Free Renesas RL78-G14 Microcontroller Demo Kit is a Neat Tool Toy!

http://microcontroller.com/news/Renesas_RL78_G14_Demo_Kit.asp

This board has WiFi 802.11b and can act as an access point or a
hotspot. Two LCD displays including eInk. Micro SD card slot. Sensors
include a 3-axis accelerometer, temperature sensor, ambient light
sensor. Stereo audio output and lots more.

Supports Android and iPhone interface applications. Article includes a
cool screenshot of the Android interface.

Renesas' website say this board is available for free for a limited
time as part of a promotion for the RL78. Better get two.

Bill Giovino
http://Microcontroller.com

On Sat, 19 Jan 2013 07:17:42 -0800 (PST), Bill Giovino
<billgiovino@gmail.com> wrote:

>http://microcontroller.com/news/Renesas_RL78_G14_Demo_Kit.asp
>
>This board has WiFi 802.11b and can act as an access point or a
>hotspot. Two LCD displays including eInk. Micro SD card slot. Sensors
>include a 3-axis accelerometer, temperature sensor, ambient light
>sensor. Stereo audio output and lots more.
>
>Supports Android and iPhone interface applications. Article includes a
>cool screenshot of the Android interface.
>
>Renesas' website say this board is available for free for a limited
>time as part of a promotion for the RL78. Better get two.
>
>Bill Giovino
>http://Microcontroller.com

How do I get one free, Bill.  I've been keeping Renesas in
the back of my mind since, I think, Walter Banks may have
mentioned the R8 or R8L? Anyway, I'd like to get one.

Jon

Hi, Jon:

To get a Renesas RL78-G14 Microcontroller Demo Kit, contact your
Renesas representative. I think they are available if you go direct
thru Renesas, or a manufacturer's rep. I'm not sure if they are free
through a disti.

As the saying goes, it's a limited-time offer!
http://microcontroller.com/news/Renesas_RL78_G14_Demo_Kit.asp

-Bill.

On 1/19/2013 7:23 PM, Bill Giovino wrote:
> Hi, Jon:
>
> To get a Renesas RL78-G14 Microcontroller Demo Kit, contact your
> Renesas representative. I think they are available if you go direct
> thru Renesas, or a manufacturer's rep. I'm not sure if they are free
> through a disti.
>
> As the saying goes, it's a limited-time offer!
> http://microcontroller.com/news/Renesas_RL78_G14_Demo_Kit.asp
>
> -Bill.
With no obvious way to take advantage of it.

On Sat, 19 Jan 2013 19:23:08 -0800 (PST), Bill Giovino wrote:

>Hi, Jon:
>
>To get a Renesas RL78-G14 Microcontroller Demo Kit, contact your
>Renesas representative. I think they are available if you go direct
>thru Renesas, or a manufacturer's rep. I'm not sure if they are free
>through a disti.
>
>As the saying goes, it's a limited-time offer!
>http://microcontroller.com/news/Renesas_RL78_G14_Demo_Kit.asp

Thanks, Bill.  But...

... It's just not vital enough that I stir up that pot. I am
interested in exploring them and have been for a little
while. I feel badly when I need to stir up one of the local
reps about something that is more a matter of getting
familiar; with only a small chance it will turn into business
and even if it does it will likely be for a client not in my
area.

(It's even closer to zero chance if I don't get familiar with
them. But that's another story.)

Anyway, that tells me what I need to know. I'll ignore the
offer until and unless things change.

The bait was _almost_ good enough, though!

Jon

Jon, I'm not sure I understand your caution.

If you want the board, you have to contact SOMEONE. You can contact
Renesas directly, your local rep, or your local distributor. that's
all that exists in the semiconductor food chain. If there is another
point of contact, I'm not aware of it. Is there another avenue for
contact you would prefer?

Promo boards are never available free over the web because of the
potential for abuse. All the free stock disappears within a matter of
hours, partially because you'll have one person order many boards
using different addresses. I think either Freescale or TI tried that
one many years ago and got burned badly.

On Sun, 20 Jan 2013 18:20:48 -0800 (PST), Bill Giovino
<billgiovino@gmail.com> wrote:

>Jon, I'm not sure I understand your caution.

I explained it in the post, as regards my local contacts. You
may not react the way I do. But that's merely a matter of
personality differences, then.

>If you want the board, you have to contact SOMEONE. You can contact
>Renesas directly, your local rep, or your local distributor. that's
>all that exists in the semiconductor food chain. If there is another
>point of contact, I'm not aware of it. Is there another avenue for
>contact you would prefer?

I may attempt this through Renesas, directly. Having no prior
contact with them makes this a cold call. Problem is,
although I've been interested in learning more about these...
it's not something I'll miss if I don't do it, either. I
don't have a project in mind. Just an interest.

>Promo boards are never available free over the web because of the
>potential for abuse. All the free stock disappears within a matter of
>hours, partially because you'll have one person order many boards
>using different addresses. I think either Freescale or TI tried that
>one many years ago and got burned badly.

Being free isn't important. I regularly fire off orders for
things I'm not sure I will use, but want take a little time
learning about just in case. It's part of growing wider
experiences I can bring when thinking about future projects.

But the regular price I saw for the pictured board isn't
going to happen. I'm not looking for free. Just not that
much, either, in this case.

Jon

On Monday, January 21, 2013 3:45:30 PM UTC+13, Jon Kirwan wrote:
> 
> Being free isn't important. I regularly fire off orders for
> things I'm not sure I will use, but want take a little time
> learning about just in case. It's part of growing wider
> experiences I can bring when thinking about future projects.
> 
> But the regular price I saw for the pictured board isn't
> going to happen. I'm not looking for free. Just not that
> much, either, in this case.

 I filled out a 'free' form for a RX200 series part, for a nominally $25 board some months ago, and that seems to have gone into the black hole.
The appeal of the RX200 series was the wide Vcc.

 Since then, Infineon has released some info on their new MX1000, which looks to hit the sweet spot even better. 
 1.8-5.5V Vcc, and a 1.88 Msps 12b ADC - the core matters less and less, as time goes by.

-jg

On 1/21/2013 4:48 AM, j.m.granville@gmail.com wrote:
> On Monday, January 21, 2013 3:45:30 PM UTC+13, Jon Kirwan wrote:
>>
>> Being free isn't important. I regularly fire off orders for
>> things I'm not sure I will use, but want take a little time
>> learning about just in case. It's part of growing wider
>> experiences I can bring when thinking about future projects.
>>
>> But the regular price I saw for the pictured board isn't
>> going to happen. I'm not looking for free. Just not that
>> much, either, in this case.
>
>   I filled out a 'free' form for a RX200 series part, for a nominally $25 board some months ago, and that seems to have gone into the black hole.
> The appeal of the RX200 series was the wide Vcc.
>
>   Since then, Infineon has released some info on their new MX1000, which looks to hit the sweet spot even better.
>   1.8-5.5V Vcc, and a 1.88 Msps 12b ADC - the core matters less and less, as time goes by.
>
> -jg

This board is a bit interesting to me because of the eInk display.  I 
was never able to get full info on these parts, but it seems they are 
not very low power if you update the display.  They are only low power 
when holding the image.  One of the ebook type displays used a peak 
current of nearly an amp for some hundreds of ms to update the display 
image!  But I'd like to see how much power a small display like this uses.

Rick

On Saturday, January 19, 2013 10:17:42 AM UTC-5, Bill Giovino wrote:
> http://microcontroller.com/news/Renesas_RL78_G14_Demo_Kit.asp
> 
> 
> 
> This board has WiFi 802.11b and can act as an access point or a
> 
> hotspot. Two LCD displays including eInk. Micro SD card slot. Sensors
> 
> include a 3-axis accelerometer, temperature sensor, ambient light
> 
> sensor. Stereo audio output and lots more.
> 
> 
> 
> Supports Android and iPhone interface applications. Article includes a
> 
> cool screenshot of the Android interface.
> 
> 
> 
> Renesas' website say this board is available for free for a limited
> 
> time as part of a promotion for the RL78. Better get two.
> 
> 
> 
> Bill Giovino
> 
> http://Microcontroller.com

This is what my Renesas rep had to say about this offer:

"Guess you can't believe everything you read on the Internet because there is no current promotion for this board as far as we know.   We do have an RPB board that they can get for free, but it is a simple promotional board that shows a few things- nothing like the one you have requested."

-- Marc