BROWSING: BLE

Asset tracking growth at 50% per year as IoT devices get cheaper, smaller, smarter

Shipments of asset trackers will increase by more than 50 percent annually through 2024, driven by growth in low-power wide-area (LPWA) networks and smaller, cheaper and smarter IoT devices.  Asset tracking is one of the highest-growth segments in the IoT market, concludes a new study...

Twenty miles with Bluetooth – new beacon billed as ‘game-changer’ for IoT, rival for LTE

Texas-based Apptricity has launched a long-range Bluetooth beacon capable of connecting sensors at distances of up to 20 miles outdoors, and up to 20 storeys indoors. It is presented as a low-cost alternative to LTE and satellite for long-range IoT connectivity, and a simpler...

Connected social care and the ‘spirit of 5G’ – all about Liverpool’s £7m smart-city 5G win

The city of Liverpool has just won a £4.3 million fund, topped-up to £7.15 million, from the UK government to build a private 5G network for local health and social care services, and other public bodies. The project will establish a private millimeter wave...

Five verticals for hybrid IoT – where short- and long-range IoT tech meet

Note, this article is taken from a new Enterprise IoT Insights editorial report on the combination of low-power short- and long-range communications technologies in hybrid IoT systems. Go here for the full report, which is free to download. A webinar on the same subject,...

“A private 5G backbone with BLE breakouts” – the Vodafone view on hybrid IoT

Note, this article is taken from a new Enterprise IoT Insights editorial report on the combination of low-power short- and long-range communications technologies in hybrid IoT systems. Go here for the full report, which is free to download. A webinar on the same subject, with panellists...

Hello, HaLow – all about the new Wi-Fi HaLow tech for low-power mid-range IoT

In truth, Wi-Fi HaLow is not new. The solution, geared towards low-power mid-range IoT solutions, was announced back in 2016. But there is gathering momentum around it, with chips and devices in the latter stages of development and a queue of customers apparently lined...

STMicro strikes deals for UWB specialist BeSpoon and NB-IoT chipmaker Riot Micro

France-based semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics (STMicro) has signed agreements to purchase the entire share capital of France-based ultra-wideband (UWB) specialist BeSpoon and the cellular IoT connectivity assets of Canada-based Riot Micro. The deals will strengthen STMicro’s wireless connectivity portfolio, notably its STM32 family of micro-controllers, the...

“A paradigm shift“ – the balance and care of hybrid IoT antenna design

Note, this article is taken from a new Enterprise IoT Insights editorial report, out tomorrow, on the combination of low-power short- and long-range communications technologies in hybrid IoT systems (see cover image below). Go here for the full report, which is free to download;...

Nordic releases hybrid IoT hardware and software for mixing cellular IoT and BLE

Chip maker Nordic Semiconductor is combining low-power long- and short-range IoT connectivity technologies in hardware and software, at developer level, for solution makers to run the pair together in test applications.  Nordic has two hybrid IoT offers, in the form of its nRF9160 developer kit...

New kid on the IoT block – fine-ranging with UWB and what it means for IoT

Note, this article is taken from a new Enterprise IoT Insights editorial report, out tomorrow, on the combination of low-power short- and long-range communications technologies in hybrid IoT systems (see cover image below). Check back here for the full report (from July 9); a...

Three times LPWA networks work best for backhauling short-range IoT sensor systems

Sometimes IoT technologies work better in concert. The standard model for IoT networks to combine two or more different connectivity technologies is when short-range wireless protocols are used in the sensors themselves. Often, these short-range sensors utilise IEEE 802.15.4 based protocols such as Bluetooth Low...

Football trials real-time BLE-based tracking and analytics ahead of new season

Real-time Bluetooth-based sports analytics is coming to football (soccer), says Finnish duo Wisehockey and Quuppa after putting their real-time locating system (RTLS) to the test in their home country. Player and ball movements were tracked during a pre-season match between top-tier Finnish teams earlier this...

Nordic and Qorvo team up on dual-mode BLE and UWB for short-range IoT

Chipset makers Nordic Semiconductor and Qorvo have said they will collaborate on dual-mode IoT products running low-power short-range Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and ultra wideband (UWB) technologies, they have announced. The deal follows Qorvo’s acquisition of Ireland-based UWB pioneer Decawave in February. Decawave produces UWB...

Bemis mixes Sigfox and BLE for indoor and outdoor tracking of smart shopping carts

For three years Bemis Manufacturing had been looking to engineer a smart shopping cart. It had cycled through various IoT technologies only to draw a blank each time, with coverage failing on way or another. And then it came across Sigfox, and then it...

Why short-range and wide-area IoT make a marriage of perfect convenience

Short-range wireless technologies such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), notably, are suited for widespread sensor networks for monitoring all sorts of processes. The chips are cheap and robust, their battery life is excellent, and it is easy to link them together into networks. Plus, the...

Fire truck maker Morita deploys BLE-based IoT solution to track production in Japan

Japanese fire truck manufacturer Morita Group has deployed a Bluetooth-based IoT solution at a 57,000-square metre factory in Osaka, in Japan, to track the location and status of trucks as they are being built. The solution, by Japanese firm Kokusai Kogyo, utilises Bluetooth Low Energy...

LTE-M and BLE combine in US power controller to slash water-heater wastage

US engineering and product design agency Apricity has devised a combined LTE-M and BLE solution for utilities in the US to control demand from domestic water heaters and reduce supply from coal-fired auxiliary power stations. Domestic water heaters are estimated to be responsible for up...

Beyond Beacons: The future of indoor location (Reader Forum)

  The use cases for indoor location services continue to grow—every industry from manufacturing and logistics to law enforcement to healthcare to retail, and dozens of others, can benefit from the ability to determine an object’s precise location indoors. New applications are emerging every day...

Qualcomm enhances Wi-Fi mesh networking platform

Wi-Fi routers have the potential to become smart home hubs, but they will need to manage more than just Wi-Fi. Next generation routers that use Qualcomm silicon and software will be able to respond to voice commands and will manage devices that connect via...