The Week in Review: IoT

Market Research
International Data Corp. (IDC) forecasts the worldwide Internet of Things market will double from $625.2 billion in 2015 to $1.29 trillion in 2020 for a compound annual growth rate of 15.6%. Aeris collaborated with IDC on its report, which predicts the installed base of IoT endpoints will increase from 12.1 billion at the end of 2015 to more than 30 billion by 2020.

Initiatives
Dell Technologies announced it will spend $1 billion over the next three years on new IoT products, along with its ecosystem, partners, and laboratories. The company is forming an IoT Division, to be led by Ray O’Farrell, the chief technology officer of VMware. Dell Technologies Capital will continue to invest in artificial intelligence/IoT/machine learning startups; it has put money into Edico Genome, FogHorn Systems, Graphcore, Moogsoft, and ZingBox.

Salesforce is launching IoT Explorer Edition on Tuesday, October 17, offering enterprise customers a way to analyze IoT data and make use of it. IoT Explorer Edition will tie in with the Salesforce Service Cloud and other products. It builds on the Salesforce Internet of Things Cloud, launched two years ago.

Samsung Electronics will next week reportedly introduce its b.IoT technology for smart buildings. The b.IoT system will monitor and adjust lighting and temperatures in buildings. The technology could also improve the security of enterprise facilities.

Alibaba Group says it will invest more than $15 billion over three years on research and development in several areas, including artificial intelligence, the IoT, and quantum computing. The company will open seven research labs in China, Russia, and the U.S.

Analog Devices and imec will team on developing next-generation IoT devices. The chipmaker and the R&D organization are working together on localization technology and a highly integrated liquid sensor that could analyze blood, urine, or water.

Finance
Attivo Networks has raised $21 million in Series C funding led by Trident Capital Cybersecurity. Bain Capital Ventures and Omidyar Technology Ventures also participated in the new round, which brings the cybersecurity startup’s total funding to $45.7 million. The company will use the money to continue development of its Attivo ThreatDefend Deception and Response Platform, while also expanding worldwide sales efforts. Attivo cybersecurity technology is employed in cloud services, data centers, the IoT, ICS-SCADA, point-of-sale systems, and user networks.

Deals
Ericsson is working with SoftBank Group’s PS Solutions unit and CKD Corp. to update the “e-kakashi” platform, which offers artificial intelligence and IoT technologies for agricultural processes. The second-generation platform will launch in March of next year.

SAP and VMware are partnering to help customers with their IoT device and network management. SAP’s analytics for business transactions will be paired with VMware’s operational systems and holistic analytics.

IoTium will team with Relevant Solutions to provide IoTium’s network-as-a-service offering to customers for Relevant’s building automation and energy management products.

Products
August Home has started shipping the August Doorbell Cam Pro, which features an integrated floodlight for night-time video and to scare off possible intruders. Its HindSight feature rolls video capture of anyone approaching the front door, even if they don’t press the doorbell. The August Doorbell Cam Pro is priced at $199 and is available from Amazon, Best Buy, and august.com. August Video Recording is $4.99 per month or $49.99 for a one-year plan.

Cambium Networks this week introduced new connectivity products, namely the PTP 550 and the ePMP Force 300. The company also unveiled the LINKPlanner software for network planning.