Zebra’s $3.45bn cash deal targets ‘internet of things’

via Greenbang:

Zebra Technologies, a company that specializes in barcode and RFID (radio-frequency identification) technologies, is set to acquire Motorola’s Enterprise business in a $3.45 billion, all-cash transaction.

The acquisition is aimed at building Zebra’s global position in “asset intelligence for the connected age.”

“This acquisition will transform Zebra into a leading provider of solutions that deliver greater intelligence and insights into our customers’ enterprises and extended value chains,” statedaid Zebra CEO Anders Gustafsson. Motorola’s Enterprise business, he added, “positions Zebra as a leading technology innovator, with the accelerating convergence of mobility, data analytics and cloud computing.”

The purchase still requires the approval of both companies’ boards of directors, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.

Based in suburban Chicago, Zebra saw sales of $1 billion in 2013. It was founded in 1969 as Data Specialties Inc.

Motorola Enterprise had estimated sales of $2.5 billion in 2013.

The transaction is designed to enable Motorola to focus on its communications offerings for government and public safety.

“Our Enterprise business is an ideal fit for Zebra,” said Greg Brown, chairman and CEO of Motorola Solutions. “This transaction will enable us to further sharpen our strategic focus on providing mission-critical solutions for our government and public safety customers.”

Zebra, meanwhile, will gain around 4,500 new employees, a similar number of US and international patents and around 20,000 channel partners in 100-plus countries.

Among Zebra’s existing solutions are Zebra MotionWorks (http://ift.tt/1j9Cs5X), a player tracking system for sports organizations. Using tags on players, stadium readers, data hubs, analytics and stats broadcasting, the solution lets users capture “all the action of the game in real-time, converting it into usable player statistics.”

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London lab aims for next-gen city innovation

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A new lab in London is aimed at helping university and industry researchers work together to develop “the next generation of smart-city infrastructure.”

The London Node, based at Imperial College London’s Imperial West campus, will “support innovation throughout Europe for economic growth and to improve quality of life,” said Willem Jonker, chief executive of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology’s (EIT) ICT Labs.

“London will be a key part of the Europe-wide EIT ICT Labs ecosystem,” Jonker said. “This is not just a project, but a long-term strategic investment. We are addressing Europe’s challenge of translating our excellent education and research, to turn it into economic value.”

“The rate of technological acceleration in London has never been faster, and it is critical that we establish this center to take advantage of that process,” added London Deputy Mayor Kit Malthouse. “We are a rapidly growing city, and we must learn to re-engineer and rationalize the strains created by this growth. We can use ICT to solve problems — and commercialize them — creating wealth.”

Malthouse continued, “The UK has been great at inventions, but not good enough at commercializing them. Establishments like this in the heart of Imperial’s new campus, with a focus on commercialization, are very welcome. Science and technology will create many jobs for London over the coming years.”

The lab will enable startups, spinouts and established businesses alike to co-locate with academic experts at Imperial West. Together, they will work on innovations in cloud computing, cyber-physical systems and other ICT technologies that can help to improve health and well-being, urban living, mobility and energy use.

In addition to Imperial, other organizations leading the London Node include UCL, Intel and BT. Additional support will come from Vodafone, IBM, the University of Edinburgh and the Institute of Sustainability.

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Glasgow’s Brian Devlin to speak at Urban London

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Two new speakers — Brian Devlin and Trevor Dorling — have been added to the lineup for Urban London, scheduled for June 5 at Digital Enterprise Greenwich.

Brian Devlin

Brian is executive director of land and environmental services for the Glasgow City Council. In that position, he oversees an annual revenue budget of £170 million and a capital budget of £318 million. He also holds strategic responsibility for around 3,300 employees.

He led the £24 million bid for Future Cities that was awarded to Glasgow in January 2013. He is the lead officer in the city authority driving that project forward.

Prior to joining Glasgow in 2012, Brian worked in a commercial support services organization. He also served as director of environment and housing for the Stirling Council.

Trevor Dorling

Trevor is assistant director for employment and skills at the Royal Borough of Greenwich. In that role, he manages Digital Enterprise Greenwich, which is responsible for developing a digital economy and embedding a smart-city approach as part of the borough’s regeneration program.

Trevor is also an adviser to London Councils on economic development and is co-chair of the British Standards Institution Smart Cities Advisory Group.

A chartered town planner, Trevor has more than 35 years of experience with London local authorities in town planning, employment and skills, and economic development. He holds degrees in town planning and ICT (information and communications technology).

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Cisco, AGT partnership puts focus on city security

via Greenbang:

Cisco and the security technology company AGT International are teaming up to roll out new analytics-based products and services for cities.

Rather than putting the emphasis on “smart,” the partnership’s initial offerings show a strong focus on security. The companies’ first two solutions, set to become available in mid-2014, will focus on traffic management and urban safety and security.

The traffic solution will be designed to provide real-time “situational awareness” to help cities identify, respond to and resolve traffic incidents. Supporting technologies will include live video with analytics, in-pavement wireless magnetic sensors, license plate readers, social media and traffic modeling prediction.

The safety/security offering will use sensors, software, city data and visual and social media feeds to identify “suspicious activities” more quickly.

“The Cisco and AGT alliance is more than simply an agreement to collaborate,” said Rob Lloyd, Cisco’s president for development and sales. “Cisco and AGT are in the unique position to lead the development of city cloud solutions. By combining advanced technologies with a deep understanding of the changing needs of cities, we can transform the delivery of city services.”

Founded in 2007, AGT International is a privately held company based in Switzerland. It was founded by Mati Kochavi, an Israeli entrepreneur who’s also behind the new, social-media-mining news organization Vokativ and 3i-MIND, which uses data mining to provide governments and businesses with “actionable intelligence”.

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London moves toward zero-emission taxi fleets

via Greenbang:

China’s BYD is supplying the London-based car-hire company Thriev with 20 electric sedans as the city itself moves toward its goal of a city-wide fleet of zero-emissions cars for hire.

As part of their partnership, Thriev will also install BYD’s fast-charging equipment at its facility in west London.

London Mayor Boris Johnson and Transport for London announced last month that all new taxis in the cities will need to be zero-emission-capable starting in 2018. The city is working with five companies — Frazer-Nash, Karsan, London Taxi Company, Mercedes and Nissan — to develop “the next generation of greener London taxis.”

“We will continue to work closely with taxi manufacturers to get ‘New Taxis for London’ carrying passengers on the streets of the capital as soon as possible,” said Garrett Emmerson, chief operating officer of surface transport for Transport for London. “We are also working with the wider industry and the Green Investment Bank to provide assistance to cab drivers who want to be among the first to get behind the wheel of these cutting edge vehicles that will significantly contribute to improving air quality in the capital as well as delivering benefits to cabbies themselves, in terms of reduced running costs.”

Transport for London also recently began running two electric buses from BYD on its city routes.

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‘Digital inclusion’ starts with user needs

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An information-based society can’t be inclusive or democratic if a large portion of the population remains offline.

In the UK, for example, research in 2012 found that 18 percent of citizens surveyed never or rarely use the internet. The UK Digital Skills Alliance was launched to promote online skills nationally and make the UK the “world’s most digitally skilled nation.”

The UK government has now released a checklist of six keys for digital inclusion:

1. Start with user needs — not our own. In Lambeth, for example, volunteers called “Digital Buddies” help people learn basic online skills so they can more easily access essential services they depend upon.


2. Improve access — stop making things difficult. The Glasgow Housing Association and BT are working together to provide hardware, basic connectivity and ongoing support for £5 per month.


3. Motivate people — find something they care about. For instance, an E-mentoring program is making it possible for ex-offenders to more easily maintain identification, employment and other personal information online as they re-integrate into society.


4. Keep it safe — build trust. The UK Digital Skills Alliance provides a one-stop shop with local and online resources as well as maps to physical resources to assure users easy, safe access for learning digital skills.


5. Work with others — don’t do it alone. In Liverpool, some 5,000 “digital champions” volunteered to help people who’d never been online go online for the first time.


6. Focus on wider outcomes — measure performance. Citizens Online and BT, for example, have together offered a series of training sessions with followup contact after three, six, 12 and 24 months. Participants’ responses are used to improve and fine-tune subsequent training sessions.

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BT trials new networking tech for ‘internet of things’

via Greenbang:

Delivering on the potential of the “internet of things” (IoT) means being able to make devices of all kinds — from mobile phones to city lampposts — “talk” to one another easily and efficiently.

However, that’s a challenge in a world where wide bands of the wireless spectrum are allocated to specific users, and where devices are often “buried” inaccessibly deep within buildings or underground.

“The internet of things market has huge potential, but existing short-range and cellular networking technologies are unable to meet the requirements of many applications we see,” said Mark Harrop, director of mobile strategy and lead for the wireless cities program lead at BT Plc. “A networking technology that can provide deep indoor coverage, last for many years from a single battery, is simple to use, and comes at the right price point is essential for realizing the true potential of the IoT.”

Late last year, BT began a small-scale trial with the technology company Neul on M2M (for “machine-to-machine”) communications using “white space”. The tests involve sending traffic information to and from moving vehicles via gaps — or “white spaces” — in the frequencies bands used for digital TV broadcasting.

White space networking could enable up to 50 billion devices to be connected wirelessly to the internet by 2020, according to BT.

BT has now begun trialing a new technology from Neul. The NeulNET system provides two-way, wide-area M2M networking that Neul claims “far out-reaches today’s GPRS, 3G, CDMA and LTE WAN solutions.”

The NeulNET system uses an antenna-equipped base station that can provide wireless coverage in a radius of up to five kilometers, along with terminal modules that can run for up to 15 years on two AA batteries and can communicate from deep within buildings or underground.

The system, delivered by Neul as a cloud-based managed communication service (Neul means “cloud” in Gaelic), can operate in either licensed or unlicensed spectrum, and across a wide range of frequency bands.

Neul adds that it expects to announce further deployments of its NeulNET technology throughout 2014. It says the system could enable smart-city applications ranging from waste-disposal bins that “ask to be emptied” to green-belt areas and farms that are monitored and watered efficiently.

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