DALLAS, Oct. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --
What's the news? AT&T* is bringing to
market a solution that can accelerate and streamline massive
deployments of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and applications
globally for enterprise and government customers through cellular
connectivity. Notecard™, by Blues Wireless, allows just about any
asset to be connected to the cloud with carrier-grade security. The
solution takes away significant complexity and cost through
pre-paid connectivity and allows solution integrators and product
builders to accelerate time to market and scale.
Why is this important? The global market
intelligence firm IDC estimates that by 2025, the overall number of
connected Internet of Things devices worldwide will reach almost 40
billion, an increase from 31.1 billion in 2020.1
The
need is clear for businesses to take full advantage of the
potential of IoT innovation, become more efficient, reduce their
environmental impact, and scale their operations. Commercial
appliances like washing machines, dishwashers, and beverage
dispensers, as well as construction rigs, refrigeration equipment,
and containers are all envisioned to be coming off the
assembly lines fully equipped for connectivity. To date, the
development, scaling and adoption has been low due to the
complexity of scaled operations due to management and operational
constraints when relying on Wi-Fi for connectivity. Cellular
connectivity overcomes these challenges, making it the best option
available for remote monitoring, control, and tracking use
cases.
What's the solution? Notecard was developed by
Blues Wireless, founded in 2019 by Ray
Ozzie, former CTO and Chief Software Architect at
Microsoft. Notecard is a System-on-Module (SOM) that
enables connections using just two lines of code. The
solution enables developers of a broad range of commercial and
industrial products to embed highly secure prepaid global
connectivity through AT&T's LTE-M and NB-IoT Low-Power
Wide-Area (LPWA) networks designed for IoT applications, without
the complexity of Wi-Fi connections. Data is routed to cloud
providers or application end points of customers choosing.
Notecard makes it easy to manage devices, connectivity, and data
remotely, empowering the manufacturer to better understand how
their assets are used in the field, and open new revenue streams
for services like proactive maintenance and usage-based pricing
models. The simplicity of Notecard enables rapid scaling for
businesses to move from prototypes to full deployments. Notecard
just works – right out of the box.
Who can use this? The automotive, healthcare, industrial,
manufacturing, supply chain, transportation, or just about any
industry. Notecard enables cellular connections for applications
requiring longer battery life, improved coverage and lower costs
that are enabled by AT&T's Low-Power Wide-Area networks, in
addition to traditional 4G LTE networks. These include
wearables, asset tracking, home appliances and utility
meters. Notecard is suited for low, to medium data rate
transmissions.
Where is this available? Notecard is available in the
AT&T IoT Marketplace here.
What are people saying?
"AT&T is a recognized leader in the IoT solutions space with
significant and growing deployments with customers in many
verticals. They have been a great collaborator with our innovative
business model of cost-effective embedded cellular solutions for
mass developer adoption," said Mobeen
Khan, Chief Operating Officer of Blues Wireless. "We
are working with them to bring this game-changing solution to
AT&T enterprise and government customers and accelerate
adoption of IoT network services with thousands of customers across
the globe."
"Businesses increasingly recognize the potential for IoT
technology to materially improve their operations, create entirely
new revenue streams, reduce their environmental footprint and
realize the efficiencies of scale," said William Stovall, vice president, Mobility, IoT
and 5G, AT&T. "Notecard, as an all-in-one solution, will help
unlock the potential of IoT and accelerate customer adoption."
"Internet of Things deployments require hardware, software, and
wired or wireless connectivity, and most require some level of
services to implement," said Sandra
Wendelken, senior research analyst, mobile services and
software at IDC. "The reality is that IoT at the enterprise scale
is still complex. Notecard, with embedded AT&T cellular
connectivity, can help companies manage expenses by including data
costs in up-front device pricing and simplifying the connection
process."
Safecast recently released Airnote, an air quality sensor using
the Notecard for cellular data transmission.
"At Safecast.org we are dedicated to providing open data
about our environment to the global community. Collecting air
quality data has been costly and cumbersome through dedicated
cabling and internet access. Notecard, with embedded AT&T's
connectivity, has changed all that. It makes our Airnote
affordable, takes just a few minutes to install and will help
us measure our environment through our global network of
volunteers," said Pieter Franken,
Co-founder and Japan Director of
Safecast.
*About AT&T Communications
We help family, friends and neighbors connect in meaningful ways
every day. From the first phone call 140+ years ago to
mobile video streaming, we @ATT innovate to improve lives.
AT&T Communications is part of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T). For more
information, please visit us at att.com.
About Blues Wireless
Founded in 2019 by Ray Ozzie,
former CTO and Chief Software Architect at Microsoft, Blues
Wireless is the creator of Notecard, the fastest and most
cost-effective way to add wireless connectivity to any product.
Blues is headquartered in Boston,
MA. Please connect with us at hello@blues.com or visit
blues.io for more information. Read here about IoT innovators
and champions' journey working with the Notecard.
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1 IDC, Worldwide Global DataSphere
IoT Device and Data Forecast, 2021–2025, Doc # US48087621,
July 2021
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SOURCE AT&T Communications