ARM, IBM Bringing mbed IoT Starter Kit Ethernet Edition To IBM Bluemix Cloud

ARM announced the ARM mbed IoT Starter Kit Ethernet Edition, which is designed to connect devices to IBM's Bluemix cloud platform.

The starter kit comes with a development board created by Freescale, with an ARM Cortex-M4 processor and a sensor I/O application shield. Oddly enough, the OS in use was not mentioned, but future versions will use ARM's mbed OS and compatible software.

A few months ago ARM acquired PolarSSL, which gave ARM enhanced security features. These are being utilized inside of the mbed OS and should offer advanced security and control over the devices.

Krisztian Flautner, general manager of ARM's IoT business, spoke about the device: "Securely embedding intelligence and connectivity into devices from the outset will create cloud-connected products that are far more capable than today." He added, "Smart cities, businesses and homes capable of sharing rich information about their surroundings will be critical in unlocking the potential of IoT. The ARM IoT Starter Kit will accelerate the availability of connected devices by making product and service prototyping faster and easier."

The IoT project demonstrates significant collaboration between ARM and IBM, with plans to continue collaboration on future IoT projects. "The Internet of Things is about bringing the physical and digital worlds closer together, to allow businesses to better understand and interact with what is happening around them," said Meg Divitto, vice president of IBM's IoT. "In order to make this work for businesses, it needs to be simple to connect physical devices into the cloud, and to build applications and insights around them. IBM Bluemix and the new ARM mbed starter kit are designed to substantially enhance that effort."

The starter kit will be released to coincide with the opening of Embedded World in Nuremberg, Germany, and earlier prototypes have already been distributed to early adopters. The first products using these boards are expected to reach the market sometime this year.

Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.