National Instruments Intros USB-GPIB Controller for Macs
Posted on October 7, 2008
Filed Under 1
National Instruments Adds New Low-Profile PCI Express Controller That Reduces Size and Power Consumption
AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 7, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — National
Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) today introduced the industry’s first
Mac-compatible USB-GPIB controller as well as a low-profile PCI Express
GPIB controller. With the NI USB-GPIB-HS, Mac users now can control their
stand-alone instruments from Mac laptops and desktops with the flexibility
of a portable USB-GPIB interface. Additionally, the new NI
PCIe-GPIB/Low-Profile (LP) controller gives engineers and scientists a
high-performance, RoHS-compliant controller that uses approximately 75
percent less power and is manufactured using 63 percent less printed
circuit board (PCB) material than previous models.
National Instruments began developing GPIB products in 1976 so
engineers and scientists could control their instruments from desktop PCs
regardless of vendor. Today, GPIB remains one of the industry’s most
popular instrument control buses, and now, with the USB-GPIB-HS, NI is the
first manufacturer to help Mac users take advantage of their USB ports to
control thousands of stand-alone GPIB instruments. The controller supports
both PowerPC and Intel-based Macintosh laptops and desktops and is
compatible with the Mac OS X operating system.
“As one who prefers the Apple Mac operating system, I am thrilled to
have the option for the USB-GPIB-HS to communicate with our lab equipment,”
said Dr. Scott Hannahs, an instrumentation physicist who has used the NI
LabVIEW graphical programming environment on the Mac for many years.
“Previously, we could only use Mac workstations with PCI cards, and this
release now makes available the USB-GPIB family of devices, giving us more
portable, compatible and flexible solutions. The Mac-friendly NI
USB-GPIB-HS helps us set up, debug and run experiments efficiently, so we
can concentrate on our measurements and results instead of worrying about
data communication and setup issues, which saves us time and manpower in
the lab.”
Additionally, NI introduced the new, smaller NI PCIe-GPIB/LP controller
for Windows Vista/XP/2000, Mac OS X, Linux(R) and Solaris operating
systems. The adoption of today’s smaller PCs and gravitation toward PCI
Express slots necessitate the invention of smaller controllers. The
RoHS-compliant NI PCIe-GPIB/LP offers the same high-performance
specifications as its PCI Express predecessor but in a significantly
smaller form factor. Using 75 percent less operating power and manufactured
with 63 percent less PCB material, the NI PCIe-GPIB/LP maintains advanced
transfer rates of >1.5 MB/s (IEEE 488.1) and >7.9 MB/s (HS488) for maximum
performance.
Both the NI USB-GPIB-HS and the NI PCIe-GPIB/LP controllers can be
programmed with the easy-to-use LabVIEW graphical system design platform,
the NI LabWindows(TM)/CVI ANSI C integrated development environment and NI
Measurement Studio software for Microsoft Visual Studio.
For more information about the new GPIB controllers, readers may visit
http://www.ni.com/gpib.
About National Instruments
National Instruments (http://www.ni.com) is transforming the way engineers and
scientists design, prototype and deploy systems for measurement, automation
and embedded applications. NI empowers customers with off-the-shelf
software such as NI LabVIEW and modular cost-effective hardware, and sells
to a broad base of more than 25,000 different companies worldwide, with no
one customer representing more than 3 percent of revenue and no one
industry representing more than 10 percent of revenue. Headquartered in
Austin, Texas, NI has more than 4,800 employees and direct operations in
nearly 40 countries. For the past nine years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI
one of the 100 best companies to work for in America. Readers can obtain
investment information from the company’s investor relations department by
calling (512) 683-5090, e-mailing nati@ni.com or visiting http://www.ni.com/nati.
Pricing and Contact Information
NI GPIB-USB-HS controller priced* from $549; 11500 N Mopac Expwy,
euro 549; 64,000 yen Austin, Texas 78759-3504
NI PCIe-GPIB/LP controller priced* from $549; Tel: (800) 258-7022,
euro 549; 64,000 yen Fax: (512) 683-9300
Web: http://www.ni.com/wifi E-mail: info@ni.com
*All prices are subject to change without notice.
CVI, LabVIEW, HS488, Measurement Studio, National Instruments, NI and
ni.com are trademarks of National Instruments. The mark LabWindows is used
under a license from Microsoft Corporation. Windows is a registered
trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other
countries. Linux(R) is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the
U.S. and other countries. Other product and company names listed are
trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.
Editor Contact: Julia Betts, (512) 683-8165
Reader Contact: Ernest Martinez, (800) 258-7022
Related links:
http://www.ni.com
http://www.ni.com/gpib
http://www.ni.com/nati
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