I'm so very confused. "mbed" has been around for years. I've never used it, but it is designed to make developing Cortex-M projects significantly easier on the software side. Did *anypne* Google the term before publishing the official PR press release? My newsfeed is full of blogs talking about mbed as a new invention. What is really going on here?
Looking at the mbed.org site (the portal to the mbed online compiler) it has taken on a lot of the ARM branding and information used in the material above. This does seem to be an update to the existing mbed infrastructure over the next 12 months culminating in an mbed 3.0 release which contains all the features in this article.
Are there any architectures that let my IoT devices connect to a self-hosted server ? IoT is fine and all, but my Internet goes down several times per month, I'd rather connect to a server within my home.
ARM seems to have just killed the entire OS market for IoT by making mbed free! This is probably going to come back and bite them and its partners real bad. By making the OS free, ARM thinks, "it will help spur IoT hardware sales", which in turn will benefit ARM's "core" business. Though this true, the prices of these IoT semiconductors (which incorporate ARM cores) that go into IoT devices will only decline in the future. They are currently in the $2 to $5 range. Assuming that there are 30 billion IoT devices by 2020, and that ARM is able to capture 50% share of the market by 2020, and assuming a 1% royalty rate on a $1 MCU (or probably even lesser) that uses ARM core, then by 2020, ARM is probably going to make just about (from their current levels) $150 million out of this business. That doesn't really seem a big revenue number to make for a billion dollar-plus company in six years out in the future! On the other hand, if they were to license the mbed OS and charge royalty for it on the overall ASP of the IoT device (which could range from anywhere between $10 to $100), they could've gained more. They would've also spurred more competition and hence innovation from other competing platforms such as TinyOS, Contiki and LiteOS. But by making mbedOS free, they are now forcing everyone to offer the OS free! IMHO, that is just plain n simple "nipping-the-IoT-OS-market-at-the-bud" move.
I'm guessing that adding $10-$100 for the OS into the bill of materials would make the devices themselves too expensive to compete with non-IoT products. At present I find it hard to imagine a $50 toaster being way more useful by being an IoT toaster. If being IoT adds lots of cost to the consumer and doesn't add much functionality, it won't fly.
IoT is in the the wild west phase - a big land grab. Get the share of the market first and then later you can capitalize on premium services. Seems like a flawed but inevitable business practice.
Can someone explain the overarching use case for this stuff? OK, I remember the university coke machine back from the 1990s that was hooked up to an IP address so that the students could check the temperature and the stock... a bit of fun rather than a "killer app". But what benefit is there, exactly, to having an Internet-enabled kettle just so you can let the NSA/GCHQ know when you are in and making tea?
I can understand sensors in the home reacting helpfully when you are there, but the move to give your lights and heating circuit and other previously dumb things Internet capability is just spine-chillingly Orwellian to me. :/
1. Convenience/laziness, basically two sides to the same coin.
Internet connectivity is the easiest way to give Joe Average remote control ability on whatever they want. A mobile app that sends simple commands and receives simple data is pretty much apps 101 so they're cheap to do that way. Sure some of them only really make sense to make available on the local network, but once you're there you're already basically on the internet so at that point it's just easy marketing to say you can adjust your <thing> from the office/park/airplane.
2. Some of those things actually do benefit from the connectivity.
Take thermostats for example. At the basic level being able to tell it when you're there or not allows it to operate more efficiently. Wifi/Bluetooth looking for your smartphones is an easy way to usually get it right without putting sensors everywhere. Anticipating upcoming weather by pulling forecasts and/or data from locations west of you. The convenience of being able to disable an energy save mode if you come home early or return from vacation and not have the house be uncomfortable.
Security systems the benefits are obvious. Remote arm/disarm. Multimedia alerts with security cam images if available.
Basically the tl;dr version boils down mostly to "I can control X from my phone" and "Y can alert me of Z on my phone". A few things can actually directly benefit from internet data sources though.
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coder543 - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
I'm so very confused. "mbed" has been around for years. I've never used it, but it is designed to make developing Cortex-M projects significantly easier on the software side. Did *anypne* Google the term before publishing the official PR press release? My newsfeed is full of blogs talking about mbed as a new invention. What is really going on here?coder543 - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
The device server looks new.. but.. seriously. no references to the existing mbed software? at all?Ryan Smith - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
None in ARM's materials, at least.LigerXer0 - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
Looking at the mbed.org site (the portal to the mbed online compiler) it has taken on a lot of the ARM branding and information used in the material above. This does seem to be an update to the existing mbed infrastructure over the next 12 months culminating in an mbed 3.0 release which contains all the features in this article.StormyParis - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
Are there any architectures that let my IoT devices connect to a self-hosted server ? IoT is fine and all, but my Internet goes down several times per month, I'd rather connect to a server within my home.sr1030nx - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
Precisely what kind of security are they talking about?That's my biggest worry with the IoT ATM.
HardwareDufus - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
ARM Cortex-M series is getting interesting. Progressive silicon, followed by a concerted effort to develop a better software framework.Hope TI gets on board. Atmel and STMicro appear fully invested.
HardwareDufus - Thursday, October 2, 2014 - link
Ryan,Thanks for paying attention to this stuff and reporting it.
gramamoo - Thursday, October 2, 2014 - link
ARM seems to have just killed the entire OS market for IoT by making mbed free! This is probably going to come back and bite them and its partners real bad. By making the OS free, ARM thinks, "it will help spur IoT hardware sales", which in turn will benefit ARM's "core" business. Though this true, the prices of these IoT semiconductors (which incorporate ARM cores) that go into IoT devices will only decline in the future. They are currently in the $2 to $5 range. Assuming that there are 30 billion IoT devices by 2020, and that ARM is able to capture 50% share of the market by 2020, and assuming a 1% royalty rate on a $1 MCU (or probably even lesser) that uses ARM core, then by 2020, ARM is probably going to make just about (from their current levels) $150 million out of this business. That doesn't really seem a big revenue number to make for a billion dollar-plus company in six years out in the future! On the other hand, if they were to license the mbed OS and charge royalty for it on the overall ASP of the IoT device (which could range from anywhere between $10 to $100), they could've gained more. They would've also spurred more competition and hence innovation from other competing platforms such as TinyOS, Contiki and LiteOS. But by making mbedOS free, they are now forcing everyone to offer the OS free! IMHO, that is just plain n simple "nipping-the-IoT-OS-market-at-the-bud" move.gcor - Saturday, October 4, 2014 - link
I'm guessing that adding $10-$100 for the OS into the bill of materials would make the devices themselves too expensive to compete with non-IoT products. At present I find it hard to imagine a $50 toaster being way more useful by being an IoT toaster. If being IoT adds lots of cost to the consumer and doesn't add much functionality, it won't fly.Semprini - Tuesday, October 14, 2014 - link
IoT is in the the wild west phase - a big land grab. Get the share of the market first and then later you can capitalize on premium services. Seems like a flawed but inevitable business practice.asmian - Thursday, October 2, 2014 - link
Can someone explain the overarching use case for this stuff? OK, I remember the university coke machine back from the 1990s that was hooked up to an IP address so that the students could check the temperature and the stock... a bit of fun rather than a "killer app". But what benefit is there, exactly, to having an Internet-enabled kettle just so you can let the NSA/GCHQ know when you are in and making tea?I can understand sensors in the home reacting helpfully when you are there, but the move to give your lights and heating circuit and other previously dumb things Internet capability is just spine-chillingly Orwellian to me. :/
mkozakewich - Thursday, October 2, 2014 - link
Spoiler: Your microwave and toaster just want to look at porn all day.wolrah - Thursday, October 2, 2014 - link
A few reasons:1. Convenience/laziness, basically two sides to the same coin.
Internet connectivity is the easiest way to give Joe Average remote control ability on whatever they want. A mobile app that sends simple commands and receives simple data is pretty much apps 101 so they're cheap to do that way. Sure some of them only really make sense to make available on the local network, but once you're there you're already basically on the internet so at that point it's just easy marketing to say you can adjust your <thing> from the office/park/airplane.
2. Some of those things actually do benefit from the connectivity.
Take thermostats for example. At the basic level being able to tell it when you're there or not allows it to operate more efficiently. Wifi/Bluetooth looking for your smartphones is an easy way to usually get it right without putting sensors everywhere. Anticipating upcoming weather by pulling forecasts and/or data from locations west of you. The convenience of being able to disable an energy save mode if you come home early or return from vacation and not have the house be uncomfortable.
Security systems the benefits are obvious. Remote arm/disarm. Multimedia alerts with security cam images if available.
Basically the tl;dr version boils down mostly to "I can control X from my phone" and "Y can alert me of Z on my phone". A few things can actually directly benefit from internet data sources though.
embedForce - Saturday, October 4, 2014 - link
Hmm, not completely new, even more flexible as no cloud constraints: http://riot-os.org/