Jul 20, 2017The following are news announcements made during the past week by the following organizations: Zebra Technologies; Thyngs, Cellotape Smart Products; Mist; Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, HP Enterprise; Silicon Labs; SURE Universal, and the Open Connectivity Foundation.
Zebra Technologies Intros Two Industrial RFID Printers
Zebra Technologies, a provider of rugged mobile computers, bar-code scanners and bar-code printers enhanced with software and services to enable real-time enterprise visibility, has announced its ZT600 and ZT510 industrial printers. The new printers are designed to withstand the harshest environments, the company reports. Zebra has also announced Printer Profile Manager Enterprise, a browser-based remote printer-management solution for Zebra Link-OS-enabled printers.
The ZT610 and ZT620 are built to be durable, reliable and fast, according to Zebra, in order to help users increase productivity in the retail, manufacturing, transportation and logistics and health-care industries. The ZT600 printer series offers simplified media and ribbon loading, a highly visible color display that shares printer status and a guided multi-media help function that indicates errors to help users resolve issues quickly and increase printer uptime. The ZT600 series runs Link-OS applications designed to streamline device deployment, network connectivity, daily use and routine maintenance, so as to optimize productivity.
Printer Profile Manager Enterprise enables IT personnel to maintain Link-OS-enabled printers with up-to-date security. According to Zebra, the system is designed to allow users to remotely manage, troubleshoot and configure fleets of Zebra printers from a single location, thereby reducing operational expenses.
The ZT510 printer is suitable for applications that require a basic feature set.
Thyngs, Cellotape Smart Products Partner on NFC-enabled Marketing
Thyngs, a mobile proximity platform, and Cellotape Smart Products, a provider of NFC- and RFID-enabled products and labels, have announced a strategic alliance intended to make it easier for organizations to deliver NFC-based proximity marketing campaigns at scale. The announcement comes a few weeks after Apple revealed its support for NFC tag reading on the iPhone 7 and newer phones running the next release of its mobile operating system, iOS 11.
As part of the relationship, customers of both companies will be able to commission custom-designed NFC-enabled products and labels manufactured by Cellotape, pre-configured for the Thyngs proximity platform. The platform offers flexible management and reporting tools, as well as QR code and Bluetooth beacon support.
The alliance extends the commercial relationship between the two companies, which previously involved a global NFC wearables marketing campaign for a blockbuster movie launch. As part of that campaign, movie-goers were provided with smart temporary tattoos that they could tap against an Android smartphone in order to access exclusive content and digital experiences. Each of the 250,000 tattoos contained NFC chips that were configured, managed and tracked via the Thyngs platform, providing real-time location, usage and interaction data.
Thyngs' creative services team designed the custom NFC products, while Cellotape provided manufacturing and global distribution. "This announcement cements our relationship with Cellotape Smart Products and builds on an innovative joint project that pioneered new forms of consumer interaction on a scale we have never seen before," said Neil Garner, Thyngs' CEO, in a prepared statement. "It shows just how easily our platform can be used to deliver proximity-based campaigns and solutions at scale. Together with Cellotape we'll be able to deliver even better experiences for our clients and their consumers."
Nick Testanero, the president of Cellotape Smart Products' NFC Division, added in the statement: "We are delighted to be forming this relationship with Thyngs which will further help our clients make anything possible using our smart NFC-enabled products and labels. Cellotape has a long history of innovation in this market, and is behind many iconic NFC marketing programs. Our recent collaboration with Thyngs is a testament to how we can deliver at unprecedented scales for large brands."
Mist Announces Channel Program for Wireless Managed Service Providers
Mist, a provider of self-learning wireless networks using artificial intelligence, has announced a partner program designed for delivering Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technologies as managed wireless services. The company recently launched a new channel partner program to accelerate the adoption of AI-driven wireless technologies, which includes flexible pricing, training and unique content for traditional resellers and managed service providers (MSPs).
The MSP program enables solution providers to deliver wireless systems as a robust managed service offering, including flexible pricing, custom branding, tiering, certification for AI-driven cloud Wi-Fi and BLE technologies, an online partner portal, and co-operative marketing funds. Mist has signed more than 100 solution providers across numerous countries, including retailers, hotels, convention centers, corporations, social-media companies, schools and malls.
Mist has also announced a distribution agreement with WAV, Inc., for partner development and enablement and value-added professional services for installation, support and new business development. In addition, the company recently signed a distribution agreement with Net One Partners, in Japan, to address the growing need for scalable managed services that simplify Wi-Fi operations, increase reliability and provide location-based services using BLE technologies.
"Mist's unique AI-enabled cloud platform is changing the way wireless is operated and creating amazing new opportunities for our partners and customers," said Mike Anderson, Mist's VP of channel sales, in a prepared statement. "We are eager to work with solution providers who want to break from the status quo with new and innovative wireless solutions that maximize performance, lower operational costs and enable highly differentiated services."
Additional information about Mist's partner program can be obtained by emailing partners@mist.com, or by visiting the company's website.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club Teams Up With HP Enterprise on New Stadium Using IoT Technology
English football club Tottenham Hotspur has announced that it has selected Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) as its official IT networking and wireless infrastructure partner. As part of the agreement, HPE will work with the club to incorporate mobility and Internet of Things solutions into its new stadium being built in London, which is slated to open next year.
The new venue will be the largest football club stadium in London, the company reports, with a capacity of nearly 62,000 attendees. It will host other major sport and entertainment events as well, such as NFL games and concerts. The stadium's IT infrastructure is being incorporated from the ground up, enabling connectivity across the entire venue for visitors, as well as flexibility to meet future demands. The club is installing HPE's intelligent edge solutions in networking, with support from HPE's Pointnext services organization, to meet its current and future technology demands.
"Creating a technology infrastructure to support an enhanced visitor experience requires solutions that can meet the growing demands of visitors that come to our new stadium," said Sanjeev Katwa, Tottenham Hotspur's head of technology, in a prepared statement. "We believe Hewlett Packard Enterprise can support us on the journey in building one of the most technologically advanced stadiums in the world."
Marc Waters, HPE's managing director for the United Kingdom and Ireland, added in the statement: "Tottenham Hotspur realize that being digital from the ground up is imperative to transform its fan experience. We are thrilled to support Tottenham Hotspur in this journey, using our intelligent edge solutions and Pointnext expertise to help build the foundation for a truly digital stadium. Our partnership with the Club will help enable future innovation and the ability to provide an enriched, unique environment for stadium visitors."
Silicon Labs Unveils Software, Hardware Supporting New Bluetooth Mesh Specification
Silicon Labs has introduced a suite of software and hardware that supports the new Bluetooth mesh specification, to help developers simplify the design of mesh-networked devices for the Internet of Things and get to market faster. The solution includes development tools, a software stack and mobile apps supporting Silicon Labs' wireless system-on-chip (SoC) devices and certified modules. The combination of Silicon Labs' network-analysis tools and Bluetooth mesh stack for smartphones enables IoT developers to cut time to market by up to six months, the company reports, when compared to existing wireless development tools and techniques.
Bluetooth mesh devices are suitable for smart-home, lighting, beaconing and asset-tracking applications. A mesh network enables devices, such as connected lights, to be deployed at greater distances from a hub or gateway. Communication range increases as each light is deployed, the company reports, allowing a single gateway to cover an area larger than one simply covered by a star network topology. In retail marketing and asset-tracking applications, Bluetooth mesh technology simplifies the deployment and management of beacons.
"Bluetooth is the next frontier in mesh networking, and Silicon Labs' new Bluetooth mesh software and tools keep us at the forefront of this rapidly emerging 'many-to-many' network topology," said Richard Baxter, Mesh Systems' president and CEO, in a prepared statement. "From easy-to-use development kits to mobile applications that help us connect devices seamlessly, we rely on Silicon Labs' deep expertise in mesh technology to give us the hardware and software resources we need to increase productivity and speed development time so our customers can better compete in today's IoT race."
Silicon Labs' new Bluetooth mesh solution includes a suite of development tools and wireless devices for use with the Internet of Things. According to the company, designers can:
• Accelerate time to market—users can choose from a variety of certified wireless modules and SoCs, including the BGM11S Bluetooth system-in-package (SiP) module and the EFR32BG13 Blue Gecko SoCs. Modules with integrated antennas provide a means to design Bluetooth mesh-enabled products. Blue Gecko SoCs offer large memory options to support over-the-air (OTA) updates, as well as such features as hardware security acceleration, capacitive sensing, low-power sensor interfaces and enhanced RF performance.
• Simplify development—Silicon Labs' mobile application for smartphones allows designers to verify the operation of Bluetooth mesh-based implementations with a commercially supported Bluetooth mesh library and source code to streamline design.
• Be more productive—companies can optimize mesh-networking device designs with Silicon Labs' Simplicity Studio software tools, including network-analysis and packet-trace technology, energy profiling and visual application configuration. Software compatibility across Silicon Labs' portfolio of wireless SoCs and modules enables software reuse and reduced development time and cost, the firm reports.
"We expect to see a wave of new devices hit the market quickly by leveraging ubiquitous Bluetooth connectivity to create hub-less mesh networks that extend the range and reliability of Bluetooth systems," said Daniel Cooley, Silicon Labs' senior VP and general manager of IoT products, in a prepared statement. "No matter which mesh technology developers choose to power their next IoT designs, we offer a complete portfolio of silicon, software and solutions that gives device makers everything they need to accelerate time to market while designing secure, robust mesh networks."
SURE Universal Offers Software-Defined IoT Platform Based on Open Connectivity Foundation Standard
SURE Universal Ltd. has announced its Software-Defined IoT (SD-IoTTM) platform, a software solution for digital media, smart homes and the Internet of Things. The company also offers an Android-based Set-Top Box (STB), which includes both smart TV and IoT gateway functionality.
The SD-IoT solution includes a smartphone universal remote client, a cloud platform for communications data and a micro-controller software suite for smart appliances. The platform is designed to enable manufacturers to turn legacy appliances into smart appliances compliant with the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF) standard, and thus interoperable with other smart-home products.
"The combination of the complete software-defined IoT solution by SURE Universal and open source protocol by OCF promises a future prospect of inexpensive off-the-shelf IoT products with incredible interoperability," said Viktor Ariel, SURE Universal's CEO and co-founder, in a prepared statement, "with the new SD-IoT platform, SURE Universal solidifies its position as a technology leader at the forefront of this exciting new collaboration among the top hardware and appliance manufacturers in the world."
The solution is based on the OCF protocol, an open-source standard for IoT vendors that allows appliances and smart devices to work together, regardless of brand. The OCF protocol originated from a merger of three IoT standards developed separately by Microsoft, Samsung and Qualcomm. The foundation currently has almost 500 members, including most leading appliance vendors from around the world.
The consumer part of the solution is the SURE Universal Remote app for digital media and legacy infrared appliances. The system is available for Android and iOS smartphones and has millions of active users. The latest version of the SURE Universal Remote for Android features Amazon Alexa voice assistant integration. Future versions, according to the company, will include support for Google Voice and Apple Siri.
The SURE Software-Defined IoT separates the control layer from the underlying hardware, so industry players—including smart appliance vendors, STB manufacturers, and multiple-system operators—can provide IoT systems using off-the-shelf devices from multiple vendors, and be assured of their interoperability. They will no longer be dependent on a single supplier for smart devices, the company explains. At present, SURE Universal is integrating the SD-IoT technology with the products of several major appliance manufacturers, to assist them with implementing the OCF protocol and achieving interoperability with other IoT vendors.
