With the World Cup roaring to a close, the world is abuzz—but it’s not just soccer fans who are talking. Devices are communicating with each other more and more each day, and as such the M2M space is constantly churning up new developments. So before you dive into the final stretch of the World Cup, take a minute to review some of the highlights from this week in M2M.
This week, it was revealed that FreeWave is primed to capitalize on the industrial M2M market with the appointment of a new company leader. The industrial segment of the machine-to-machine (M2M) market is one of fastest growing parts of the overall Internet of Things (IoT) landscape. Boulder, Colo.-based M2M solutions provider FreeWave Technologies is looking to capitalize on its expertise in this market and has announced the appointment of Kim Niederman as its new CEO.
“FreeWave has built a great management team and employee base, along with innovative technology, to support customers with mission-critical applications in the fast-growing M2M and IoT markets,” said Niederman. “We have the right people with the right technology at the right time. I couldn’t be more excited to help lead this company to its next level of success.”
Niederman brings to FreeWave more than 20 years of senior executive experience (including serving as CEO and president) with a successful leadership track record in public and private companies of all sizes – ranging from large, high-tech (Cisco Systems), to mid-sized corporations (Polycom, Inc., FORE Systems, 8x8, Inc.), and several start-up firms. Most recently, he served as president of 8x8, Inc.
While FreeWave is positioning itself for its niche of the M2M market, Amtel is doing the same. The global microcontroller manufacturer, which works with embedded devices, has agreed to purchase Newport Media, a wireless and cellular system-on-a-chip developer. According to a report on the issue at Venture Beat, this deal marks yet another move in the chip making industry to firmly plant itself into the Internet of Things (IoT). It notes that various other manufacturers that work in related markets, such as Intel, Qualcomm, Imagination Technologies, Spansion, and Adesto, have made announcements in recent years about their involvement with the IoT.
Mobile asset tracking was another hot topic this week, and was discussed by Brian Sutter, director of marketing for Wasp Barcode Technologies. Companies with fixed assets that are tracked on a piece of paper or within an Excel spreadsheet may be losing a substantial amount of time and money. An automated asset tracking system, on the other hand, provides clear financial benefits, such as decreasing weighty administrative and replacement costs.
“Automated asset tracking will protect your fixed assets,” Sutter explained. “Take the process a step further by allowing your employees to complete their entire asset tracking tasks using a mobile device– saving them time and saving you money.”
These are only a few highlights from a very busy week in the M2M space, so be sure to check back to M2M Evolution regularly for all the latest news in the industry.
