Skip to main content

What if all the ‘things’ in the Internet of Things spoke the same language?

Imagine if you had to choose banks, grocery stores, and doctors in your city based on the languages they recognized. That restriction would be more than irksome. You might miss out on wonderful new stores or be unable to use a medical specialist who was the only one in town who could help with a specific problem. Avoiding a similar troublesome limitation is the force behind a big push for a standard connectivity language for the Internet of Things.

The Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF), a new organization formed last year with some, but not all, of the biggest IoT players, is making progress with a standard communications platform, Fast Company reported. With all the connectivity and control devices, hubs, platforms, and interfaces for smart homes alone, never mind industrial, transportation, shipping, and other IoT applications, the need for more open connectivity is increasingly apparent. If you are attracted by the feature set in a specific outdoor security camera, why should you have to make sure it can “talk” to your home thermostat and your new car’s geo-fencing alert system?

Recommended Videos

During the past year, two large standards groups, the Open Interconnect Consortium that counted Intel and Samsung among its members, and the AllSeen Alliance, which included Qualcomm, Microsoft, LG, and Sony, merged to form the OCF. Throughout 2016 work on a single communications platform proceeded. Fast Company reported that because of the “unity” of the two big groups and the progress that has been made, more than 300 companies have joined the OCF.

The current OCF president, Matt Perry, whose day job is as a Microsoft program manager, said, “I think we’ve eliminated one of the potential hurdles for other companies to consider joining and participating.”

All the big names aren’t on board, however. Apple and Google are both holdouts, as is Zigbee, which just announced a new smart home language. The OCF hopes the others will join, but is also betting that in the long game, open standards will bring everyone into the fold.

Looking outside the smart home to other IoT areas including the automotive industry and other industrial areas, the OCF’s goals for the year include firming up the certification process and getting more certified products on the market. “A standard’s just a standard. When it really gets interesting is when you have real products that are interoperating together, and that makes it more compelling for other companies to join,” said Perry.

Intel marketing manager Kimberly Lewis told Fast Company there’s a lot of interest in moving the certification process and even a certification logo along. “Everyone’s anxious to make money, so it’s like, ‘When are we going to be done?'” said Lewis. “That’s a good problem to have, that people want to start putting this in their products.”

All this talk about a standard communication framework doesn’t mean that Alexa, Google Home, Siri, and Cortana won’t have anything to talk to. On the contrary, those interfaces would be able to access IoT devices by addressing the standard language. What matters is standardization on a device, level. That means, using an example Fast Company cited from Intel Internet of Things product line director Gary Martz, you wouldn’t need to even wonder if a smart door lock could be controlled by Alexa or Siri or Google Home. A “door lock” as a concept would be a common concept for all languages.

“The players that recognize this are going to do very well,” Martz told Fast Company. “[Compatibility] is not the space that we need to differentiate our products on,” he added. “This is the space where we all need to agree on interoperability, so we can all provide features above the standards.”

Updated 1/18/2107 by Bruce Brown to remove a mistaken statement that the AllSeen Alliance had certified 26 products that use the OCF communications framework, which is in fact still in development.

Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown Contributing Editor   As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce…
Security camera maker Kami dives into 24/7 home security monitoring
kami dives into 247 professional monitoring home security

The home security industry continues to evolve thanks to the implementation of new technologies. Today, Kami Vision announced a partnership with Cove to launch a brand-new entry in the smart home security field: 24/7 Professional Monitoring Powered by Cove. This is a new type of DIY security with a full-suite camera that combines professional monitoring with A.I.-enhanced security.

Setup is designed to be simple. All you have to do is install the device, a process that takes only a few minutes -- there's no need for professional installation or hardwiring. This makes it possible for anyone, even people with next to no DIY skills, to install a security system in their home.

Read more
No need to estimate: Nanit’s smart sheet precisely measures your baby’s height
nanits smart sheet will measure your childs height overhead hero pro sheets

Have you ever tried to measure a child? In particular, a wriggling, active, uncooperative infant? It's a bit like herding cats -- all but impossible. Thanks to new smart technology from Nanit, you can let your baby's sheets do the work for you. Nanit's no stranger in this space having released a baby monitor previously.

The new Nanit Pro, combined with the matching Smart Sheets, keeps track of your baby's height as they grow over time. You can take this information and present it to your pediatrician to help ensure your child is growing properly and meeting all of their health thresholds.

Read more
Most promising blood pressure monitoring tech in years isn’t out in the U.S. yet
aktiia blood pressure monitor automatically tracks your bp

Heart disease is one of the most prevalent and deadliest conditions in the world, especially because it can so often go undiagnosed. Many people walk around with severe complications that make them a ticking time bomb. Today, Aktiia announced the availability of the first-ever 24/7 automated blood pressure monitor -- something we got a first look at during CES 2020. Users wear the device and it gathers information about their blood pressure and other health metrics all throughout the day and night.

The device doesn't work like traditional blood pressure monitors. Rather than squeezing your arm each time it needs a measurement, the Aktiia Optical Blood Pressure Monitor monitors your blood pressure by analyzing the diameter of the blood vessels with each heartbeat. This happens automatically, so users are never aware of the test, and therefore do not skew the results by being anxious or behaving differently.

Read more