Apple joins Thread Group

Another very interesting puzzle piece...

"Mesh communication," low power connectivity & making devices not reliant on wall plugs, sounds like where we belong.


Apple Insider

Thread Network Protocol

SecurityBaron

Thread is a networking standard in a mesh system much like Bluetooth, Zigbee, or Z-wave technologies. The IP system can connect to a number of devices and common household objects from Philips Hue lights to Yale locks.

Apple is competing with a number of companies for smart home supremacy including its perennial rivals, Amazon and Google. Amazon is a Thread member while some of Google’s newest Nest products already incorporate the technology. Apple has been making a push for its HomeKit to compete with Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Nest ecosystems and it may not want to lose out on participating in the initial stages of this new technology. A cursory glance at Thread’s membership reveals that large companies such as Samsung and LG, along with smaller companies like TDK and Ubilogix, have all entered into association with the organization.

In describing their technology the organization states:

“Thread addresses the need for a new and better way to connect products in the home. Built on open standards and IPv6 technology with 6LoWPAN as its foundation, Thread offers numerous technological advantages over other wireless standards including secure and reliable networks with no single point of failure, simple connectivity and low power.”

Low power is of particular concern to Apple and other companies actively promoting their products in the Internet of Things because of the demands of battery life in smart home devices. Apple currently has HomeKit products that are powered solely through batteries while others require a constant source of external power. Furthermore, companies across the board are attempting to make fewer and fewer appliances reliant on wall plugs.

Improved Battery Life

Improving battery life is going to have HUGE benefits for mobile devices. If this is what it's cracked up to be, it's just another thing improving the ecosystem for PicoP.

Thanks for the heads-up Joe.

Treehugger.com

If your phone's battery life is the bane of your existence, then this is for you. Engineers at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), led by Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Ruyan Guo, have developed a chip that can extend the battery life of almost any gadget.

The tiny chip is only the size of a pinhead, but its potential is great. The chip can make lower power electronics like smartphones work much more efficiently, cutting back on the number of times you have to plug in and slashing the energy consumption of the electronics in our lives.

"This chip can be used with anything that runs on a battery," said UTSA researcher Shuza Binzaid. "It manages power so that the device can last longer."

When people want to extend the life of their phone's battery, usually that means switching it into low power mode which turns off many of the phone's functions in order to preserve the battery charge. With the chip, the same power sipping mode could be achieved while the phone was running at full functionality.