SAN JOSE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- Apr 15, 2015 -- Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: CY) and Arrow Electronics today announced that online voting is now open to select the finalists of the PSoC® Pioneer Challenge: Maker Faire™ Edition, a global design competition that gives engineers the opportunity to prototype new devices for the Internet of Things. Participants created their entries using the PSoC 4 BLE Pioneer Kit, an easy-to-use Bluetooth® Low Energy-enabled development board from Cypress. The winner will be awarded a $2,500 prize to cover travel expenses to the Maker Faire Bay Area in San Mateo, Calif., May 15-17, where he or she will showcase the winning design. The runner-up will receive $450 worth of gift certificates to buy merchandise from Cypress, Arrow and Maker Media -- the host of the Maker Faire.

Contest entries will be judged based on the novelty and innovation of the design, as well as the how effectively the design uses PSoC 4 BLE's capabilities. Finalists will be selected by the online readers of Make magazine, Maker Media's publication for the maker community, and the winners will be selected by a panel of judges, including representatives from Cypress, Arrow and the editorial staff of Make. To review the entries and cast your vote, please visit Make magazine online at www.makezine.com.

Cypress's PSoC 4 BLE Bluetooth® Low Energy solution enables complete systems by integrating a Bluetooth Smart radio, a high-performance 32-bit ARM® Cortex®-M0 core with ultra-low-power modes, programmable analog blocks, and Cypress's industry-leading CapSense® capacitive touch-sensing functionality. This combination of technology delivers unmatched system value for Bluetooth Smart products, with prolonged battery life, customizable sensing capabilities, and sleek, intuitive user interfaces. PSoC 4 BLE delivers unprecedented ease-of-use and integration in a customizable solution for IoT applications, home automation, healthcare equipment, sports and fitness monitors, and other wearable smart devices. The solutions also have an on-chip balun that simplifies antenna design while reducing board size and system cost.

Designers looking to create Bluetooth Smart products currently must use software tools from multiple vendors and develop complex firmware to meet wireless specifications. Cypress has simplified the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol stack and profile configuration into a new royalty-free, GUI-based BLE Component -- a free embedded IC within PSoC represented by an icon -- that can be dragged and dropped into designs using Cypress's PSoC Creator™ integrated design environment (IDE). PSoC Creator enables complete system design in a single tool, slashing time-to-market. Alternatively, users of Eclipse® and other ARM-based tools can customize their own Bluetooth Low Energy solutions in PSoC Creator and export the design to their preferred IDE.

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About the Maker Faire
Part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new, Maker Faire is an all-ages gathering of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, science clubs, authors, artists, students, and commercial exhibitors who come together to show what they have made and to share what they have learned. Started in 2006, there are now dozens of Maker Faires held globally each year, with the largest annual events held in Silicon Valley and New York.

About Cypress
Cypress (NASDAQ: CY) delivers high-performance, high-quality solutions at the heart of today's most advanced embedded systems, from automotive, industrial and networking platforms to highly interactive consumer and mobile devices. With a broad, differentiated product portfolio that includes NOR flash memories, F-RAM™ and SRAM, Traveo™ microcontrollers, the industry's only PSoC programmable system-on-chip solutions, analog and PMIC Power Management ICs, CapSense capacitive touch-sensing controllers, and Wireless BLE Bluetooth Low-Energy and USB connectivity solutions, Cypress is committed to providing its customers worldwide with consistent innovation, best-in-class support and exceptional system value. To learn more, go to www.cypress.com.

Cypress, the Cypress logo, PSoC, CapSense and TrueTouch are registered trademarks and PSoC Creator, F-RAM and Traveo are trademarks of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. All other trademarks are property of their owners.

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Contact:
Samer Bahou
Cypress PR
(408) 232-4552

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