Category Archives: AllSeen Alliance

AllSeen Alliance, Internet of Things, IoT, Liat Ben-Zur, News & Analysis, Open Interconnect Consortium, Philips

Philips throws weight behind AllSeen in IoT standards push

Philips is backing the AllSeen Alliance

Philips is backing the AllSeen Alliance

One of the largest Internet of Things (IoT) solution providers, Philips, announced this week that it would support the AllJoyn standards initiative.

AllJoyn, an open source software connectivity and services framework for IoT devices, is being coordinated by the AllSeen Alliance, a 170-member organisation focused on developing cross-sector IoT standards.

Its members include Electrolux, Haier, LG, Microsoft, Panasonic, Qeo, Qualcomm Connected Experiences, Sharp, and Sony.

Philips is one of the world’s largest IoT vendors, offering a range of services around healthcare linking medical devices and sensors to a cloud-based platform that can be used to analyse and generate medical advice from the data they generate.

“Healthcare will change substantially in the coming years, with a growing role for health self-management. Addressing the needs of personal health requires a new perspective and innovative technologies like the AllJoyn software framework,” said Liat Ben-Zur, senior vice president and head of digital technology at Philips.

“Philips also values the potential of collaborative partnerships to advance markets and improve consumer experiences forever. We look forward to working with the other members of the AllSeen Alliance to advance connectivity and digitalization in the personal health area based on AllJoyn as part of a truly connected world,” Ben-Zur said.

The company is a big player in the healthcare space and the move may give a massive boost to AllSeen, which is rivaled by the Intel-backed Open Interconnect Consoritum – a cross-industry consortium pushing IoTivity, its answer to AllJoyn.

Philip DesAutels, senior director IoT for the AllSeen Alliance said: “With a global leader with expertise connecting technology between home and healthcare, we’re in a position to advance AllJoyn as the software leveraged by all healthcare solutions.”

AllSeen Alliance, Internet of Things, IoT, News & Analysis, Qualcomm, Thread

IoT platform Thread unveiled, Qualcomm joins

Another week, another IoT standard ecosystem

Another week, another IoT standard ecosystem

Thread, an IP-based wireless protocol designed for consumer IoT in the home, has been unveiled, with the organisation also confirming Qualcomm Technologies as a member of its board of directors, reports Telecoms.com.

The IoT protocol, according to Thread, is designed for consumers and devices in and around the home, and extends domestic M2M connections into the cloud using IP in a low-power mesh network. Having announced its formation in late 2014, Thread now comprises of more than 160 member companies. Qualcomm has also been appointed to the group’s board of directors, where it will be more heavily involved in the development of Thread-compatible products, as well as the protocol itself.

Considering it’s only been operational for just over nine months, the progress being made within the wider Thread group shows the rate of development within the wider IoT industry in general; a sentiment agreed with by Chris Boross, Thread Group’s president.

“In the nine months since opening membership, more than 160 companies have joined the Thread Group, and now the group is launching the Thread technical specification, which has now completed extensive interoperability testing,” he said. “Today’s announcement means that Thread products are on the way and will be in customers’ hands very shortly. I’m excited to see what kinda of products and experiences Thread developers will build.”

With Qualcomm joining the board of directors, it also shows how large and influential tech firms are hedging their bets on the development of IoT, by also contributing to the AllSeen Alliance, another IoT platform development forum. Raj Talluri, Qualcomm’s SVP of product management reckons the work being done at Thread will help further IoT development.

“When it comes to easily and securely connecting the smart home, the work of industry alliances like the Thread Group are essential,” he said. “Collaborating with the Thread Group allows for the integration of this technology into the world’s leading brands of household appliances, and to thereby speed innovation and market transformation.”

Thread coming to the fore serves to illustrate how progress in various aspects of IoT connectivity is accelerating. There’s a plethora of platforms all addressing separate networking considerations, from Sigfox and its cellular IoT platform, to the Wireless IoT Forum deploying low-powered wide area networks for city-wide M2M connectivity. If the variety of industry stakeholders involved are indeed intent on open collaboration and cooperation to ensure the more altruistic progression of IoT; then sooner or later one would assume a level of convergence of said platforms is inevitable.