IoT platform provider Ayla Networks has announced a new Phone-as-a-Gateway (PaaG) capability that will allow Bluetooth-enabled products to connect to the cloud directly using a smartphone or other mobile device.
IoT platform provider Ayla Networks has announced a new Phone-as-a-Gateway (PaaG) capability that will allow Bluetooth-enabled products to connect to the cloud directly using a smartphone or other mobile device.
The capability does not requiring IoT gateways or any changes to the Bluetooth products themselves. This technology will allow manufacturers gain the full value of the IoT data generated by their Bluetooth products, Ayla said.
Traditionally, smart home products have achieved IoT cloud connectivity by connecting to a Wi-Fi network, with Bluetooth, ZigBee, Z-Wave and other non-IP-supporting networking protocols gaining access to the Wi-Fi network through a hardware gateway.
However, many Bluetooth-enabled products are too small, inexpensive or numerous to warrant an IoT gateway, or they operate beyond the range of the smart home network. Without a practical, inexpensive way for Bluetooth products to gain access to the cloud, their smart connectivity remains local—and manufacturers have no way to leverage the IoT data generated by their products.
“Without a separate IoT gateway to provide connectivity to an IoT cloud, manufacturers of locally controlled Bluetooth products have been missing out on the most important benefits of the IoT: harnessing IoT data to help them improve their products faster, offer value-added services to their customers and discover new revenue channels,” said David Friedman, CEO and co-founder of Ayla Networks.
With the PaaG solution, manufacturers can now connect both existing and future Bluetooth products to the Ayla IoT cloud with a simple mobile app update, which allows the mobile device to handle cloud connectivity using its own Wi-Fi or cellular connection. As a result, entire new classes of smart products can use the IoT cloud without adding any cost or effort to manufacturers.
Bluetooth-enabled products such as power tools, low-cost kitchen appliances and gadgets, health and wellness devices, and irrigation and other outdoor products can all be connected to the IoT cloud using only a smartphone or other mobile device.