The Week In Review: IoT

Finance
Trend Micro, the cybersecurity firm, announced a corporate venture fund of $100 million to invest in emerging technology markets, including the Internet of Things. Gartner estimates 26 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2020.

Products
Cisco Jasper introduced the Control Center 7.0 IoT connectivity management platform, with advanced capabilities, premium services, and low-power wide-area network support. AT&T, a Cisco Jasper service provider, will offer the AT&T Control Center – Advanced platform, with the new capabilities and certain premium services. Cisco Systems also unveiled its Kinetic IoT operations platform, focused on managing connections, fog computing, and data delivery.

MediaTek this week brought out the MT2625 narrowband IoT system-on-a-chip device. The company will collaborate with China Mobile on developing an NB-IoT module based on the ultra-low-power chipset. Potential applications include logistics tracking, smart home control, and smart meters.

Sierra Wireless unveiled the dual-mode AirPrime WP77 low-power, wide-area cellular modules, supporting LTE-M and narrowband IoT, with optional fallback to 2G. ABI Research predicts carriers will upgrade their networks this year, leading to rapid growth for cellular LPWA network technologies in 2018 and beyond.

Karim Arabi, CEO of Atlazo, touted his company’s IoT platform at the International Microelectronics Assembly and Packaging Society’s inaugural System-in-Package Technology conference and exhibition this week in Rohnert Park, Calif. Atlazo plans to focus initially on health and medical IoT applications, followed by consumer/home and automotive uses, he said.

Nortek Security & Control reports it has shipped more than 20 million IoT wireless sensors and more than 4 million intelligent connected systems for commercial security, home control, personal health and wellness, and residential security applications. The company supplies the 2GIG, GoControl, Linear, and Numera brands, along with private-labelled products and services.

Deals
Tech Data, the wholesale distributor of technology products and provider of technical services, enhanced its Smart IoT and Analytics Solutions Practice in the Americas, which offers IoT design services and one-on-one consultations with partners. The company unveiled its Smart IoT Scale Model and said it would distribute the Cisco Smart + Connected Digital Platform. Tech Data also announced agreements with Quantela, iValu8, and Molex.

Telit Communications is partnering with OT-Morpho to address the widespread adoption of IoT technology. The companies will work together “to bring to market a next-generation approach that will allow the digital distribution of mobile subscriptions on demand to IoT connectivity modules,” they said in a statement.

Market Research
Visiongain says the IoT aerospace and defense market will be valued at $22.6 billion this year. Its new report on that market is available here.