Immer Dienstags (und diese Woche ausnahmsweise an einem Mittwoch) erscheint an dieser Stelle eine kommentierte Übersicht zu den wichtigsten Entwicklungen und besten Analysen aus der Welt der vernetzten Geräte, dem ‚Internet der Dinge‘.
Vernetzte Welt kann per Email und per RSS-Feed abonniert werden.

Top: Deutsches Smart-Thermostat-Unternehmen tado° erhält 15,2 Mio. € Risikokapital

Investoren der ‚Series B‘-Runde des in München sitzenden Unternehmens tado° sind der Venture-Arm von Siemens, Statkraft Ventures, Target Partners, Shortcut Ventures und BayBG. (Pressemitteilung)

Das in das Unternehmen investierte Kapital hat sich mit dieser Runde insgesamt verdoppelt. Bisherige Investoren sind Target Partners und Shortcut Ventures gewesen, die beide bei der neuen Runde wieder dabei waren.

Die im Frühjahr angekündigte IFTTT-Anbindung ist seit einigen Tagen ebenfalls live.

Top: AWS IoT

Amazons Cloud-Juggernaut bekommt IoT-Funktionen. TechCrunch:

AWS IoT will integrate with Lambda, Amazon Kinesis, Amazon S3, Amazon Machine Learning, and Amazon DynamoDB to build IoT applications, manage infrastructure and analyze data.

“Connected does not necessarily mean useful,” said Amazon’s CTO Werner Vogels during the keynote today, and indeed this is what Amazon is aiming at tackling with its mega platform: a place where the many different strands of creating services for disparate connected objects can come together into one place to be run in a cohesive way

Eine Übersicht auch bei ProgrammableWeb.

Analysen und Berichte

Neues Microsoft Band kommt Ende Oktober mit rundem Screen

Integration von Cortana (Microsofts Siri/Alexa/Google Now-Alternative) und unterstützt Apps von unter anderem Uber.
Sprich also ein Fitnessarmband, das langsam eine Smartwatch wird.

GeekWire:

The new Band, available for pre-order today, looks similar to the original device but now has a curved screen and a less bulky battery. In addition to GPS tracking, sleep tracking, a heart rate monitor, and other features found in the first Band, the new version also has a barometer to track elevation changes and can measure VO2Max, an advanced metric that tells you how much oxygen your body can process in one minute.

Blocks, eine modulare Smartwatch, erfolgreich auf Kickstarter finanziert

Kickstarter der Woche:

The watch face – the Core as we like to call it, is a fully functional smartwatch which has all the features you would expect. The most amazing thing about BLOCKS is that the strap is made of several links (modules) each of which have their own functions. You can choose the modules you want to build a smartwatch unique to you.

Es darf allerdings bezweifelt werden, dass Smartwatches jetzt bereits von seiner extremen Modularisierung profitieren können. Man sollte die Erwartungen also nicht zu hoch setzen. (Nicht einmal für den nächstgrößeren Formfaktor, das Smartphone, ergibt das heute Sinn.)

Datenfunknetzwerk PubNub erhält 25 Mio. US-Dollar

TechCrunch:

PubNub, the startup that has built a data network that carries messaging for apps, IoT hardware and other low-latency services, is today announcing that it has extended and closed its Series C round. The San Francisco-based company has raised $25 million, funding that it will use to sharpen its focus on Internet of Things applications and hardware as well as clean energy and social collaboration.

(..)

When we covered the funding in July, it was sending messages across some 200 million devices. Three months later, that number is now up to 300 million devices. PubNub currently has some 2,000 customers and partners, with 750 billion realtime transactions processed per month on average.

PubNub ist vergleichbar mit Sigfox (siehe Vernetzte Welt #1) und einer Netzwerkinitiative von Orange.

Passend dazu: How Does Sensor Data Go From Device To Cloud?

Nucleus erhält 3,37 Mio. US-Dollar für Smart-Home-Kommunikation

TechCrunch:

Available for pre-order today, Nucleus is a connected home device that lets families have two-way audio and video conversations in the home, between homes, or with any mobile device.

Homes using Nucleus will ideally purchase multiple units for different areas or rooms in the house. Once connected, Nucleus lets users communicate with other Nucleus’ by simply touching a picture of the room you want to connect with.

Nucleus can also connect with devices outside the home, meaning you could have a two-way intercom system between the Nucleus in your kitchen, and one in, say, your parents’ house. Essentially, the company’s goal is to create instant, hands-free communication regardless of whether users are in the same room, home or even state.

Ein anderes Einfallstor als TV-Box und Thermostat (bei Häusern statt Wohnungen)?

Das Gefangenendilemma der IoT-Standards

Martin Spindler:

What would be required for interoperability to happen is non-zero-sum thinking with the big platform vendors. And yet we have entered a spiral of zero-sum competition in what seems to be a crucial part of a still-emerging market.

What this will lead to is a necessary segmentation of the market. It is unrealistic, and a problematic aspect of the whole Internet of Things discussion, to have cluster such a variety of things as Industrial and Supply Chain applications, Automotive, Health and Home together. Each of these industries will likely develop their own set of competing standards, where winners will be easier to find, but a lot of deadweight loss will occur. (Think HD-DVD firms and customers.) The really valuable position to sit in such a scenario is at the fringes of respective verticals – being a gateway and translation point between them. We’re starting to see key player jockey into position for this.

Meldungen:

• Bosch: Assistenzsystem zum Ausweichen vor Fußgängern entwickelt
• Chromecast Audio review:Affordable, simple wireless music streamer marries phone and stereo
• Google OnHub Rooted, Turns Out To Be A Chromebook In Router’s Clothing
• Insteon, Hersteller vernetzter Heimgeräte, unterstützt Amazon Echo
• Savant’s Slick $500 Smart-Home Hub Reinvents the Remote