ARM is betting on the Internet of Things with new mbed OS
ARM, the uk chipmaker which makes processors for most of the world’s smartphones and tablets, is creating a new operating system for Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
The mbed OS is designed to use as little battery and memory as possible and will work in devices which use its own chips in a bid to get device makers using its technology.
While smartphones have a number of operating systems such as Android and Apple’s iOS with established standards for developers to work with, there is no single standard yet for IoTs.
The new OS could be used in everyday objects such as lightbulbs, fridges, and thermostats to connect them to the internet.
The UK firm hopes the free OS will enable companies making IoT devices to concentrate on creating features which will attract users rather than the nuts and bolts of what’s going on inside.
ARM will however license the software associated with managing the data collected from the devices. The tech company has already partnered with the likes of Ericsson, IBM, Silicon Labs and Telefonica to launch mbed.
Head of ARM Simon Segars said:
“Deploying IoT-enabled products and services requires a diverse set of technologies and skills to be coordinated across an organization. ARM mbed will make this easier by offering the necessary building blocks to enable our expanding set of ecosystem partners to focus on the problems they need to solve to differentiate their products, instead of common infrastructure technologies. This will accelerate the growth and adoption of the IoT in all sectors of the global economy."
The Internet of Things is thought to be the next stage in the evolution of the internet and is expected to be worth $1.7tn by 2020 according to researcher IDC.