On Target: Embedded Systems

Will Patents Hinder IoT Openness?

Coined by Kevin Ashton in 1999, the term “Internet of Things” (IoT) has only recently become a widespread concept. Use of the term began its slow emergence from the tech world in 2003-2004 when popular publications like The Guardian and Scientific American wrote articles on IoT. However, based on Google Trends, interest by tech companies and the public began rising around 2009 with a dramatic increase in 2013, a year filled with smart home appliances and tech giants’ connected device innovations. To delve more into the increasing interest in the Internet of Things, VDC conducted an analysis of U.S. patent... Read more →

QNX Ex-Owner Harman International Acquires Red Bend Software

Harman International is best known as an audio electronics maker, owning numerous brand names targeting consumers and professionals, including AKG, Crown, dbx, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon, Mark Levinson, and Revel. As old-school “car stereos” have evolved in recent years into multifunction “infotainment systems,” Harman has also become a major player in automotive electronics. On January 22, Harman announced its acquisition for $170 million of Red Bend Software, which is the leading provider of software and services for Firmware Over The Air (FOTA) updating for mobile devices and automobiles. (See press release here.) Harman simultaneously announced its acquisition of software... Read more →

Cybersecurity, Politics, and the State of the Union

Even before President Obama’s State of the Union address on January 20th, The White House was touting new cybersecurity initiatives that would be mentioned in the address. Indeed, during his speech, President Obama told a nationwide (and worldwide) TV audience, “To stay one step ahead of our adversaries, I have already sent this Congress legislation that will secure our country from the growing danger of cyber-threats.” This is the first time that the topic of cybersecurity has received such high profile political exposure in the State of the Union, and given the increasing sophistication of hackers, it likely won’t be... Read more →

VDC Research is attending Embedded World 2015!

Contact us ASAP to schedule a meeting VDC will be making the trip across the Atlantic again this year to visit the largest embedded technology tradeshow of the year, Embedded World in Nuremberg, Germany. Last year, the conference boasted 26,700 visitors and 856 exhibiting companies!. While we are at the conference, we welcome the opportunity to meet with attending vendors to learn more about their embedded solutions and any show-related (or other recent) announcements. You can arrange a meeting time with VDC by contacting us directly. For meetings contact: André Girard, Senior Analyst, IoT & Embedded Technology, [email protected], 508.653.9000 x153;... Read more →

Intel’s IoT Platform Extends Security Toward Edges

At a press and analyst event in San Francisco on December 9, Intel announced its “IoT Platform” reference model. The model is horizontal in scope, encompassing numerous technologies applicable to everything from edge devices to gateways to the cloud. In addition, it is intended to be a modular approach, such that Intel’s hardware and software components (including those from subsidiaries Wind River and McAfee) can be mixed with those of other vendors. For example, a customer could deploy its preferred gateway devices not limited to those based on Intel’s Moon Island design, while remaining compatible with Intel’s reference model. We... Read more →

Automotive Privacy Protection Principles Don't Go Far Enough

The Association of Global Automakers and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers jointly announced on November 13, 2014 a set of voluntary “Consumer Privacy Protection Principles.” (See the press release here, and download the principles PDF document here.) The document is written in quasi-legalese, but in essence, it’s a pledge by automakers, beginning with the 2017 model year, to among other things: inform consumers about how data collected from their vehicles will be used obtain “affirmative consent” for certain ways that data might be used anonymize aspects of the data under some circumstances VDC applauds the auto industry for recognizing the... Read more →

How Significant is ARM’s mbed OS?

For microcontrollers (MCUs) used in embedded devices, intellectual property supplier ARM is the clear market leader. In a recent forecast for VDC Research’s report “The Global Market for Embedded Processors,” ARM-based MCUs accounted for more than half of the unit shipments using non-proprietary architectures in 2013 (see chart). The Cortex-M series is the main line of ARM MCUs, and is the most prevalent architecture used in embedded devices for the IoT. So when ARM announced on October 1 at the TechCon convention and trade show that the company would provide a free operating system—the mbed OS—for the M-series, it created... Read more →

Notable Demos from ARM TechCon 2014 and JavaOne

Semiconductor intellectual property supplier ARM kicked off its annual TechCon conference and trade show in Santa Clara, CA with expansion of the mbed IoT Device Platform, including a free operating system as well as server side IoT technologies. We describe the mbed OS in more detail in a separate blog post. In this post, we’ll highlight a couple of notable demos from other vendors on the show floor, plus one from Oracle’s concurrent JavaOne conference and trade show in San Francisco. In a literal sign-of-the-times at both events, you couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting a sign that read,... Read more →

IoT Lessons from the Russian CyberVor Hacking

Widely reported during the first week of August was the revelation that a group of Russian hackers known as CyberVor had amassed a database of 1.2 billion usernames and passwords, as well as more than 500 million email addresses. The New York Times originally broke the story, based on findings from the firm Hold Security. Unlike the Target retail data breach of late 2013 and the more recent eBay breach, CyberVor’s loot is not the result of one or two large breaches, but rather a large number of breaches of all sizes. Hold Security says that the data came from... Read more →

VDC Embedded Jama Software Webinar

How to Understand Requirements Management to Develop and Deliver Faster For Embedded Systems Developers, Time to Market is Critical. Learn the No. 1 Strategy to Develop and Deliver Faster. During this free webinar on Wednesday, July 23 at 1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT, VDC Research analyst André Girard and Jama Software co-founder Derwyn Harris will present on the growing necessity for requirements management (RM) tools in the face of today’s increasingly complex code bases, distributed development teams, and stricter budgets. OEMs are facing constant pressure for innovation even with tight budgets, and they are dedicating more of their resources towards... Read more →