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High-speed In-System programming engine is based on an Atmel processor

Corporation's  latest innovation in device programming is an in- system programming solution designed specifically for use in automated test and production lines. Unlike any other products designed for programming devices mounted on a circuit board, ImageWriter is based on an open architecture that enables seamless integration with automated test and manufacturing systems.

This week the company announced that ImageWriter now supports the Atmel AVR family (ATmega and ATtiny) flash microcontrollers already mounted on a circuit board.  The compact programmer can be installed into any test fixture,and programming can take place at in-circuit or functional test, or any point in production.  The programmer can be configured to run PC-driven or standalone. An open architecture and documented programming command sets give
Test Engineers the integration advantage -- an ImageWriter module can be controlled directly via an ATE signal, or from any process control software such as LabView, with a few hours of implementation effort.

The interesting twist is that the design of the ImageWriter programmer itself rests on an Atmel AVR microcontroller.  "It's an example of one great technology enabling another," said David Beecher of Data I/O, designer of the ImageWriter hardware."We selected the Atmel microcontroller as a key component of our programmer engine design, because it provides an efficient low power RISC processor with the performance and features and upgrade capability we needed. In fact, we use an ImageWriter programmer to program the Atmel device in new ImageWriter units in our own production line."

"Efficient in-system programming in high volume can present challenges to Test and Manufacturing engineers," said Atmel AVR Product Manager OJ Svendsli. "ImageWriter provides a solution that will help manufacturers of consumer goods, automotive equipment and industrial products to reduce costs and rapidly deliver products to market."

Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions. Focused on consumer, industrial, security, communications, computing and automotive markets, Atmel ICs can be found Everywhere You Are(SM).

Atmel was the first company to bring a reduced instruction set computer(RISC) instruction set 8-bit flash microcontroller to market.  The enormously popular AVR family of microcontrollers offers in-system programmability and self-programming memory. This enabled remote upgrading of systems without a second central processing unit (CPU) where earlier, two CPU's were needed to reprogram the memory.

About Data I/O With more than 30 years of innovative leadership in the device programming industry, Data I/O Corporation (Nasdaq: DAIO) provides manual and automated device programming systems that specifically address the requirements of engineering and manufacturing customers. By combining leading edge technology and a deep understanding of our customers' business processes, Data I/O is creating systems that dramatically improve Return on Investment. New systems
include ImageWriter(TM), the world's first in-system programmer for Production, and the fastest and most cost-effective inline and manual Flash programming solutions, ProLINE-RoadRunner and FlashPAK Networked Programming System. The company's Connected rogramming Solutions optimize programming from design through manufacturing by creating a networked solution that connects engineering to manufacturing, business processes to business systems,and the firmware supply chain to its users. Data I/O Corporation is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and has sales and service offices worldwide.

Forward-looking Statements All company and product names mentioned may be trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective holders and are used for identification purposes only. The matters discussed in this news release include forward- looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to vary significantly. These risks include market and competitive factors, and other risks described in the Company's most recent annual report and/or in any of its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information in this release.