Stephen Lawson
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Stephen Lawson
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On land and in space, IoT networks can now cover the planet
The whole idea of IoT is to connect more things, including devices far from a company’s data centers or maintenance crews. For enterprises that have things all over the world, vendors and service providers are starting to look at the big picture.At Mobile World Congress later this month, Nokia will show off what it calls WING (worldwide IoT network grid), a virtual global infrastructure that may include multiple private and carrier networks and satellite systems, depending on what an enterprise needs to connect and how it intends to use the data that’s collected.“A global enterprise can actually have what they think is their own virtual network of global connectivity for their IoT devices,” said Phil Twist, vice president of mobile networks marketing & communications, in a briefing this week. WING will be commercially available in the second half of this year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Low-power IoT networks go global with a satellite backbone
Inmarsat says it’s built a global IoT network by combining land-based low-power networks with its mesh of communications satellites, bringing data connections to things like cattle in Australia and reservoirs in Malaysia.The system will combine global reach with one of an emerging class of networks designed for small, low-power devices like sensors. With cellular-or-better range but slower speeds than LTE, these networks can be an economical way to connect widely dispersed devices that use small amounts of data.The land networks that link to Inmarsat’s satellites will use LoRaWAN, a technology that enterprises can roll out on their own, including at sites that mobile operators don’t serve. Multiple vendors make equipment for LoRaWAN, which is based on a specification from the LoRa Alliance.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Low-power IoT networks go global with a satellite backbone
Inmarsat says it’s built a global IoT network by combining land-based low-power networks with its mesh of communications satellites, bringing data connections to things like cattle in Australia and reservoirs in Malaysia.The system will combine global reach with one of an emerging class of networks designed for small, low-power devices like sensors. With cellular-or-better range but slower speeds than LTE, these networks can be an economical way to connect widely dispersed devices that use small amounts of data.The land networks that link to Inmarsat’s satellites will use LoRaWAN, a technology that enterprises can roll out on their own, including at sites that mobile operators don’t serve. Multiple vendors make equipment for LoRaWAN, which is based on a specification from the LoRa Alliance.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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AT&T, IBM, Nokia join to make IoT systems safer
Some big players in security and the internet of things, including AT&T and Nokia, are joining forces to solve problems that they say make IoT vulnerable in many areas.The IoT Cybersecurity Alliance, formed Wednesday, also includes IBM, Symantec, Palo Alto Networks, and mobile security company Trustonic. The group said it won’t set standards but will conduct research, educate consumers and businesses, and influence standards and policies.As IoT technologies take shape, there’s a danger of new vulnerabilities being created in several areas. Consumer devices have been in the security spotlight thanks to incidents like the DDoS attacks last year that turned poorly secured set-top boxes and DVRs into botnets. But the potential weaknesses are much broader, spanning the network, cloud, and application layers, the new group said in a press release.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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AT&T, IBM, Nokia join to make IoT systems safer
Some big players in security and the internet of things, including AT&T and Nokia, are joining forces to solve problems that they say make IoT vulnerable in many areas.The IoT Cybersecurity Alliance, formed Wednesday, also includes IBM, Symantec, Palo Alto Networks, and mobile security company Trustonic. The group said it won’t set standards but will conduct research, educate consumers and businesses, and influence standards and policies.As IoT technologies take shape, there’s a danger of new vulnerabilities being created in several areas. Consumer devices have been in the security spotlight thanks to incidents like the DDoS attacks last year that turned poorly secured set-top boxes and DVRs into botnets. But the potential weaknesses are much broader, spanning the network, cloud, and application layers, the new group said in a press release.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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As IoT sales surge, consumers still lead the way
The internet of things will have nearly one-third more devices by the end of this year, though many of them won’t exactly be exotic.There will be 8.4 billion IoT devices in use at the end of 2017, up 31 percent from the end of 2016, Gartner estimated on Tuesday. That's slightly faster than the growth rate last year. The number will keep growing at about the same pace until 2020, when there will be just over 20 billion devices, the research company says.Nearly two-thirds of the connected objects in use this year will be consumer products, especially smart TVs, set-top boxes, and in-car devices such as entertainment systems and sensors that help insurance companies monitor driving. Home IoT gadgets like connected door locks and lightbulbs are still popular mostly among tech-focused early adopters, analysts say.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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5G starts with chips like IBM and Ericsson’s silicon antenna
A piece of silicon less than three inches across may speed up the arrival of 5G mobile networks in the next few years.IBM Research and Ericsson have developed a compact antenna array that can aim high-frequency radio signals at mobile devices and shoot them farther than they otherwise could reach, the companies said. Silicon integration makes it thin and energy efficient so it’s more commercially viable.Carriers expect 5G networks to deliver cellular data speeds in the gigabits per second, far faster than what today’s LTE services offer. They also expect benefits like less power consumption, lower latency and the ability to serve a lot more devices at the same time.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Cisco faces a tougher collaboration rival in updated Prysm
Collaboration has come a long way from projectors, cable adapters and that long wait for the presenter to make the slides fit on the screen.Cisco Systems made a splash last month with the Spark Board, a meeting-room screen that acts like a giant iPad running the company’s cloud-based collaboration service. But other vendors are streamlining meetings too, including Google, Microsoft, and a number of startups.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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AT&T extends NetBond service to secure IoT connections
The internet is what made IoT happen, providing a common protocol to take the place of separate, specialized networks. But the public internet itself may not always be the best path between a connected device and the cloud.Enterprises can now connect cellular IoT devices to back-end systems via NetBond, a private network service from AT&T, instead of the Internet. The NetBond service sets up a VPN (virtual private network) from an edge device to the cloud. It can connect to 16 different public clouds, including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, or a private or hybrid cloud.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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AT&T extends NetBond service to secure IoT connections
The internet is what made IoT happen, providing a common protocol to take the place of separate, specialized networks. But the public internet itself may not always be the best path between a connected device and the cloud.Enterprises can now connect cellular IoT devices to back-end systems via NetBond, a private network service from AT&T, instead of the Internet. The NetBond service sets up a VPN (virtual private network) from an edge device to the cloud. It can connect to 16 different public clouds, including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, or a private or hybrid cloud.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Now Cisco can even network your building systems
The latest network hardware from Cisco Systems gives new meaning to the words “light switch.”The Catalyst Digital Building Series Switch is an Ethernet switch designed to link different kinds of building infrastructure over a network. It will be available worldwide in the second quarter. It uses Cisco’s enhanced version of PoE (Power over Ethernet) to run things like lights and cameras while collecting data about those devices over the same standard cable.The switch embodies the merger of IT and OT (operational technology), one of the big enterprise trends that the internet of things is driving. The line is blurring between information systems like servers and building systems like lighting, heating, and physical security. The new technology could make buildings run better. It might also help to turn IT folks and facilities experts into a bit of both.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Now Cisco can even network your building systems
The latest network hardware from Cisco Systems gives new meaning to the words “light switch.”The Catalyst Digital Building Series Switch is an Ethernet switch designed to link different kinds of building infrastructure over a network. It will be available worldwide in the second quarter. It uses Cisco’s enhanced version of PoE (Power over Ethernet) to run things like lights and cameras while collecting data about those devices over the same standard cable.The switch embodies the merger of IT and OT (operational technology), one of the big enterprise trends that the internet of things is driving. The line is blurring between information systems like servers and building systems like lighting, heating, and physical security. The new technology could make buildings run better. It might also help to turn IT folks and facilities experts into a bit of both.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IoT network builders sign up partners for small devices
There’s a land grab happening now between networks to link small, battery-powered IoT devices.If countless forecasts are true, there will soon be a lot more tiny, low-power devices like sensors out in the world. The 2G networks that connected many of these to the cloud are gradually going away and newer, more specialized networks are emerging. Vendors are pushing different LPWANs (low-power, wide-area networks) to do the job and trying to get more users and network operators on their side. Their survival may depend on building up a big ecosystem of devices.On Monday, U.S. network operator Ingenu partnered with distributor and system builder Arrow Electronics, which will offer Ingenu’s RPMA (Random Phase Multiple Access) technology when it develops IoT systems for enterprises and smaller businesses in the U.S.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IoT network builders sign up partners for small devices
There’s a land grab happening now between networks to link small, battery-powered IoT devices.If countless forecasts are true, there will soon be a lot more tiny, low-power devices like sensors out in the world. The 2G networks that connected many of these to the cloud are gradually going away and newer, more specialized networks are emerging. Vendors are pushing different LPWANs (low-power, wide-area networks) to do the job and trying to get more users and network operators on their side. Their survival may depend on building up a big ecosystem of devices.On Monday, U.S. network operator Ingenu partnered with distributor and system builder Arrow Electronics, which will offer Ingenu’s RPMA (Random Phase Multiple Access) technology when it develops IoT systems for enterprises and smaller businesses in the U.S.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IoT’s payoff is in the big picture, and Nokia knows it
Large IoT systems usually have more than one job and need to work with other systems to be effective. Simplifying all this is one of the main things enterprise IoT platforms are designed to do.But it’s a moving target, so vendors need to keep adding new capabilities to their platforms. On Tuesday, Nokia announced updates to its Impact software platform to cover IoT applications including lighting, video analytics and parking management. There are also updates to accommodate new low-power networks.Impact is one of several software platforms designed to make IoT into more than a bunch of disparate sensor networks or automation systems. One application, like smart street lighting, may make another one, like connected parking meters, more effective. Data is the key, and integration can make all data more valuable.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IoT’s payoff is in the big picture, and Nokia knows it
Large IoT systems usually have more than one job and need to work with other systems to be effective. Simplifying all this is one of the main things enterprise IoT platforms are designed to do.But it’s a moving target, so vendors need to keep adding new capabilities to their platforms. On Tuesday, Nokia announced updates to its Impact software platform to cover IoT applications including lighting, video analytics and parking management. There are also updates to accommodate new low-power networks.Impact is one of several software platforms designed to make IoT into more than a bunch of disparate sensor networks or automation systems. One application, like smart street lighting, may make another one, like connected parking meters, more effective. Data is the key, and integration can make all data more valuable.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Fragmentation nixed a Cisco-Android network partnership
Cisco Systems tried to give Android devices the same kinds of integration it later provided for iPhones and iPads but gave up because the Android ecosystem was too fragmented.A Cisco-Apple partnership announced in 2015 gives iOS devices capabilities that other wireless clients don’t have on Cisco-based enterprise networks. Among other things, enterprises can designate work-related applications like videoconferencing for priority on the wireless link between iOS devices and a Wi-Fi access point.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Fragmentation nixed a Cisco-Android network partnership
Cisco Systems tried to give Android devices the same kinds of integration it later provided for iPhones and iPads but gave up because the Android ecosystem was too fragmented.A Cisco-Apple partnership announced in 2015 gives iOS devices capabilities that other wireless clients don’t have on Cisco-based enterprise networks. Among other things, enterprises can designate work-related applications like videoconferencing for priority on the wireless link between iOS devices and a Wi-Fi access point.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Cisco’s Spark Board looks like an iPad — and acts like one
The Spark Board meeting device that Cisco Systems introduced on Tuesday is not so much a whiteboard or a videoconferencing screen as a giant tablet that everyone in the room can share.There’s even a “home” button in the center of the bottom bezel that takes you back to the main menu. If Apple didn’t have a partnership with Cisco, you might even expect it to accuse the networking giant of copying its iPad design.But Apple and Cisco are in fact working together, so closely that iPhones can work with the Spark Board a little more smoothly than other phones do. And in developing the new all-in-one device, Cisco focused on simplicity and ease of use, which haven’t exactly been hallmarks of the networking giant’s products up to now.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Cisco’s Spark Board looks like an iPad — and acts like one
The Spark Board meeting device that Cisco Systems introduced on Tuesday is not so much a whiteboard or a videoconferencing screen as a giant tablet that everyone in the room can share.There’s even a “home” button in the center of the bottom bezel that takes you back to the main menu. If Apple didn’t have a partnership with Cisco, you might even expect it to accuse the networking giant of copying its iPad design.But Apple and Cisco are in fact working together, so closely that iPhones can work with the Spark Board a little more smoothly than other phones do. And in developing the new all-in-one device, Cisco focused on simplicity and ease of use, which haven’t exactly been hallmarks of the networking giant’s products up to now.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here