ENTERPRISE IOT, DEVICES
Semtech | March 17, 2023
Semtech Corporation (Nasdaq: SMTC), a high-performance semiconductor, IoT systems and Cloud connectivity service provider, today announced the expansion of its market leading LoRa® portfolio with a new transceiver for use in Internet of Things (IoT) end points that provides lower power consumption, global connectivity and long range.
The new LoRa Connect™ LR1121 brings the best LoRa transceiver RF performance to date with the multi-band versatility permitting a single, low-power chip to be used anywhere in the world. It is pin compatible with the current LoRa Edge™ devices, allowing module makers such as Murata to have a single hardware design for a wide range of applications, with global connectivity. Likewise, Integrated Passive Devices such as Johanson Technology can readily be used alongside the LoRa Connect LR1121 to offer a smaller footprint, reduce time to market and minimize design iterations.
The highly integrated LoRa Connect LR1121 transceiver provides LoRaWAN connectivity for terrestrial low power wide area networks (LPWAN) operating at 470MHz, 868MHz and 915MHz; it also provides LoRa 2.4GHz and the S-band for direct connection to satellites.
“Semtech’s LoRa Connect is targeting the connectivity challenges faced by the industry today enabling widespread adoption and reinforcing LoRa’s position as the de-facto platform for IoT,” said Robert Comanescu, senior director of the IoT Chips Business at Semtech. “We continue to invest in improving LoRa technology and enriching our product portfolio with multi-band LoRa support and LoRa Cloud™ services that will provide best in class, sustainable, ubiquitous and global IoT connectivity.”
New modules and reference designs, developed in partnership with Johanson and Murata, are ready at launch and offer a smaller form factor, lower assembly costs and faster time to market.
Murata’s Type 2GT module, currently supporting the LoRa Edge LR1110 and LR1120 products, is also now supporting the LoRa Connect LR1121, offering a turnkey solution for lower cost assembly and faster time to market with a pre-certified LR1121 variant readily available.
"By collaborating with Semtech on this offering, we are leveraging both companies’ leadership and expertise to create the most needed solution in the IoT market which provides multi-band LoRa® and long range - frequency hopping spread spectrum (LR-FHSS) communication over sub-GHz and 2.4GHz ISM bands as well as licensed S-Band for satellites," said Sasaki Akira, general manager of Connectivity Module Marketing, Murata. "The new multi-band module allows designers to develop products with a faster time to market by minimizing BOM size, cost and complexity."
Likewise, Johanson Technology’s IPD is also compatible with the LR1121 and replaces many RF passives, allowing a smaller form factor and lower assembly costs. A reference design is available now on the Semtech website to jumpstart chip down designs.
About Semtech
Semtech’s LoRa chip-to-Cloud platform is a globally adopted long range, low power solution for Internet of Things (IoT) applications, enabling the rapid development and deployment of long range, ultra-low power and cost efficient IoT networks, gateways, sensors, module products, and IoT services worldwide. Semtech’s LoRa technology provides the communication layer for the LoRaWAN® standard, which is maintained by the LoRa Alliance®, an open IoT alliance for Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) applications that has been used to deploy IoT networks in over 173 countries. Semtech is a founding member of the LoRa Alliance and produces the “The WAN Network Show” podcast to connect massive IoT end users to operators of LoRaWAN networks around the world. With the proliferation of LoRa devices and the LoRaWAN standard, the LoRa Developer Portal is a technical support platform for IoT innovators to learn, connect, collaborate, and find resources to help accelerate product development efforts and expedite time to market. To learn more about how LoRa enables IoT and creates a more sustainable and smarter planet, visit Semtech’s LoRa site.
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ENTERPRISE IOT, DEVICES
prnewswire | March 28, 2023
KORE Group Holdings, Inc. a global leader in Internet of Things ("IoT") Solutions and worldwide IoT Connectivity-as-a-Service ("IoT CaaS"), announced today the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Twilio's IoT business unit as part of a growth strategy to provide customers with a unified, seamless approach to launching IoT solutions as the world's leading pure-play IoT provider. As consideration for the acquisition, Twilio (NYSE:TWLO), the customer engagement platform that drives real-time, personalized experiences for today's leading brands, will receive 10 million shares of KORE common stock, which will represent approximately 11.5% of KORE's issued and outstanding shares.
"IoT has immense potential to change the world," KORE President and CEO Romil Bahl said. "Whether it is ushering in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, supporting chronic disease management through remote patient monitoring, or optimizing agriculture and supporting sustainability, IoT has many powerful applications. Combining the digital prowess of Twilio's IoT business and the comprehensive connectivity-solutions-analytics portfolio of KORE is a meaningful step toward proliferating IoT and making it more accessible and successful." Continued Bahl, "KORE is thrilled to augment our best-in-class IoT CaaS offering with Twilio's IoT talent and customer portfolio. This acquisition represents exactly the kind of investment we have said we are willing to make to become an exciting top-line growth company, and specifically, we will benefit from the world-class digital experience and developer community Twilio has built for its IoT business."
This acquisition will bring to market:
A powerful connectivity suite, including best-in-class eSIM technologies with KORE OmniSIM™ and Twilio Super SIM
A one-stop shop for building, deploying, managing, and scaling IoT operations throughout the entire lifecycle via award-winning technologies and world-class facilities
An accelerated time to market through global, 24/7 customer support and 20 years of IoT experience through KORE and the Twilio IoT team's depth and breadth of digital experience
"We are just scratching the surface of the opportunities IoT can unlock for customers," said Twilio's Head of IoT, Taylor Wolfe. "As a global leader in IoT, KORE has the right expertise, vision, and technology to expand the robust offerings that Twilio's world-class IoT team has built. KORE is the right home for Twilio's IoT business, and we look forward to this acquisition increasing scalability and creating even more powerful business outcomes for our customers going forward."
Completion of the acquisition transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including, among other things, the negotiation and execution of certain ancillary agreements.
About KORE
KORE is a pioneer, leader, and trusted advisor delivering mission critical IoT solutions and services. We empower organizations of all sizes to improve operational and business results by simplifying the complexity of IoT. Our deep IoT knowledge and experience, global reach, purpose-built solutions, and deployment agility accelerate and materially impact our customers' business outcomes.
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ENTERPRISE IOT
Skylo | March 20, 2023
Cloud-based cellular network provider Monogoto today announced a new roaming agreement with Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) service operator Skylo Technologies. This new agreement lowers the barrier for developers to add satellite connectivity to existing public and/or private networks already available on Monogoto Cloud, delivering the world's most affordable and accessible solution for NB-IoT Satellite connectivity for asset tracking products.
In addition, low-power tracking and sensing solutions provider SODAQ will launch a new asset-tracking trial kit, using Monogoto connectivity and network.
"Using Monogoto Cloud developers can now add satellite connectivity with a single API call, without worrying about expensive setup or training and for just a dollar per month. The advent of satellite NB-IoT technology, coupled with the maturity of 5G and 3GPP standards is game-changing for developers," says Monogoto CTO Maor Efrati. "For the first time, they can seamlessly connect their products, built for the regular cellular model, to satellite networks and add satellite coverage at a significantly lower cost."
Efrati illustrates the potential of the Monogoto/Skylo/SODAQ solution by outlining a use case of a global logistics provider that is reliant upon cellular connectivity only to monitor driver behavior and/or assets.
"Imagine the ability to add satellite connectivity when cellular or other networks are not available, giving developers the ultimate resiliency that devices will always be connected," he notes.
"Skylo is excited to partner with Monogoto as its wholesale NTN operator partner," said Eric DaVersa, Vice-President of Business Development for Skylo Technologies. "The Monogoto focus on addressing the developer community where IoT solutions are conceptualized is ideal for the rapid integration of terrestrial/satellite roaming. This offering will help fleets obtain ubiquitous connectivity, which is becoming essential for their businesses."
"Having the possibility to use the same hardware for both terrestrial and satellite communication is a real breakthrough. We can now offer connectivity with our hardware in places where it was never possible before and we can still benefit from the great throughput of the terrestrial networks to, for instance, do software updates," says Jan Willem Smeenk, Co-founder & Senior Solutions Architect, SODAQ.
About Skylo
Skylo Technologies is an NTN service provider based in Palo Alto, CA, offering a service that allows cellular modems and devices to connect directly over existing satellites. Devices connected over satellite are managed and served by Skylo's commercial NTN vRAN, featuring a 3GPP standards-based cloud-native base station and core. Skylo works with existing satellite operators, terrestrial mobile network operators, and device makers to provide subscribers with an anywhere, anytime connectivity solution that seamlessly roams between terrestrial and satellite networks. Skylo's focus is on enabling connected services for people outdoors and connected workflows for machines at work across critical industries such as agriculture, maritime, logistics, mining, and others, in addition to mass-market consumer devices.
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