It’s undeniable: 2014 was the year when the electronics industry decidedly and collectively moved forward to push the Internet of Things (IoT). In year 2015 IoT markets will continue to grow. I think we’re going to see some critical mass on corralling the IoT in 2015. IoT is a young market – no one seems to be clearly leading. Communications are the key here. Over the last 10 years the world has done a remarkably good job of connecting the global wireless world. The last decade has radically changed the way we live. The smartphone and its cousin, the tablet, was the final link to ubiquitous wireless coverage, globally. The fantasy of the IoT is quite grand: everything on the planet can be smart and communicate. The idea is both powerful and impractical.
IoT is entering peak of inflated expectations: The Internet of Things is at that stage when the efforts of various companies involved in it, along with research, are proving to have a lot of promise. At this stage, the Internet of Things should not have too many difficulties attracting developers and researchers into the fold. As we turn to 2015 and beyond, however, wearables becomes an explosive hardware design opportunity. Tie the common threads of IoT and wearables together, and an unstoppable market movement emerges. There seems to be a lack of public appreciation of the extent to which the Internet of Things is going to fundamentally change how people interact with the world around them.
On the other hand, the Internet of Things is getting poised to enter the trough of disillusionment, which means that there is more room for failure now. There are issues of security, privacy, and sharing of information across vertical implementations that still need to be worked out. Until they are, the IoT will not be able to fulfill all its promises.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is beginning to grow significantly, as consumers, businesses, and governments recognize the benefit of connecting inert devices to the internet. The ‘Internet of Things’ Will Be The World’s Most Massive Device Market And Save Companies Billions Of Dollars in few years. BI Intelligence expects that the IoT will result in $1.7 trillion in value added to the global economy in 2019. This includes hardware, software, installation costs, management services, and economic value added from realized IoT efficiencies. The main benefit of growth in the IoT will be increased efficiency and lower costs: increased efficiency within the home, city, and workplace. The enterprise sector will lead the IoT, accounting for 46% of device shipments this year, but that share will decline as the government and home sectors gain momentum. I expect that home, government, and enterprise sectors use the IoT differently.
The IoT is only enabled because of two things: the ability of networks to reach countless nodes, and the availability of cost-effective embedded processors to attach to a multitude of devices. The prices for components and devices continues to decline while the skyrocketing global demand for 24/7 Internet access grows exponentially. The Internet of Things growth will benefit mostly from the autonomous machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity that will make up the bulk of the objects of the IoT. This is the main driver for double-digit growth across verticals in the electronics, and especially the semiconductor industry well into the next decade. The IoT will connect places, such as manufacturing platforms, energy grids, health-care facilities, transportation systems, retail outlets, sports and music venues, and countless other entities to the Internet.
Internet of Things can become Engineering for Everyone. The emergence of open-source development platforms, developed and maintained by dedicated volunteers, has effectively raised the level of abstraction to a point where nonexperts can now use these platforms. The availability of open-source software and, more recently, hardware targeting embedded applications means that access to high-quality engineering resources has never been greater. This has effectively raised the level of abstraction to a point where nonexperts can now use these platforms to turn their own abstract concepts into real products. With the potential to launch a successful commercial venture off the back of tinkering with some low-cost hardware in your spare time, it’s no wonder that open-source hardware is fuelling an entirely new movement. A new generation of manufacturer is embracing the open-source ethos and actually allowing customers to modify the product post-sale.
Exact size predictions for IoT market next few years vary greatly, but all of the firms making these predictions agree on one thing—it’s going to be very big.
In year 2014 very many chip vendors and sensor algorithm companies also jumped on the IoT bandwagon, in hopes of laying the groundwork for more useful and cost-effective IoT devices. Sensors, MCUs, and wireless connectivity are three obvious building blocks for IoT end-node devices. Wireless connectivity and software (algorithms) are the two most sought-after technologies. Brimming with excitement, and with Europe already ahead of the pack, a maturing semiconductor industry looks expectantly to the Internet of Things (IoT) for yet another facelift. The IC sales generated by the connectivity and sensor subsystems to enabled this IoT will amount $57.7 billion in 2015.
Chips for IoT market to grow 36% in 2015, says Gartner as automotive V2X, LED lighting and smart domestic objects are set to drive semiconductor market growth through the year 2020, according to market analysis firm Gartner. The move to create billions of smart, autonomously communicating objects known as the Internet of Things (IoT) is driving the need for low-power sensors, processors and communications chips. By 2018, the market value of IoT subsystems in equipment and Internet-connected things is projected to reach $103.6 billion worldwide, which represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.0 percent from $39.8 billion in 2013.
BI Intelligence expects that by 2019 IoT market will be more than double the size of the smartphone, PC, tablet, connected car, and the wearable market combined. A new report by Yole Developpement pegs the market size in the $70 billion range by 2018, with the next five years presenting a golden opportunity for device makers as the IoT enters the growth stage. Device shipments will reach 6.7 billion in 2019 for a five-year CAGR of 61%.
Number of connected devices is expected to to reach 36 billion units by 2020, cautions that “all of this new market opportunity is under threat.” Other estimate according to market research firm Radiant Insights of San Francisco is that the number of Internet connections will grow from 9 billion devices in 2014 to 100 billion by 2020 (twice as many as the estimate from Cisco Systems Inc). IC Insights forecasts that web-connected things will account for 85 percent of 29.5 billion Internet connections worldwide by 2020. Currently fragmented market, the number of cellular M2M connections could rise from 478 million today to 639 million in 2020.
By 2024, the report predicts that overall market value for components will exceed of $400 billion, of which more than 10% will come from hardware alone. Revenue from hardware sales will be only $50 billion or 8% of the total revenue from IoT-specific efforts, as software makers and infrastructure companies will earn the lion’s share. As the Internet of Things grows to a projected 212 billion items by 2020, the question of regulation looms increasingly large.
The growth of the IoT will present some very interesting issues in a variety of areas. You will see some very fast activity because unless it gets resolved there will be no IoT as it is envisioned.
General consensus is that the interconnect protocol of the IoT will be IP (Internet Protocol). As it stands today, the deployment of the billions of IoT objects can’t happen, simply because there just aren’t enough IP addresses with IPv4. While there is still some discussion about how to connect the IoT, most are in agreement that the IoT protocol will be IPv6. The first step will be to convert all proprietary networks to an IP-base. Then, the implementation of IPv6 can begin. Because direct interoperability between IPv4 and iPv6 protocols is not possible, this will add some some complications to the development, resulting in a bit of obfuscation to the transition for IPv6.
Is There Any Way to Avoid Standards Wars in the Emerging Internet of Things? I don’t see that possible. IoT will be in serious protocol war in 2015. There is a wide selection of protocols, but no clear set of winners at the moment. The real IoT standardization is just starting – There are currently few standards (or regulations) for what is needed to run an IoT device. There is no single standard for connecting devices on the Internet of Thing, instead are a handful of competing standards run by different coalitions of companies: The Thread Group (Qualcomm, The Linux Foundation, Microsoft, Panasonic), The Industrial Internet Consortium (Intel, Cisco, AT&T, IBM, Microsoft), Open Interconnect Consortium (Samsung, Intel, Dell), Physical Web (Google), AllSeen Alliance (Samsung, Intel, Dell) and huge number of smaller non-standardized protocols in use. Each of the standards vary how they do things.
Anyone who tries to build a physical layer and drive a software stack based on it all the way up to the application layer is a fool. But many companies try to do it this year. Today Zigbee is the most cost effective, but tomorrow WiFi will figure it out. On networking field in every few years there’s a new management protocol – what will happen in IoT, it will keep moving, and people will need open APIs.
Currently the IoT lacks a common set of standards and technologies that would allow for compatibility and ease-of-use. The IoT needs a set of open APIs and protocols that work with a variety of physical-layer networks. The IP and network layer should have nothing to do with the media. The fundamental issue here is that at the moment the Internet of Things will not have a standard set of open APIs for consumers. IoT, it will keep moving, and people will need open APIs. I suspect that at some point, after the first wave of the Internet of Things, open APIs and root access will become a selling point.
It is not just technical protocol details that are problem: One problem with IoT is that it is a vague definition. Do we simply mean ‘connected devices? Or something else? One of the main issues, which will only get worse as the IoT evolves, is how are we going to categorize all the different objects.
Early in 2015, the Industrial Internet Consortium plans to wrap up work on a broad reference architecture for the Internet of Things, ramp up three test beds, and start identifying gaps where new standards may be needed. The group, formed by AT&T, Cisco, GE, IBM, and Intel, now has about 115 members and aims to make it easier to build commercial IoT systems. The IIC hopes to finish a first draft of its reference architecture by the end of January and have it ratified by March. It will define functional areas and the technologies and standards for them, from sensors to data analytics and business applications. The framework includes versions for vertical markets including aerospace, healthcare, manufacturing, smart cities, and transportation. A breakout section on security also is in the works. Hopefully the reference architecture could be used to help people construct industrial IoT systems quickly and easily.
With the emergence of the Internet of Things, smart cars are beginning to garner more attention. Smart cars are different than connected cars, which are simply smartphones on wheels. Even though the technology has been on the evolutionary fast track, integration has been slow. For car manufacturers, it is a little tricky to accept driverless cars because it disrupts their fundamental business model: Private resources will evolve to shared resources, centrally controlled, since autonomous vehicles can be controlled remotely.
Over the next few years, we’ll see a torrent of new devices emerge that are connected to the Internet and each other through a wide range of different wireless networking protocols. As a result, there’s a race on, not just to get those devices connected, but also to provide the network infrastructure necessary to managing all of them at scale. WiFi, Bluetooth, and cellular networks are nowadays widely used, nut new alternatives are coming to solve applications were those technologies are not most suitable. There are different plans for wide area wireless networks that use licensed or unlicensed wireless bandwidth to transmit small amounts of data from various connected device – this could create its own connection to them in a cost effective manner without relying on existing cellular or WiFi networks.
Recently we have developed a pressing need, or desire to put our refrigerators, and everything we have access to while mobile, on the net, morphing the brave new world of the Internet of Things, into the Internet of Everything (IoE). And that will make that last 100 meters—that final frontier of interconnect—a reality. Today, only about 10% of the last 100 meter devices that will make up the IoT are connected. As the IoT evolves, other small cells such as businesses, city centers, malls, theaters, stadiums, event centers, and the like, will connect much of what they have on premise (soda or popcorn machines, vending machines, restaurants, parking garages, ticket kiosks, seat assignments, and a very long list of others). And, there are a very large number of devices that are short-range in all of these various cells. What was once the last mile for connectivity is now the last 100 meters.
Plenty of people and companies in the technology world tend to come at the Internet of Things by dwelling on the “Internet.” But what if, instead, we started with the “Things?” Knowing intimately what “things” are supposed to do and how they think and behave will be the key to solving one of the IoT’s most pressing issues: application layers. Over the past 18 months, the industry has launched numerous consortia, from Qualcomm’s AllSeen and Intel’s Open Interconnect Consortium to Apple’s HomeKit and Google’s Thread. Every entity says it’s targeting the “interoperability” of things at home, but each is obviously concentrating primarily on its own interests, and making their “layer” specifications slightly different from those pursued by others.
It seems that no industry consortium is particularly interested in defining — in gory detail — the specific functions of, say, what a door lock is supposed to do. The library of commands for each function already exists, but someone, or some group, has to translate those already determined commands into an IP-friendly format. One of the standards organizations will take up the challenge in 2015. This will be the first step to “knock barriers down for IoT” in 2015.
Missing today in the IoT are reliability and robustness. Consumers expect their light switched and other gadgets to be infinitely reliable. In many today’s products we seem to be far from reliable and robust operation. Today’s routers can relay traffic between networks, but they have no idea how to translate what functions each device attached to them wants to do, and how to communicate that to other devices. The network needs to be able to discover who else is on the network. Devices connected to network need to be able to discover what resources are available and what new devices are being added. The network needs to be extensible.
Despite the oft-mocked naming scheme, the Internet of Things (IoT) has an incredibly practical goal: connecting classically “dumb” objects—toasters, doorknobs, light switches—to the Internet, thereby unlocking a world of potential. Imagine what it means to interact with your home the same way you would a website, accessing it without geographic restriction. But there is one missing piece of the smart home revolution: smart home operating system. So what will be the system that capitalizes on the smart home in the same way, the enabler of all the applications and actions we want our homes to run and do? There are no ready answers for that yet. And there might not be a singular, cohesive operating system for your home, that this stuff isn’t one-size-fits-all. It might be that the real potential for home automation lies not in local software running on a home device but in the cloud. I think that the cloud is going to be more important over time, but there will always be also need for some local functionality in case the connection to cloud is lost. Right now the Internet of Things is rather disjointed compared to Internet and computers.
When everything will be connected, how about security? In the path to IoT, the issue of data and device security looms large. Security for the ‘Internet of Things’ will be talked about very much in 2015 for a good reason. As Internet of Thigs becomes more and more used, it will be more hacked. Thus security of Internet of Things will be more and more talked about. Virtually anything connected to the Internet has the potential of being hacked, no matter how unlikely. Internet of Things devices often lack systematic protections against viruses or spam. Nowadays most security breaches are software-based, when an application can be compromised. Counter-measures for such attacks range from basic antivirus scanning software, to embedded hypervisors to hardware-bound secure applications tying their execution to uniquely identifiable hardware. There is emerging customer demand for silicon authentication. But the threats extend way beyond software and some hackers will put a lot of effort into compromising a system’s security at silicon-level. Individual devices can get hacked, but all systems should have some way of self-checking and redundancy. Those IoT systems can be very complex at device and system level. The problem with complexity is that you create more attack points and make it easier for hackers to find flaws.
Experts recommend far more layers of cyberprotection than manufacturers have thought necessary. Because many of the devices will often be practically inaccessible, the “patch and pray” strategy used for many desktop software packages is unlikely to be an effective strategy for many forms of IoT devices. Right now, there are hundreds of companies churning out “Internet of Things” (IoT) devices as fast as they can, without thinking too much on the security issues they can cause in the future. The imperative is clear: Do your homework on the specific security features of any IoT device you might consider bringing into the home. What steps are IoT companies taking to keep us safe from others online, and what constitutes a truly “safe” smart appliance?
What we’re opening up is a whole new subject not just of security but of safety. That safety depends on devices to be constantly connected to the Internet the same way they’re connected to the power grid. That’s a whole new area that deserves its own consideration. Keep in mind that IoT is one field where cyber security flaws can kill in the worst case. Connecting unrelated devices in the IoT means many more pieces now affect reliability and security. More devices are now considered critical, such as a connected baby monitor or a smart smoke detector, because wrong information can injure or kill people. The Internet of Things is coming no matter what happens. The people in charge of keeping the public safe and the industry healthy need to be ready.
The European Police Office (Europol) said governments are ill-equipped to counter the menace of “injury and possible deaths” spurred by hacking attacks on critical safety equipment. There are many potential dangers are in transportation: many new cars are Internet connected and potentially vulnerable, SCADA Systems in Railways Vulnerable to Attack and Airline bosses ignore cyber security concerns at their peril. With industrial control systems becoming network-connected, security risks rise and will need a long-term solution. In light of the trend toward the Industrial Internet of Things, development teams must start thinking hard about network security and planning for its long-term viability.
You have to accept the fact that at each point in the IoT there are vulnerabilities to malicious attacks and interception of vital information. Soon, almost every network will soon have some IoT-hacking in it. IDC predicts that in two years from 90 per cent of the global IT networks have met IoT data theft. In a report, cybersecurity firm Fortinet expects greater threats from “denial of service attacks on assembly line, factory, industrial control systems, and healthcare and building management…resulting in revenue losses and reputation damages for organizations globally.” This opens new doors of risks in the areas of corporate extortion, altering of corporate business operations, and the extension of cyberattacks to include physical threats of harm to civilians.
There are lessons to be learned to keep the cyber security in control in the IoT era. There will be lessons to be learned for all the parties of the IoT ecosystem. The companies that figure out how to make security available on multi-stakeholder platforms will be the most successful ones. Figuring out a secure platform is important, but having different levels of security is still important. Different uses have different bars. Security is a self-regulating system to some extent because it is supply and demand. That is the Holy Grail for technology right now, which is how to build systems with enough security—not 100% protection right now—from a unified platform point of view for multiple applications.
The data generated by the Internet of Things has the potential to reveal far more about users than any technology in history: These devices can make our lives much easier … The Internet of Things however, can also reveal intimate details about the doings and goings of their owners through the sensors they contain. As the Internet of Things grows to a projected 212 billion items by 2020, the question of regulation looms increasingly large. There is a lot of effort is going today at the government level. They’re not thinking about whether the Internet goes down. They’re worried about what happens if the Internet gets compromised.
When we have devices on the field, there is question how to analyze the data coming from them. This is easily a “big data” problem because of the huge amount of data that comes from very large number of sensors. Being able to monitor and use the data that comes from the Internet of Things is a huge potential challenge with different providers using different architectures and approaches, and different chip and equipment vendors teaming up in a range of different ways. Many large and smaller companies are active on the field: Intel, IBM, Lantronix+Google, Microchip+Amazon, Freescale+Oracle, Xively, Jasper, Keen.io, Eurotech, and many other.
The huge increase of data is coming. Radiant predicts that wireless sensor networks will be used to monitor and control very many domestic, urban, and industrial systems. This promises to produce an explosion of data, much of which will be discarded as users are overwhelmed by the volume. As a result, analysis of the data within the wireless sensor network will become necessary so that alerts and meaningful information are generated at the leaf nodes. This year has seen the software at the very highest point in the Internet of Things stack — analytics — becoming tightly coupled with the embedded devices at the edge of the network, leading to many different approaches and providers.
Integrating data from one IoT cloud to another will have it’s challenges. Automation services make big steps by cutting corners. Sites like IFTTT, Zapier, bip.io, CloudWork, and elastic.io allow users to connect applications with links that go beyond a simple synch. Check what is happening with integration and related services like IFTTT, ItDuzzit, Amazon Lambda. For example IFTTT is quietly becoming a smart home powerhouse.
Most important sources of information for this article:
With $16M In Funding, Helium Wants To Provide The Connective Tissue For The Internet Of Things
IFTTT, other automation services make big steps by cutting corners
Internet of Things: Engineering for Everyone
IoT in Protocol War, Says Startup – Zigbee fortunes dim in building control
Analysts Predict CES Hotspots – Corralling the Internet of Things
What’s Holding Back The IoT – Device market opportunities will explode, but only after some fundamental changes
Apps Layer: ’800lb Gorilla’ in IoT Nobody Talks About
Analysts Predict CES Hotspots – IoT, robots, 4K to dominate CES
10 Reasons Why Analytics Are Vital to the Internet of Things
Tech More: Mobile Internet of Things BI Intelligence Consumer Electronics – Most Massive Device Market
Wearables make hardware the new software
Zigbee Opens Umbrella 3.0 Spec
IoT Will Give ‘Embedded’ a Shot in the Arm - Connected cities to be largest IoT market
Chips for IoT market to grow 36% in 2015, says Gartner
Apps Layer: ’800lb Gorilla’ in IoT Nobody Talks About
Short-Range, Low-Power Sensors – once the last mile for connectivity is now the last 100 meters
The one problem the Internet of Things hasn’t solved
Plan Long Term for Industrial Internet Security
To Foil Cyberattacks, Connected Cars Need Overlapping Shields
IoT cybersecurity: is EDA ready to deliver?
More Things Are Critical Systems
Silicon, Security, and the Internet of Things
The missing piece of the smart home revolution
Hackers will soon be targeting your refrigerator
10 Reasons Why Analytics Are Vital to the Internet of Things
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Tomi Engdahl says:
The top 20 Internet of Things companies right no
IoT Analytics
Internet of Things
http://getprismatic.com/story/1424802245309?utm_content=buffer746f5&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_campaign=buffer&utm_source=eCampaign&utm_medium=E_mail&utm_campaign=201503-iA-IoTMart-eNews-AEU-C000005804_1-0&CampId=ca14d332b5&UID=vKYPLp
When you think of smartphones, you automatically think of… Apple. When you think of social networks you automatically think of… Facebook. And when you think of Internet of Things companies?
According to our latest web-analytics ranking there is a head-to-head race going on between 5 companies: Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Google, and IBM.
We measure which Internet of Things companies people search for on Google and talk about on Twitter, which firms make the newspaper and blog headlines, and how many IoT-focused employees these companies have.
IoT Analytics continues to track these and more Internet of Things companies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Easy to start of sensor networks
Linear Technology has introduced a complete development platform for intelligent IP-based sensor networks development. Format the bottom of the Smart Grids IP software, which means that the developer has to work on their own verkkopinoaan.
LTC5800 circuit is the ARM Cortex-M3-based controller, which is pre-Micrium μC / OS-II rtos.
Smart Mesh 6LoWPAN IP-based network protocol, which promises Linear five completely (99.999%) availability of very low power consumption. Platform is targeted for industrial IoT solutions.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2582:helppo-alusta-anturiverkoille&catid=13&Itemid=101
SmartMesh IP On-Chip Software Development Kit (On-Chip SDK)
http://www.linear.com/solutions/5457
The SmartMesh IP On-Chip Software Development Kit (On-Chip SDK) enables you to develop C-code applications for execution on SmartMesh IP motes (i.e. wireless nodes). SmartMesh IP motes have an on-board ARM Cortex-M3 microprocessor, running Micrium’s µCOS-II real-time operating system. With the On-Chip SDK, users may quickly and easily develop application code without the need for an external microprocessor.
No Network Stack Development Required
Network connectivity and quality of service is handled by the SmartMesh IP protocol stack. Unlike typical ‘chip and stack’ solutions, the SmartMesh IP stack comes as a pre-compiled library and delivers >99.999% data reliability and >10 year battery life.
evelopment Environment
SmartMesh IP Starter Kit – such as the DC9000B or DC9021A
IAR Embedded Workbench for ARM – available directly from IAR
IAR Debug Probe (Optional) – (e.g. IAR I-jet or IAR J-link) for in-circuit debugging (breakpoints, variable inspection, etc.) using JTAG/SWD.
DustCloud Developer Community
The DustCloud Developer Community provides an interactive forum for users developing applications on SmartMesh IP solutions. It contains detailed documentation for the On-Chip SDK (as well as other software reference designs), source code examples, and a developer discussion forum.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Andrea Peterson / Washington Post:
FTC replaces Mobile Tech Unit with Office of Tech Research and Investigation to tackle broader issues like privacy, security, big data, payments, IoT
The FTC beefs up technology investigations with new office
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/03/23/the-ftc-beefs-up-technology-investigations-with-new-office/
The Federal Trade Commission is already the de facto government watchdog for digital privacy. Now, the agency is hiring more people to investigate how technological advancements affect consumers.
“Today, I am pleased to announce the Bureau of Consumer Protection’s newest initiative to help ensure that consumers enjoy the benefits of technological progress without being placed at risk of deceptive and unfair practices – the formation of BCP’s Office of Technology Research and Investigation,”
As technology has become an increasingly large part of peoples’ lives, the FTC’s consumer protection powers left it in the position of policing big tech companies. But that job requires a set of highly technical skills, resulting in the creation of the chief technologist position at the FTC in 2010
Tomi Engdahl says:
Embedded processors in intelligent sensors inside IoT chips are now popular tarkets for hackers.
The first point of vulnerability to hackers in an embedded system is JTAG interface normally used for debugging. With JTAG interface hackers can put the system to debug mode in which they can have or almost full control of the system. Other source of vulnerability is external memory interface or interfaces.
Solutions for IoT security: You need to have some means to disable JTAG por t on your production version of your product. Options are turning off JTAG interface or protecting them with some need for validation before debugging is possible.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT number of connections to explode in five years
Telecom giant Verizon, the things or objects intenet (IoT, internet of things) is already a huge impact on all sectors in their business and profitability.
In 2025 alone IoT that use corporate profitability is ten percent better than today.
“M-to-M function devices connected to each other and the generated network data are collected. IoT’s the next big leap in the data associated with this big change for cash,”
Networks combined intelligent devices will benefit companies of all sectors. However, the pioneers have access to the benefits before the other.
For example, transport companies can reduce the fuel consumption with IoT.
Municipalities and cities are able to reduce the intelligent LED lamps for street lighting costs, the system tells you when it needs maintenance and repair.
Intelligent parking control more effective using the car parks and so on.
Many car insurance companies have been transferred to the use of criteria (ubi, usage-based insurance) systems with on-board intelligent devices to measure a variety of drivers and their driving habits and vehicle usage quantities. Insurance premiums are determined through the actual risks.
The new IoT technologies have increased the M2M systems benefits and made data collection easier.
Verizon to use in their own IoT to the definitions of the three A-letters. These come from the English words aware, autonomous, Actionable.
The first A means that the meter or the sensor has to be aware of the environment and the fact that some abnormality occurs close to the dispenser.
Autonomous concept of the collected data must be able to send to the central system or the sensor should at least be able to process information automatically.
Actionable means that it is not just the accumulation of information, but the use of data for better decision-making.
“The last A stress analysis and that the data can be combined with business processes. Without such features dint is not genuine IoT system,”
IoT is present everywhere
Combined with each other intelligent devices are becoming more common in all industries. They allow the customer for Identities can be monitored and predict the distribution of more efficient or to monitor traffic in real-time.
Self-tracking or otherwise automated cars are one of the IoT key future operations. Road safety is improved.
Start slow, but slam quickly!
Bartolomeo emphasizes the role of the automobile industry IoT the industry with a future.
14 of the largest manufacturer has a 80 percent share of the production of cars, and all the major manufacturers to develop their own self-guided vehicle telematics-based solutions.
ABI Research predicts that by 2018 more than 13 jobs will appear miljooaa health and physical condition of the monitoring device.
Bartolomeo advises companies to proceed IoT in the deployment of small steps.
“You should choose one of the small but important core functionality and equip it for just a few dozen sensors. The functions can be expanded after the company has found the best and the most promising area.”
“Then IoT functions it should then be scaled quickly and aggressively,” he says.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/CIO/2015-03-24/IoT-yhteyksien-m%C3%A4%C3%A4r%C3%A4-r%C3%A4j%C3%A4ht%C3%A4%C3%A4-viidess%C3%A4-vuodessa-3217907.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet of Things connections to quadruple by 2020
http://www.cio.com/article/2899643/data-analytics/internet-of-things-connections-to-quadruple-by-2020.html
A new report by Verizon predicts that the Internet of Things is poised to transform virtually every major market sector, growing to more than 5.4 billion connections by 2020.
Here in 2015, the Internet of Things (IoT) is already having a massive effect on business, according to a recent report by Verizon, and by 2025 it predicts best-in-class organizations that use IoT extensively will be up to 10 percent more profitable than they are today.
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“We see the Internet of Things as an extension of our machine-to-machine business, as does everyone else in the marketplace today,” says Mark Bartolomeo, vice president of IoT Connected Solutions at Verizon. “When you think about machine-to-machine, what you’re really looking at is connecting devices and collecting data from those devices. The next big leap for IoT is really about the use case. IoT is about interconnecting these devices for specific use cases and deriving value from the data.”
Verizon says that for a solution to be considered part of the Internet of Things, it must demonstrate what Verizon calls the “Three As”:
It must be Aware. A connected asset must be able to sense something about its surroundings. It might sense location, proximity, altitude, temperature, vibration, humidity, light levels, motion or something else. Without the capability to sense, it’s not IoT.
It must be Autonomous. The data processed from a connected asset must be transferred to a central location or processing application automatically — either at a set time, or when a condition is met or threshold crossed. Without connectivity, it’s not IoT.
It must be Actionable. Verizon notes that IoT isn’t just about gathering data; it’s about using data to make better decisions. Whether the output is manual or highly automated, analysis of the data must be integrated into business processes. If the data is not actionable by your or a third party, it’s not IoT.
“We’re going to see more turnkey solutions and packaged solutions,” he says. “We can expect higher value, less complexity and more accelerated deployment. We think the adopters of IoT absolutely will experience many of the same benefits: improved customer experiences, improved profitability and operational efficiency.”
Machine-to-machine connections Verizon manages saw growth in 2014 in the following sectors:
Manufacturing: 204 percent
Finance and insurance: 128 percent
Media and entertainment: 120 percent
Home monitoring: 89 percent
Retail and hospitality: 88 percent
Transportation and distribution: 83 percent
Energy and utilities: 49 percent
Public sector/smart cities: 46 percent
Healthcare and pharmaceutical: 40 percent
Bartolomeo is quick to note that a number of the sectors with relatively slower growth were actually early adopters of IoT-enabled technologies — like energy and utilities, which has been deploying smart grids and smart meters for some time.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Opinion
5 Myths (Debunked) About Security and Privacy for Internet of Things
http://www.cio.com/article/2875101/security-and-privacy/5-myths-debunked-about-security-and-privacy-for-internet-of-things.html
IoT has the potential to enable improvements to so many facets of life, the list is endless. Its primary advancement is enabling the interconnectedness of “things” and resulting insights and synergies. Yet that same connectedness raises concerns for security and privacy that must be addressed.
Myth # 1: More security means less privacy, and vice versa.
Myth #2: Existing IT security and privacy concepts and practices are sufficient to meet IoT challenges.
Myth #3: Cyber security today is a well-established, mature science that addresses most IoT concerns.
Myth #4: Software security that works for IT will work for IoT.
Myth #5: IoT cybersecurity is a challenge the private sector can meet alone.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Another Radio Module for IoT fun – EMW3162
http://hackaday.com/2015/03/24/emw3162-wifi-120mhz-needs-attention/
The availability of cheap radio modules is making them ubiquitous in an increasing number of projects that we have been seeing recently. The usual go-to solution is using any one of the several modules based on the ESP8266 device. [Willem] wrote in to share with us his experiences with another radio module – the EMW3162 from MXChip, which at $10 isn’t as cheap as the ESP8266 modules, but is a more capable, power packed, device.
EMW3162
Sharing all my experiences with this 10$ WiFi chip with 120mhz. Compiled with GNU GCC
http://hackaday.io/project/4128-emw3162
I got it working using linux, with a gnu gcc compiler. I used a JLINK JTAG programmer. And got the WICED SDK working and have an WiFi AP with an 120 MHZ arm chip.
I’m planning to make the WICED compiled programs compatible with the MXChip bootloader, that way the whole chip can be reflashed via uart without jtag
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nevermind the IoT: Here Comes the Third Wave
http://www.techonline.com/electrical-engineers/education-training/tech-papers/4438856/Nevermind-the-IoT-Here-Comes-the-Third-Wave
Internet of Things is a disruptive innovation that will revolutionize the way information is accessed, shared and used. Implementing Internet of Things (IoT) will require a fundamental change in how products are designed, built and brought to market. Successful implementation of IoT will depend on understanding the impact of these changes.
various attributes and capabilities that a product needs to possess to be successful in the rapidly growing IoT market. It also talks about how a distributed architecture can be leveraged for successful IoT deployments.
Tomi Engdahl says:
APRS Tracking System Flies Your Balloons
http://hackaday.com/2015/03/24/aprs-tracking-system-flies-your-balloons/
Looking for a way to track your high-altitude balloons but don’t want to mess with sending data over a cellular network? [Zack Clobes] and the others at Project Traveler may have just the thing for you: a position-reporting board that uses the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) network to report location data and easily fits on an Arduino in the form of a shield.
The project is based on an Atmel 328P and all it needs to report position data is a small antenna and a battery. For those unfamiliar with APRS, it uses amateur radio frequencies to send data packets instead of something like the GSM network. APRS is very robust, and devices that use it can send GPS information as well as text messages, emails, weather reports, radio telemetry data, and radio direction finding information in case GPS is not available.
ArduinoTrack Flight Controller
http://projecttraveler.org/arduinotrack-controller/
The shield hardware is based around an Atmel ATMega328 microcontroller, an LMV324M rail-to-rail op-amp, a Telit Jupiter SL869 GNS Version 002 GPS module, and optionally a RadioMetrix HX1 VHF transmitter.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless, battery-free sensors can detect explosives and chemical threats
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/tech-edge/4438953/Wireless–battery-free-sensors-can-detect-explosives-and-chemical-threats?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150324&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150324&elq=8cb72af89e1f4f41ba1a4f5f7ed00bc4&elqCampaignId=22218&elqaid=24955&elqat=1&elqTrackId=d7a9508ef50f426ea5ec2fb90a402657
Researchers at GE Global Research, working with the Technical Support Working Group, a U.S. interagency program for research and development into counter-terrorism measures; Quantum Magnetics, a subsidiary of Morpho Detection; and KemSENSE, have developed a new radio-frequency identification (RFID) sensor that can be used to wirelessly detect even faint traces of specified chemicals, such as those used in explosives. Intended uses for the sensors include rail centers, seaports, and airports – anywhere cargo containers are present.
Based on previous GE research on self-contained RFID sensor tags, the “sensors could dramatically increase the accuracy and improve the limits of detection of dangerous chemical threats,”
Used in conjunction with a battery-powered handheld tag reader that is located nearby, the tiny device comprises a flat antenna attached to a microchip. Both elements are covered by a special film, which is a tenth the thickness of a human hair, according to GE, that is designed to respond to hazardous materials. Current processes used for the same purpose require larger and more expensive equipment.
“In airports today, bulky, stationary desktop systems typically screen for explosives,” says Potyrailo.
According to a recent Wired article, the research team believes the sensors will “be able to sit dormant for months and still trigger effectively, without any need for power or recharging.
This Wireless Explosives Detector Is the Size of a Postage Stamp
http://www.wired.com/2015/02/wireless-explosives-detector-size-postage-stamp
Tomi Engdahl says:
Multicore comes to IoT connectivity and audio applications
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4439003/Multicore-comes-to-IoT-connectivity-and-audio-applications?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150324&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150324&elq=8cb72af89e1f4f41ba1a4f5f7ed00bc4&elqCampaignId=22218&elqaid=24955&elqat=1&elqTrackId=e3e7b74cad0f4beca9c396cb1c07c41e
XMOS has released next-generation products based on its xCore multiprocessor architecture that the company says have twice the performance and up to four times the memory of earlier generations. The xCore-200 family targets connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT) while the xCore-Audio family targets professional and high-end consumer applications. Both promise low cost.
Nickolas Shmidt says:
While writing about services for automating cloud data connecting you’ve missed a new player of 2015 year – https://skyvia.com/
It is free and allows perform import, export, replication and sync of main CRMs – Salesforce, Sugarcrm, dynamics, zoho, etc. and databases with other sources.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:
Smart home security device Canary, which started on Indiegogo, is now available at Best Buy, Amazon, and other major retailers for $249
Indiegogo Darling Canary Hits Best Buy For $249
http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/25/indiegogo-darling-canary-hits-best-buy-for-249/
Canary, the all-in-one smart home monitoring system that launched on Indiegogo in summer of 2013, is today available in retail locations for the first time.
This is a relatively big deal considering just how few crowd-funded hardware products ever make it out of the lab and into a retail location. It took Canary, complete with Indiegogo and venture funding, more than 18 months to get in front of in-store customers. But today is the day.
Retail distribution partners include Amazon, Best Buy, Home Depot and Verizon Wireless, and the company said in a release today that it has plans to expand internationally later this year.
Canary is a home monitoring system that’s about the size of a 24-ounce beer can, but packed with all kinds of useful sensors, microphones, cameras, etc. to keep an eye on the home. The Canary pairs with your smartphone in the form of an app and gives users a look at all the motion in their apartment (the motion detector activates the camera) or a live view of what’s going on at that exact minute.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Resource monitoring solution
http://hackaday.com/2015/03/25/resource-monitoring-solution/
Electricity, Gas and Water – three resources that are vital in our daily lives. Monitoring them using modern technology helps with conservation, but the real impact comes when we use the available data to reduce wasteful usage over time.
Being a self professed geek, living in a modern “connected” home, it rankled him to the core. What resulted was S-Energy – an energy resource monitoring solution (translated) that checks on electricity, gas and water consumption using a Raspberry Pi, an Arduino, some other bits of hardware and some smart software.
[Sébastien] wanted a system that would warn of abnormal consumption and encourage his household folks to consume less. His first hurdle was the meters themselves. All three utilities used pretty old technology, and the meters did not have pulse data output that is commonplace in modern metering.
For the Electricity meter
a retro-reflective sensor that detected the black band on the spinning disk of the old electro-mechanical meter.
The sensor is hooked up to an Arduino Pro-mini which then sends the data via a nRF24L01+ module to the main circuit located inside his house.
The Water Meter was more difficult. It has a mechanical counter with a set of 8 digits that increment as water is used. His solution was to use the Raspberry-Pi and its associated camera module. The Pi camera is fixed focus to infinity, so he had to adjust the lens to make it in to “macro” mode. And he needed some LED’s for illumination since the meter is in a dark area.
The Gas meter was the easiest since it could be retro-fitted with a pulse counter. The Raspberry-Pi receives the camera pictures, the pulse data from the gas meter (via a LAN cable hack), and a nRF24L01+ module to receive data from the electric meter.
He then goes on to describe his “Constellation” software – a project that he hopes to open source soon. There’s some interesting bit about using OpenCV to decode the water meter digits
More details:
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fsebastien.warin.fr%2F2015%2F03%2F24%2F2478-senergy-la-solution-de-monitoring-des-ressources-energetiques-de-la-maison-geek-is-in-da-house-2015%2F&edit-text=
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jordan Novet / VentureBeat:
Facebook’s Parse unveils SDKs for the Internet of Things
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/25/facebooks-parse-unveils-sdks-for-the-internet-of-things/
Facebook today introduced new software development kits for its Parse mobile app development platform, to let developers incorporate data from Internet-connected devices.
The news, which first leaked yesterday from within a Facebook app, came officially today at Facebook’s developer-oriented F8 conference in San Francisco.
Facebook wants to make it easier for developers to weave data from connected devices into their applications. But Parse is already being tapped for IoT use cases.
“Companies like Chamberlain are using this [Parse] to build great connected experiences for your home,” Parse founder and chief executive Ilya Sukhar told the crowd at the event.
As a superpower in the technology industry, Facebook isn’t surprising anyone by making a larger play for the hype-heavy Internet of Things. Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, and several other tech companies have announced products or strategies for the burgeoning field, where sensor-laden gadgets can provide more layers of insight into operations and help companies make better decisions.
Today’s move in particular makes sense given that startups providing platforms for building and running apps have been talking about or releasing services for handling data from the Internet of Things.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Panasonic: ‘747 Is Our Connected Device’
Q&A with Panasonic CTO on IoT patents
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326118&
Panasonic announced Monday (March 23) at the Embedded Linux Conference in San Jose that it will offer royalty-free access to the software and patents the company owns to help speed the growth of Internet of Things (IoT) software and services.
Panasonic, a member of the AllSeen Alliance, also added that it would increase its IP contributions to the Alliance – a cross-industry nonprofit open-source consortium.
The announcement begs a few questions. Panasonic, for example, describes itself as “an IoT leader in connected business-to-business (B2B) solutions and client applications.” But in which IoT segment is Panasonic a leader? Further, which specific IPs has Panasonic not yet shared with the AllSeen Alliance?
Most of all, when any company in the IoT space invokes “open” or “open-source,” the prudent response is a healthy dose of skepticism. After all, it isn’t just the Qualcomm-led AllSeen Alliance that’s gunning for the open IoT initiative. A rival group, the Intel-led Open Interconnect Consortium (OIC), is also operating under the open-source Linux Foundation. Both groups appear to be talking the talk, but whether they’re walking the walk remains to be determined.
Panasonic is a household name.
What we don’t know (and this is less visible to the public) is Panasonic’s technical expertise and specific business experience in industrial applications.
EE Times: Forgive my ignorance, but we didn’t know Panasonic was in the B2B IoT market. Can you explain what you do there?
Todd Rytting: Actually, we’ve been in the business of connected devices — and servicing those devices from the cloud — for a couple of decades in the United States.
For Panasonic, the 747 [airplane] is a connected device. In-flight entertainment is delivered to every seat. We service its connected systems from a control center in California Solar panel projects are another segment. We serve several hundreds of solar panel farms – which by the way all use different protocols and communication methods. We collect data, do analysis, and manage them from the cloud.
EE Times: What’s the underlying software technology for that? Where did it come from?
Rytting: The cloud solution was originally developed by emWare (Salt Lake City, Utah). With a goal to bring the Internet to everything ranging from industrial systems to resource-limited 8-bit microcontroller-based devices, emWare, founded in 1996, designed and developed device networking software.
EE Times: The idea of the Internet of everything already existed then?
Rytting: Yes. We had that idea, although it was on a smaller scale. Panasonic began working with emWare in 2000 to leverage emWare’s cloud solution technology for home management systems. Then, Panasonic acquired emWare in 2005.
EE Times: Of all the technologies and patents you have, what will Panasonic contribute to the open-source community?
Rytting: We already made a decision to contribute 400,000 lines of code from our software library and 500 pages of protocol specifications. As to specifics we offer to AllSeen,
Rytting: As we all know, there is no one-size-fits-all IoT solution.
As I mentioned before, no solar panel sites, for example, use the same protocols and communications. At Panasonic, we’ve built an object-oriented framework and developed a gateway to bridge different system implementations — so that we can get to their databases, analyze them, and manage different solar panel farms from the cloud.
We’re getting very good at bridging. We’re also good at providing security down to resource-constrained small devices – which typically use less memory and less powerful processors.
Our software has strong attributes both in connectivity and authorization. Our network software is also scalable — applicable from enterprise systems to consumer devices.
EE Times: Where in the AllSeen Alliance’s activities do you think your software technology fit best and contribute most?
Rytting: For one, the gateway agent work that’s going on at the group. AllSeen has been working on the gateway agent, something we are familiar with.
Differences in IP Policy?
EE Times: Why are you contributing to the AllSeen Alliance, not the OIC?
Rytting: We like a broad range of companies participating in the AllSeen Alliance.
At Panasonic, our plan is to open up both implementation [source code] and protocol specifications.
EE Times: What are you hearing from the open-source community?
Rytting: We hear some in the open-source community are disappointed, as they find out in some instances that they can get the source code, but some constraints are applied when it comes to the use of specifications.
Our non-assertion pledge allows use of the involved patents — covering both implementation and specification — on a royalty free basis.
Our goal is to provide software and patents in a manner that’s in alignment with the open-source community’s needs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
5 Steps to Securing the IoT
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1326114&
A handful of simple principles can help engineers build more secure designs targeting the Internet of Things (IoT).
Here are five steps engineers can take to help the IoT reach its full potential:
Stick to the standards
Use high-level security building blocks
Define a comprehensive methodology
Future-proof your products
Account for exploits that result in physical harm
Tomi Engdahl says:
Inside the Measurement Pillow
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1326094&
EE Times’ test & measurement editor spoke with Dr. Rick Loos, who is developing a pillow that will measure your movement as you sleep.
As I suspected, the design will consist of pressure sensors, a digitizer board with a microcontroller and Bluetooth radio, and a battery. When developed, the Proper Pillow Plus should consist of 9-12 pressure sensors, a microphone, and a temperature probe.
Because of relatively slow changes in pressure and temperature, the Proper Pillow Plus doesn’t need high-speed digitizing. Therefore, it’s likely that the digitizer will be one that’s embedded in the microcontroller, although the board will need a multiplexer and signal-conditioning circuits.
A smartphone app will let a phone communicate with the pillow over a Bluetooth Low Energy link. Users will be able to program the pillows electronics as to when to transmit the data to the phone.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Service speeds industrial IoT development
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4438984/Service-speeds-industrial-IoT-development?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_systemsdesign_20150325&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_systemsdesign_20150325&elq=9c1e148675374f6c95c8826f5f82798b&elqCampaignId=22239&elqaid=24982&elqat=1&elqTrackId=0dcf61ffb0b049f19c897332fadc899f
Real Time Innovations (RTI) has begun offering a helping hand to development teams working on industrial IoT (IIoT) design projects.
RTI’s new IIoT FastTrax program aims to provide development teams with guidance to the published reference architectures, testbed activities, and endorsed standards coming out of the IIC, as applied to the teams’ specific project requirements.
The IIoT FastTrax program follows a three-step process.
The first is discovery
The second step is definition of the system’s performance and operational behavior requirements
The third step is to jointly craft a tailored IoT architecture and strategy for the team’s IIoT products
The program’s cost is $29,500 and takes approximately three weeks to complete.
RTI Industrial IoT FastTrax Program
http://www.rti.com/services/iot.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
FTC wants to keep closer watch on the Internet of Things
http://www.cio.com/article/2901386/government/ftc-wants-to-keep-closer-watch-on-the-internet-of-things.html
As technology plays a bigger role in running our homes, connecting our cars, and handling our finances, the Federal Trade Commission wants to keep a closer watch on the privacy and security implications.
The agency is creating an Office of Technology Research and Investigation, whose goal is to examine “privacy, data security, connected cars, smart homes, algorithmic transparency, emerging payment methods, big data, and the Internet of Things.”
The office isn’t entirely new, but is instead the successor to an existing FTC unit that looked at privacy on mobile devices.
Keep in mind that the new office is strictly for research purposes, and isn’t directly responsible for enforcing privacy laws. Still, the office’s findings can lead to deeper investigations into specific companies, and can help advise FTC staff as they looking into potential consumer protection law violations.
Why this matters: Privacy and security will become major issues as previously-dumb devices like dishwashers and door locks learn to talk to each other through the Internet. Experts routinely sound the alarm about the potential for security breaches, yet many companies don’t seem to take the matter seriously .
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook welcomes THINGS to its network with Parse IoT push
New SDKs link devices, mobile apps
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/25/facebook_parse_iot_push/
F8 2015 Facebook was founded with the goal of connecting people online, but on Wednesday the company said it is branching out into connecting stuff, too.
Speaking at Facebook’s F8 developer conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Ilya Sukhar, CEO of the social network’s Parse subsidiary, said his firm has launched a new line of SDKs aimed at the so-called Internet of Things (IoT).
“We want to be there with you when you start experimenting with this world,” Sukhar said. “We want to be there to make sure you don’t spend your time on the wrong challenges and reinventing the wheel.”
Parse, which Facebook acquired in 2013 for an estimated $85m, provides backend infrastructure for some 500,000 mobile apps. With its move into IoT, it will now begin providing similar communications services for connected devices.
Linking up the IoT is a hotly contested area these days, with multiple companies and industry groups vying to provide a standard way for devices to talk to each other. By expanding its platform to include devices, Parse is hoping to capture a share of that market among developers already familiar with Parse for mobile apps.
Parse’s first product targeting devices, Suhkar said, is an SDK for the Arduino Yún, a Wi-Fi enabled microcontroller board, and he demonstrated how developers can get the board talking to a Parse-enabled app with just a few lines of code.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dueling Home Automation Systems at SXSW (Video)
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/15/03/25/1954211/dueling-home-automation-systems-at-sxsw-video
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Dueling Home Automation Systems at SXSW (Video)
Posted by Roblimo on Wednesday March 25, 2015 @04:52PM
from the to-serve-man dept.
Austin has a strong western heritage and more country and western music than you can shake a fiddle bow at. So when Timothy came back from SXSW with video clips from two home automation companies with different approaches to this question: “How can you work with a whole bunch of lights and thermostats and other IoT home automation pieces that all have different OSes and control APIs?” we obviously had to call the resulting video ‘Dueling Home Automation Systems.’
The two companies shown in this video are called WigWag and Yonomi. WigWag sells you a “Relay,” which they say “is a powerful mini computer that gives you control of your home’s smart devices.” The minimum pre-order buy-in for WigWag seems to be a $149 WigWag Relay.
Yonomi may start with a free Android app (iOS coming soon), but you still need to buy lights, speakers, thermostats, and other things that are Internet-aware, so you’re not going to save much (if anything) over buying a WigWag relay and the rest of what you need to create your own, private Internet of Things.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Industrial Ethernet Connectivity
Posted Mar 25, 2015 at 6:30 am
http://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/renesas/industrial-ethernet-connectivity
This article presents the fast and multiprotocol LSI devices as solution for industrial Ethernet connectivity in production machines, sensors, actuators and systems. It describes the improvement of industrial networks by expanding Ethernet connectivity to every system layer, as well as recognizing different industries requiring unique performance and needs for multiprotocol support.
The interview that follows covers the challenges faced by designers of the computer controlled, networked industrial equipment used to produce many types of products. It also highlights why R-IN32M3 LSI devices are destined to accelerate the proliferation of industrial-Ethernet system designs in a multitude of markets.
Underneath the top supervisory level is a controller network consisting of programmable logic controllers (PLCs), robots and motor controllers. At the bottom level of the pyramid, on the factory floor, there are the motors, sensors and actuators that perform and monitor the work that the automation system is doing.
Equipment in the top layer generally uses the standardized, well-proven Ethernet protocol that enables the Internet connectivity necessary for managing multiple facilities and automated machinery installations, while also allowing remote data gathering, productivity monitoring, failure prediction and analysis, etc. By contrast, the implementations and communications standards for the lower layers vary, depending on the firms that built the equipment. Proprietary protocols are typical.
This situation has existed for decades and often results in complex mixes of nonstandard networks. Among other things, it causes installation, maintenance and upgrade problems. It creates flexibility limitations, as well. End users in all types of industrial applications are seeking solutions to these issues.
There is a growing movement to standardize and simplify industrial networks by using Ethernet connectivity for all layers of the system pyramid (see diagram on the right in Figure 1). Using a single, well-established communication protocol to link all of an industrial system’s elements reduces costs and makes it much easier to access information across multiple factories via the Internet, among many other benefits.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Internet of Making Things
http://www.wired.com/2015/03/internet-making-things/
Smart, Internet-connected “things” are showing up everywhere, changing our interactions with friends, family, colleagues, and nearly every aspect of the physical world. Internet of Things (IoT) discussions often center on the home, where your refrigerator communicates with your phone reminding you to buy milk when the carton is nearly – but not completely – empty; and your sneakers tell your watch how many calories you’ve burned in your morning workout.
While these applications are interesting and exciting, there is even more potential in the factory of the (very near) future. I like to call the emerging connections between machines, tools, materials, people and systems on the shop floor the Internet of Making Things.
Today’s factory bears little resemblance to the stereotypical image of manufacturing.
Productivity in American factories continues to rise, as plants produce more and more with ever increasing efficiency and quality. Connected tools and machines are a key aspect of these gains.
Automation and the connected factory are able to produce a wider variety of products and product variations in smaller quantities more quickly, answering the market’s increasing demand for customized products. The old-style “economies of scale” that powered mass-produced consumer goods are being replaced by fast, efficient and flexible connected machines that follow the exact requirements for each product at each moment of its production.
Within and beyond the four walls of the production facility, the shift to cloud-based software systems allows employees, suppliers and customers worldwide to view the status of an order, work-in-progress, inventory, equipment availability, and much more.
Connected smart technology in the Internet of Making Things brings the processes and the products together into a new ecosystem for added customer value.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Your IoT | Connected World Contest
http://www.youriotcontest.com/
You look at the world around you and try to find ways to make it smarter and more connected. Got an idea you’ve been wanting to bring to life? Here’s your chance!
Submit a quick video or some photos and a description of your IoT project to enter and you could win $10,000 in Silicon Labs components provided by Silicon Labs and Digi-Key.
There will be three winners, each of whom receive $10,000 in components.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino IDE Support for the ESP8266
http://hackaday.com/2015/03/28/arduino-ide-support-for-the-esp8266/
Despite a wealth of tutorials for setting up and writing code for the ESP8266 WiFi module, there has not been much of anything on programming this cheap wireless module with the Arduino IDE.
The Arduino IDE support was announced on the ESP8266 community forum. Setup is fairly simple with downloads for Linux, OS X, and Windows. This isn’t an ESP8266 shield, either: you can write code for the ESP module, connect the serial pins, and hit the program button.
The basic functions of the Arduino IDE – pinMode, digitalRead, digitalWrite, and analogRead – are available. Most of the WiFi functions work just like the WiFi shield library.
esp8266/Arduino
https://github.com/esp8266/arduino
This project brings support for ESP8266 chip to the Arduino environment. ESP8266WiFi library bundled with this project has the same interface as the WiFi Shield library, making it easy to re-use existing code and libraries.
Comment:
This is a huge deal for ubiquitous IoT development. The one thing that was seriously missing from the Arduino toolbox was an ultra-cheap, easy way of building a simple Wi-Fi connected object…and here it is.
Tomi Engdahl says:
INTERNET OF THINGS: ADAPTIVE ANALYTICS USE CASES
http://www.windriver.com/iot/use-cases/WR-IoTUseCase-AdaptiveAnalytics.pdf
Adaptive analytics are what enable devices to analyze and interpret
enormous amounts of data in order to make thousands of real-time
decisions. Over time, the data generated from those decisions and
the results they produce deliver sharp insights to the enterprise
that help refine and improve operational processes.
Adaptive analytics have applications across a variety of industries:
Transportation:
Smart control systems can tell trains to slow down based on a variety of constantly changing external data inputs, such as weather, topography, location, distance from destination, track conditions, or car-to-car communication indicating another train is ahead.
Energy: Devices can adjust the speed and blade pitch of wind turbines to improve efficiency and reduce wear.
Buildings: Adaptive analytics can improve the accuracy and performance of systems used to monitor and manage energy consumption, climate control, lighting, mechanical equipment,
and security.
Tomi Engdahl says:
WiFi Sucks for RC Vehicles, Upgrade to 3G
http://hackaday.com/2015/03/29/wifi-sucks-for-rc-vehicles-upgrade-to-3g/
This is the Kyosho Blizzard, a tracked remote control vehicle that’s a blast to take out in the rapidly retreating snowpack.
[Antibore] was interested in performance testing the range of the thing. It includes a camera that streams video back to a tablet or smartphone. Both the video and the controls use WiFi for communications. As he expected, the rover loses control signal at about fifty meters, with the video has a disappointing twenty meter limit. His workaround is to saddle the crawler with a 3G bridge. Not a bad idea that may be feasibly completed with hardware you have on hand.
In this case he grabbed a Beagleboard-XM. It runs embedded Linux and has USB ports which is perfect for the other two parts of the added hardware: a Huawei E230 3G dongle and a WiFi dongle. This means no alterations to the rover were necessary. He set up OpenVPN and performed a few other tweaks.
Giving Kyosho iReceiver unlimited range*
https://antibore.wordpress.com/2015/03/15/giving-kyosho-ireceiver-unlimited-range/
Tomi Engdahl says:
News & Analysis
Linux Seeks Security, Unity
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326150&
Linux is expanding its reach, promising to play a significant role in the Internet of Things. But the open source software needs more attention to interoperability, security and its kernel, according to experts at the Embedded Linux Conference here.
Industry giants including Samsung and Panasonic are expanding new open source groups. Jaguar Land Rover came to the event saying it will make open source its connected car software, challenging competitors to do the same.
In IoT, Linux commands the gateway today, with ambitious efforts to pack it into end nodes.
Intel is working on subsets of Tizen for IoT. “Today its still extremely challenging to run Linux on less than 8 Mbytes of memory…[so in IoT] we don’t know where the compromises are yet,” said Dominique Le Foll, a Linux expert at Intel.
Application protocols such as AllSeen aim to unify the space, running across operating systems and protocols in as little as 256 Kbytes of flash, said Greg Burns
As Linux squeezes down, security remains a top concern.
“We are miles away from where we should be [in security] in the embedded world,” said Le Foll. “We have the tools but people only understand them a little — and they don’t want to use them,” he said.
“There’s a huge amount of effort going into security, but one study said 75% of IoT products have gaping security holes,” said Bryant Eastham, a principal software architect in Panasonic’s new open source effort. “You have people checking master keys into Github — no amount of security we put in can take care of that kind of security flop,” he said.
While avoiding a security apocalypse, developers also need to unify a still fragmented Linux base.
“Verticals are interesting, but developers are going to build apps that span the verticals and without a common infrastructure at the app layer that doesn’t happen,”
OIC has built a reference implementation called IoTivity. Under the covers the OIC code uses Restful Web services and JavaScript Object Notation, and takes a different approach to intellectual property rights than AllSeen, said Martin.
The Linux base itself is still too fragmented with millions of lines of SoC code, some of it still behind corporate firewalls, said Deepak Saxena, a veteran Linux kernel developer.
In addition, the kernel is not being updated as rapidly as higher layers of the stack and needs attention from more developers, Saxena added.
The company chose Tizen, in part, because it supports CAN bus, the IVI spec of the Genivi Alliance and HTML5. Land Rover’s open source group with four people and now numbers 40 with plans to double staff this year.
Use of open source code is helping the car maker reduce the time to market for new technologies to as little as 16 months from 39 previously. “I hope other car companies figure this out because then I get to benefit from their code,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart meters are a ‘costly mistake’ that’ll add BILLIONS to bills
Institute of Directors warns against giganto UK.gov cock-up
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/30/smart_meters_costly_mistake_add_billions_to_energy_bills/
A report from the Institute of Directors (IoD) warns that the government’s rollout of smart meters “should be ‘halted, altered or scrapped’ to avoid a potentially catastrophic government IT disaster.”
The report, entitled “Not too clever: will Smart Meters be the next Government IT disaster?” describes the £11bn scheme as “unwanted by consumers, over-engineered and mind-blowingly expensive.”
The Major Projects Authority has carried out three assessments into the smart meter programme; however, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has refused to publish them, citing commercial sensitivity.
Dan Lewis told The Register that the project was essentially the product of a “pre-smartphone age.”
The IoD also raised concerns that the the largest government IT project in history may quickly become obsolete, and could even expose consumers to cyber threats.
Alongside providing a vector for criminal data access, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) reported in 2012 how the rollout entailed “considerable risks to the protection of personal data,” from the smart meter providers without adequate consumer protections in place.
“It enables massive collection of personal data from European households and may lead to tracking what members of a household do within the privacy of their own homes.” stated Peter Hustinx, the EDPS.
The IoD report recommends that an incoming government should consider the following changes:
Stop the smart gas meter deployment – only a handful of EU nations are planning to deploy gas smart meters by 2020. This would save billions of pounds.
Remove the requirement for an “in home” display – expected to cost £800m in total, the displays will be out of date in a few years. Far better to connect smart meters to people’s phones, tablets and PCs
Abandon attempts to stretch the rollout to tower blocks – the most technically challenging aspect of the project with the lowest potential returns. This would remove seven million homes from the scheme.
Limit the rollout to homes with high energy usage – those who use more than 5,100 kWh of electricity, and 23,000 kWh of gas a year have much more to gain. This would reduce the scale of the rollout by 80%.
Make the programme genuinely voluntary – offered to customers at their own expense, not subsidised by all.
Abandon the whole programme and develop a smart phone app instead – look into developing a smart app which would convert a photo of their current mechanical meter into a meaningful number for the suppliers. This would cost tens of thousands of pounds rather than billions.
“This is something the next government can look at,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Natasha Singer / New York Times:
Mattel to introduce Wi-Fi enabled Barbie using ToyTalk technology to analyze speech and produce relevant responses — A Wi-Fi Barbie Doll With the Soul of Siri
A Wi-Fi Barbie Doll With the Soul of Siri
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/technology/a-wi-fi-barbie-doll-with-the-soul-of-siri.html?_r=0
Ever since Siri appeared as a regular feature on the iPhone, certain young children — and, let’s face it, some of their parents — have spent hours chatting up the virtual assistant, curious about the details of her humanoid back story.
Siri, where do you live? Siri, do you have a boyfriend? Siri, how old are you?
“To converse with a mobile device is an assumed truth if you are 10 years old today,” Oren Jacob, the chief executive of ToyTalk, a company that creates conversational characters for children, told me recently at the company’s headquarters in San Francisco. “That is not true of high school students.”
Founded in 2011, ToyTalk already produces popular animated conversational apps — among them the Winston Show and SpeakaZoo — that encourage young children to engage in complex dialogue with a menagerie of make-believe characters. Now the company’s technology, originally designed for two-dimensional characters on-screen, is poised to power tangible playthings that children hold in their hands.
This fall, Mattel plans to introduce Hello Barbie, a Wi-Fi enabled version of the iconic doll, which uses ToyTalk’s system to analyze a child’s speech and produce relevant responses.
It was probably inevitable that the so-called Internet of Things — those Web-connected thermostats and bathroom scales and coffee makers and whatnot — would beget the Internet of Toys.
A recent study conducted by researchers at Georgetown University, for instance, compared two groups of toddlers. One group played with plush toys that had been preprogrammed to say the child’s name, and to say that they had the same favorite food and song as the child; the other played with plush toys that called each child “Pal” and liked different things. When the same toy character on-screen presented math skills — like arranging cups in order of size — the first group of toddlers performed better than those who played with less-personalized plush toys.
Tomi Engdahl says:
12 Cool Applications of the Industrial IoT
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=8&doc_id=1326090&
The Industrial IoT is not merely a vision of the future, it is here and now as this slideshow demonstrates.
Mass customization has already arrived. Buildings only light rooms when people are present. The farm soil will tell you when it needs water — in fact, it will water itself. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is exploding with possibilities, and the deployment is now, not is some highly developed future.
Factories can change from one product to another with the simple tap of a touchscreen. If one piece of equipment on the line breaks down, the rest of the line is alerted. Jet engines will tell you when they need maintenance. Highway will alert you when they need snow removal.
IIoT Blooms with Applications and Possibilities
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&dfpLayout=blog&dfpPParams=ind_182%2Cindustry_alt%2Cindustry_machinery%2Ckw_robotics%2Ckw_cloud-computing%2Ckw_28%2Caid_276551&doc_id=276551&image_number=1&dfpPParams=ind_182,industry_alt,industry_machinery,kw_robotics,kw_cloud-computing,kw_28,aid_276551&dfpLayout=blog
M2M connectivity can offer a wide range of benefits, from alerting a machine down the line that one of the machines has failed, or to switch products on a production line without lengthy set-up
Unplanned repairs caused 60,000 air travel delays each year in the US. Online software can predict maintenance needs before things break
San Diego has become the first city to connect streetlights to an industrial network. Traffic lights will likely come next.
You can’t see a crack in a ship propeller when the ship is out to sea, but a sensor can
Industrial networks can connect sensors in farming fields to send information on watering requirements, followed by a system that does the watering.
A connected factory has increased dexterity when it comes to adding customization to mass-produced products. The auto industry has become masterful — thanks to the IIoT — at making each car to order without slowing the line.
Gas turbines in power plants can be equipped with sensors that send alerts before equipment breaks down.
supply levels can be monitored by sensors, with replacement triggers when supply runs low.
Wind farms use data from sensors to adjust to changes in wind velocity.
Air conditioning and heat in buildings is one of the first areas of IIoT that gained traction. The wired building knows if people are present
Sensors and cameras can help cities and states gather information on maintenance needs and snow removal. Soon, cars themselves will report ice and snow.
Predictive maintenance at plants is one of the early uses of IIoT technology.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Your IoT | Connected World Contest
http://www.youriotcontest.com/about
Submit a quick video or some photos and a description of your IoT project to enter and you could win $10,000 in Silicon Labs components provided by Silicon Labs and Digi-Key.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Should Not Wait for Standards
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1326155&
It’s too early to start setting standards for the Internet of Things, argues the head of IoT at Xchanging.
More than 50 billion connected devices are anticipated to be in use by 2020 according to Gartner, and the dialogue around how to make the Internet of Things (IoT) work is reaching a fever pitch. Businesses are increasingly compelled by the benefits IoT has to digitize operations.
In an attempt to capitalize on and streamline this expected quick growth, groups like IEEE, AllSeen Alliance and Open Interconnect Consortium are strengthening their voices in favor of IoT standardization and frameworks for interoperability among connected devices and related applications.
But is now really the right time to be incorporating standards for IoT?
Although having standards in place is important in ensuring the safe and secure advancement of IoT, given its newness, I would argue it’s too early to implement standards. IoT still needs room to develop without the constraints of standardization – at least for now.
It will likely be a few years until official standards are in place and enforced for IoT. In the meantime, standardization groups are in a race to be among the first to have a solid foothold on IoT standards. The sheer number of standards bodies is already causing fragmentation in a market that is just starting to peek out from behind the curtain.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why MediaTek Pushes Cross-Device Sharing
CrossMount links, shares resources among TVs, handhelds
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326154&
MediaTek, the world’s third-largest chip designer, is aiming to create a technology standard that will link and share software and hardware resources of televisions and handheld devices in ways that would fulfill their unrealized potential.
The Taiwan-based company, whose chips each year go into about 400 million smartphones, 100 million smart TVs and 50 million tablets, sees an opportunity to use its CrossMount technology, announced earlier this month, to unify the components of consumer devices in ways the company has only started to imagine.
At MediaTek’s headquarters in Taiwan’s Hsinchu Science Park, the company demonstrates a few examples to tease the imagination. A smartphone controlling the large display of a TV. A TV mounting a smartphone camera, making it a remote baby monitor. A TV turning a smartphone touch panel into a remote control for the TV. A smart television mounting the microphone of a smartphone to enable a voice search on the internet for images of Lady Gaga.
“The most unique aspect of CrossMount is the ability to use components in other devices,”
MediaTek has scheduled the commercial rollout of the technology this year around October 1, on China’s National Day, when a number of PRC tech companies traditionally launch new products.
CrossMount will be inside smart TVs and smartphones from Chinese brands including Lenovo, TCL and Sichuan Changhong Electric Co. The new technology will also debut in all of China’s second-tier smartphones around the same time, according to Hsieh.
“We want to light a fire,” Hsieh says.
“Few companies in Asia want to create standards, but we want to try,” Hsieh says.
MediaTek Sails Uncharted Waters With CrossMount
It’s ‘way more than DLNA,’ says CTO
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1325865
MediaTek, on the eve of the Mobile World Congress, has revealed a new cross-device sharing technology called “CrossMount.”
CrossMount, a “new industry standard” that’s royalty-free and open to all comers, makes sharing of multimedia content easy among multiple devices, said MediaTek. More important, it allows the hardware and software resources in devices — smartphones, tablets and TVs, for example — to be shared and combined to add features or improve performance, explained Kevin Jou, MediaTek’s chief technology officer.
“We aren’t just talking about Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) type of applications such as sharing content by pairing two devices. We are talking about connecting multiple devices (more than one) and enabling something way better than DLNA,” Jou told EE Times.
Just as DLNA leverages UPnP, CrossMount uses UPnP as its foundation for media management, discovery and control. CrossMount’s new wrinkle is the ability to share and combine resources among multiple devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Big Blue to give car insurers IoT peeking powers
New US$3bn business unit promises connected cloudy capers
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/31/big_blue_to_give_car_insurers_iot_peeking_powers/
IBM has announced it will spend US$ billion over four years on a new internet of things business unit.
The company reckons the internet of things label now applies to all the the smart city stuff it did for water and traffic management applications in recent years. The idea seems to be to take that work, sprinkle on a little cloud and/or Watson analytics and deliver what IBM’s calling “an open platform to provide manufacturers with the ability to design and produce a new generation of connected devices that are better optimized for the IoT, and to help business leaders across industries create systems that better fuse enterprise and IoT data to inform decision-making.”
Which sounds benign. The company’s plan to “introduce a cloud-based service that helps insurance companies extract insight from connected vehicles” may appear less so. IBM reckons this service “… will enable new, more dynamic pricing models and the delivery of services that can be highly customized to individual drivers,” but it’s not hard to imagine something going wrong with that.
IBM’s announcement has the whiff of bandwagon-clambering while at the same time representing a new spin on the company’s current cloud analytics mantra. There’s mention of 2,000 people being dedicated to the IoT effort
Tomi Engdahl says:
John Cook / GeekWire:
IBM plans $5B Internet of Things push, lures The Weather Channel away from AWS
http://www.geekwire.com/2015/ibm-plans-5b-internet-of-things-push-lures-the-weather-channel-away-from-aws/
IBM is betting big on the Internet of Things — the idea that connected devices (everything from refrigerators to toasters to automobiles) will be able to provide real-time data that makes our lives easier. The tech giant announced Monday night that it will spend $5 billion over the next five years to install and develop Internet of Things systems worldwide. In total, more than 2,000 IBM researchers, software developers and consultants will work on the efforts.
“For IBM, this isn’t about hype. It’s about real accomplishments and real opportunities,”
“IBM and The Weather Company are forging a global partnership to bring real-time weather insights to businesses so they can make better decisions,”
“We’re busy integrating Twitter data into a selection of cloud-based services, including Watson Analytics, the service that brings visualization and predictive capabilities to business users via mobile devices,”
“In the coming days, we’ll launch a beta program on our Bluemix platform that enables developers to build Twitter data streams into their applications.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon’s New Dash Button Hardware Offers Instant Orders For Staple Products
http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/31/amazons-new-dash-button-hardware-offers-instant-orders-for-staple-products/#FZxRC0:bXGU
Amazon has new hardware called the Dash Button that allows one-press ordering of products you’re likely to want to replace on a regular basis. The Dash Button comes in a number of different branded versions based on what it’s coded to order, and includes an adhesive backing and hook holster to let you stick it where it’s most convenient.
The Dash Button is a natural extension of Amazon’s one-click ordering feature on the web, but turned into a hardware gadget that makes ordering laundry detergent, for instance, as easy as actually starting the wash cycle. Amazon clearly hopes that if you have a physical one-button device near the place where you actually consume these consumables, you’re more likely to have the presence of mind to order them via its service before you run out, when a trip to the corner store might prove more convenient even than home delivery.
You setup Amazon’s Dash Button using the Amazon mobile app, and then connecting to your Wi-Fi network to assign the product you want the Dash Button to order with a single press (limited by brands pictured on the hardware at launch, apparently). Once it’s configured, the button will automatically trigger an order to your default address using your default Amazon payment order, and you can cancel it via your phone should you have second thoughts. Amazon won’t trigger another order made via subsequent button presses until the first one is delivered, the company notes, unless you override that manually.
At launch, the eligible products for the Dash Button include things like toilet paper, cleaning products, juice, personal grooming products, dog food and much more.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Amazon’s new Dash Button hardware offers instant orders for staple products; Prime members can request an invite to get the hardware for free
http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/31/amazons-new-dash-button-hardware-offers-instant-orders-for-staple-products/
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Sensor Networks Seek Routes
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1326175&
Sensor networks for the Internet of Things present some unique routing challenges, writes consultant Larry Mittag.
Network routing is one of those things that people tend to think about most when it is not working. Day in and day out the Internet successfully and efficiently routes bazillions of data packets from source to destination, but this only hits the news when “innocent mistakes” are made
The simplest case is a group of nodes that all have direct links to each other, or at least all have direct links to a local master node. Many localized sensor networks organize this way, and the engineers that create them don’t really worry much about routing.
The problems in this simple scenario start showing up when it becomes successful enough that people want to extend it.
One possibility would be to put the data collector on an internetwork while still leaving the sensors as simple local nodes. This is most likely the path that will be taken by many sensor networks, particularly legacy ones, but as sensor nodes become more complex and capable we will begin to see some more interesting architectures.
The Internet connection is also relatively straightforward. The data collector can handle that without having to directly expose the sensors by aggregating the information. Life is still relatively easy for the network designers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
With every industry going digital, it’s clear that value has shifted from hardware to software and services. As new digital goods and services emerge – Internet of Things for example – digital marketers are facing an ever-changing set of monetization challenges aimed at building long-term, recurring revenue relationships. – See more at: http://www.avangate.com/lp/webinar-idc-winning-pricing-strategies-2015.html?utm_source=techmeme&utm_medium=sponsored%2520post&utm_content=IDC%2520webinar&utm_campaign=techmeme#sthash.TLahjvRN.dpuf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home automation using arduino, android and jubito
http://hackaday.io/project/412-home-automation-using-arduino-android-and-jubito
Jubito is a home automation hub based on the open source jaNET framework. Can link and interface different objects regardless technology.
A web server for connecting software and hardware components based on the open source jaNET framework.
Jubito provides you with an intuitive platform that enables you to interconnect hardware and software components, as well as publish your projects online. It can be used for interacting with Arduino devices and populating HTML5 pages with custom instructions, such as application launchers, event managers, schedulers and more.
JubitOS (Jubito Operating System) is a Lubuntu based distribution for Banana Pi and is available for download. It is an out of the box compilation and it contains all the ingredients for a home automation server/hub.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IDC: Smart socks will outsell Google Glass
The wonderful world of wearables will work itself up to 46m units in 2015
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2402317/idc-smart-socks-will-outsell-google-glass
THE WORLDWIDE WEARABLES INDUSTRY WILL see shipments of 45.7 million units by the end of this year and 126.1 million units by 2019, according to the people who know at analyst firm IDC.
Sage minds have considered the market as it stands and as it moves forward. IDC estimates decent growth, while Forrester predicts a tripling, within four years. Analysts all agree that the Apple Watch will light a fire under the wearables market.
Shipments last year were just under 20 million, so an increase of 134 percent between now and then suggests that IDC is on the money here.
“Smart wearables are about to take a major step forward with the launch of the Apple Watch this year,”
“The Apple Watch raises the profile of wearables in general and there are many vendors and devices that are eager to share the spotlight.
“Basic wearables, meanwhile, will not disappear. In fact, we anticipate continued growth here as many segments of the market seek out simple, single-use wearable devices.”
Wrist-worn wearables currently account for some 90 percent of shipments, but this will fall to 80 percent by 2019 as other options, including clothing and eyewear, become more popular.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sean Gallagher / Ars Technica:
Atmel ARM-based microcontroller chip could extend battery life of low-power devices to decades
New ARM-powered chip aims for battery life measured in decades
Atmel’s 32-bit SAM L controllers, shipping soon, take low power to new extremes .
by Sean Gallagher – Mar 31, 2015 1:45am EEST
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/03/new-arm-powered-chip-aims-for-battery-life-measured-in-decades/
Atmel, the San Jose-based microcontroller maker, today released samples of a new type of ultra-low power, ARM based microcontroller that could radically extend the battery life of small low-power intelligent devices. The new SAM L21 32-bit ARM family of microcontroller (MCUs) consume less than 35 microamps of power per megahertz of processing speed while active, and less than 200 nanoamps of power overall when in deep sleep mode—with varying states in between.
The chip is so low power that it can be powered off energy capture from the body, as Andreas Eieland, Atmel’s Director of Product Marketing for low-power products, demonstrated at CES earlier this year.
The majority of existing low-power MCUs operate in the range of about 120 to 160 microamps per MHz of processing speed, according to Eieland, who spoke with Ars this week.
Based on the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium’s (EEMBC’s) ULPbench ultra-low power benchmark, the L21 is the lowest power microprocessor ever, achieving a score of 185—50 percent higher than that of the closest competitor (STMicro’s STM32L4) and of Atmel’s last generation of low-power MCUs.
“What we’ve done on the L21 is that we have five power domains—we don’t just gate away the clock, but we can also take away leakage (of power)from unused modules.” This capability includes a mode that allows peripheral devices to continue to communicate with each other when the CPU core is essentially asleep.
The L21 MCU uses a 42 MHz Cortex M0+ CPU core—the smallest 32-bit ARM processor. It also carries up to 256 kilobytes of Flash memory, up to 32 kilobytes of static RAM, and up to 8 kb of separate low-power static RAM
As part of the sample release, Atmel is also offering kits based on the L21 for developers in the form of the SAML21 Xplained Pro (XPRO) evaluation board for rapid protyping.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Snags $25M in Europe
New program will pump $10M starting in April
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326181&
Europe is angling for its slice of the Internet of Things with a new program that aims to help regional, often small players participate in the megatrend it believes is re-shaping electronics. EuroCPS will provide as many as 30 teams up to 150,000 euros each in funding and design assistance, the latest of a handful of programs under a $25 million, three-year initiative.
The program will put out its first call for proposals in April. It will initially select 13 proposals, providing people with ideas resources such as access to platforms and university researchers in the field of cyber-physical systems.
“Today the game is changing because electronics is less driven by scaling and more by apps like smartwatches or other wearables that require low power CMOS and other technologies,”
“Access to technology is clearly the first problem” in IoT design today, said Thomas. “If you are small or a new entrant and don’t require high volumes it is extremely difficult to get access to the technologies…[Vendors] prefer to work with someone who will make a million devices a year, but if you just want 10,000 it becomes a nightmare,” he said.
The €9.2 million EuroCPS project is open to people from any European Commission country with ideas related to any field. “The goal is to use the wave of IoT to increase electronics production and competitiveness in Europe,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Thread, Zigbee Knit IoT Stacks
Zigbee Cluster Library will run over Thread
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326189&
In a deal that may foreshadow a move toward unity in the Internet of Things, the Thread Group and the Zigbee Alliance will define a spec for running Zigbee’s application layer over Thread. The move will provide hundreds of Zigbee devices a path to a network that natively supports Internet Protocol addresses.
“We want to get away from silos and fragmentation and recognize the importance of the smart home,” said Tobin Richardson, president of the Zigbee Alliance.
“A lot of our members have been asking us what runs over Thread and asking for a version of Zigbee,” said Chris Boross, president of the Thread Group. “Since Thread runs purely at the network layer, we always wanted to partner with others” to reduce fragmentation in protocols, he added.
The specification for running the Zigbee Cluster Library over Thread will be available sometime after June. That’s when the Thread Group releases to its members its Thread version 1.0 spec, announced in July.
The Zigbee-over-Thread spec will be available as a free download. Thread releases its specs royalty-free to members
The move is a somewhat defensive one for the Zigbee community that is expected to lose ground to a variety of IP networks in the smart home. Zigbee was available long before IoT became tech chic, however it lagged the move to 32-bit processors and IP networks.
Market watchers at ABI Research project Zigbee will slip from dominating three-quarters of all 802.15.4 sales this year to less than half by 2019 due to growth in IP-based 6LoWPAN networks. Market watcher On World expects Zigbee will lead so-called fixed wireless sensor networks in homes and buildings through 2018, but it expects multimode chips will emerge supporting 6LoWPAN and Bluetooth as well as ZigBee.
The Thread/Zigbee collaboration could inspire more steps at unification in the highly fragmented IoT sector.
Tomi Engdahl says:
WebOS replace applications between devices
Fujitsu Laboratories has developed WebOS technology, which allows smartphones to be autoaattisesti connect various peripherals and sensors, regardless of what smartphone running System is running.
Traditionally, peripherals connect to your smartphone or tablet is required own application, which is tailored to the mobile device operating system. Andrdoille or iOS therefore.
Fujitsu’s technology enables typically HTML5-coded web apps can be run on smart devices. Once the device has been “taken over” can be run in a variety of cloud-based applications and services.
As a result, service providers and equipment manufacturers to develop applications that are not tied to a particular operating system. It enables users to connect a variety of peripherals, smartphones and tablets.
In order to separate drivers can be mounted to avoid, Fujitsu’s developers coding for a separate web app run time layer, which is mounted on the device’s operating system. This software layer is connected to the cloud-based service, so the software containing devices can be controlled in the same application, the operating system.
The company’s goal is to make the technology commercially available in the 2016 period.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2634:webos-korvaa-sovellukset-laitteiden-valilta&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Cellular Dev Kit With A Data Plan
http://hackaday.com/2015/04/05/a-cellular-dev-kit-with-a-data-plan/
After years of futzing around with 433 MHz radios and WiFi, we’re finally seeing a few dev boards that are focused on cellular radio modules. The Konekt Dash is the latest offering that puts a small u-blox SARA cellular module on a board with a small ARM Cortex M4 microcontroller for a complete cellular solution for any project you have in mind. Yes, until we get radios that make sense for an Internet of Things, this is the best you’re going to get.
If the Konekt sounds familiar, you’re right. A few months ago, Spark introduced the Electron, a cellular dev board based on the u-blox SARA-U260 module that includes a SIM with a 1MB of data a month. Practically, it’s not much different from the Konekt,
Konekt Dash: Cellular Dev Kit + Free Global Data Plan
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/konekt/konekt-dash-cellular-dev-kit-free-global-data-plan
The Electron: Cellular dev kit with a global data plan
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sparkdevices/spark-electron-cellular-dev-kit-with-a-simple-data
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet of Cowbell
http://hackaday.com/2015/04/05/internet-of-cowbell/
If this is a sign of the times, the Internet of Things promises a lot of entertainment for hackers who can come up with wacky ideas and interactive projects. [Brandon] built a cowbell that rings when you tweet #morecowbell. Why? Because!
The code for the Electric Imp consists of two parts – the “agent code” that runs on a server in the Electric Imp Cloud and the “device code” that runs on the imp itself – and is available at this Git link.
http://hackaday.io/project/5089-internet-of-cowbell