The IoT kit is going on sale to entrepreneurs and small businesses, in order to make sure they can affordably connect almost any IoT designed object to the net in no time at all.
The IoT links numerous devices around the home, such as fridges, heating and alarms, as well as outside such as connected cars, factories and farming machines. IDC predicts that within five years, 15 per cent of devices will be connected to the IoT so they can quickly react to changing circumstances and environments.
The new IoT starter kit, containing a microcontroller development board with a pre-fitted chip, and a sensor expansion board, was developed with British chip maker ARM, which is known for supplying various types of chip to
The main reasons the new device - called the ARM mbed IoT starter kit - could ease IoT development are the speed of setup and the price. IBM claims that the kit will cost under $200.
Lionel Lamy, associate VP at analyst firm IDC, tells Forbes the kit "should make it easier" for businesses to progress with IoT, mainly helping those companies that are "already going down that route". The move will help as businesses, just as with the cloud six or seven years ago, look for "practical steps on how to get to where they want to be".
IBM vice president of development Rob Lamb said that using the kit, businesses could design devices of all types, adding: "Frankly, the use cases are bounded only by human imagination".
The benefit for IBM is bringing more users onto its Bluemix cloud development platform and its analytics systems, as opposed to those of rivals. The kit will be available later this year.
