SAN FRANCISCO, July 28 /PRNewswire/ --

- Innovative, social-networking community for engineers worldwide
generated nearly 400 designs; Total prize value of more than US$200,000

TechInsights announced today the top 128 designs at the start of Phase II
in the Microchip PIC32 Design Challenge (www.myPIC32.com), a year-long
contest and community sponsored by Microchip Technology Inc. and Digi-Key
Corporation as the exclusive distributor. Nearly 400 designs were submitted
in this international competition.

The objective of the four-phase Design Challenge is to foster a social
community where designers can build, test and display their designs through
the use of blogs, videos and forums. The interactive community is made up of
community members and contestants. Registered members of the community have
the ability to rate and vote on each contestant's design according to the
design value criteria, post blogs and participate in the member forums.
Members can also post comments and suggestions in the contestant blogs and
profiles to help them advance their designs. Each week, community members are
eligible for prizes based on their participation and activity within the
community.

The Top 128 contestants will be awarded a PIC32 prize package including a
PIC32 Starter Kit, a PIC32 I/O Expansion Board, a Prototyping Board, webcam,
plus a collection of Microchip analog and memory components. Several third
parties will also reward top contestants with a non-commercial use object
code license of SEGGER's embOS; a 90-day evaluation license of the C Compiler
for PIC32 from HI-TECH Software for use in the MPLAB IDE; as well as a 40
percent discount on Newnes' Programming Microcontrollers in C: Exploring the
PIC32 book.

Contestants of the Design Challenge will rely on Microchip's PIC32
Starter Kit, an easy to use, all-in-one, PIC32-based module (US$49 value). A
set of three industry expert judges, as well community members, will vote
during the challenge to see who "survives" and wins prizes that help
contestants continue their contest journey. The winning contestant will
receive a home theater system valued at US$8000 and a trip to ESC Silicon
Valley 2009 (April 1, 2009; http://www.cmp-egevents.com/web/esv/home). The
total value of prizes for members and contestants throughout the contest
exceeds US$200,000.

"I'm truly amazed at the quantity, quality, and diversity of the entries
that have been submitted. The creativity of the contestants is clearly coming
through. It also shows the diversity of applications that are possible using
the PIC32 architecture," said Richard Nass, Editor in Chief of Embedded
Systems Design and Challenge judge.

Terry West, PIC32 Marketing Manager at Microchip agrees. "With over
40,000 unique visitors to myPIC32.com, we are thrilled at the response that
the PIC32 Design Challenge site has received since its launch. The design
community has a tremendous opportunity to collaborate with some of the
world's best engineers and push the limits of creativity and skill --
interactively, while developing in leading-edge 32-bit designs using
Microchip's new PIC32 microcontroller."

"We are very excited for the opportunity to partner with Microchip and
TechInsights as the exclusive distributor on the PIC32 Design Challenge,"
added Tony Harris, vice president of E-Commerce at Digi-Key. "As provider of
the industry's preeminent Web site for design engineers, OEMs, and
purchasers, Digi-Key adds a great outreach solution to the design contest. We
look forward to driving traffic for our contest partners, and, as always,
efficiently and expeditiously delivering product into the hands of the
engineering community."

For contest rules and eligibility requirements, visit www.myPIC32.com.

About TechInsights

TechInsights is the daily source of essential business and technical
information for the electronics industry's decision makers -- the Creators of
Technology -- that define, develop, and bring to market the electronic
products that improve our lives. With global market leading brands such as EE
Times, Semiconductor Insights, TechOnline, Embedded Systems Conferences and
Portelligent, TechInsights is the leading dedicated information and services
business serving the global electronics market. For more information, please
visit www.techinsights.com. TechInsights is a division of United Business
Media (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/), a global provider of news
distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization
of more than US$2.5 billion.

About Microchip Technology

Microchip Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MCHP) is a leading provider of
microcontroller and analog semiconductors, providing low-risk product
development, lower total system cost and faster time to market for thousands
of diverse customer applications worldwide. Headquartered in Chandler,
Arizona, Microchip offers outstanding technical support along with dependable
delivery and quality. For more information, visit the Microchip website at
www.microchip.com.

About Digi-Key Corporation

One of the world's fastest growing distributors of electronic components,
Digi-Key has earned its reputation as an industry leader through its total
commitment to service and performance. As a full-service provider of both
prototype/design and production quantities of electronic components, Digi-Key
has been ranked #1 for Overall Performance for 16 consecutive years from
among the nation's more than 200 distributors (EE Times Distribution Study/
May 2007). Offering more than a million products from over 400 quality
name-brand manufacturers Digi-Key's commitment to inventory is unparalleled.
Access to the company's broad product offering is available 24/7 at
Digi-Key's top-rated website, www.digikey.com.

Contact
    Alix Raine
    United Business Media LLC
    +1-516-562-7827
    araine@ubm-us.com

    Web site: http://www.techinsights.com
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              http://www.microchip.com
              http://www.digikey.com
              http://www.myPIC32.com
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