EYE on NPI - PUI API-4260-LW150-2-R Programmable Indicator

Remember before we had ringtones, when every phone had the same tones to alert you when a call came in? Incredible we lived like that, like savages! This week's EYE on NPI will make you feel the same way about audio alerts, with this awesome new product from PUI, the API-4260-LW150-2-R (https://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/p/pui-audio/api-4260-lw150-2-r-programmable-indicator) - it's a programmable audio alert speaker with MP3 support, and now we can't understand how we lived without it. Like our Sound FX boards (https://www.adafruit.com/product/2342) or CircuitPython (https://circuitpython.org/), it shows up as a 4 megabyte disk drive. We created our own custom EYE on NPI alert system by converting our WAV file to MP3 (to save space) using Audacity (https://learn.adafruit.com/microcontroller-compatible-audio-file-conversion). Then apply power and immediately the audio file starts looping! You can make the MP3 as long as you like, it just needs to fit in the 4MB disk drive space. The PUI Audio API-4260-LW150-2-R is an audio programmable indicator (API). Instead of using software that only works on operating systems and some devices, programming the API only requires adding .MP3 and .WAV files to any computer that supports USB thumb drives. A larger 4 MB storage size allows for longer files or sequential playback of multiple files, while the internal DAC allows for files with sampling rates up to 48 kHz. The 150 mm lead wires and mounting flanges allow for easy product integration while activating the API-4260-LW150-2-R is as simple as supplying 7 VDC to 24 VDC. With 100 dB of output at 10 cm (with a 1 kHz file recorded at 0 dB), users can employ the API in most ambient conditions. It complies with FCC Part 15 Class B, CE EN61000-6-1, and CE EN61000-6-3. The speaker is surprisingly loud and you can't beat the simplicity of this design. The price isn't that much higher than non-programmable audio alert systems, and you save a ton of time on integration and programming: you don't have to add MP3 playback to your product if it's just to play alerts. Thanks to the recent end of the MP3 patent pool, no licensing is required! (https://blog.adafruit.com/2017/04/18/is-mp3-now-patent-free-makerbusiness-technicolor/) What we like is the simplicity - simply power it and it does it's thing, so it can be integrated into any existing design without engineering re-work. We were curious on what's powering this thing so we opened it up. Inside we found an XL2576 5V switching regulator (https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/texas-instruments/LM2576SX-ADJ-NOPB/LM2576SX-ADJ-NOPBCT-ND/3440107), a Winbond 25Q32 FLASH chip (https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/winbond-electronics/W25Q32JVSSIQ-TR/W25Q32JVSSIQTR-ND/5803982), and a GZUT-MA2 'all in one MP3 player' chip. The chip output goes into an audio amplifier chip and to an 8ohm 0.5W speaker. Simple? Yes! Effective? Indeed! You can pick one up at Digi-Key and with its easy-to-use interface and add it to your next design within seconds! In stock now and shipping today at https://www.digikey.com/short/z2dp0z