Mouser claws at Internet of Things market with Particle

Mouser Electronics has inked a global distribution agreement with Particle, a prototype-to-production platform for Internet of Things (IoT) products.

With Particle’s hardware development kits and connectivity modules organisations can build IoT products and connect them to the web via Particle Cloud.

After connecting a device, users can write firmware using Particle’s web-based integrated development environment (IDE), deploy firmware updates over the air, and build apps to interact with the product with ParticleJS and the company’s mobile software development kit (SDK).

The Particle product line centres on the tiny Photon board, a Wi-Fi development kit for creating connected projects and products for the Internet of Things. The tools that make up the Photon’s ecosystem are designed to let embedded engineers, web developers, Arduino enthusiasts and IoT entrepreneurs build and create connected designs.

The board features the Particle P0 (P-Zero) module, which incorporates a Broadcom Wi-Fi chip alongside a powerful STMicroelectronics STM32 ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller. The P0 module comes preloaded with Particle’s firmware libraries and is designed to simplify transition from prototype to production.

Mouser also offers the P1 module, a larger Wi-Fi module that includes a built-in antenna and uFL connector. The P1 module is FCC-certified and offers 1 Mbyte of external flash to accommodate challenging projects.

The open source Photon is available with headers that plug directly into standard breadboards and perfboards, or without headers for surface mount designs, providing maximum flexibility. The Photon board, P0 module, and P1 module also include access to Particle’s fully featured cloud service, Particle Cloud.

Zach Supalla, CEO of Particle, said: “Mouser’s reputation for rapid introduction of new products and technologies, along with their commitment to excellent customer support will benefit our existing customers and help us discover new customers across the globe.”

Jeff Newell, senior vice president of products for Mouser Electronics, said: “Demand for IoT applications and products is growing with no signs of slowing down, and Particle is on the leading edge of this emerging technology.”

@AntonySavvas