eInfochips and Toshiba Unveil Development Kits to Accelerate Development of Google Project Ara Modular Smartphones

Designers jump-start development and get to market faster with Ara development kits and engineering services

Ahmedabad, January 14, 2014 -- eInfochips, a leading product engineering services company, and Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC) today unveiled the ARTOS12 Development Kit at the Project Ara Module Developers Conference 2015. Devices on Google [NASDAQ: GOOG] Project Ara specifications are expected to transform the smartphone experience. Ara modular smartphone users will be able to pick the camera they like, rather than picking a phone for its camera. They could add a sensor to test if water is clean. They could have a battery that lasts for days. They could have a louder speaker, gaming console, or use the smartphone as their car key. The possibilities are endless. To enable modular smartphones, eInfochips and TAEC offer the ARTOS12 Google Ara Development Kit for the 1x2 Module that uses Toshiba bridge chip technology and eInfochips engineering services.

Shardul Kazi, Senior Vice President and Technology Executive, System LSI Group, at TAEC, unveiled the Development Kit at the Project Ara Developers Conference this week in the USA, and will do so in Singapore next week. Speaking at the launch, Shardul said, "Smartphones double up as HD displays, music players, computers, cameras, wallets and video conferencing equipment. Next, it may be your watch, blood-pressure monitor, memory stick, TV remote, projector and car key. While the Toshiba chips are at the heart of the Ara Smartphone providing the connectivity between the modules, the Development Kit and services can enable these new and exciting designs to get to market much quicker."

The kit features MicroSD and USB slots enabling developers to store data and interface to external devices. The Toshiba T6WR6XBG general-purpose bridge used in the development kit supports optional interfaces such as UART, I2C, I2S, SPI, and GPIO on the 1x2 module. The Ara 1x2 module development kit also includes high-speed interfaces for connection to the application processor bridge, USB drivers and quick-start documentation. Engineering services, distribution, support, release management and product delivery of ARTOS12 Google Ara development kits is provided by eInfochips.

Design Services for Google Ara Modules

eInfochips, in addition to being the development and support collaborator for the EITAEC Development Kit, will also offer its expertise on Google Ara modules with custom design and engineering services. These include platform porting, multimedia integration, application development, and performance optimization, among others. Companies seeking first-mover advantage on Google Ara modules can leverage eInfochips experience in this domain to accelerate development cycles. Having contributed to over 500+ hardware and software product designs, eInfochips can address gaps in the development of Project Ara smartphone module hardware and software.

According to Parag Mehta, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at eInfochips, "eInfochips is one of a handful of global engineering services companies with the experience in hardware, software and system design needed to deliver world-class Project Ara smartphone modules."

Google Project Ara: Designed exclusively for 6 billion people

The smartphone is one of the most empowering and intimate objects in our lives. Yet most of us have little say in how the device is made, what it does, and how it looks. What if you could make thoughtful choices about exactly what your phone does, and use it as a creative canvas to tell your own story?

Project Ara is a development effort to create a modular hardware ecosystem-rivalling mobile apps in the pace and level of innovation around smartphones. With the goal of enabling users to create a modular smartphone that is precisely tailored to their functional and aesthetic preferences and to bring the mobile internet to the approximately 5 billion people who don't yet have smartphones.

About eInfochips

eInfochips is a global product innovation partner recognized for technology leadership by Gartner, Frost & Sullivan, NASSCOM and Zinnov. eInfochips has contributed to 500+ products for top global companies, with more than 10 million deployments across the world.

About TAEC

Through proven commitment, lasting relationships and advanced, reliable electronic components, Toshiba enables its customers to create market-leading designs. Toshiba is the heartbeat within product breakthroughs from OEMs, ODMs, CMs, VARs, distributors and fabless chip companies worldwide. A committed electronic components leader, Toshiba designs and manufactures high-quality flash memory-based storage solutions, solid state drives (SSDs), hard disk drives (HDDs), solid state hybrid drives (SSHDs), discrete devices, custom SoCs/ASICs, imaging products, microcontrollers, wireless components, mobile peripheral devices, advanced materials and medical tubes that make possible today's leading smartphones, tablets, cameras, medical devices, automotive electronics, industrial applications, enterprise solutions and more.

Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation [TYO:6502], Japan's largest semiconductor manufacturer and the world's sixth largest semiconductor manufacturer (Gartner, 2013 Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue, April 2014). Founded in Tokyo in 1875, Toshiba is at the heart of a global network of over 590 consolidated companies employing over 200,000 people worldwide. Visit Toshiba's web site at www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm.