Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Mobile
    • Networking

    Startup Octoblu Promises IoT Platform for Connecting Devices

    By
    Jeff Burt
    -
    July 22, 2014
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      Internet of things

      Octoblu is wading into the increasingly crowded space of vendors and consortiums looking to find the best ways to enable the expected tens of billions of devices that will make up the Internet of things to easily communicate with each other.

      The startup emerged from stealth mode July 22, with executives announcing the company’s upcoming platform for providing connections and managing communications across the burgeoning Internet of things (IoT).

      The IoT entails the growing number of intelligent devices—from smartphones, tablets and laptops to industrial systems, appliances, cars, surveillance cameras and home systems—connecting with each other and swapping data, with businesses anticipating greater efficiencies and growing market opportunities and consumers eyeing the benefits of a more connected life.

      Ensuring that all these devices, systems and sensors—Cisco Systems anticipates there will be 50 billion connected devices by 2020, with IDC analysts forecasting a $7.1 trillion market by then—can communicate despite the various protocols, APIs and languages on the market now will be important to the eventual success and reach of the IoT. It’s why there is a growing list of vendors and industry groups working on the challenge.

      Octoblu CEO Geir Ramleth, who co-founded the company with another former Bechtel official, Chris Matthieu, said Octoblu is creating a platform that can span across a range of devices and appliances, protocols and languages, applications and people. The challenge is enabling these connected systems to connect and communicate freely without putting limitations on that communication, Ramleth told eWEEK.

      “How do you get this … world integrated without having a whole bunch of silos?” he asked. “Right now you have a lot of things happening, but it’s happening in a bunch of proprietary silos.”

      There’s no lack of companies looking to try. In the last seven months, a number of vendor-led consortiums have arisen looking to create a common IoT platform. Octoblu in June joined one of these groups, the AllSeen Alliance, which launched in late December 2013. AllSeen is looking to leverage the AllJoyn code, which comes out of an engineering effort at Qualcomm.

      Earlier this month, Intel, Samsung, Dell, Broadcom and others started the Open Interconnect Consortium aimed at improving interoperability between connected devices, while a week later the Thread Group—which includes ARM, Samsung and Google’s Nest business—launched to push Thread, an IP wireless networking protocol.

      Ramleth said the consortiums will come up with their protocols and standards, but that the result will be multiple solutions that will still need sorting out. In addition, a key part of the IoT will be the ability for these new connected devices to talk with legacy systems, and “you can’t connect the old world by having a new protocol.”

      Other companies like Apple (with HomeKit) and Google are developing their own ways for connecting devices, and there is a range of efforts in the market, from ZigBee and MQTT to Z-Wave and XMPP. The problem is that none of them have the same reach as HTTP or IP, which will limit them , he said.

      Octoblu’s platform will be based on Meshblu, a machine-to-machine messaging technology developed by Matthieu that had been called Skynet.IM. According to Ramleth, Meshblu can be used to connect devices that run on disparate protocols and can discover and manage applications, hardware appliance and device, and social media network.

      Octoblu officials also are developing a security and rights manage architecture that will be used by the platform, he said. The company will launch its platform in the fall, Ramleth said.

      Jeff Burt
      Jeffrey Burt has been with eWEEK since 2000, covering an array of areas that includes servers, networking, PCs, processors, converged infrastructure, unified communications and the Internet of things.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×