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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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4 Best Practices for IoT OTA Updates

Every embedded device needs device firmware update (DFU) capability. Why?

Inevitably, you are bound to ship bugs. You can’t anticipate every user’s input, and you can’t anticipate all the ways in which end users will use your device. But that’s only half of it; devices are now increasingly complex. Even the best QA teams won’t be able to catch every issue. Consider NASA, which is no stranger to needed firmware updates for the Mars Rover, whether due to an unintended crash bug or a crash after a software update. No one disputes NASA’s extremely rigorous process and well-documented testing regimens but, even NASA relies on firmware updates.

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Platform, Connection, Security: A Guide to IoT App Development

App development has become an integral part of IoT device creation over the past decade. These days, it’s near impossible to find consumer connected devices that do not come with companion smartphone applications which offload most (if not all) of its display to the user handset. While a web-based UI will often be sufficient for industrial or enterprise-grade IoT devices, most manufacturers will have a hard time selling a consumer IoT device that can’t be controlled by the user’s smartphone. 

As IoT mobile app development has evolved into a required front end layer for the vast majority of today’s connected consumer products, device developers have some important decisions to make in creating an app which is safe, fast and affordable. Let’s sort custom builds from off the shelf platforms, and cloud connections from peer-to-peer, in this development guide to IoT apps.