SRC Launches Multivendor-Interoperable IoT Network

15 November 2016 – SRC solution, a Toulouse, France-based telecommunications consultancy and software company today announced the launch of the Beta phase of its multivendor private IoT network solution, Pilot Things.

Pilot Things is aimed at companies facing IoT interoperability challenges and/or vendor lock-in. It enables organisations to build IoT networks using components from multiple vendors rapidly and to easily swap components from one vendor for opponents from another. "We can demonstrate proof of concept in as little as two weeks," Eric Szymkowiak, CEO SRC solution (above) told IOT Insights during a demonstration of Pilot Things at the international IoT/M2M Workshop and interoperability showcase hosted by the European Technical Standards Institute (ETSI).

Pilot Things enables the collection of data from legacy fieldbus sensors as well as new kinds of connected objects, and the integration of various forms of data into business processes. Devices can be connected to a Pilot Things network using any or (several) technologies including LoRA, SIGFOX, cellular, BACnet, Modbus and KNX.

Pilot Things is compliant with Release 2 of the international standard oneM2M. oneM2M R2 introduces 14 additional specifications for the expansion of seamless IoT interconnectivity across multiple sectors, including automotive, healthcare, smart homes and smart cities. Release 2 builds upon the stability and reliability of Release 1 and its adoption enables Pilot Things to provide superior interoperability as well as protect customer investment in IoT.

SRC solution, whose three hundred plus customers include Airbus Group and Bordeaux Airport told IOT Insights that Pilot Things was developed in response to customer demand. "We have a long heritage in telecom expense management, and our customers were finding that increasingly they were needing to manage things," Eric Szymkowiak told IOT Insights.

For more information on oneM2M, please visit www.onem2m.org.

To apply to the free beta, simply register on www.pilot-things.com and explain your challenge(s).

For more information on SRC solution, please visit www.src-solution.com.

Vodafone Chooses PTC’s ThingWorx for Rapid IoT Application Development

10 November 2016 – PTC and Vodafone Group today announced that it has chosen PTC’s ThingWorx application enablement platform to help in the development of new Internet of Things (IoT) applications. PTC’s ThingWorx platform includes rapid application enablement functionality, device management, analytics, machine learning, and augmented reality capabilities.

Vodafone is a world leader in providing managed IoT connectivity services and offers end to end capabilities for a variety of sectors including automotive, insurance and manufacturing. PTC is a globally recognized leader in IoT application enablement and software management. The ThingWorx platform will allow Vodafone to rapidly develop new IoT applications and services.

ThingWorx offers a common set of components that can be quickly deployed across Vodafone’s footprint of operating companies. This enhances the company’s ability to offer enterprise customers digital transformation services in a globally consistent way.

“PTC’s IoT strategy is predicated on providing the most efficient and complete platform that companies like Vodafone require to develop new and innovative applications or offerings that will support and strengthen their businesses,” said John Stuart, Divisional Vice President, Global IoT Sales and Partners, PTC (above). “This collaboration further validates PTC’s approach to the IoT space, and we look forward to working with Vodafone to create new IoT services.”

“Vodafone has a rich portfolio of IoT services and we share APIs with our customers and their development teams for co-creation,” said Ivo Rook, IoT Director, Vodafone. “We believe that by combining these services with ThingWorx and our wider partner ecosystem we can rapidly develop new Vodafone IoT capabilities to maintain our leadership position and make it easier for our customers to benefit from the wider opportunities of IoT.”

SAP Announces Connected Parking Solution

9th November 2016 – SAP today announced the availability of the SAP Connected Parking solution, a new Internet of Things (IoT) software solution to help parking management firms take advantage of the cloud, smart devices and Big Data technologies.

SAP Connected Parking offers parking providers a digital backbone to consolidate parking space availability across locations, reserve parking spaces, publish real-time status of parking space and improve use, visibility and efficiency. Technology partners include DESIGNA Verkehrsleittechnik GmbH, which has signed an agreement to integrate the solution with its parking management systems and kiosks, and Bosch Service Solutions, which recently announced integration with the Bosch Secure Truck Parking service.

"SAP is helping customers map their journeys through digital transformation, and IoT has the potential to drive the largest segment of growth in new business value," said Tanja Rueckert, executive vice president, LoB Digital Assets and IoT, SAP (Above). "SAP Connected Parking is an excellent example of how businesses that manage self-service terminals and kiosks can leverage robust IoT cloud and application expertise from SAP and our partners to transform their business models and the parking experience for drivers of all vehicles.”

SAP Connected Parking harnesses the power of SAP HANA® Cloud Platform. It is designed as a building block for companies such as DESIGNA to integrate with their hardware components to offer a comprehensive parking access revenue control (PARC) solution. SAP Connected Parking includes an app that runs on a tablet and serves as the user interface to drivers who enter or exit the parking location.

"As a world leader of parking management solutions with 65 years of experience in the industry, our goal is to develop innovative parking solutions that combine unique industrial design and an intuitive user experience while continuously reducing the operating costs," said Dr. Thomas Waibl, CEO, DESIGNA (left). "We are pleased to integrate the IoT solution from SAP, the world leader in enterprise cloud software, into our parking systems to offer a next-generation service to our customers.”

The announcement builds on a partnership between SAP and Bosch Group in the area of IoT and the release of the Bosch Secure Truck Parking service by Bosch Service Solutions.

Bosch Secure Truck Parking seeks to address the shortage of secure parking space for trucks, which can result in fatal accidents though insecurely parked trucks and the loss of billions of euros through stolen goods. A Bosch facility near Karlsruhe, Germany, will be used as a secure truck park during evening hours and nighttime. Access to the parking location is managed by Bosch Secure Truck Parking, leveraging SAP Connected Parking. For more information, please see this video.

"The issue of secure truck parking has been addressed a few times in the last years. Most of the former approaches had only limited success, because the technological complexity to operate a truck park was too great," said Robert Mulatz, executive vice president, Bosch Service Solutions. "Now, with cloud and IoT-based solutions we have systems that will allow for a much faster growth of the number of available car parks with state-of-the-art access technology.”

SAP Connected Parking is available globally and only as an outbound OEM solution.

Dell Announces New System Integrator Partners for IoT

9th November 2016 - Dell announced that Systems Integrators (SIs) have now been added to the Dell Internet of Things (IoT) Solutions Partner Program, which currently has an ecosystem of over 50 Independent Software Vendors (ISVs).  These new additions to the program include Action Point, Datatrend Technologies, L&T Technology Services and Mobiliya.

This program expansion is reflective of Dell’s effort to build a holistic ecosystem of IoT solutions that span industries – from energy to manufacturing to transportation. With the addition of SIs, there’s now a broader selection of partners that can help customers navigate the fragmented IoT landscape, identify the right solution to address their needs and take projects from proof of concept to a robust deployment.

“We’re passionate about providing our customers with a comprehensive IoT ecosystem to help them innovate and move an idea from concept to reality,” said Jeff Brown, Vice President, Global IoT and Embedded PC Sales, Dell EMC Global OEM Solutions (above). “By adding SIs into the mix, we are helping to bridge the gap between IT and OT, and transform IoT into a profitable market reality.”

Based on TECHnalysis Research’s Enterprise IoT survey, regardless of company size, many organisations are interested in working with systems and operations integrators that specialise in IoT. Dell’s continued expansion of its IoT Partner Program is designed to offer customers a broad spectrum of industry-specific expertise in conjunction with Dell’s reputation as a global leader in computing technology.

The program combines a global, multi-tiered (Executive/Premier, Associate/Preferred, Registered) network of experienced technology providers including SIs, ISVs, and IHVs, all supported by Dell’s broad portfolio of IoT-enabling assets, which are designed to help organisations develop, deploy and maintain leading-edge IoT solutions.

PTC and Unity Partner to Accelerate Augmented Reality Development

1 November 2016 – PTC and Unity Technologies today announced a collaboration to simplify augmented reality (AR) development. PTC and Unity will work together to integrate PTC’s Vuforia AR platform with Unity in order to deliver a seamless development experience to Unity’s global ecosystem.

The Vuforia AR platform uses advanced computer vision technology to enable digital content to be placed in real-world environments. With support for handheld and head-worn devices, Vuforia includes easy-to-use workflows, SDKs, and cloud services for Unity.

Vuforia has been adopted by more than 275,000 developers, and powers the majority of AR applications in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

“AR is amazing to experience, but tricky to develop. Your canvas is no longer a rectangular screen – it’s the physical world. We’re excited to partner with Unity to make that canvas much easier to work with,” said Jay Wright, president, Vuforia, PTC (above).

Unity is the leading global development platform for creating 2D, 3D, VR, and AR games and experiences. Unity is used for more 3D experiences than any other 3D game and experience development software. There were more than 5 billion downloads of Made with Unity mobile games in Q3 2016 alone.

Today, developers use Unity and Vuforia together to create most of the game, enterprise, and consumer 3D applications available, including titles from Activision, EA, LEGO, and Square Enix. In fact, of the more than 30,000 published Vuforia apps, more than 80% have been made with Unity.

“The Vuforia team has done a tremendous job of establishing Vuforia as the de-facto AR platform for Unity developers. We look forward to working with them more closely on our shared mission to bring more creators to AR and accelerate development,” said Elliot Solomon, vice president, business development, Unity Technologies (left).

Tighter integration of Vuforia and Unity is expected to create a streamlined developer experience to allow new AR developers to become proficient more quickly and existing developers to be more productive. Additionally, improvements to AR application performance are expected through planned optimizations to camera and rendering pipelines.

Vuforia is available today from developer.vuforia.com and the Unity Asset Store. Vuforia functionality is expected to be integrated in Unity in spring 2017.

Source: PTC