LTE IoT BLOG
How to simplify healthcare devices with cellular connectivity
In the next few years, fundamental technological changes in wireless communications are set to revolutionize healthcare applications.
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A Technologist’s View of the Integrated SIM (iSIM), featuring Rotem Gazit, Arad Water Meters’ CEO
As part of our iSIM campaign at Mobile World Live with our partners Kigen and Vodafone Business, we interviewed the CEO of the Arad Group, one of our key customers in the smart metering market,...
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Why 2G fallback is still beneficial for LPWA 4G/5G based devices
Byline Igor Tovberg, Director, Product Marketing In the past few years, there has been considerable mention of 5G and its ongoing deployment around the world. There is no doubt that 5G will deliver ground-breaking data...
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Your Journey to Developing a Successful Cellular IoT Device
By Lavi Semel, CTO, Altair Semiconductor There are many hurdles to overcome on the path to developing a successful cellular IoT device. Today, the IoT device and smartphone ecosystems are worlds apart The cellular IoT...
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Connected Medical Devices Have a Key Role to Play in an Era of Pandemics. Here’s How.
Igor Tovberg - Director, Product Marketing Technology has a history of helping to track and treat viruses. And, with the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring COVID-19 a global pandemic, people are rightly asking themselves how new...
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Constant Traceability: tracking anything, anywhere
IoT is changing global supply chains. There are many challenges in designing a global asset tracker that ALT1250 can solve.
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It starts with one smart lightbulb, but can take down an entire IoT deployment
By: Avishay Shraga, Head of Security Technologies, Altair Semiconductor Introduction: Almost everyone owns a “smart” or “connected” IoT device nowadays, and recent estimates forecast that the number of IoT devices will reach a staggering...
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How Altair is Addressing Today’s Vehicle Telematics Challenges with Cellular IoT
A new generation of devices, powered by ALT1250, allows years of operation, zero cost installation, opening the market to new use cases.
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Bringing Cellular IoT Devices To Life With Voice
By Dima Feldman, Director, Head of Product Management Our natural comfort with verbal communication has led to a new era of convenient voice-activated devices. Over the last few years, consumer trends show a mass...
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MWC Shanghai’s 3 Key Factors for IoT Growth
There is no shortage of excitement surrounding IoT at MWC Shanghai 2019. As we have seen over the last few years, much of the speculation surrounding IoT, particularly Cellular IoT, has become a reality....
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Getting up to Speed on 450MHz
Last modified on June 7, 2022 By Igor Tovberg, Director of Product Marketing 450MHz is a frequency with a rich history that continues to revolutionize the world of cellular connectivity. Buzz around its latest implementation,...
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MWC19 Takeaways: Forget the 5G hype, IoT is already here!
By Dima Feldman, Director, Head of Product Management This year, the Altair team once again headed off to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress. With more than 100,000 attendees from almost 200 countries, and over...
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For IoT Security, an Integrated SIM Makes Common Sense
By Avishay Shraga, Head of Security Technologies Previously, we examined the benefits of the integrated SIM (iSIM) and how it will help simplify the development process of new IoT applications, while reducing costs and optimizing...
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IoT takeaways from CES: 2019 will be the year for Low Power Cellular IoT
By: Ilan Reingold, VP Business Development and Marketing The dust has finally settled following a fantastic CES 2019, and it’s time to reflect. Back-to-back meetings for four days straight may have been exhausting, but it...
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Why Cellular is the Only Option for IoT Wearables
Only cellular IoT can meet the growing demands of wearable applications, while guaranteeing an efficient and cost-effective solution.
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Integrated SIM (iUICC) will be a Gamechanger for Cellular IoT
The introduction of an integrated SIM (iSIM) simplifies the development process while reducing costs and optimizing device performance.
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NB IoT Chipset with iSIM at MWC Americas
Earlier this month, the Altair team was once again thrilled to head to Los Angeles for the second MWC Americas exhibition. We joined 22,000 participants from more than 100 countries to view and discuss the...
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With LTE-M and NB-IoT You’re Already on the Path to 5G
This week, Altair is pleased to share a guest blog post by Gus Vos, Chief Engineer, Technology Standards for Sierra Wireless. With recent demonstrations of 5G having taken place as recently as the Olympic Winter Games and Superbowl LII, interest...
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New Opportunities For Chipset Providers As China Rethinks Cellular IoT
When the new generation of Cat-M1 (LTE-M) and NB-IoT networks began rolling out, there was considerable speculation as to which markets would push forward each technology. The two largest U.S. carriers decided to prioritize Cat-M1...
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How to Design IoT Low Power Consumption Applications Part 2: Optimizing the Non-optimal
In our last blog post, we looked at the first steps to developing devices for IoT low power consumption devices. This installment will focus on one specific IoT scenario and how it can be optimized...
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How to Design Low Power IoT Applications Part 1: KPIs and Low Power Techniques
Dima Feldman, Altair’s Head of Product Management, takes us through the initial steps to developing a low-power IoT device.
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Q&A with Mehul Udani on Murata, Altair, LTE IoT Chipsets, and Cellular IoT
In February, Murata Electronics, a global leader in enabling embedded modules, announced it was teaming with Altair to develop its first cellular IoT solutions. Three months on, we caught up with Mehul Udani, Murata’s Director...
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450 MHz – Unsung Hero of Cellular IoT
In the general clamor surrounding cellular IoT connectivity, it’s easy to overlook some of those key components that may not receive the attention they deserve. One example is the 450 MHz spectrum, currently utilized for...
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Designing Low Power IoT Applications? Ask the Experts Part 2: LPWA Technology Features and Data Management
Did you read our first blog, summarizing the questions and answers around Low Power IoT applications? In the second installment, we summarize additional answers from Altair’s Director of Product Management Dima Feldman, together with Bryan...
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Designing Low Power IoT Applications? Ask the Experts Part 1: 5G LPWA and Low Power Modes
Altair Semiconductor was once again delighted to team up with Sierra Wireless for a second webinar focusing on low-powered LTE-M and NB-IoT applications. In this episode – LPWA Expert Panel: Answering Your Questions on Designing...
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Industry Experts Answer Your Questions About LPWA Solutions
This week, Altair is pleased to share a guest blog post by Gus Vos, Chief Engineer, Technology Standards for Sierra Wireless. Our recent webinar, Designing Low-Power Applications for LTE-M and NB-IoT LPWA Networks, sparked a flood...
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Why Cellular IoT Vehicle Telematics Is The Only Option
With the continued rollout of new LTE-M and NB-IoT networks, increasingly more vertical industries are recognizing and adopting cellular IoT as the most viable solution for IoT connectivity. This is especially true for the aftermarket...
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MWC Reflections: Cellular IoT, 5G and a Changing Industry
Last modified on May 25, 2022 After months of planning, the Altair/Sony team was thrilled to head to Barcelona for the world’s largest mobile event. This year, Mobile World Congress included 107,000 visitors from 205...
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Thoughts from the Field: an interview with Brendan Schaffer, Director of Business Development at Sony Semiconductor
Last modified on April 17, 2022 Brendan Schaffer, Director of Business Development at Sony Semiconductor, has been with Altair for over seven years. In that time, he has seen the company evolve from a young...
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Cellular LPWA Technologies Move IoT Vision Closer to Reality
Last modified on March 21, 2022 The vision of smart connected IoT devices is quickly becoming a reality. The promise of billions of devices, deployed in any location and seamlessly interacting, is now enabled by...
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5 CES 2018 Takeaways: What’s next for LTE-M and NB-IoT Use Cases?
Last modified on February 13, 2022 CES, the annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association is regarded as the most influential tech event in the world. Held in January at the Las Vegas...
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LTE-M or NB-IoT? The Polls Say, Go for Both
Last modified on January 9, 2022. As the adoption of the next generation of cellular IoT networks continues, it seems no one technology will ultimately dominate. While NB-IoT and LTE-M are complementary to each other,...
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For the future of IoT, power consumption is still key
Last modified on December 27, 2021. While the Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming our world for the better, its multifunctionality comes at a cost in terms of power. And when it comes to power...
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LTE For IoT: Apple Watch Leads Market For LTE Wearables
Last modified on November 24, 2021 When I was growing up, there was a popular commercial on TV. It was an ad for financial services, and the tagline went, “When EF Hutton talks … people...
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Why Should Cellular IoT Be Different?
Last modified on October 14, 2021 For generations, technology adoption has developed in a consistent manner: A product is introduced. Early adopters pay a premium to be first to use it. More of the market...
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An NB-IoT First for North America – But What will it Change?
Last week, and with considerable fanfare, T-Mobile announced completing the trial of North America’s first NB-IoT network. This in contrast to AT&T and Verizon’s strategy for an initial CAT-M1 rollout, to be followed by NB1...
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The Next Generation of Cellular IoT Networks – Where to Begin?
Last modified on November 7, 2021 In the ongoing push to establish the next generation of cellular IoT networks, the remaining key question is: Which technology should be rolled out first – CAT-M1, offering a...
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Japan Using Cellular IoT to Lead Way for Mass Smart Metering Deployment
Last modified on August 25, 2021 As the Internet of Things continues to advance, the smart metering market is expected to explode. Influenced by rising energy prices, increases of energy theft, demand for more accurate...
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The Fall and Rise of Cellular IoT
Last modified on September 5, 2021 Traditionally, the greatest rises tend to precipitate the hardest falls. However, we occasionally encounter a situation where a fall is essential to advancing the greatest of rises. The case...
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MWC 2017 Takeaway: LTE, 5G and the IoT
There were two phrases that dominated this year’s Mobile World Congress, “IoT” and “5G.” If MWC revealed anything at all, it’s that the IoT will be much bigger than initially anticipated, with far more interconnected...
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CES 2017 Takeaway: 2017 Will Be the Year of Cellular IoT
If this year’s Consumer Electronics Show is anything to go by, 2017 will be the year of cellular IoT. If there was one thing to take out from CES this year, it’s that, as the...
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Addressing the Challenges of Industrial IoT with Cellular IoT
Last modified on June 3, 2021 With 46 billion devices currently connected to the internet, and an estimated 125 billion by 2030, the Internet of Things continues to affect ever-increasing aspects of our personal and...
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Predicting the Growth of Cellular IoT
The IoT continues to grow at an ever-increasing rate. Although we are yet to reach the connected world predicted in the smart homes of Back to the Future II or the geo-marketing and autonomous cars...
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It’s Time to Talk About IoT Security
Hollywood has no shortage of over-the-top movies focused on hacking. Movies such as Live Free or Die Hard, in which criminal elements gain complete control of the United States via sophisticated hacking. However, as the...
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The Future Looks Bright for IoT Healthcare
If recent forecasts are any indication, the Internet of Things is poised to become just what the doctor ordered over the next few years. Doctors and nurses, hospital administrators and medical researchers will be increasingly...
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Harnessing the Future of Cellular IoT to Spur the Growth of Renewable Energy Infrastructure
Despite all the technological advances being made in the realm of renewable energy infrastructure, the move to push renewable alternatives into the mainstream has been surprisingly slow. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, total...
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Wearables: Where Do They Go from Here?
Over the past few years, wearable devices have emerged from the fringes of the consumer technology market to become one of the hottest trends today. In the last two years alone, sales of wearable devices...
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As IoT Goes Mainstream, Focus Turns to Device Security
According to a recent report from Statista, the number of connected devices in use around the world is expected to reach 50.1 billion by the year 2020. In other words, enough to provide every person...
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What is the Value of IoT Smart City Standardization?
As people increasingly move into urban areas, they bring with them new challenges. City officials face pressure to address issues, including traffic congestion, increased air and water pollution, and energy shortages, all within the constraints...
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Mobile Gamers Don’t Play Around with their Connectivity
Your hero enters the dungeon, sword drawn. Down the corridor, you spot a dragon with smoke billowing out its nostrils pacing back and forth, preparing to strike. You inch closer, ready to duel — and...
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How Businesses Can Gain a Competitive Edge with the LTE and the IoT
Today’s businesses are experiencing greater competition than ever before. With the rise of e-commerce and the ease and convenience of travel, the world is a now much smaller place, inviting more businesses to vie for...
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The IoT is Helping Homeland Security in Crime Prevention
We’ve seen it in the movies hundreds of times: The authorities are hot on the trail of a dangerous suspect, chasing him through city streets until the perpetrator shakes the tail by disappearing into a...
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The IoT is Poised to Become a Tour de Force at the Tour de France
For over 100 years the Tour de France has been the apex of accomplishment for the world’s greatest cyclists. But at the 103rd annual race this July, a new contestant is poised to fundamentally revolutionize...
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Keeping Cool This Summer with LTE and the IoT, Part 2: Sports Wearables
Summer is just around the corner and with it all the pleasures of the season. However, along with those long balmy days comes high heat and accompanying health concerns. Weather forecasters are already anticipating another...
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Surf’s Up! Keeping Cool This Summer with 4G LTE and the IoT: Part 1
It’s time to dust off those grills, break out the shorts and put the air conditioners back in the windows — summer is coming. In addition to the backyard barbeques, outdoor activities and longer days,...
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The IoT is Stepping Up to the Plate in Major League Baseball
The Major League Baseball (MLB) season is underway for another year of spectacular home runs, diving outfield grabs and plays at the plate. Yet there are many parts of the national pastime that we could...
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Solving Water Quality Quandaries with LTE
Following recent developments in Flint, Michigan, it is no surprise that the issue of monitoring the quality of public water supplies has found itself under the microscope. In 2014, the city transferred its water supply...
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Busting Crime with the IoT
Would-be criminals, beware: the IoT has come to the aid of security and surveillance technology to ensure that your unlawful schemes will not succeed. Thanks to the now ubiquitous reach of cost-efficient, long-range 4G LTE...
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May the Force Be With You: The IoT is Making Hollywood Magic a Reality
Are you one of the millions of people that came out of the movie theater after seeing “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” wishing you had some Jedi mind tricks of your own? Even if your...
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LTE: The Key Ingredient for Successfully Actualizing Virtual Reality Products
If this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is any indication, 2016 will be the year that virtual reality (VR) finally makes its way into the mainstream. The show, which took place last week in Las...
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The IoT Is Getting Its Own Network – and Guess What, it’s LTE
Verizon’s recent announcement that it plans to build a 4G LTE network specifically for IoT-connected devices is more than warranted. Not least because adding more small low-data-using devices to its existing network is not cost-effective....
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“Let Me Entertain You” – with a little help from the IoT
According to eMarketer, there are currently 1.9 billion smartphone users in the world. That means there is now a whole lot of data passing through the Internet, from smartphone access to social media platforms and...
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LTE: The New Standard for the IoT
According to Gartner, 25 billion devices will be connected to the IoT by the year 2020. The advent of connected technology, on both a large and small scale, is creating an increasing demand for stronger...
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Improving Car Insurance with LTE and the IoT
In 2008, the number of internet-connected devices surpassed the number of people on this earth, according to tech giant Cisco. As this trend gains momentum, it will continue to transform our lives, from wearable devices...
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Solving Traffic Problems with LTE Chipsets
It’s a situation that we’re all familiar with: not-so-patiently navigating the morning rush-hour traffic, only to be held up at a traffic light — even though there’s no traffic at all crossing our path. Not...
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Improving Law Enforcement with LTE and the IoT
Police officers are on the front lines every day, protecting and serving their communities. For this reason, they are well-equipped with an array of gadgets to assist them in fulfilling their duties. Beyond the traditional...
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The Internet of School Things is Coming
School is back in session, and with that comes a sense of nostalgia; the smell of dry erase markers, the rustling of papers, and the slamming of locker doors as students scurry to get ready...
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Be Careful What You Wish For: Should Artificial Intelligence and IoT Meet
When we think of Artificial Intelligence (AI), we may immediately be reminded of the 2001 Stephen Spielberg film in which a child android longs to be real in order to reclaim the love of the...
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How the IoT Adds Up to a More Convenient Life
Anyone who’s been following technology – or even just general – news will have heard a lot about Internet of Things (IoT) or “smart” devices recently. And some might be asking just how much of...
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Wearables: Not Just for Humans Anymore
As a company in the midst of disrupting the Internet of Things (IoT) marketplace with new low-power, low-cost 4G LTE chipsets, we are committed to proving that LTE for IoT can help improve people’s lives...
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IoT is already used by 5 Superheroes
What makes a superhero? Superhuman strength? Sure! Lightning-quick speed? Certainly! But let’s not forget the other advantage that many of these heroes share – access to amazing technology. In fact, many of these fictional adventurers...
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Are We There Yet? No, and it Doesn’t Matter
“Are we there yet?” No four words can better sum-up the impatience and frustration of a family road trip. This is made even more frustrating by the knowledge that the child asking this question is...
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Smart Meters Curb Drought Problems in California
It is no secret that California is currently enduring one of the worst droughts in its history. According to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), the three year period between October 2011 and October...
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Yes, You Heard Right—The Smart Backpack Is Here!
Those of us born to a previous generation remember a time when backpacks were nothing more than material receptacles held together by a few seams and zippers. These knapsacks—which we slung over our shoulders or...
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Global LTE by the Numbers
As you have probably noticed by now, we discuss LTE quite frequently on the Altair blog. And sure, as a maker of innovative, low price, low power LTE chipset solutions, we have a vested interest...
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The IoT Makes Sci-Fi Technology Possible
Growing up as children in the ’70s and ’80s, “The Jetsons” sci-fi cartoon program embodied our vision of how the future would be, and it was nothing less than exhilarating. Now with the arrival of...
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The IoT Market Is Too Big to Fathom
The numbers are officially getting crazy. Recently, Machina Research released a study estimating that the Internet of Things (IoT) global market will reach $4.3 trillion (yes that is trillion, spelled with a ‘T’) by 2024....
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IoT is for Everyone
I recently had the opportunity to deliver one of the keynote speeches at the Imagination Summit. It’s an event that brings together hundreds of top executives and engineers who are in the trenches of the...
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What Wearables Can Do for Child Safety
It’s every parent’s worst nightmare: You turn around for one minute in the grocery store or airport and when you look back your child is no longer in sight. Adrenaline makes your heart race as...
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Smart Liquor? Johnnie Walker Embraces the IoT
Just when you thought the Internet of Things (IoT) couldn’t get any cooler, it has found its way into the world of fine liquor. Yes, the IoT is now being paired with Johnnie Walker’s premium...
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The Year of the Smart Watch
Around this time last year, I wrote a post titled “These Smart Watches Better Sell” for this blog. It was a short piece with a simple message: A lot of time and money had been...
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Jumping on the IoT Bandwagon
IBM recently announced that it will invest $3 billion to form an IoT division within the company. The technology giant’s investment will be aimed at furthering numerous aspects of the IoT, including expanding its own...
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The Coolest Smart Products You Might Not Have Heard About
If you had the chance to attend the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this past January, or the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in March, or any number of other technology trade...
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How the IoT Takes Human Error Out of Security
Up until recently, home and building security had a problem with no ideal solution: No matter how sophisticated an alarm or lock system was, it could be rendered essentially useless because of simple forgetfulness. In...
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Urban Life in 2050: The Future of Smart Cities
Today’s urban cities are practically bursting at the seams. According to research from the United Nations, 54 percent of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a percentage that is expected to increase to upward...
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Why the IoT Needs 4G LTE to Reach Its Full Potential
If you could take a look through time to 10 or 20 years from now, what would you see? Imagine smart cities where every traffic light is configured to optimize traffic patterns and ease congestion....
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LTE: Like Water or Not?
When water wants to go somewhere, it normally finds a way to get there. Of course, it receives valuable help from gravity, but that's just a detail. The point is that it gets there. So...
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LTE-A has arrived
According to a new ABI Research report, LTE subscriptions will grow to 411 million (4G LTE) and 22 million (4.5G LTE-Advanced) by the end of 2014.No less than 45 LTE-A networks will have been deployed...
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The Hype of IoT
We all know fads are short-lived, and while some become mainstream, others don't necessarily succeed. For example, Crocs, the foam clog company, burst onto the scene in 2006 and is now a $1 billion company....
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History Is On Our Side
Ever since the days of Noah, and particularly in modern times through the Industrial Revolution, Field of Dreams and the Internet, the concept of "If you build it, they (Actually, in the movie, it was...
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Will Samsung be first to launch a truly smartwatch?
Six months ago, I wrote a piece on smartwatches. In it, I argued that "Today’s devices are essentially sophisticated smartphone accessories...With the exception of some experimental devices...none of today’s smartwatches have stand-alone functionality." I ended by...
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These SmartWatches Better Sell
Motorola's highly anticipated 360 is not the only Android smartwatch set to be released this year. LG is launching its own Android smartwatch, G Watch. Here's an interesting new article comparing the the two. Analysts expect...
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Where, Oh Where Can Wearables Go?
I recently read an article about Google "Glass" going commercial. Now, we can debate the pros and cons of people walking around, concentrating more on a small piece of glass in front of their faces...
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Does VoLTE increase voice call quality?
According to a recent Engadget post, AT&T set to beat Verizon by deploying high-definition calls over LTE this month: "With so many apps, services and features on today's smartphones, it's easy to forget that there...
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MWC 2014: When Is a Tablet Not Just a Tablet?
Having recently spent a few days at MWC, where Altair was inundated with meetings upon meetings with carriers, infrastructure vendors, hardware manufacturers and others, there are two major takeaways I was able to see. First,...
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No Time to Sit Back and Relax
In the hi-tech industry, a major deal can make all the difference for a company. A big manufacturer decides to deploy your chipset, and certain companies could just stand by and count the money as...
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Remain Calm At All Times
Normally, we at Altair try to remain calm, even when positive things are happening for us in the market. We have a bunch of industry firsts, and our flagship FourGee product has been certified in...
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Fine China
You may remember that, when I recently wrote about the state of affairs for LTE in China, I had talked about the intense, large-scale trials that were going on in that market. I recently took...
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Around the World in Nine Blog Posts – Post 7 – India
When it comes to LTE, there may be no market as fascinating to observe as India. First, it’s a huge market, and anyone who is going to be involved there will be involved in a...
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