Freescale is adding three new members to the family of i.MX applications processors that integrate hardware-based display controllers and ARM Cortex-A8 cores.

The i.MX50 product family enable compelling end devices featuring LCD and/or electronic paper displays (EPDs). Combined with Freescale’s complementary new MC34708 power management IC (PMIC), this highly optimized platform helps speed time to market and allows customers to buy right-sized, easy-to-use solutions for their specific applications.

The i.MX508 is currently in production, and the additional i.MX50 products are sampling now, with volume availability expected to follow later in Q3 2011. The i.MX502 is the lowest-cost processor offering, and at less than $10 USD (MSRP), provides support for high performance, LCD-based applications such as vending machines and DECT phones.

The i.MX503 supports OpenVG acceleration and is ideal for portable products requiring more advanced user interfaces such as medical monitoring tablets and PNDs. The i.MX507 and i.MX508 products both support the EPD controller, with different levels of graphics capabilities for targeted EPD markets.

Freescale announced the initial member of the family last year with the introduction of the i.MX508 system-on-chip (SoC). Designed to bolster and extend Freescale’s processing leadership for the growing eReader market, the i.MX508 was the first SoC to integrate advanced ARM Cortex-A8 technology with a hardware-based display controller from E Ink.