Syracuse, NY | April 28, 2014 – Anaren, Inc. announced today that it is has been chosen as a finalist in the “Microwave & RF category” of the ECN Impact Awards (run by Electronic Component News), which recognizes “outstanding achievement and groundbreaking innovation” in the electronic design engineering arena. Anaren’s AIR module with Bluetooth® Smart is the basis for the Company’s selection as a finalist. Award winners will be announced at the Electonic Distribution Show in Las Vegas, on May 6th, 2014, during a special ceremony to be held in the Cosmopolitan Hotel Castellana Ballroom.

“We couldn’t be happier to see our new, Bluetooth Smart AIR module recognized for its many userfriendly engineering strengths,” said AIR Product Line manager, Mike Lugert. “It’s great to have others recognize the lengths we’ve gone with this module to help the many non-RF savvy manufacturers of embedded products connect to the billion-plus Bluetooth-equipped mobile devices out there in the market.”

Among the specific features Lugert credits for the recognition are the modules’ small size, its precertification to global standards, a supporting B-Smart development kit that helps designers connect to a mobile device using the module, and the strategic alliance the company has formed with Austin, TX-based firmware expert, Emmoco. “The fact that our new module family is based on Texas Instruments proven and equally innovative CC2541 SOC for BLE applications technology is also a key benefit,” added Lugert.

Whether it’s smart phones/portable devices, electronic warfare, wireless networking or near-field communications (NFC), some of the most exciting advancements in the overall electronics industry happen in the Microwave and RF category (aka: over-the-air communications). The ECN award will thus recognize the best products from a wide range of component types that help enable all these advancements -- such as transmitters, transceivers, wireless modules, receivers, crystals, clocks and oscillators, antennae, attenuators, tuners, RFICs, RFID, and RF cables/connectors.