M2M : Machine 2 Machine

Inilex (www.inilex.com), an industry-leading developer of telemetry products and services, today launched a machine-to-machine (M2M) software service offering an integrated solution to the challenges faced by developers of M2M solutions. Inilex’s new Software as a Service (SaaS), Apprize™, enables developers to quickly and cost-effectively deploy any type of M2M application using any device, any protocol, over any communications network.

The M2M industry is projected to grow exponentially in the coming years, from approximately $16 billion in 2008 to more than $57 billion by 2014, according to Strategy Analytics. Apprize will help accelerate this growth by offering a limitless M2M software solution that can be implemented across a variety of industries such as telemedicine, energy management, environmental, security and more.

“It takes between four and six supply-chain partners to develop and manage just one M2M solution,” said Vice President of Yankee Group’s Enterprise and SMB Research, Steve Hilton. “Having these multiple partners is not only costly, but also time-consuming. Enterprises that consolidate this process significantly with cloud-based solutions will save time and money by reducing development and deployment for partners on the back-end.”

The FDA has given MedApps, a Scottsdale, Arizona firm, 510(k) market clearance for the firm’s HealthPAL wireless medical device monitor.

HealthPAL automatically collects data from compatible, off-the-shelf, medical monitors using a smart cable or wirelessly via Bluetooth. The data is then transmitted using embedded M2M (GSM) cellular chip (and soon CDMA) technology to be received by HealthCOM, MedApps’ full-featured, web-based portal for health care providers.

About the size of a cell-phone, the HealthPAL is ultra-portable for maximum mobility and its low cost enables remote monitoring to be available to large patient populations. It is considered to be the ultimate in simplicty. While it has buttons for special features and set-up, during daily operation the reading and data transmissions are COMPLETELY automated. The patient does not push any buttons, navigate any screen commands or touch the HealthPAL in any fashion.

HealthPAL is currently approved for use in conjunction with glucose meters, blood pressure monitors, weight scales, pulse oximeters and pedometers. As additional approvals are received, MedApps looks forward to expanding its capabilities to include the recording and transmitting of data from INR monitors, ECG, Peak Flow, CPAP, spirometers, O2 concentrators and more.

M2M is getting more main stream exposure -

Rob Conway, chairman of the GSM Association, challenged technology manufacturers in February to integrate in some capacity mobile broadband in to all their products by 2014.

He was addressing the Mobile World Congress, and referring to products such as cameras, printers, memory cards, printers and vehicles, among a multitude of other items. The opportunity, he said, is to embed SIM cards in 750 million new devices.

“We have only just begun the mobile broadband journey,” said Conway. “The embedded mobile broadband market can grow as chip prices go down and new usages are developed.”

Machine to machine communications, or M2M as it is known, is in its simplest form the integration of mobile SIM cards and a data modems in products to read and relay information via GPRS.

It is already a significant market; and represents the first roots of Conway’s vision.

The best-known example of M2M communication in the consumer space is probably the deployment of Vodafone SIM cards in TomTom’s satellite navigation systems, enabling transfer of up-to-date traffic information and relevant local information to users.

Here is another company that is on the M2M middleware bandwagon. I have not tried out the beta service but worth looking into.

Cooper City, FL (PRWEB) April 13, 2009 — Linxter, Inc., provider of in-the-cloud middleware, today announces the release of Linxter version 1.0 for the rapid development of communication-based products and services. Linxter offers software developers an easy-to-use, ubiquitous communication framework for secure and reliable messaging among applications, devices, and systems, allowing data to be exchanged among disparate systems.

With message-oriented middleware hosted in the cloud, developers can quickly and easily take advantage of asynchronous, stateful messaging to connect their distributed applications. All of the communication plumbing, the infrastructure and coding complexities, are removed from the product development timeline and maintenance budget. As a result, developers do not have to invest themselves in messaging expertise and infrastructure, allowing them to focus instead on the core value proposition of their products and services.

even more exciting than the explosion in the number of Internet enabled devices, is the way developers will be able to innovate through the interconnection of all of these things.

Linxter reduces the time to market for applications by automating integration. Developers can integrate Linxter into their development projects in less than five minutes and master the technology in less than a day. The technology consists of three main components: 1. The Linxter Internet Service Bus (ISB), which is the back-end infrastructure that processes messages between Linxter enabled programs, 2. The Linxter Software Development Kit (SDK), which contains the code needed to integrate applications with the Linxter ISB, and 3. The Linxter Web Manager, a user interface for administering programs and accounts.

And that trend looks to be not only a boon for operators, but for industrial and public-safety entities as well. During his keynote address last week, Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon Communications, now the largest mobile operator in the US, said the next generation of wireless will be one that ushers in penetration rates for the wireless industry of more than 500 percent.

Specifically, Seidenberg said Verizon Wireless’ choice of all-IP Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology in the 700 MHz band will enable a connected world that not only connects people but people to machines and machines to machines.

“In this model, there is literally no limit on the number of connections that can be part of the mobile grid: cars, appliances, buildings, roads, sensors, medical monitors and someday even inventories on supermarket shelves,” Seidenberg said. “All of these have the potential to become inherently intelligent — perpetually connected nodes on the mobile web.”