BROWSING: Sensors

Connecting agriculture: LoRa, NB-IoT, LTE, and 5G – once and future kings of smart farming (part 3)

As we have heard, the UK’s 5G RuralFirst project is trying to do with 5G (or 5G-related tech) what the telecoms industry has failed to do with previous generations, and connect the unconnected, including farming communities looking for a digital edge. It is transformative...

Deutsche Telekom intros NB-IoT-connected bins for sensitive documents

Deutsche Telekom has teamed up with logistics company Rhenus and the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (Fraunhofer IML) to develop an NB-IoT connected smart bins for disposing of sensitive documents. An NB-IoT sensor in the containers issues a signal to Deutsche Telekom’s cloud-based...

Connecting agriculture: LoRa, NB-IoT, LTE, and 5G – and the digital divide in smart farming (part 1)

The biggest fragmentation in smart agriculture is with base-line connectivity, which establishes the platform for the analytics and automation tools that will change farming. “Connectivity is a neccessary evil,” says Pete DeNagy, president and co-founder, Internet of Things America. “No business is advantaged by...

Port of Rotterdam to use smart container to collect key data globally

The port of Rotterdam, one of the largest ports in Europe, has kicked off a project in which a smart container will be traveling around the world in a two-year data-collecting mission. During this journey, the container – which houses an array of sensors...

The biggest opportunity for IoT is to match supply and demand – an investor’s view, from Finistere

Manufacturing has come full circle, from craft production in the first industrial age, through mass production in the global age, and a new compulsion towards hyper-customisation and the idea of a ‘lot-size of one’. This concept of ultra-bespoke production is becoming viable, almost, as digital...

Smart farming Q&A: “Farmers are in-the-know about their assets”, says ABI Research

Two million farms and 36 million cattle will be connected to the internet by low-power wide-area (LPWA) networks, and other technologies, by 2024. This is the calculation from analyst house ABI Research, in a new report that considers the opportunity for internet-of-things (IoT) technologies in field...

Why farming needs 5G, and not just LoRaWAN and NB-IoT – an investor’s view, from NGP Capital

Certain functions of smart farming will not work on low-power wide-area (LPWA) networks, even while technologies like LoRaWAN and NB-IoT tend to support most smart agricultural technologies, as they exist today. LTE and even 5G networks are required to provide total coverage of fields, in...

Philly gets smart with Cisco and CIMCON; AT&T IoT VP joins CIMCON

The city of Philadelphia in the US is deploying lighting, sensors, and networking technologies from Cisco and CIMCON Lighting as it seeks to be “one of the leading smart cities in the United States”. The new NearSky lighting platform from CIMCON, running lighting controls, air...

John Deere talks computer vision and the ultimate in farm gadgetry

People don’t get how sophisticated farmers are, says Lane Arthur, director of digital solutions at John Deere, the US maker of industrial equipment and machinery. “They don't see the technology they are using,” he says. In January, John Deere showed its new S-770 combine (pictured),...

IoT comes to gridiron: Siemens touches-down with the Jacksonville Jaguars

Siemens will bring internet-of-things (IoT) technologies and solutions to the home stadium of the Jacksonville Jaguars, the American fooball team, based in Jakcsonville, Florida. The German firm has signed a deal with the Florida gridiron team to deploy its MindSphere IoT platform as part...

Seeds, soil and sensors – the story of Sensoterra

Three per cent of the world’s water is accessible freshwater. Of that, 70 per cent of the freshwater consumed is used in the agricultural industry – the largest consumer of water globally. Monitoring soil moisture allows farmers to make effective and smart irrigation decisions....

AT&T signs $1m smart-city deal in San José, geared to energy savings, public safety

AT&T and San José, in California, have signed a deal worth an estimated $1 million to extend wi-fi coverage and build smart city infrastructure across 14 parks around the city. AT&T is also donating $200,000 to help stimulate community organisations to get citizens online AT&T...

Smart city case study: How Calgary deployed its own LPWA network to build smart city apps (Reader Forum)

The internet of things (IoT) is a game-changer for enterprises and consumers, making every day operations more efficient for organizations and individuals. As smart cities evolve, government agencies are prioritizing IoT initiatives, and deploying low-power wide-area (LPWA) networks to collect data, and using advanced...

Fold-away factories and modular assembly: Two visions of industrial 5G, one dream of digital supply

Inside the factory of the future, everything will be fluid, except for the floors, walls, and ceilings. Industrial assets – machines, devices, and vehicles – will be animated by 5G technologies, and made intelligent by edge and cloud analytics, enabling factory owners to swap-around...

Samsung, KT to launch NB-IoT service through public safety LTE network in Korea

Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics and compatriot carrier KT announced the a new partnership to deploy what the companies claim is the world’s first Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) service through a public safety LTE (PS-LTE) network, Samsung said in a release. The NB-IoT service...

Nokia lines up private 5G test network for Chinese auto-maker FAW

Finnish vendor Nokia will build a private 5G test network for Chinese auto-maker FAW to spur digital transformation of its industrial machines and processes. The pair have signed a “strategic” memorandum-of-understanding to carry out joint research into “smart connected cars, industrial IoT, smart manufacturing...

AT&T on reducing cellular IoT costs and complexities for developers: “Time to revenue is shorter”

Another from the MWC 2019 vaults, which has so far slipped through the gaps of a hectic quarter at Enterprise IoT Insights. This time, we catch up with Cameron Coursey, vice president of IoT product development at AT&T, to discuss how the US carrier...

Pennsylvania state capital hangs smart city sensors off its lighting network

UK smart-city firm Telensa has struck a deal with the city of Harrisburg, the state capital of Pennsylvania in the US, to trial traffic analytics, air quality monitoring, and smart waste sensor systems using its connected street lighting system. Harrisburg deployed a Telensa smart...

Reno puts V2X comms on a blockchain system as part of state-wide mobility tests

The city of Reno, in Nevada, is using blockchain technology to validate data communications between autonomous vehicles and street infrastructure. The University of Nevada and Reno’s Center for Applied Research (NCAR) have teamed up with local blockchain company Filament on the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) trial, which...

Google sister-co Sidewalk Labs releases smart-city icon set to tackle data transparency

Sidewalk Labs has released a set of visual icons for smart cities to instruct citizens about the new technologies they are deploying. The point is to define and explain the role and accountability of digital solutions being rolled out public and private authorities in...

Microsoft snaps up IoT firm Express Logic to “unlock billions of new endpoints”

Microsoft has acquired embedded computing software firm Express Logic for an undisclosed fee, with an aim to “unlock access to billions of new connected endpoints” in the internet-of-things (IoT) space. The San Diego outfit is behind the ThreadX real-time operating system (RTOS), for managing highly...

A review of long-range wireless power technologies–the future is now (Reader Forum)

Wireless technologies have been popular with consumers for several decades now (think Wi-Fi, cordless phones, etc.). The proliferation of smart devices has only fed the need for wireless advances, which have largely come in the form of vastly improved computing power, network connectivity and...

LoRa Alliance drives LoRaWAN usage in utility meters with closer DLMS integration

The LoRa Alliance and the DLMS User Association (DLMS UA) have signed a liaison agreement to define a new DLMS communication profile for LPWAN technologies such as LoRaWAN. The two organisations, representing the LoRaWAN community and the standardisation of DLMS for meter communications, respectively,...

London to use sensor-equipped school backpacks to monitor air quality

The trial stipulates that 250 children will carry the sensors during a week   London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan launched an air quality monitoring trial in which 250 children attending primary schools will carry special backpacks with air quality sensors on their journey to and from school. This...