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XBee grows up, delivers WiFi to DIYers and Arduino enthusiasts

Good news DIYers, XBee now comes in WiFi flavors. The favorite wireless module of Arduino tinkerers everywhere is growing up and adding 802.11n to its normal compliment of RF and ZigBee options. Development kits are available now starting at $149 per board, with add-on modules like embedded or wire antennas and RF connectors clocking in at $49. It might not seem like a big deal to some of you out there, but anyone who's contemplated building a Tweet-a-Watt or a Yarn Monster will appreciate being able skip adding a ZigBee adapter to their PC. Check out the PR after the break.

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Digi Launches Wi-Fi Version of Popular XBee Module

-Sharing a common hardware and software footprint, low-power XBee Wi-Fi modules enable a single board design with multiple wireless frequencies and protocols-

MINNETONKA, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Digi International (NASDAQ: DGII) today introduced the XBee® Wi-Fi, an embedded module that enables industry leading low power, serial-to-Wi-Fi networking in the popular XBee form factor. Because of the XBee's common footprint and application programming interface (API), customers can now create a single board design for wireless products that supports 802.15.4, ZigBee, ZigBee Smart Energy, 2.4 GHz, 900 and 868 MHz, Wi-Fi and proprietary DigiMesh protocols.

"XBee modules offer developers tremendous flexibility and are extremely easy to use," said Larry Kraft, senior vice president of global sales and marketing, Digi International. "By adding a low-power Wi-Fi module to the XBee product family we give customers the fastest and most flexible way to get Wi-Fi up and running on their systems."

Ideal for energy management, wireless sensor networks and intelligent asset management, the XBee Wi-Fi offers 802.11 b/g/n networking and flexible SPI and UART serial interfaces. Because the module includes the 802.11 b/g/n physical layer, baseband MAC and TCP/IP stack, developers can add Wi-Fi to their products simply by connecting to the XBee Wi-Fi's serial port. The XBee Wi-Fi is fully tested at manufacture and comes with modular certification for the U.S., E.U., Canada and a number of other countries, further reducing the time to market, development expense and design complexity.

XBee Wi-Fi development kits are available now for $149. For more information about the XBee Wi-Fi, visit http://www.digi.com/xbeewifi.

About Digi International

Digi International is making wireless M2M easy by developing reliable products and solutions to connect and securely manage local or remote electronic devices over the network or via the Web. Digi offers the highest levels of performance, flexibility and quality, and markets its products through a global network of distributors and resellers, systems integrators and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). For more information, visit Digi's Web site at www.digi.com, or call 877-912-3444.