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Internet of Things or Machine-To-Machine Connectivity?

The terms IoT and M2M are often talked about synonymously, however, they are far from identical, and when you’re looking to implement a solution, it’s important to know the differences between the two -- or rather, when you should use one over the other. 

M2M stands for "machine to machine," a technology that is similar to IoT, or the "Internet of Things," but which also has some key differences. It’s these differences that make it important to know whether your project is better suited to an M2M or an IoT solution – and, ideally, this is something you’ll define in the early stages. 

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The Anatomy of an IoT Solution

Artificial intelligence relies on data. One of the leading ways to collect data these days is by using the Internet of Things. IoT connectivity is often used in devices containing sensors of some sort, allowing us to automatically collect information that either was not collectible before or which needed a human to collect it. Let’s go on a crash course on how you build an IoT platform or IoT device architecture, and which layers work together to make up such a solution. For this example, our IoT connectivity will center around cellular and the use of IoT SIM cards. 

To begin with, it’s important to realize that there are four individual layers involved in building an IoT solution. Starting from the bottom — with individual frontline devices containing IoT SIM cards on-board — and working upwards to the networks over which your data is transmitted, and the IT applications that let you manage and control your entire fleet of IoT SIM cards. The layer hierarchy is arranged as follows.

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IoT and Event Streaming at Scale With Kafka and MQTT

A key challenge to IoT is the ability to integrate devices and machines that can process data in real-time and at scale.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is getting more and more traction as valuable use cases come to light. A key challenge, however, is integrating devices and machines to process the data in real-time and at scale. Apache Kafka ® and its surrounding ecosystem, which includes Kafka Connect, Kafka Streams, and KSQL, have become the technology of choice for integrating and processing these kinds of datasets.

You may also like: IoT: Device Data and Stream Processing

Kafka-native options to note for MQTT integration beyond Kafka client APIs like Java, Python, .NET, and C/C++ are:

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Smart Cities Are Global Cities

There remains a sense that smart cities are a term more beloved of technology vendors than citizens, with various reports showing that citizens have not really reaped the promised benefits yet. That’s not to say such lackluster performance is pervasive, with a new report from the University of Glasgow exploring the smart city landscape to see what set the most advanced cities apart from the rest.

The researchers examined over 5,500 cities around the world before settling on 27 who were leading the way. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of these vanguard cities were capital cities of their respective countries, and as such could be regarded as global cities. The authors believe this global outreach and engagement was vital to the success of their smart city work.

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How to Choose the Right IoT Cloud Platform

So, you’re looking for an IoT cloud platform, but don’t know which to choose. Choosing the right vendor can be a complex endeavor because it is hard to determine what you actually need.

Fortunately, the purpose of this article is to help clear up some of the confusion by examining the fundamental features you need from an IoT cloud platform. This way, you know how to evaluate different platforms when comparing IoT cloud solutions. Let’s get started:

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How to Choose the Right IoT Connectivity Protocol for Your Connected Device

Choosing the right IoT connectivity protocol for your device can feel pretty straight-forward. Most assume that Wi-Fi is best for indoor deployments, while cellular connectivity is best for outdoor deployments.

However, it’s not so black and white. Our team finds that customers underestimate the advantages and disadvantages for certain radio technologies. In some cases, we actually recommend cellular protocols to companies who are planning to deploy indoors. That’s because cellular IoT connectivity protocols can be easier to set up, provide better reliability, and allow the maker of the device to be in control of the data.

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IoT Smart Home Automation and the Future

Smart home automation and IoT have been creating a lot of buzz in the IT industry. The daily lives of people have been made simpler, better, and more comfortable with the increasing number of smart homes and connected devices.

Smart homes have changed the way people live. For example, how about turning on the air condition of your home before you actually stepping inside? How about asking Alexa to play your favorite music and getting weather updates while you are still in the kitchen and preparing for dinner? Smart home automation can truly do more than that and it has become the future of our lives.