“The Robin Hood of IoT” is what Ivo Rook, COO of IoT connectivity and software provider 1NCE, once said while speaking about the company.
“The only thing we want is to make connectivity in IoT easier for everyone,” Rook said at the time. “We provide universal access and allow our customers to see the code, share the code, and contribute more to it. We aim to be an industry equalizer; we work hard to make it simpler for connected products to stay connected and secure.”
So, fair and shared IoT coverage is key for 1NCE. That much is evident.
This connects well – pun intended – to news announced earlier this morning: Blues has officially partnered with 1NCE in order to expand coverage for cost-efficient and easy-to-build IoT solutions.
First, a bit more about Blues: “We make cloud-connected products ‘actually’ possible for all.” That is the Blues mission. Bringing any “thing” that is part of the ever-evolving Internet of Things online with out-of-the-box wireless connectivity, all while helping to unlock business insights and continuous service delivery for its customers. Blues seeks to keep things simple, not unlike 1NCE; no data contracts or monthly fees, connectivity secured anywhere, and a focus on accelerating society’s shift towards more intelligent IoT operations.
Thus, for the sake of this metaphor, Blues is now a Little John-esque partner alongside 1NCE on a now-combined IoT quest.
“This partnership with 1NCE extends our customers’ IoT coverage to support substantial testing and successful product deployments around the world,” said Jim Hassman, the president and CRO of Blues. “Blues customers already use our Notecard to tackle their important missions, from monitoring air quality to reducing food waste. Together, 1NCE and Blues support our customers’ ingenuities with our joint commitment to simplicity, enterprise-grade reliability and scalability, in the cloud.”
A quick note about the aforementioned Notecard, as well: Blues’ Notecard affordably and securely connects customer products to the cloud without the burden of older cell plans, fees or complex device setup and provisioning. Its firmware also supports failover to a secondary SIM for uninterrupted connectivity. So, customers can leverage 1NCE for even more reliable coverage within previously underserved regions.
“Blues has one of the best IoT solutions in the market, and we see eye-to-eye on today’s need for global connectivity that’s bundled upfront and included in customers’ devices. Partnering with Blues will allow us to do what we do best,” Rook added. “We’re making it easier for customers to collect data anywhere in the world by turning connectivity into a nearly invisible part of the IoT value chain.”
More information about Blues use cases can be found here, as well as our story about 1NCE OS here.