The recently announced FEZ Medusa family of products gives users a low-cost option while keeping development Fast and Easy (FEZ). This product line does not end there as a few new products have been added to cover more of the developer's needs. Previous announcement details covering the FEZ Medusa Mini, S12 and the Shield can be found here.

Introducing the FEZ Medusa Shield-3D!
This new shield is designed to work with Arduino DUE, Arduino Mega and Arduino ADK. The ADK option is ideal for creating accessories for Android devices, ADK stands for Accessory Development Kit. More information on the FEZ Medusa Shield-3D can be found here.

We Have Starter Kits!
These kits work perfect as a starting point and include everything needed to get started. The provided starter guides will be directly related to the kit content. There are two kits available today, the FEZ Medusa starter Kit, based around the FEZ Medusa Mini and the FEZ Medusa Shield-3D Kit, ideal for Arduino DUE, Mega and Mega ADK. You can learn more about our Arduino-compatible offerings by visiting the catalog.

The All New ALFAT OEM Link Module!
This module gives access to files found on SD Cards and USB memory devices, thanks to the ALFAT chipset. Resource constraint devices, such as the 8-bit FEZ Medusa, can now read and write files easily though simple serial commands. To discover more about the ALFAT OEM Link Module please click here.

The EVE800 Module for FTDI displays!
This module plugs directly into FTDI's EVE display boards to give any of the Gadgeteering systems a simple plug-and-play display option. These displays run on SPI bus and accept simple commands from the host processor to render to the display or to read the touch input from the display. To learn more please visit the catalog.

FEZ Medusa News Announcement: http://www.ghielectronics.com/community/forum/topic?id=13263
FEZ Medusa Family of Products: http://www.ghielectronics.com/catalog/category/516
ALFAT OEM Link Module: http://www.ghielectronics.com/catalog/product/503
EVE800 Module: http://www.ghielectronics.com/catalog/product/520

We are very excited to say that we have completed our “must have” list for the current SDK package, covering NETMF 4.2 and Gadgeteer. While it took longer than expected, we have completely changed the TCP/IP stack and the SSL stack successfully. The network changes also include a complete restructure on how the network interfaces hook into the system. For example, you can detect WiFi network availability without switching from Ethernet to WiFi.

The major changes in networking was just the start. The all-new in-field update feature is simplified and made much more robust. Devices running GHI’s premium hardware can easily update themselves automatically. The update can be done from any accessible interface, including network and SD/USB storage media.

New in this release

• WinUSB is now the default option (You MUST manually uninstall the previous USB drivers).
• VS2012 is now recommended over VS2010, thanks to the speed of the new WinUSB drivers.
• FEZ Config is now part of the package and it is rebuilt with every SDK release to include the latest firmware version numbers. This allowed FEZ Config to warn users when the firmware needs to be updated.
• FEZ Game-O emulator (thanks to @architect for his great work).
• G400 non-beta firmware.
• Stability improvement.

What is next?

Stability and quality will be a must and so we will continue to work on perfecting our NETMF/Gadgeteer 4.2 Software while migrating to 4.3 in the near future. We will hold on NETMF 4.3 for a bit as it requires VS2012, which will not run on older versions of windows. However, VS2012 with NETMF 4.3 will work with 4.2 devices. The good news is that NETMF4.3 does not add any major features that you will miss.

There are many features that we would like to add to the NETMF/Gadgeteer SDK Package. Here are few examples, without making any promises.

• PPP with hooks to the internal networking system, to allow the use of Sockets with mobile modems
• Low power modes.
• Application protection.
• USB Host for Cerb-family
• Native CAN drivers for Cerb-family.
• Improved premium CAN drivers.
• Video playback.

We couldn't have done this without the help of our great community. Thank you all for every example bug report and every result feedback. Thank you for keeping your expectations high and accepting nothing but perfect. Last but note least, thank you for your patience while we completed this very important milestone.

SDK Package R3: https://www.ghielectronics.com/support/netmf/sdk/8/netmf-and-gadgeteer-package-2013-r3

Mountaineer Family Of Products
We would like to thank Cuno and everyone who is part of the Oberon Microsystems team for all of their dedication, hard work and contributions to NETMF. Our decision to no longer carry the Mountaineer family of products is not a reflection upon the Mountaineer team but instead a decision we made to only carry products supported by our SDK. Mountaineer products are still available via Mouser at http://ch.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=mountaineer or in some countries through the Mountaineer online store, http://www.mountaineer-boards.com/.

FEZ Medusa
As of 10/12/2013, with the support of the KickStarter community, FEZ Medusa has become a reality for all of those dreaming of a “plug-n-play” Arduino-compatible family of products. FEZ Medusa will come in three flavors: FEZ Medusa Mini, FEZ Medusa S12 and the FEZ Medusa Shield. The FEZ Medusa product line will allow the Arduino community to sense and control the physical world with a complete ecosystem of plug-n-play modules. If you missed the KickStarter campaign, do not worry as we have FEZ Medusa available on pre-order starting today.

FEZ Lynx
Thanks for the very positive feedback, FEZ Lynx has been finalized and first production run is expected in few short weeks. This new technology brings Gadgeteering to any device with USB Host. This includes, but not limited to, Windows PCs, Linux machines, Mac, Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, Android phones and Android Tablets. The production version is called FEZ Lynx S4 and it includes four Gadgeteer-compatible sockets in a small xxxyyy package. Need more sockets? The fifth socket on FEZ Lynx S4, and the provided software, is designed to work directly with the Hub AP5 module, which adds 15 additional sockets.

Release Of Acrylic Enclosures For Select Kits
We are excited to announce the release of acrylic enclosures for the FEZ Cerberus Tinker Kit, FEZ Hydra Hacker Kit and the FEZ Medusa Starter Kit, starting at under $10.

Gadgeteering: https://www.ghielectronics.com/technologies/gadgeteering
Arduino-Compatible: https://www.ghielectronics.com/catalog/category/516
FEZ Lynx S4: https://www.ghielectronics.com/catalog/product/462
FEZ Medusa Starter Kit Acrylic Enclosure : https://www.ghielectronics.com/catalog/product/515
FEZ Cerberus Tinker Kit Acrylic Enclosure : https://www.ghielectronics.com/catalog/product/504
FEZ Hydra Hacker Kit Acrylic Enclosure : https://www.ghielectronics.com/catalog/product/511

Released in 2007, uALFAT and USBwiz were the first FAT File System chipsets. Today, we offer the ALFAT family of products which provide you with a high speed FAT File System solution. It has a built in USB Host and a 4-bit SD interface, for a lower cost and higher performance solution.

Starting today, we are offering an End of Life Buy on the uALFAT and USBwiz chipsets until December 31st, 2013. We will be selling these products in full tray multiples.

uALFAT Chipsets: 250pcs per tray
USBwiz Chipset: 160pcs per tray

Please visit our File System product category to learn about ALFAT and the latest offers : https://www.ghielectronics.com/catalog/category/4