As new technology emerges, Samsung and Telstra have both moved to invest in, internet of things (IoT) development, the Korean Company is stumping up more than $1.6 Billion in a start-up, while Telstra is conducting lab trials.
In a statement issued overnight, Samsung said it will make the investments through its Silicon Valley arms such as the Samsung Global Innovation Centre in order to develop relevant technologies and strengthen cooperation with start-up companies.
Meanwhile Telstra has completed in-lab trials of IoT devices that will enable cheaper connections for longer periods of time and over further distances.
Several leading tech Companies including the likes of LG and Panasonic and network Companies such as Netgear, D Link and Linksys are looking to IoT technologies, which enables everyday objects such as mobile phones and vehicles to communicate with each other, as a new source of revenue as growth for mainstay products such as smartphones slows.
Telstra group managing director of networks Mike Wright said “”In the last few weeks we’ve been showcasing IoT technology with key enterprise customers in some of our set up with Ericsson at our experience centres in Melbourne,”
“As we get later into the year, we’ll get future software drops and we’ll start activating the next generation, the narrowband IoT software, on our network.”
Recently Samsung has been acquiring companies while developing new products and services in recent years in hopes that such efforts will eventually yield a new profit engine.
The South Korean firm said separately it and Intel have partnered to form the National IoT Strategy Dialogue, an organization composed of industry and academic members that will discuss IoT-related issues such as privacy protection and advise U.S. policymakers on IoT-related regulation.
Samsung is also a key partner of Telstra.
The Australian carrier said that they are now planning in-field trials across metropolitan and regional areas for narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technology.
New IoT chipsets are expected to fall dramatically in price over the coming years and battery life on some devices can be pushed out to run for up to 10 years.
A Narrowband signal is able to extend greater distances, which Telstra claims is good for regional areas, it also allows the carrier to go deeper into building, which is advantageous to metropolitan areas.
Telstra has been running in-field trials for Category 1 IoT which runs at a higher bandwidth than NB-IoT.
“We think cellular is going to be the one that gives [IoT] scale. Cellular since its origins has resulted in more than 7 billion devices on the planet. With that comes scale and with scale comes lower costs, new categories and a whole range of things,” Mr Wright told the AFR.
“We’re convinced that the mobile network is going to play a very significant role in this world of the internet of things.”
