Vodafone to support the Chinese bike-sharing service already operating in 33 cities.
Vodafone announced it is providing all the managed internet of things connectivity for Chinese bike-sharing company Mobike’s operations in Singapore, which is the firms first business outside of China.
Under terms of the agreement, Vodafone will provide support for GPS navigation to helps consumers locate and book an available bike, and the proprietary “QR” code-based locking system. The GPS system is powered by a solar panel, which removes the need for manual charging.
Mobike launched operations in April 2016 in Shanghai, and now operates in 33 cities and claims more than 1 million bikes in operation. In its latest round of fundraising the company generated more than $300 million, including investment from Singapore-based Temasek. Mobike has announced plans to expand operations to other markets in Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Deutsche Telekom unveils technology to combat bee mortality
Deutsche Telekom announced a technology that it said can help beekeepers protect their bees.
The telco said the narrowband wireless technology transmits data collected by intelligent sensors straight from the beehive to the beekeeper. The data provided by the sensors includes temperature, air humidity, air pressure, beehive weight and activity of the bees. With this information, the beekeeper only needs to look at their smartphone or tablet application to find out whether their bees are healthy, the telco said.
“The example shows that digitization can even make an important contribution to preserving a species. A beehive is the world’s smallest industrial plant with 40,000 workers on half a square meter,” DT said in a statement. “As with Industry 4.0, sensors and narrowband-IoT continually monitor and provide timely assistance before a bee colony is damaged. NB-IoT already offers a wide range of possibilities and the technology is being further developed rapidly.”
