M2M : Machine 2 Machine

This month, AT&T launched a new web site –  www.att.com/edo — which is the “front door” into its Emerging Devices Organization for consumer electronics and next-generation device manufacturers. The site includes the AT&T M2M Developer Kit, a Device Certification On-Boarding Tool, and information to help prospective business allies determine the right business model, network options, product specifications, and potential customer care and distribution solutions

HUNTSVILLE, AL — 01/26/10 — Synapse Wireless®, with continuing momentum in Internet-enabled, wireless machine-to-machine (M2M) mesh networks, announced a 50% price reduction for its network development kits based on the award-winning Synapse SNAP® technology. SNAP is an instant-on, multi-hop, mesh network, software solution that brings interoperability and easy integration to the Internet.

Citing the benefits of increased sales and growing market acceptance, Wade Patterson, Synapse Wireless CEO, said, “The real news is how our kits make the prototyping of customer’s applications fast and easy, and how SNAP can accelerate the most demanding development schedules. Now, with economies of scale, we can offer our kits at extraordinary prices.”

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.