Category Archives: Internet of Things

Golgi, Internet of Things, IoT, White Papers

The Internet of Things: Bridging the gap between devices and developers with cloud services

Golgi_white_paper_ofcnewThe Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most disruptive trends in technology today but as IoT services start to hit the mainstream, the sometimes conflicting requirements of device manufacturers and developers are beginning to create tension between these two groups.

Both manufacturers and developers want many of the same things – clear standards, secure platforms and a high degree of extensibility – but, because of the nascent state of the market, don’t necessarily know how to cope with the lack of standards or clarity around how to implement effective security controls in such technically constrained environments, or how to manage interoperability. Managing the complexity of communication within heterogeneous IoT environments and vast networks at scale also makes the task of developing robust IoT services which stand up to consumer expectations all the more challenging.

These challenges need to be overcome before that tremendous value of IoT can be realised. This whitepaper, sponsored by Golgi and published by BCN, luckily, looks at how cloud-based services can help bridge the gaps between the requirements of IoT device manufacturers and application developers:

  • Navigating existing IoT standards
  • Managing data security and privacy
  • Dealing with heterogeneous networks
  • The role of cloud services in IoT

Download the whitepaper for free from BCN now…

Google Brillo, Internet of Things, IoT, Opinion, Weave

Google’s IoT land grab: will Brillo help or hinder?

Google's having a go at the Internet of Things, but how will it sit with developers and device manufacturers?

Google’s having a go at the Internet of Things, but how will it sit with developers and device manufacturers?

The long rumoured Project Brillo, Google’s answer to the Internet of Things, was finally unveiled this week at the company’s annual I/O conference, and while the project shows promise it comes at time when device manufacturers and developers are increasingly being forced to choose between IoT ecosystems. Contrary to Google’s stated aims, Brillo could – for the same reason – hinder interoperability and choice in IoT rather than facilitate it.

It’s difficult to see Project Brillo as anything more than it really is – an attempt at grabbing highly sought-after ground in the IoT space. It has two key components. There’s Brillo, which is essentially a mini Android OS (made up of some of the services the fully fledged OS abstracts) which Google claims can run on tiny embeddable IP-connected devices (critically, the company hasn’t revealed what the minimum specs for those devices are); and Weave, a proprietary set of APIs that help developers manage the communications layer linking apps on mobile phones to sensors via the cloud.

Brillo will also come with metrics and crash reporting to help developers test and de-bug their IoT services.

The company claims the Weave programme, which will see manufacturers certify to run Brillo on their embeddable devices in much the same Google works with handset makers to certify Android-based mobile devices, will help drive interoperability and quality – two things IoT desperately needs.

The challenge is it’s not entirely clear how Google’s Brillo will deliver on either front. Full-whack Android is almost a case-in-point in itself. Despite have more than a few years to mature, the Android ecosystem is still plagued by fragmentation, which produces its fair share of headaches for developers. As we recently alluded to in an article about Google trying to tackle this problem, developing for a multitude of platforms running Android can be a nightmare; an app running smoothly on an LG G3 can be prone to crashing on a Xiaomi or Sony device because of architectural or resource constraint differences.

This may be further complicated in the IoT space by the fact that embeddable software is, at least currently, much more difficult to upgrade than Android, likely leading to even more software heterogeneity than one currently finds in the Android ecosystem.

Another thing to consider is that most embeddable IoT devices currently in the market or planned for deployment are so computationally and power-constrained (particularly for industrial applications, which is where most IoT stuff is happening these days) that it’s unclear whether there will be a market for Brillo to tap into anytime soon. This  isn’t really much use for developers – the cohort Google’s trying to go after.

For device manufacturers, the challenge will be whether building to Google’s specs will be worth the added cost of building alongside ARM, Arduino, Intel Edison or other IoT architectures. History would suggest that it’s always cheaper to build to one architecture rather than multiple (which is what’s driving standards development in this nascent space), and while Google tries to ease the pain of dealing with different manufacturers on the developer side by abstracting lower level functions through APIs, it could create a situation where manufacturers will have to choose which ecosystem they play in – leading to more fragmentation and as a result more frustration for developers. For developers, at least those unfamiliar with Android, it comes at the cost of being locked into a slew of proprietary (or at least Google-owned) technologies and APIs rather than open technologies that could – in a truly interoperable way – weave Brillo and non-Brillo devices with cloud services and mobile apps.

Don’t get me wrong – Google’s reasoning is sound. The Internet of Things is the cool new kid on the block with forecast revenues so vast they could make a grown man weep. There are a fleet of developers building apps and services for Android and the company has great relationships with pretty much every silicon manufacturer on the planet. It seems reasonable to believe that the company which best captures the embeddable software space stands a pretty good chance at winning out at other levels of the IoT stack. But IoT craves interoperability and choice (and standards) more than anything, which even in the best of circumstances can create a tenuous relationship between developers and device manufacturers, where their respective needs stand in opposition. Unfortunately, it’s not quite clear whether Brillo or Weave will truly deliver on the needs of either camp.

Avago, Broadcom, Chris Taylor, Hock Tan, Internet of Things, IoT, M&A, News & Analysis, Strategy Analytics

Avago buys Broadcom for $37bn to create IoT chip dream team

Avago is buying Broadcom for $37bn to create an IoT giant

Avago is buying Broadcom for $37bn to create an IoT giant

It seems every corner of the mobile market is consolidating right now and semiconductors are clearly no exception, with digital signal processing chip maker Avago acquiring communications chip company Broadcom for $37bn, reports Telecoms.com.

Avago was spun off from Agilent Technologies back in 2005, which was itself spun off from HP in 1999, leading to what was at the time the world’s largest IPO. It has a broad portfolio of semiconductor products and is strong in mixed-signal circuits and sensors. Broadcom has long been a leader in communications technologies such as ethernet, wifi and Bluetooth.

“Today’s announcement marks the combination of the unparalleled engineering prowess of Broadcom with Avago’s heritage of technology from HP, AT&T, and LSI Logic, in a landmark transaction for the semiconductor industry,” said Hock Tan, president and chief executive of Avago. “The combination of Avago and Broadcom creates a global diversified leader in wired and wireless communication semiconductors. Avago has established a strong track record of successfully integrating companies onto its platform.”

“This transaction benefits all of Broadcom’s key stakeholders,” said Scott McGregor, president and chief executive of Broadcom. “Our customers will gain access to a greater breadth of technology and product capability. For our shareholders, the transaction provides both compelling up-front value as well as the opportunity to participate in the future upside of the combined business.”

In practice the combination of Avago’s strength in sensors and Broadcom’s in communications looks like a potential IoT dream team, creating the ability to offer unified IoT chips that do everything you could ask of a connected thing.

Chris Taylor, analyst at Strategy Analytics, told explained that Avago’s other strengths include RF power amplifiers and filters. “Their most notable success has been in Apple phones over the past several years with their multi-mode, multi-band power amplifiers,” he said. Taylor also noted their success in RF filters for LTE bands above 1.9 GHz, which are likely to be used more extensively as more capacity is needed.

A similar move was recently announced by NXP and Freescale, which are merging to form a semi company with strengths in NFC, automotive and microcontrollers, and which NXP announced today it would be selling off its RF Power business to fund. Both of these merged companies must compete with mobile chip leader Qualcomm, which acquired wifi chip giant Atheros back in 2011. It will be interesting to see if there’s a response to all this M&A from Asian chip players such as Mediatek.

Big Data, IBM, Internet of Things, News & Analysis

IBM opens IoT, cloud, big data studio in Shanghai

IBM has opened another studio in Shanghai to target IoT, cloud and big data development

IBM has opened another studio in Shanghai to target IoT, cloud and big data development

IBM has opened another studio aimed at attracting design and digital experts to work with clients on digital solutions using the company’s mobile, big data and cloud technologies, this time in Shanghai.

Based at IBM’s Yangpu and Zhangjiang offices, the hub will host local IBM Design and Interactive Experience teams as well as digital service designers and developers.

“People’s expectations of enterprise technology has changed because of great design they see in devices and apps they use at work and at play,” said Phil Gilbert, general manager, IBM Design. “Our studios around the world bring design into everything we do and change the way we work to transform how enterprise technology is created, with client experience at the centre.”

The company said the studio will be a space for clients in industries such as healthcare, financial services and retail that are keen to develop new digital services in collaboration with IBM; it has about 20 of these studios located around the world.

Earlier this year the company opened a studio at its Southbank location in London which hosts employees specialising in big data, cloud and mobile products and services – including Bluemix, the company’s platform as a service.

Enterprise IT, IDC, Internet of Things, Interviews, IoT, Phil Carnelley

Phil Carnelley, research director at IDC on cloud, big data, Internet of Things

Philip Carnelley shares his views on the big disrupters in IT

Philip Carnelley shares his views on the big disrupters in IT

As we approach Cloud World Forum in London this June BCN had the opportunity to catch up with one of the conference speakers, Philip Carnelley, software research director at IDC Europe to discuss his views on the most disruptive trends in IT today.

What do you see as the most disruptive trend in enterprise IT today?

This is a tricky one but I think it’s got to be the Internet of Things – extending the edge of the network, we’re expecting a dramatic rise in internet-connected cars, buildings, homes, sensors for health and industrial equipment, wearables and more.

IDC expects some 28 billion IoT devices to be operational by 2020. Amongst other things, this will change the way a lot of companies operate, changing from device providers to service providers, and allowing device manufacturers to directly sell to, and service, their end customers in the way they didn’t before.

What do you think is lacking in the cloud sector today?

There are 2 things. First, many organizations still have concerns about security, privacy and compliance in a cloud-centric world. The industry needs to make sure that organizations understand that these needs can be met by today’s solutions.

Second, while most people buy into the cloud vision, it’s often not easy to get to there from where they are today. The industry must make it easy as possible, with simple solutions that don’t require fleets of highly trained people to understand and implement.

Are you seeing more enterprises look to non-relational database tech for transactional uses?

Absolutely. We’re seeing a definite rise in the use of NoSQL databases, as IT and DB architects become much more ready to choose databases on a use-base basis rather than just going for the default choice. A good example is the use of Basho Riak at the National Health Service.

Is cloud changing the way mobile apps and services are developed in enterprises?

Yes, there is a change towards creating mobile apps and services that draw on ‘mobile back-end-as-a-service’ technologies for their creation and operation

Why do you think it’s important to attend Cloud World Forum?

Because cloud is the fundamental platform for what IDC calls the 3rd Platform of Computing. We are in the middle of a complete paradigm shift to cloud-centric computing – with the associated technologies of mobile, social and big data – which is driving profound changes in business processes and even business models (think Uber, AirBnB, Netflix). Any company that wants to remain competitive in this new era needs to embrace these technologies, to learn more about them, in the way it develops and runs its operations for B2E, B2B and B2C processes.

Internet of Things, IoT, News & Analysis, Samsung

Samsung announces open Internet of Things platform

Samsung have launched an IoT platform

Samsung have launched an IoT platform

Samsung has announced the launch of a platform for the Internet of Things, “ARTIK”, which it claims is completely open and serves the entire software and hardware requirements of IoT.

Samsung Electronics’ president and chief strategy officer, Young Sohn, described ARTIK as “the industry’s most advanced, open and secure platform for developing IoT products.” Samsung claims it will enable developers to customise and deploy IoT-devices, as well as the services they deliver.

From a hardware perspective, ARTIK comes in three flavours, imaginatively titled ARTIK 1, 5 and 10 respectively. ARTIK 1 is the 144mm2 embedded module designed for small form-factor IoT applications and utilises Bluetooth/BLE technology for low-powered short range communications. ARTIK 5, Samsung says, is intended for small-to-medium size devices, such as home hubs and drones, and comes with a 1GHz dual-core processor, flash memory and on-board DRAM.

ARTIK 10 meanwhile is the full-fat module with an eight-core processor, HD video encoding/processing, 2GB DRAM and 16GB flash, and a variety of short-range, low power communications tech inside, such as wifi, Bluetooth, ZigBee. Samsung reckons it’s ideal for media applications, Industrial IoT and home servers.

“Industry requirements for IoT devices vary in terms of battery life, computational horse power and form factor,” said Sohn. “With this family of ARTIK offerings, Samsung is directly addressing the needs of the widest range of customers, uses and applications. ARTIK allows developers to rapidly turn great ideas into market leading IoT products and applications.”

ARTIK also incorporates a number of software considerations to give it credibility as a holistic IoT platform, according to Samsung. Technical aspects of the platform include security and privacy, local storage and computational capabilities, low-power architecture, small form factor, and compatility with the major connectivity protocols. Finally, the platform comes with a software stack which is intended to allow developers to go directly with application framework, thus removing the need to build low-level software

Fujitsu, Intel, Internet of Things, Japan, News & Analysis

Fujitsu, Intel collaborating on Internet of Things

Fujistu and Intel are mashing up their IoT tech

Fujistu and Intel are mashing up their IoT tech

Fujitsu and Intel announced a collaboration this week that will see the two jointly develop Internet of Things solutions, initially for manufacturing, retail and public sector clients.

The deal will see the two firms combine Fujitsu’s distributed service management and visualisation technology with Intel’s IoT communication gateway unification platform, which was unveiled at the tail end of last year and co-developed with a range of IT incumbents and SIs including Accenture, Capgemini, HCL, NTT Data, Tata Consultancy and Wipro.

Fujitsu said ensuring the distributed service technology is operating at peak performance some of the processing needs to be pushed down to the gateways themselves rather than concentrating them at the centre of the architecture, which could create bottlenecks.

The companies said they initially plan to target manufacturing, retail and the public sector, and already have a proof of concept set up in Shimane, Japan, which includes real-time visualisation of manufacturing operations.

Both are said to have plans to create more PoCs for retail and the public sector before the year is out.

Fujitsu looks to be striking a range of IoT-focused deals aimed at all levels of the stack. Last month Fujitsu and Microsoft announced a partnership focused on blending the former’s devices and IoT services for agriculture and manufacturing, powered by Windows software and Azure cloud services. And earlier this year Fujitsu announced plans to expand its two core datacentres in Japan in a bid to accelerate demand for its cloud and IoT services.

Apadmi, Enterprise IT, Internet of Things, Mobile, News & Analysis, Nick Black

Nearly half of Brits find wearables in the enterprise intrusive – study

How will wearables impact privacy in the enterprise?

How will wearables impact privacy in the enterprise?

A recently published study by UK mobile app developer Apadmi suggests UKers are deeply concerned about the privacy implications of wearable IP-connected technology in the workplace.

The study, which surveyed 500 adults living and working in the UK, found that 42 per cent of people in the UK thought that wearable technology posed a risk to their privacy, with only 18 per cent of respondents saying they didn’t feel it was a danger.

But there seemed to be a significant portion of respondents (40 per cent) that did not know whether wearable tech would pose a threat to their privacy.

“It’s obvious from our investigations that privacy is a very real issue for the wearable technology industry, although it’s by no means insurmountable,” said Nick Black, co-founder and director at Apadmi

“A lot of commentators are flagging up the potential privacy implications of devices that can record and relay so much data about an individual. And consumers appear to be taking note, with quite a few admitting that these concerns weigh on their mind when considering whether or not to buy wearable technology.”

Wearables have started to gain favour with some larger enterprises in the US and UK, particularly when it comes to tracking health and fitness. Some private health insurers for instance monitor fitness data as a way to incentivise fitness activity, which reduces the risk of health issues and can lead to lower premiums.

But opinion on the privacy implications of mandating wearables in the workplace seems to be quite strong. When asked how they would feel if their employer required them to use wearable technology as part of their role 25 per cent of respondents said they would consider changing jobs, and a further 24 per cent replied they would be happy to do this.

“We also need to draw attention to the fact that a huge number of people still don’t have a firm grasp of how wearable technology might impact upon privacy in the first place, as demonstrated by the significant number of ‘don’t know’ respondents in our survey. People are naturally apprehensive about what they don’t understand. But it’s interesting that those who go on to purchase a device are overwhelmingly happy with their decision and the benefits it has brought to their lives,” Black explained.

“With this in mind, wearable tech businesses and app developers need to educate prospective customers around privacy concerns to alleviate these fears. Many people still don’t fully understand the privacy issues around wearable technology or appreciate its potential to dramatically improve lives in areas such as health and social care.”

Despite the potential privacy implications many believe use of wearables in the enterprise will rapidly increase over the next few years. Salesforce for instance claims use of wearables in the enterprise will more than triple in the next two years, with smartwatches emerging as a popular candidate to deliver sales and customer service improvements.

The company’s own survey of over 1,400 working adults shows 79 per cent of adopters agree wearables will be strategic to their company’s future success; 76 per cent report improvements in business performance since deploying wearables in the enterprise; and 86 per cent of adopters’ organisations plan to increase their wearables spend over the next 12 months.

Internet of Things, News & Analysis, Paul Wellman, SAP, SAP HANA, Steve Lucas, Vendor

SAP reveals HANA Cloud for Internet of Things

SAP is launching an IoT-centric version of its HANA cloud service

SAP is launching an IoT-centric version of the HANA Cloud platform

SAP this week pulled the curtain of a version of its HANA cloud platform tailored specifically to Internet of Things applications.

The company said the private cloud service, based on its in-memory compute platform HANA, will provide the foundation for its IoT application services – analytics, telematics, its connected car services and manufacturing offerings.

SAP hasn’t commented on whether it will open up the platform for non-SAP applications. But the company said the move means it now offers an end-to-end spectrum of IoT services.

“SAP is helping customers reimagine their business with the most comprehensive portfolio of Internet of Things solutions from core business operations to the edge of the network,” said Steve Lucas, president, platform solutions, SAP.

“With the launch of SAP HANA Cloud Platform for the Internet of Things, our customers and partners now have the ability to connect anything to any app or business process in their company and business network. This will achieve operational excellence and deliver new customer experiences, products and services,” Lucas said.

As a sweetener the company will throw in free and unlimited access (for a limited time) to SAP SQL Anywhere, the SAP’s embeddable database for IoT devices, when customers sign up to use the HANA Cloud IoT service.

Siemens and Tennant are already running production deployments on the platform.

Paul Wellman, chief information officer at Tennant said: “Using SAP HANA, Tennant is able to differentiate its solutions and remain competitive in the cleaning equipment business. Now our customers can measure usage across their fleet to drive operational consistency, track machines to better manage assets and leverage this business intelligence to achieve significant cost savings.”

SAP has moved to strengthen its position among IoT incumbents over the past six months, and the company  is no stranger to data management and processing within the context of ERP, telematics and M2M.

The German software giant recently joined the Industrial Internet Consortium, an Internet of Things-focused membership group of telcos, research institutes and technology manufacturers focused on developing interoperability standards and common architectures to bridge smart devices, machines, mobile devices and the data they create. It also recently signed a deal with Deutsche Telekom’s enterprise IT-focused subsidiary T-Systems to build a cloud-based IoT platform for the connected car and logistics sectors.

IoT-World-banner-small

Ardruino, Brian Kelly, Golgi, Intel Edison, Internet of Things, IoT, News & Analysis, Openmind Networks

Golgi adds native Arduino, Intel Edison support to IoT platform

Golgi is adding support for more devices to its Internet of Things cloud service

Golgi is adding support for more devices to its Internet of Things cloud service

Data transport and Internet of Things cloud service provider Golgi has added support for native Arduino and Intel Edison endpoints in a bid to bolster the IoT platform.

Golgi, which is owned by data transport tech provider Openmind Networks, offers a cloud-based managed connectivity service that helps bridge the gap between different IoT devices and applications across multi-architecture networks.

The service effectively auto-generates native code for each endpoint once the platform is told what kind of data it will be ingesting from them, so that developers don’t have to muck about learning a rift of different technologies in order to link up a broad range of sensors to their applications and services.

“Our support for Arduino and Edison creates a place where IoT developers and makers of embedded devices can meet,” said Brian Kelly, chief technology officer and co-founder of Golgi.

One of the big challenges in the IoT sector at the moment sits where the needs of device manufacturers and IoT app developers conflict.

Device manufacturers seem incentivised to back (build to) as few technology ecosystems as possible given the cost implications, but as we’re still in the heyday of IoT it is clear there is no shortage of IoT tech ecosystems, each with their own take on transport and application language support, jockeying for the top spot. Similarly, developers don’t want to have to learn a raft of technologies just to develop and deploy an IoT service. That’s the challenge Golgi is trying to solve – by abstracting much of the underlying coding work away.

“We’ve been solving operators’ data transport problems for 13 years, and now we’ve extended our infrastructure to solve these problems for IoT developers. Because Golgi translates the various communications languages of device makers, developers don’t have to learn them; they can focus on what they know best. As a result, their product development cycle is shortened by 50 per cent and time to market is speeded up,” Kelly said.