Samsung has launched a new cloud service for the Internet of Things (IoT), that will allow companies to collect, store and act upon data from any connected device.
Samsung’s Artik Cloud is an open data exchange platform designed to compete with the likes of Microsoft’s Azure and IBM’s Bluemix. Artik Cloud will provide developers with easy to use, open APIs and tools to gather, store, and act on any data from any device or cloud service. Using these APIs and tools, businesses and developers can more easily bring new IoT apps to market and tap into new revenue streams.
President and chief strategy officer, Young Sohn, said “Unlike many other IoT cloud platforms, Artik Cloud breaks down data silos between devices and enables a new class of IoT applications and services. The launch of this exciting new platform not only signals Samsung’s foray into the cloud services market, but reinforces our belief that, by creating powerful open platforms, we can harness the information generated by IoT to develop new insights and new approaches to address the major global challenges of today and tomorrow.”
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Samsung targets IoT hobbyists and businesses
Artik Cloud was unveiled at the Samsung Developer Conference in San Francisco. Although the service is designed to help businesses deploy Internet of Things products and services quickly, Artik Cloud is free for hobbyists who have limited needs. The Artik pricing tier suggests that Businesses could pay around $6 per device per month for a maximum of 100,000 messages.
Samsung’s new cloud service will be compatible with Web services such as Twitter and Instagram. It will also work with the IFTTT (If This Then That) platform, which helps smart home devices operate autonomously through easy to set up ‘recipes’. Users can also connect to Amazon Echo, FitBit, Gear smartwatches, Nest thermostats and several other leading wearables.
The new cloud service offers the consumer technology giant the opportunity to tap into an Internet of Things market on the rise. Gartner has forecast that 6.4 billion connected devices will be used worldwide in 2016, climbing to 20.8 billion by 2020.
Ensuring the Integrity of Things
Thales e-Security provided cryptographic solutions for Samsung Artik, to ensure the authenticity of devices connected to the service as well as the secure storage of users’ private data. Peter Galvin, vice president of strategy, said, “In the new world of connected everything, trust and security are critical to the interaction of devices, people and things. Securing personal data, preventing unauthorized access or ensuring the integrity of things – be it a smart watch, TV, medical device or personal fitness product requires sophisticated security controls. Thales has long been a partner of Samsung delivering cryptographic security at point of manufacture to mobile phones and televisions, and we are delighted that now Samsung has chosen Thales to deliver the critical security infrastructure to deliver on its vision of a secure IoT ecosystem.”