Posts

Analytics for Sigfox: meet thethings.iO

Analytics for Sigfox with thethings.iO

Analytics for Sigfox with thethings.iO

If you are an Internet of Things enthusiast, you must know Sigfox. In case you don’t, keep reading. Nevertheless, this post is not only about the incredible things you can make with Sigfox but also how you can integrate it with an IoT platform such as thethings.iO.

What’s Sigfox?

Sigfox is a cellular style telecom that enables remote devices to connect using UNB (ultra-narrow band) technology. It appeared trying to solve the network problems that Wi-Fi range may cause (for example, it is short and 3G and 4G are expensive and use too much power while working) to make the Internet of Things easier.

Using Sigfox, you can transfer small amounts of data (each message can be up to 12 bytes of payload data). Any user can send between 0 and 140 messages per day, and if they want a 24 hours distribution, they can also send a maximum of one message every 11 minutes. This means that each message you send doesn’t contain much information.

Do you want to know how to connect a thing with thethings.iO and Sigfox? Then, watch this tutorial:

When Sigfox meets thethings.iO

As you have just seen, Sigfox is perfect for very low power operations. Messages transmitted must be small, which can be seen as a problem. Any user can downlink 4 messages of 8 bytes to the device, and the uplink is up to 140 messages of 12 bytes. Depending on the use case, this is just enough information to be transmitted.

Sigfox doesn’t understand or transform your payload, so you can read the message as is, allowing developers to parse the structured payload and play with bits and bytes. That means, that you cannot see any data or analytics using just Sigfox, and at the moment neither any business logic on the top of it.

With all these limitations, we have integrated Sigfox with thethings.iO, in order to pick up all the data generated and offer it to its users. Actually, it is more than that. Paying the price of a Sigfox device plus 1€ per year to thethings.iO you can get a full customizable analytics, cloud code with triggers and crons and real-time interaction from your Sigfox-connected devices.

In less than 5 minutes you can see your things’ data at thethings.iO panel. Awesome, right?

thethings.iO and Sigfox

thethings.iO and Sigfox

As we have said, with Sigfox you only get Payload data (using binary language). To make it clever, using thethings.iO, data is translated to our JSON diagram, so you can know the exact temperature or humidity (or whatever) value of your device at any time in your Sigfox dashboard with thethings.iO.

thethingsio.dash

You can find libraries for a couple of prototyping shields with Sigfox Antennas at our github account as Sigfox SDK for thethings.iO.

What we do at thethings.iO

At thethings.iO we connect devices or wearables to the Internet. We are a Cloud solution for companies that decide to build new cool things that can be connected to improve our lives. If you want to know more about us, you can create an account by clicking here, sign up to receive our monthly newsletter or follow us on Twitter! Stay tuned and be the first in knowing the latest news of the IoT world and thethings.iO.

/0 Comments/by
,

Future Internet of Things

About 20 years ago, the World Wide Web revolutionized the whole world. Now, it is Internet of Things turn. As we have said and repeated here in this same blog, IoT is going to change the way we understand life forever, becoming the next big technological revolution.

Nowadays, there isn’t anyone without a smartphone in their hands. The smartphone you are probably using to read this post is going to improve its services, apps, functionality… absolutely everything. So let’s focus on IoT capabilities. You will turn your lights on, and also modulate them using the smartphone. And what do you think about the boxing gloves that actually measure your strength?

But this is not just for consumers or users, it is about companies too. All the Data generated remains on the Cloud (generated by companies such as thethings.iO). That Data, as Marc Pous (thethings.iO CEO) says in the video, will be able to be used to improve our lives. Consumers’ role will change: they will become proactive consumers, creating and using their own Data.

/0 Comments/by
,

thethings.iO interviewed at the Tech Lounge MWC15

Last March, as you might know, the Mobile World Congress took place in Barcelona. In that congress, Marc Pous, thethings.iO CEO was interviewed at the Intel TechLounge leaded by Sascha Pallenberg. Do you want to see it? Watch the following video:

Most Internet of Things companies do both hardware and software, so they have a lot of work reinventing the wheel. What would happen if each company focus on what they do best? thethings.iO brings to IoT companies a real-time cloud solution, allowing them to make just hardware. So they build the things, and then, thethings.iO connects them to the Internet.

AH! Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!

/0 Comments/by
,

Interesting Videos on the Internet of Things

Due to the Gigaom #mobilizeconf, we were able to view some mind blowing things regarding the Internet of Things. Here are some of our favorite videos we have seen to date.

The first video is a panel session at the Gigaom Structure Europe 2013 managed by Alexandra Deschamps from the Good Night Lamp with Alicia Asín from Libelium and Michael Simon from Xively.

The second video is a panel from the conference Gigaom Mobilize. Surj Patel from Smart Mocha managed the panel with Michael Rosenblatt from ATOMS express and Hugo Fiennes from electric imp

Both videos are saying that the Internet of Things will be here sooner then we think and that the pioneers of the devices actually will come from everyday people in their basements instead of a massive corporation.

If you find any interesting video of the Internet of Things let us know and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and be sure to check out our #IoTFriday blog!

/0 Comments/by