Thanks for the response. I ask because I would typically have to use two devices on my boards (the charger, and the protector), and was curious if they'd come out with a single IC for it all. The microchip parts are also a lot easier to source in small quantities than the parts I am using.
One neat thing about some protectors (like the DS2764) is that you have access to a lot of extra functionality, including some statistics (like battery voltage, current draw) over I2C, as well as soft power. It's a really neat device to use on embedded systems, although they might have something even better out this year.
I read your blog almost every day, to see all the neat things you folks are up to. As someone just about to finish their PhD, I'm sometimes lured by the starving-artist-esque BANNED (not that i'm saying you're starving!
) around having your own open source hardware business, and wonder what it would be like to go that route. It seems sort of like academia in that you get to develop what you'd like to, but also outwardly productive in that you get to see your results a lot quicker and get to help folks learn and create and build and make. Also, I'd love to just be able to give the designs away -- I'm going through the patent process for my startup, and it's just so very crazy and costly. I think what I'm trying to say is, very well done, it's great to see all the new products and designs, and all the fantastic good they do at helping folks be creative learners and students of science.