Communications and Technology Blog - Tehrani.com - M2M Archives

Intel Finally Gets Mobile?

2012-05-17T15:08:44Z

Intel is selling its computers quite nicely into PCs and servers and although we are in a so called "post-PC era" people keep buying computers by the tens of millions. The long-term challenge is in-part ARM, the instruction-set architecture which is being turned into highly efficient chips used in most mobile devices.

The challenge of course for Intel is the typical one of disruption from below. An example is how RAID allowed inexpensive and less reliable hard drives to replace larger disks in the market.

Likewise, the ARMv8 64-bit architecture application profile was defined two months ago and at some point soon we will see these chips in the field. Moreover, expect them to rapidly go multicore if not initially. From a price/performance standpoint as well as in the power consumption arena we can surmise this processor to be something Intel should worry about. After all, companies like HP are known to be experimenting with ARM chips in their HPC initiatives.

The good news is Intel says they finally understand operators. More specifically, Herbert Weber, EMEA marketing director for mobile and communications at Intel, told Telecoms.com that they finally see the differences between mobile and the PC market.

Moreover he says Intel will begin to integrate a variety of connectivity technologies into its mobile chipsets such as WiFi, GSM, GPS, LTE.

But it isn't like companies like Broadcom haven't been doing the same thing for many years, allowing them to grow more quickly as mobile supplier. Moreover, Intel started to integrate GPUs and WiFi onto CPU chips and motherboards many years ago - certainly this isn't a new concept.

It is obvious the main problem Intel has keeping it from becoming a dominant mobile supplier has been and will continue to be size and power consumption and to that end Weber had this to say:

We have made significant improvements into our design and architecture and now we don’t need to hide behind anyone in terms of battery lifetime of our phones and power consumption. We are now on par with where the market is today and we intend with our next devices – the Maryville chipset going to 22nm and the next wave of chips coming in the 14nm platform – to be better than the rest of the market in terms of power and battery lifetime.

Although Intel has given up much of the mobile market its efforts in the Ultrabook space have been fantastic and in my opinion severely under-reported by the media in general. Intel finally seems to get the concept that if they don't make more efficient chips their days will at some point be numbered. And based on my usage of a Asus UX31 Zenbook Ultrabook, I can tell you that Intel has come a long way.

In fact this powerful yet featherweight computer lets me work for about 9 hours without wireless turned on and with the screen pretty dim.

But they better keep going as Apple is likely looking for ways to switch entirely to ARM to lower its costs as it makes its own processors already for the iPhone and iPad.

There is no way to know Apple's future plans for sure but Intel is keenly aware that the loss of the fastest market-share gaining computer platform won't be good for its company or share price. And once we start to see these chip roll outs being released as planned, we can believe that Intel finally does really get mobile.

Monetizing the Mobile Data Explosion with Tektronix Communications

2012-03-20T19:26:10Z

Remember when you were in the engineering lab and you relied on a Tektronix oscilloscope to analyze signals? I do and I deeply craved one of my own but could never afford one. But the company once part of Tektronix, Tektronix Communications does its best to ensure that not being able to afford their products is not a reason to keep you from buying. The company provides solutions for carriers which help with pre-deployment, network operations, customer care, network and RF engineering solutions as well as business performance. You see they want to ensure the solutions you buy, pay for themselves so carriers are more likely to purchase their products than a college kid eyeing a high-quality scope.

In a recent meeting with Laurence Alexander and Samir Marwaha they shared with me the news that the company has been awarded more than 50% of the LTE monitoring opportunities worldwide partnering with more than 15 tier one carriers around the globe. The company helps its customers across multiple “technology domains” such as EUTRAN, EPC, IMS and VoLTE.

Moreover the company is assisting carriers maximize revenue per subscriber as well as ensuring commercial readiness of LTE networks. They also assist with OTT partnerships between carriers and companies who can utilize such QoS enhanced pipes like perhaps in the video space. According to Laurence this is a win/win because carriers can charge for it and consumers get a better quality service.

Moreover deep packet classification enables service providers to get a better sense of what users are doing on the network. Moreover the company’s solutions allow operators to determine network quality from a user perspective – and at this point they can even alert customer care that a problem is taking place. Quality issues are just one cause of churn but certainly a very large portion of the churn pie. This sort of solution is designed to help carriers be proactive and retain customers – even ones which just had a negative experience.

Certainly one of the reasons carriers to choose Tektronics Communications has to do with the breadth of product line starting with a product like K2Air/NSA for advanced RAN and RF performance analysis to OptiMon for deep drive RAN troubleshooting. Then there is the Iris series – traffic analyzers, session analyzers and performance intelligence solutions – all the way up to touchpoint CEM for customer experience management.

And as the growth of LTE and VoLTE accelerates so should the opportunities for the company to assist carriers in providing better quality of service to customers. In addition, the company aims to help them find new ways to generate revenue by providing differentiated, higher quality services.

Disclosure: I am a shareholder in Tektronix Communications parent Danaher. Pictured is the graphic of Danaher's holdings in the tech, telecom and related spaces.

How Aricent Group Enables Rapid LTE Adoption

2012-03-08T15:49:44Z

One of the most important companies in the wireless space you may never have heard of is Aricent Group, the product engineering, carrier services and design company which renamed itself last year by combining Aricent and frog (formerly Frog Design). The name change was not done for cosmetic reasons, Aricent Group’s customers are carriers, and equipment providers who live in a brave new world requiring ever-faster time to market. In addition, in an increasingly standardized world of LTE, companies have to be able to provide bullet-proof interoperability and product and service stability while simultaneously adding value in order to reduce the brutal effects of commoditization which plagues virtually all markets where standards take hold. So faster product integration is necessary to keep up with evolving and hypercompetitive markets.

With financial backing from KKR and Sequoia Capital and 10,000 employees in 36 countries, Aricent Group is a major player in helping design and implement leading-edge wireless systems. And at MWC the company touted its 35^th LTE win. Yes the word holistic is thrown around a lot but there seems to be no better term to describe how this corporate behemoth is helping customers from the consumer touch point to the core of the network. In fact many customers rely on Aricent Group’s 5,000 wireless engineers to provide them with protocol stacks and software frameworks to speed their time to market.

As an example, the company supports 3GPP Release 9 and Release 10 compliant protocol stacks and software frameworks for LTE span eNodeB platforms and components, IP Backhaul, and the Evolved Packet Core. Moreover they support reference frameworks support both the Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) modes of operation on LTE across different bands.

At MWC 2012 in Barcelona I spent time with Tim Leberecht the company’s CMO and Shrikant Latkar VP of Product and Solutions Marketing to learn about how the company is helping MVNOs with sophisticated OSS/BSS systems helping provide revenue assurance for MVNOs to how the drive towards the consumerization of IT has helped their company grow more quickly.

Some of the areas where they provide assistance have to do with designing products consumers don’t even know they want and helping their customers speed up their internal organizational structures to keep up with the rapidly accelerating market.

In the future, the company hopes to expand beyond the core telecom market into healthcare, financial and automotive spaces. In addition they have noticed a trend in the market where their customers now have in-house design departments meaning Aricent Group is becoming more of an advisor and partner.

Other areas where they see opportunity are M2M where they mentioned that if a machine-to-machine system is monitoring a heart patient they have to make sure it works and meets an SLA requirement. Other spaces of growth include big data, apps and the smart grid where they say they are helping consumers become aware of their energy usage.

Finally, we can expect the company to focus more on helping customers develop ecosystems as well as providing network-based apps.

At MWC much of the focus on the consumer press centered around the latest gadget and gizmos but the reality is while design is important, without the wireless infrastructure, support, billing and OSS systems – all our fancy smartphones and tablets would become paperweights. So while Aricent group does focus on the glitz and glamour side of the wireless space, they also help make sure our devices keep working as efficiently as possible while helping carriers make the money they need to keep reinvesting in their networks.

Off to MWC 2012 Next Week

2012-02-23T19:34:46Z

I've got lots on my plate this week before I take off to Barcelona to attend Mobile World Congress (MWC) - which was once called 3GSM. I've got great meetings lined up and I am very interested in seeing what is happening in the world of 4G, white spaces, M2M, tablets and smartphones. Apple won't be there - formerly anyway so I consider this event to be kind of like the anti-Apple confab. Interestingly, all the major events I attend these days are devoid of the iconic Cupertino brand as well. It doesn't seem to be hurting them does it?

Yet face-to-face events like this one are crucial to get the word out and generate buzz around brands which don't have the Apple halo. Companies that will really need to shine this week include Microsoft, Nokia, RIM, Samsung, Google and HTC.

I will be sure to keep you posted as I travel to the show (www.tehrani.com)- you can also follow me on Twitter at @rtehrani. In addition the TMCnet Mobile World Congress news page will give you access to articles written by 100+ TMCnet contributors.

These are some of the MWC stories produced so far today:

Need a New Car? Win a Mustang at ITEXPO in Miami Next Week

2012-01-27T15:48:11Z

I think I may have one of the best jobs in the world. I admit it is a bit ADHD-inducing as I get involved in lots of areas from new media to the latest technologies in the market as I run this major media company which is TMC. Not only do I get help influence tens of millions of people online I also get to host live events where I meet many of the readers who frequent my blog and TMCnet - the main web portal of TMC where I am CEO.

But the most exciting part of my job comes twice a year when I give away a car to an unsuspecting attendee at ITEXPO. Next week - Friday Feb 3rd at 1:45 pm at the Miami Beach Convention Center, I get to give the next car away and it will be a Ford Mustang. In order to be eligible to win you need to pick up a card at registration and get it stamped by all the sponsors of the car giveaway.

Thank you sponsors for making these giveaways possible. If I were an attendee at a show I would want a mix of solid education, a chance to network with peers, see the leading exhibitors in the space but also to have some fun and that is what events like our various receptions and giveaways are supposed to provide.

The TMC team and I look forward to hosting you next week. Thank you all in advance for coming to our event and hats off to the TMC team who is managing not only ITEXPO but a host of collocated and unparallelled events such as Super WiFi Summit, MSP World, our SUITS technology patents event, M2M Evolution, Mobile LATAM, HTML5 Summit, Cloud Communications Expo, The Channel Vision Expo (CVx), Business Video, Asterisk 123, 4GWE, StartupCamp5, Avaya Tech on Tap, the Blackberry Hackathon, SIP trunking workshop, business development workshop, telecom reseller week, to name a few.

http://itexpo.tmcnet.com/sip-trunking-workshop/miami/

ITEXPO East 2012 Miami Schedule

2012-01-25T20:49:34Z

One of the most frequent question I get regarding TMC’s ITEXPO which takes place next week in Miami – is with all that is going on – how do you make a decision as to which parts of the show to attend. Truth be told I believe the event and its collocated conferences and educational sessions rivals just about any other tech show in terms of education.

Some of the hot topics to be discussed include not only general communications and technology but 4G wireless, mobility, Asterisk, open source, business video, the channel, cloud computing and communications, HTML5, Mobile Latin America communications, M2M, technology patents, the MSP market, Super WiFi/white spaces and much more.

The following is a list of important details you will need to help navigate ITEXPO East 2012 Miami. I warn you – this is a subset of what is happening. To keep you posted on not only these items but other important events at the show please follow @itexpo on Twitter and turn on mobile notifications – it is pretty simple – just follow the menu below. Twitter also allows you to turn off notifications at certain hours in its settings tab.

Also, please download the show directory/guide (PDF) and read through it before you get there to get the most out of the event.

ITEXPO East 2012

January 31 - February 3, 2012

Miami Beach Convention Center

If you are staying at the Loews in Miami or a hotel nearby the best route to walk is down 16^th street making a right on Washington after a block. Most concierge personnel will tell you to walk down Collins which is longer and if the sun is strong may be a bit uncomfortable.

View Larger Map

Registration counters are located in the Hall B Lobby. This is the section of the convention center on Washington Blvd., closest to the show hotels.

When you arrive, proceed to the registration counter to receive your badge. You will need a photo ID.

SHOW HOURS

Tuesday, January 31

Registration: 7:30am – 5:00pm
Workshops begin at 9:00am
POST POTS Special Sessions: 2:00pm
Avaya Tech on Tap: 5:00pm

Wednesday, February 1

Registration: 7:00am – 7:00pm
Workshops/Sessions begin at 9:00am
Free Keynotes: 12:45pm; 3:30pm
Exhibits Open: 4:30-7:30pm
Free Networking Reception: 5:30-7:30 on expo floor - Sponsored by Broadvox.

Thursday, February 2

Registration: 7:00am – 4:00pm
Workshops/Sessions begin at 9:00am
Free Keynotes: 9:00-11:00am
Exhibits Open: 11:00am – 4:00pm
Networking Reception: 4:00pm
StartupCamp5, featuring keynote by Terry Matthews: 4:45pm
ITEXPO Party on South Beach - Mangos Tropical Cafe: 9:00pm

Friday, February 3

Registration: 7:30am – 2:00pm
Workshops/Sessions begin at 9:00am
Exhibits Open: 11:00am – 2:00pm
New Mustang Giveaway at 1:45pm – Must Be Present to Win

Updated schedule. Visit the show site for additional details

Keynotes and Special Sessions Schedule: (Open to all attendees)

Tuesday, January 31:

2:00 pm: Special Panel Session:

Post POTS Net Neutrality & the Cloud: From POTS to PANS

============================================================

Rumors of the death of POTS are not exaggerated. To build a new model for the future we have to determine the bottlenecks. Come discuss the impact of the cloud and the migration from end to end to any to any services; about supporting access and quality of service; about Net Neutrality and Privacy.

5:00: Avaya Tech on Tap Workshop and Networking Reception

=========================================================

Kick off ITEXPO East with a special pre-conference seminar and evening networking event, hosted by the Avaya DevConnect Program. Join Avaya and our special keynote speaker Judith Hurwitz, co-author of "Cloud Computing for Dummies", as we tackle some of the most challenging technology transitions facing IT organizations today, namely cloud computing and collaboration enablement.

KEYNOTES Wednesday, February 1:

12:45pm: Michael Rouleau, tw telecom
3:30pm: Paget Alves, Sprint
4:30pm: Timothy Wagner, Samsung Telecommunications America

KEYNOTES Thursday, February 2:

9:00am: Rick Whitt, Google
9:30am: Chris Swearingen, Senseaware, Powered by FedEx
10:00am: Dirk Gates, Xirrus
10:30pm: Julius Knapp, FCC
4:45pm: Sir Terry Matthews, Wesley Clover

WORKSHOPS at ITEXPO – Open to All Attendees

Cloud Business Development Workshop

Tuesday, January 31 - 9:00am

Larry Dillon and Michael Curry will co-host the first ever pre-show workshops focused towards new business development techniques for resellers, developers and cloud-based service providers.

Asterisk 123 Training

Tuesday, January 31 - 9:00am

Come get a well-rounded and informative introduction to the Asterisk Project. All are Welcome! Whether you are managing a team deploying an Asterisk implementation, evaluating potential replacements for a legacy telephony solution that's on its last leg, or just a general Asterisk "newbie" excited to learn what Asterisk is capable of, then this talk has something to offer you.

Sangoma Vega Training

Tuesday, January 31 - 9:00am

Sangoma Technologies will host a free full day hands-on training session teaching you how to configure and troubleshoot the Vega series gateways for use with IP-PBX and SIP trunking.

Blackberry HTML5 Hackathon

Tuesday, January 31 - 9:00am

Join us at the upcoming HTML5 Hackathon to discover how BlackBerry WebWorks takes HTML5 beyond the browser. We'll show you the power and simplicity of the new BlackBerry browser

Ingate’s SIP Trunking Workshop

Wednesday, February 1 – Friday, February 3

Attendees can earn a SIP Trunking Professional Certificate by participating in the Professional Development Program on February 1. Attendees can also earn a Unified Communications Professional Certificate on February 2.

Telecom Reseller Week Presentation Theatre

Wednesday, February 1 – Friday, February 3

Telecom Reseller Week provides you with a forum for you to learn about cutting edge new solutions you can represent, to meet with many new potential partners, and to study proven sales techniques to help improve your team's performance.

MPLS University

Tuesday, February 2 - 1:30pm

MPLS University is a forum for IT and business professionals to bring their questions about network reliability, always-on connectivity, voice, regulatory requirements, security, and cost control. Join us for two FREE live MPLS University sessions at ITEXPO to learn more about utilizing cloud-based solutions

StartupCamp5: Comms Edition

Tuesday, February 2 - 4:00pm

Featuring keynote address by Sir Terry Matthews

The incredibly popular StartupCamp networking event returns. This unique forum is for early-stage entrepreneurs to pitch their communications products or services to a discriminating audience of potential investors, media, bloggers and industry influencers. The event's fast-paced, "ready, set, pitch" format brings early-stage communications companies, developers, industry leaders and investors together to network and validate entrepreneurial pitches in real time.

4:00: StartupCamp5 Free Networking Reception

4:45: Introduction/Event Kickoff by Larry Lisser

5:00: Keynote Presentation by World-Renowned Entrepreneur Sir Terry Matthews

5:45: Startup Presentations and Judging

7:00: Networking and Voting

QUESTIONS?

Contact Frank Coppola (203.852.6800 x 131)

Thank you sponsors

Diamond Sponsor:

Digium

Platinum Sponsors:

AudioCodes
Sonus Networks
Sansay
Dialogic
Interactive Intelligence
Netxusa

Gold Sponsors:

abp
Adtran
Broadvox
MegaPath
USAN
888VoIP
Panasonic
snom
tw telecom
Sangoma

I really look forward to seeing you all at the show – it will be fantastic.

Update: My marketing team has a fancier version of this document which they send in emails after you register. It has web links and may be easier on the eyes.

Bluetooth Smart Ready Shows Potential

2011-12-19T17:51:59Z

Bluetooth to me is one of the most convenient technologies I use as it allows me to get rid of the cord from my mobile and desk phones. I am surprised actually that everyone doesn't use a stereo bluetooth headset - at gyms around the country it seems like one out of 10 music listeners have given up their typically white cords in favor of new technology.

Frankly I just don't get it but am hoping that the new bluetooth 4.0 standard which is more miserly with power will make a good technology even more useful. It is worth pointing out the SIG wants you to refer to it as Bluetooth Smart Ready.

In theory the power consumption is so low that you can get a year out of a device using a button size battery - now that's low-power.

As you might imagine, applications in home automation and the medical field are prime examples of where such a low-power wireless technology will shine.

Thanks to Kickstarter there may soon be an automotive app - one which syncs with your iPhone 4S which was the first phone to support bluetooth 4.0 BTW. The solution constantly updates your car's location via a small device which is connected to your automobile. It then allows you to find your vehicle when you need to - let's say after that trip to the mall around holiday time when your car is lost in a sea of steel and paint somewhere in a 100 acre lot.

But more interestingly this new bluetooth spec means there is some new competition in the M2M space and technologies like NFC and perhaps ZigBee may lose some marketshare as a result.

I am not holding my breath for the world to go bluetooth when it comes to stereo headphones but perhaps they will at least embrace it for a wealth of other activities which make their lives better.

Hat tip Richard Sprague who retweeted Scott Jenson

Heading onto an Asset Tracking Webinar

2011-11-17T16:29:01Z

I am moderating an asset tracking webinar at 12:00 PM EST November 17, 2011 (today). There will obviously be a large focus on wireless technology and M2M and there will be a discussion of real-world solutions.

I've been preparing all morning which is why there are no blog posts, etc. Hope to be back on this afternoon and if you want to check out the webinar, register here. Have a great day.

BTW, the webinar is archived and you can access it on demand later if you desire.

FreeWave Technologies Provides Secure, Long-Range Radio Communications

2011-10-26T21:37:37Z

Submarine cable systems between the UK, Canada and Paris became essential in the 1850s as the British government found itself in a situation where it would fight wars, sign treaties and still have thousands of soldiers in the field fighting – totally oblivious to the end of conflict. This cost the UK a tremendous amount of money and reducing this cost became a priority. Once the cables were laid they also became invaluable to the shipping industry as they allowed ships to be rerouted to ports which would be more lucrative destinations.

Nowadays with 3G, 4G and WiFi networks overlapping in much of the developed world we take instant communications for granted but this is not the case.

Moreover there are many applications where secure, low-power and virtually instant communications is required but infrastructure to facilitate such communications may not exist. Think of a market consisting of the needs of industrial communications, military comms, smart grid and machine-to-machine (M2M).

One of the companies playing in these spaces is FreeWave Technologies and in a recent conversation with CMO Ashish Sharma he told me about how his company provides long-range data communications solutions to a range of markets including oil and gas, agriculture, clean water, wind and solar.

In a typical application – let’s say in oil and gas, a radio can be connected to equipment which measures pressure, temperature and other levels and at a preset interval – let’s say 15 minutes and can report back to a NOC tens of miles away regarding the status of the equipment in the field. As a reminder, quite often drilling takes place where there isn’t much infrastructure around so cell towers are generally non-existent as is fiber, copper, etc. Solar power assists the FreeWave devices in running and lasting for years if necessary, providing readings and other important information.

The company is based in Boulder, Colorado where it makes all of its devices and to date and has placed about 700,000 radios in the field. Each radio by the way is tested and calibrated from -40 degrees F to 168 degrees which believe it or not is only slightly more extreme than the seasonal temperature variations in Boulder :-). Sharma reinforced the fact that his company’s radios are secure and transmit data reliably. He went on to say how crucial reliable information is as it could help determine whether or not a drill needs to be shut down preventing oil spills and gas leaks.

In the military space, the company’s radios are placed on many unmanned vehicles (UAVs) providing command and control communications.

The company’s radios run on a variety of frequencies from unlicensed, licensed and military such as 900MHz to 2.4 GHz, 869 MHz, 700 MHz, 1.4 GHz, 400 MHz and 1.3 GHz.

FreeWave makes many radios and perhaps my favorite is the embedded MM2 (pictured) because it looks like something small enough at 14 grams that I could probably put about 10 of them in my shirt pocket.

The company is pretty excited about their new LRS400 Series allowing for the first time radios which operate on licensed frequencies in the US. It operates on frequencies of 435 MHz-470 MHz, 1.427 GHz-1.432 GHz with up to 2W of output power.

The LRS455-EU (pictured) is global radio which operates in both FCC and ETSI modes meaning a single unit for use across the continents and less maintenance costs.

Where can the LRS455-EU be used and under what conditions?

One of the more interesting points made by Ashish is the fact that the radios communicate in a proprietary fashion means they are generally more secure than traditional communications systems where hackers can more easily figure out how to tap into the data stream. Generally this also means costs are higher but for many applications the importance of secure communications outweighs potential cost savings.

In the past 160 years, undersea cable investments have only increased as the Internet has propelled forward our need to not only communicate over distance but to communicate with more people and devices than ever. Likewise it seems the opportunity for secure, long-range wireless communications will not let up and Sharma thinks the market today is worth hundreds of millions if not a billion dollars.

TMC Covering Cloud, 4G and Open-Source This Week

2011-10-24T11:52:01Z

Quite often at industry events I hear people say they can’t believe how many events TMC goes to each year and moreover, they ask just how many conferences we cover each year. I haven’t done the math but it’s a lot. But since I was thinking about it, I figured I would share our schedule this week… To me the amount of money a company invests into the markets they serve is an important part of being successful. In other words, in order to keep our readers and viewers informed, we have to be able to cover all the important conferences in the market. This is one of the reasons we invested in a total of five mobile video studios allowing us to cover shooting video simultaneously at that many.

While I have a meeting later today at UCONN which I am very excited about, a good portion of my team is on the way to the following shows – I’ll share just the editorial talent at each one with you.

Interactive Intelligence Partner Conference: This company has been one of the constant innovators in communications and tech, most likely becoming one of the key contact center in the cloud providers. To cover this event, we are sending one of our most experienced editors, Peter Bernstein. It should be a great event – I was fortunate enough to be offered a keynote speaking opportunity a few years back at this very conference.

4G World – Formerly WiMAX World, the event is in Chicago and we are sending our editorial chief Erik Linask and Carl Ford of Crossfire Media will be there representing our partnered properties in the mobility, 4G and M2M spaces.

Astricon: Mark Spencer is the Linux Torvalds of the communications space – and he is responsible for single-handedly changing the market into something more open and flexible. At this event, you can meet Tom Keating, a TMC veteran of about two decades and the famous VoIP and Gadget Blogger as well as Chris Dimarco – another veteran TMC editor who will be on video doing interviews.

In a way, these events which represent open-source, mobility and the cloud also represent the major trends in tech and telecom and I just can’t wait to see what news breaks this week. If you are interested as well, come back to this blog at Tehrani.com and of course keep an eye on TMCnet.

M2M Asset Tracking Takes Off with OnAsset

2011-08-15T17:42:17Z

Until now, end-to-end asset tracking of items which used airplanes couldn’t easily be done because there was no device capable of meeting the requirements of US regulators and airlines. However, a recent breakthrough, three years in the making by OnAsset Intelligence will improve the tracking of many high-value shipments on more than 3,400 daily Southwest Airlines Cargo flights. Specifically the OnAsset’s SENTRY 400 FlightSafe device can now provide location, environmental sensing and monitoring of temperature-sensitive and high value cargo.

This news is fantastic for companies who need to track items such as electronics, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and life science products.

The class of device which is used to make this breakthrough possible is considered to be machine-to-machine or M2M. And it is the intelligent radio suppression technology the company built into its M2M products that allow them to be used in-flight and considered as a personal electronic device or PED by the FAA.

To learn more I conducted a telephone interview with Nikki Cuban the VP of Marketing & Sales at On Asset and Wally Devereaux, Director of Cargo Sales & Marketing for Southwest Airlines. One of my first questions had to do with how this device would know to shut itself down when the aircraft doors shut and prior to taking off. The answer which seems quite obvious now is that the GPS unit knows where the airports are and turns the radios on and off as needed.

A recent TMC video interview with Nikki Cuban

In addition to tracking, the SENTRY 400 Flight Safe also provides environmental sensing features which benefits shipments which must be kept within a specific temperature range and moreover which require specific conditions with respect to humidity shock and vibration. Organ transplants, specialty meats and flowers are some examples of shipments which need to be monitored carefully throughout their transport.

OnAsset submitted it for testing to the FAA earlier this year and before approval, the agency responded with requests for additional testing and also required the company to submit its manufacturing process details and have its assembly line available to audits.

For companies in the shipping business, the ability to now track shipments via air the way they track via ocean, long-haul and ground is quite helpful as quite often some of the most valuable cargo needs to fly. Cuban shared a situation where a company saw its insurance policy on cellphone shipments drop from $500,000 to $100,000 because they added better tracking to the containers, making them more difficult to steal and keep.

The good news is that now that this new technology is out there, we can expect it to become even more cost-effective over time as adoption grows, meaning more items will be tracked and hopefully this will lead to even less theft. Moreover, Southwest is looking to add a transactional tracking business to its suite of shipping solutions which will allow low volume shippers to lease the needed equipment instead of having to purchase it.

I asked Cuban what some of the biggest barriers were to implementation of such solutions and she told me the technology is the easy part – it’s the new business operations and procedures we need to see to support the growth numbers we expect as an industry.

Moreover, she explains that most companies using M2M technologies don’t even now it is M2M and as a result the industry is fragmented and marketing is not aligned.

But I suppose this will change as news of successes like this new product launch start to save shippers real money. Moreover, we may even see the insurance industry becoming a big driver of growth in the industry for years to come. After all, the more difficult you make it to steal cargo, the better it is not only for insurance companies but for manufacturers and end-users who ultimately foot the bill for the theft in the first place.

To learn more about M2M and help shape the future of the industry – be sure to come to M2M Evolution in Austin, TX Sept 13-15, 2011 where Nikki Cuban is the conference chair. Disclosure: TMC where I am CEO is a co-host of the M2M Evolution event which is collocated with ITEXPO.

Sprint Telehealth and M2M Event 2011

2011-07-26T20:38:32Z

Last week I spent time at the Sprint Telehealth and M2M Event which they call Emerging Trends and Solutions in Telehealth, Remote Patient Monitoring and Wellness Forum. It was an intimate event but full of partners like Digi and many others who were thrilled to show off their solutions which work in-part with Sprint's networks. BTW - for those of you who go back to the UNIX days of dumb terminals - you may remember DIGI used to be a player in the space of allowing many terminals to attach to a PC-based UNIX system. Yes, we are talking pre-Linux here - in the late eighties/early nineties.

The mood was upbeat and positive, this part of Sprint's business is doing well and a wave of partners are enthusiastic about the future of telehealth, telemedicine and the machine-to-machine (m2m) markets.

It was exciting to see how technology is being adapted to solve real-world problems such as those in the medical space where remote monitoring and diagnostics can reduce costs while improving quality of life for the disabled, elderly and really anyone who takes advantage of the latest solutions which are continuing to be rolled out.

I took a good deal of video at the event which took place at the Sprint M2M Collaboration center in San Bruno, CA. Here they are for you viewing pleasure. I have embedded two of the videos and the rest are links which will open up when clicked.

Sprint M2M On-Body Monitoring Mood Widgets

Sprint M2M Home Health Monitoring

Even Smaller SIM Cards on Way? Thanks Apple

2011-05-18T18:54:54Z

Looks like Apple thinks even the pretty small microSIM card is too big and this could mean videos like the one produced by Corning - A Day Made of Glass will come sooner than we think. Look for the new ultra-ultra small SIM card to be potentially available next year - no doubt powering a slew of watches and virtually anything else small and worth protecting. The M2M market will no doubt be helped by such a development as well.

Is TomTom the Most Unethical Company in Tech?

2011-04-29T21:03:29Z

Recently, reports have surfaced that GPS manufacturer TomTom sold the information it collected regarding the speed of its customers to the government of the Netherlands so they could set up speed traps. In short, as a customer of TomTom in the country – assuming the practice is not more widespread, you are increasing the likelihood of getting caught by the police for exceeding the speed limit.

In my view, there is no more slimy practice than this – it is unfathomable to actually go out of your way to hurt your own customers – in the name of increased profits.

I must say my dealings with TomTom haven’t been much better as a year ago I called to turn off the Internet service associated with a TomTom GPS I purchased. I told the company the unit has been stolen and asked them not to authorize its use again. The operator explained this isn’t possible. They told me the theft of my device was the same as if it had been stolen from an electronics store – basically making the company an accessory to a crime by enabling the full use of a stolen device.

I put the two incidents above together and the revulsion for the company’s business practices only increases. I would stay away from the company at all costs.

On a related note, I mentioned in the above-referenced post that the Internet has become the world’s largest pawn shop for stolen goods and to combat the trend, we need a global directory of stolen items making the use of stolen items very difficult once they have been added to a central database.

China Patent Wars: Huawei Sues ZTE

2011-04-28T15:14:56Z

Huawei today filed lawsuits in Germany, France, and Hungary against ZTE a fellow Chinese manufacturer of telecom equipment - with strength in 4G/LTE technology among others. The interesting point here is the company is being sued for patent and trademark infringement and what this shows us is a greater concern for patents and trademarks in China. At least from Huawei.

According to the company, they paid US $222 million themselves in patent licensing fees to obtain the legal right to use patents and technologies of other companies in the industry. In fact TMCnet reported two weeks ago that Huawei and Motorola Solutions settled patent disputes.

This is great news as Huawei had a reputation years back for copying technology from companies like Cisco and after losing a court case they seem to have become more serious about patents and trademarks.

Last month I pointed out how a sales boom for tech and media is being unleashed by China as a result of it announcing 3,001 people have been arrested for rampant product piracy and seized fake or counterfeit medicines, liquor, mobile phones and other goods.

This is all great news for western companies who have invented technology which China wants to and will continue to use. Moreover, adhering to and dealing with patent and trademark law increases the costs for Chinese companies, driving up their expenses to be more in line with their competition around the world.

This is a good thing and as you may recall, competition from Huawei and ZTE were in-part responsible for the Nortel bankruptcy. If China is playing on a more level field, the entire market wins as inventing the next generation of technology is expensive and risky... If all the margins are squeezed out, the entire tech and telecom suffers.

For more, check out my entry relating the Apple App Store to the Opec of the West.