Vodafone and Intel Corporation today announced a new collaboration that aims to make it simpler and more affordable for businesses to develop smart services by connecting devices to the Internet. The two companies aim to develop and market machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions that will combine Intel’s computing processor platforms with Vodafone’s network and connectivity services.
By aligning Intel’s enhanced computing power and Vodafone’s mobile data capabilities, it will be easier for companies to embed M2M capabilities in a wide range of products ranging from connected washing machines to connected vehicles to entire ‘smart’ buildings.
Information that is captured by the connected device and transmitted by the network can then be turned into valuable smart services for the customer.
By packaging embedded computing and mobile services, the two companies intend to spur a new wave of innovation in the global M2M sector.
As part of the collaboration the companies will create an M2M Smart Services Developer Kit using the Intel Atom processor making it simpler for businesses to create services and applications with standardized M2M capabilities in their products and foster growth in the M2M services market.
“The M2M market has the potential to boost customer service and profit margins, but take up has been partly held back by the complexity of installing and managing the technology,” said Erik Brenneis, head of M2M at Vodafone. “This new collaboration will create a simple way for businesses to firstly connect devices to the Internet then manage the wireless connectivity of these devices across the world.”
“The consumer and embedded sectors are moving towards billions of connected devices enabled by new and richer classes of service. We view persistent device connectivity, security, and manageability as important factors for the success of M2M and this collaboration will facilitate further progress in those areas,” said Ton Steenman, vice president and general manager of the Embedded and Communications Group, Intel Corporation.
Initially the firms will focus on delivering an M2M capability that can be used across many different market sectors. They will then develop tailored M2M capabilities for use in specific products across the automotive, smart home and connected white goods sectors.