IRVINE, Calif., April 17, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- At the Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose, Calif. yesterday, Lantronix, Inc. (Nasdaq:LTRX) announced the winners of its annual Wireless Design Contest. The contest challenges engineers, students, and hobbyists to develop a creative and practical wireless product using Lantronix's MatchPort(r) b/g, an 802.11 b/g embedded wireless device server module.
Like previous contests, editors from Electronic Design and Machine Design, and Lantronix engineers judged more than 150 entries on technical merit, originality, usefulness, cost-effectiveness, and design optimization. First place received $6,000, second place $4,000 and third place $2,000. Additional prize money was awarded to the "Best Student Entry" and the "Most Likely to Succeed," a new category this year for the most commercially-viable solution. In addition to the prize money, winners received a $1,000 travel voucher (round-trip airfare, hotel, and meals) to attend the conference and receive their awards in person.
"This contest is always a lot of fun for us at Lantronix," said Mark Prowten, VP of Marketing for Lantronix. "It gives us the opportunity to showcase not only the endless possibilities of wireless device networking technology, but also how easy-to-use our turnkey MatchPort b/g solution is. Congratulations to all of the winners and thank you to all who participated."
The winning entries were:
First place ($6,000) and Most Likely to Succeed ($2,000) -- VersaLights
First place and the winner of the "Most Likely to Succeed" award went to John Peterson of Menlo Park, Calif. Many retailers use holiday lights to create a festive look around Christmas, Valentine's Day, Halloween, etc. However changing the lights for each season involves a considerable amount of labor. VersaLights solves this problem by using multi-colored LEDs and the MatchPort b/g, which allows users to program the color of each light wirelessly via the Internet. Now, users can simply broadcast the desired pattern and change the lights as often as needed.
Second place ($4,000) -- The Wireless Miner
Second place and $4,000 went to David E. Flores for his Wireless Miner, a wireless transit guide for mining trucks. Using the MatchPort b/g, this unit works in mines to re-direct trucks in real-time to the zones/job where they are needed most. Truck parameters are transmitted over wireless local area networks (WLAN) and displayed at the base station where they can be automatically or manually monitored. The Wireless Miner helps to automate mineral extraction, reduce errors, risk and time, while increasing mining profitability.
Third place ($2,000) and Best Student Entry ($3,000) -- WiFi Security Robot
Third place and winner of the "Best Student Entry" went to Jared Bayne for his WiFi Security Robot. While many companies do not have the resources to provide 24-hour surveillance, this device acts as a wireless security guard, roaming, and monitoring the property without being constrained to a computer. When a human is detected, it alerts the user of the intrusion via the Internet so proper actions can be taken. The WiFi Security Robot can monitor dozens of properties at once, from thousands of miles away, allowing companies to increase security while saving costs.
"The MatchPort b/g was an ideal solution for my design and enabled me to easily configure and add wireless Internet access to my robot," said Jared Bayne, a senior at University of Missouri at Kansas City. "By using a Java applet on the web page, I was able to quickly connect to the MatchPort and provide the user interface to the robot. Overall, the contest was a lot of fun and I'm pleased to be recognized."
About Lantronix
Lantronix, Inc. (Nasdaq:LTRX) is a global leader of secure communication technologies that simplify remote access, management, and control of virtually any electronic device. Our innovative solutions enable businesses to make better decisions based on real-time information and help gain a competitive advantage by generating new revenues streams, improving productivity and increasing efficiency, and profitability. Easy-to-integrate and deploy, Lantronix product families include: DeviceLinx(tm) -- remote connectivity and control solutions for electronic equipment via the Internet; ManageLinx(tm) -- powerful application services platform providing secure remote access to firewall-protected equipment; and SecureLinx(tm) -- secure, remote management for IT equipment over the Internet. With more than 20 years of networking experience, Lantronix solutions are used in every major vertical market including security, industrial and building automation, medical, transportation, retail/POS, financial, government, consumer electronics/appliances, IT/data center, and pro-AV/signage. The company's headquarters are located in Irvine, Calif. For more information, visit www.lantronix.com.
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