SAN JOSE, California, June 8 /PRNewswire/ --

Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) announced today the new release of the popular Atmel QTouch Library, a royalty free software library providing access to the industry-leading QTouch(TM) technology. Without the need for external devices, the QTouch Library adds capacitive touch capabilities to AVR(R) and AVR32 microcontrollers. The new library consists of pre-compiled and object code binaries, which can be configured individually as touch keys, or combined in groups to form sliders, navigation wheels or combinations of all these. The QTouch Library allows full user customization and optimization of the touch function.

Atmel's complete Development Tools System, available now, makes it easy to develop a reliable high-performance touch application based on the AVR and AVR32 microcontrollers. With the market leading AVR and AVR32 microcontrollers, adding touch functionality to the application is done while still allowing the majority of the microcontroller resources to be used for the application software. Adding touch capability to the user's application is a unique feature with the QTouch Library which Atmel offers due to the high performance of our microcontrollers. Other industry alternatives use all the microcontroller performance for the touch function, not allowing for any application software to run reliably simultaneously, said Ingar Fredriksen, Atmel's AVR Product Marketing Director.

This extension of the QTouch Library allows Atmel to offer our superior touch technology for a full range of AVR and a selection of AVR32 UC3 devices. Atmel's customers can freely select one of our tinyAVR(R), megaAVR(R), XMega(R) or AVR32 UC3A devices and add touch functionality to their design, continued Ingar Fredriksen. We have received an overwhelmingly positive response to Atmel's QTouch Library, it is easy to use, and easily adds capacitive touch to users' applications. The reliable and high-performance QTouch technology inspires our users to create new and innovative user interfaces. This is an important step in our strategy to offer our QTouch solution to the entire range of Atmel's microcontrollers.

Availability and Pricing

The QTouch Library is available now to register and download at the product web page together with AVR QTouch Studio, free frontend software supporting the two available demonstration boards ATAVRTS2080A and ATAVRTS2080B, supporting ATmega88 and ATtiny88, respectively.

Information:

Atmel's QTouch Library product information may be retrieved at http://www.atmel.com/qtouchlib

Information on AVR microcontrollers may be retrieved at http://www.atmel.com/avr/

About Atmel

Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, 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 consumer, industrial, security, communications, computing and automotive markets.

(c) 2009 Atmel Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Atmel(R), Atmel logo and combinations thereof, and AVR(R), megaAVR(R), XMEGA(TM), tinyAVR(R) are registered trademarks, QTouch(TM) is a trademark of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other terms and product names may be trademarks of others.

Press Contact: Clive Over, Director, Public Relations. Atmel Corporation Tel: +1-408-436-4305, E-mail: clive.over@atmel.com

Clive Over, Director, Public Relations, Atmel Corporation, +1-408-436-4305, clive.over@atmel.com