At CES 2015, mobile communications company BlackBerry launched a comprehensive Internet of Things platform that will initially target the industries of automobile and asset tracking. The platform will utilize the wide technology portfolio of BlackBerry in bringing world-class reliability and security to applications for the emerging IoT scenario.
The tech industry looks at IoT as an emerging and highly valuable opportunity, as the scenario calls for massive amounts of sensors to be embedded within cars, wearables, appliances, door locks and health monitors, among other things. These sensors are tasked with transforming the devices where they are embedded into gadgets that can coordinate and communicate with one another.
Analyst company Gartner predicts that the number of devices within the IoT structure will balloon from 5 billion this year to 25 billion within five years. IDC believes that the IoT industry will reach a value worth $3.04 trillion by then.
The BlackBerry IoT Platform features a combination of the technology of QNX Software Systems and the software for device lifecycle management and secure network infrastructure of BlackBerry.
QNX Software Systems is a BlackBerry-owned company that develops software for operating mission-critical systems that are found within a variety of industries, including systems for vehicles, industrial components and medical equipment.
The network infrastructure of BlackBerry, meanwhile, is currently handling mobile data of about 35 petabytes monthly, across data centers spread out internationally. The infrastructure is tasked with the management of connections with over 300 mobile communications companies and 400 networks.
"The BlackBerry IoT Platform blends the technologies that have enabled BlackBerry to become a leader in both the mobile data security and embedded systems industries," stated Matt Hoffman, BlackBerry Technology Solutions vice president of strategy and marketing.
Hoffman added that the combination of the capabilities of BlackBerry and QNX resulted in the creation of a cloud-based, modular platform that provides users with a scalable, efficient and secure environment to develop IoT applications.
Hoffman also said that Blackberry is planning to expand the platform in the future with other technologies of the company to provide developers with additional abilities for their applications.
The BlackBerry IoT Platform's initial targets are the industries that are managing highly mobile and highly valued resources, such as the automotive and shipping markets. The connected car and asset tracking applications of the platform that focuses on these markets present the first foray of the company into the development and expansion of its strategies in relation to the IoT. This will soon include the healthcare sector and the smart energy industry.
