Series 1 XBees being discontinued?

[pstemari]

I got an email from Digikey saying that the XBee Series 1 w chip antenna is being discontinued with no replacement. As near I could tell from Maxstream's website, the hardware will still be available, but the stock firmware will be the digimesh firmware, and if you want the 802.15.4 firmware, you'll have to reflash the XBee. Not a killer, but certainly a nuisance.

Does anyone else have more/better information?

Digi-Key Information Services
<http://www.digikey.com?dkcid=79003&WT.z_email=obsolete>


Obsolete Parts Notification


You have purchased the following part number(s) from Digi-Key within the last
two years. The manufacturer has announced this part(s) will become obsolete.
Please click on the link below for more information on possible substitutes.

*Manufacturer* *Details*
DIGI INTERNATIONAL/MAXSTREAM Description: MODULE 802.15.4 1MW W/CHIP ANT
Manufacturer Part Number: XB24-ACI-001
Digi-Key Part Number: XB24-ACI-001-ND

*For substitutes, please click here
<http://ordering.digikey.com/ObsoletePart.aspx?dkcid=3163&WT.z_email=obsolete&pn=XB24-ACI-001-ND>*

[faludi]

Good news! Series 1 XBees are definitely still in production with no plans for that to change. What's being discontinued is the chip antenna, in favor of a less expensive and more efficient PCB antenna. These will still be available with 802.15.4 firmware. Here's the current part number: XB24-API-001

[pstemari]

Excellent. The series 2 interface is a lot more trouble to program, although it's certainly more robust.

[faludi]

Series 2 (ZigBee) can be a bit more effort to set up, but of course comes with powerful features like mesh networking. So it's the usual correlation of complexity to flexibility. My book should help out a lot with those who are interested in extending their networks using Series 2. We're also coming out with a lot of practical examples for all the XBees over the summer, so look for those too.