe, Newark/element14 in North America and Mexico and Farnell Newark in Brazil. Across Asia Pacific the business trades as element14.

For news updates from Premier Farnell visit:

Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14news; @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – /element14page
Email: [email protected]

European Contact:   
Jen Cooke   
Communications Europe   
Tel: +44 7885 715378   
E-mail: [email protected]

APAC Contact:          
Christina Loh   
Communications APAC   
Tel: + 65 6671 8769   
E-mail: [email protected]

Americas Contact:   
Janice Fleisher   
Communications Americas   
Tel: +001 (1) 773 907 5941
E-mail: [email protected]

Ken Leitch   
Global Head of PR   
Premier Farnell   
T: +44(0) 207 851 4145   
E: [email protected]

About the Freescale i.MX 6 Series and Freescale SABRE Lite Design

The i.MX 6 series includes single-, dual- and quad-core families based on the ARM® Cortex™-A9 architecture, and together with a robust ecosystem, provides the ideal platform to develop a scalable portfolio of end devices based on a single hardware design. With high-performance multimedia processing, pin- and software- compatible product families and integrated power management, the i.MX 6 series is purpose-built for the new era of smart devices.

Products built to the Freescale^® Smart Application Blueprint for Rapid Engineering (SABRE) Lite design for i.MX 6 applications processors can enable cost-effective, rapid development of multimedia applications for Android® and Linux® operating systems. 

SOURCE element14