Nokia will enter the e-health market with an agreement to acquire Withings, Nokia said Tuesday. The cash deal, which combines two European companies, values Withings at 170 million euros -- or nearly $192 million. Withings makes digital health products including thermometers, activity trackers and blood-pressure monitors. The deal is expected to close in early Q3 and is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Digital health is a “large and important market,” and the deal strengthens Nokia’s business position for the IoT, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri said in a statement.

In a period of slowing consumer interest in smart home technology, industry watchers are anxious to see how the big three Internet companies -- Amazon, Apple and Google -- will fit into the evolving landscape. Responding to an audience question on the role of the three Internet majors, Jonathan Gaw, IDC research manager-connected home told a recent IDC IoT webcast that Amazon is doing some “interesting things,” specifically with the Alexa voice engine. Amazon is partnering with home IoT service providers and others to integrate Alexa into their services "and we’re going to continue to see that,” Gaw said. Understanding the three companies’ impact on the market will vary according to each’s end goals and “what makes them tick,” Gaw said. Amazon, for instance, sells devices on its e-commerce site, but “that’s not who they are,” he said. Amazon wants to convert more customers into becoming Prime users, with Alexa integration a means to that end, he said. IDC expects Alexa to be integrated into non-Amazon devices “fairly soon,” possibly as soon as this quarter or next, Gaw said. Devices from third-party vendors with Alexa integration will offer “more end points” to reach potential Prime customers, Gaw said. Similarly, Apple and Google sell consumers devices but also have a bigger picture in mind, he said. Google’s ultimate goal is to understand end users better and use data about their behavior to sell targeted advertising and services, said Gaw. Apple “is about the iPhone,” and its IoT solutions are about tying customers to the iOS platform and securing their loyalty to the iPhone ecosystem, he said. Gaw’s advice for IoT companies wanting to work with the Internet big three: Understand “where you help them and where they help you, and what is yours and what is theirs,” Gaw said. “It helps you decide which platforms you want to engage with and how you want to engage with them.”

Global spending on IoT security will reach $348 million in 2016, a 24 percent increase from 2015, and is expected to reach $547 million in 2018, Gartner said in a Monday report. Though IoT security spending will be “moderate” at the outset, it will increase “at a faster rate after 2020, as improved skills, organizational change and more scalable service options improve execution,” said the research firm. “The market for IoT security products is currently small but it is growing as both consumers and businesses start using connected devices in ever greater numbers." The firm forecasts 6.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2016, up 30 percent from 2015, and will reach 11.4 billion by 2018. “However, considerable variation exists among different industry sectors as a result of different levels of prioritization and security awareness," it said. Gartner predicts by 2020 more than 25 percent of identified attacks in enterprises will involve IoT, but IoT will be less than 10 percent of IT security budgets, it said. “Security vendors will be challenged to provide usable IoT security features because of the limited assigned budgets for IoT and the decentralized approach to early IoT implementations in organizations. Vendors will focus too much on spotting vulnerabilities and exploits, rather than segmentation and other long-term means that better protect IoT.”

AT&T and Globecomm are jointly launching a new cellular/satellite connectivity network aimed at IoT applications, AT&T said in a release Monday. It said the joint network will have IoT devices operate on mobile data when a signal is available, and switch to satellite when cell service is unavailable. AT&T IoT Solutions Vice President Mike Troiano called it "a one-stop shop for IoT connectivity."

Federal agencies must take a "holistic view" when developing IoT requirements and the Department of Commerce should help foster such collaboration, urged a bipartisan group of senators Wednesday. In a letter to NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling, Sens. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said the request for public comment (RFC) that NTIA recently launched (see 1604180065) is a good step and complements the group's Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things (Digit) Act introduced in March to come up with a IoT national strategy (see 1603010053). But the senators said stakeholders warned that different agencies could develop conflicting IoT requirements, creating regulatory silos. "Stakeholders seem concerned that conflicting regulation could create risks for consumers and dampen IoT innovation," they wrote in the letter. "As is pointed out in NTIA's RFC, 'Thus far, no U.S. agency is taking a holistic view.'" The senators said "strong attention" is needed on proposals that foster better collaboration across sectors and agencies.

PTC University launched a role-based ThingWorx IoT Certification Program for developers and device engineers in app development, device integration and model development. The certification program will enable participants to develop differentiated skills and help build a well-trained ThingWorx user community, said Stefan Helf, PTC University senior vice president. PTC certification exams are proctored by Kryterion, provider of customizable online and on-site assessment and certification products and services. Candidates can prepare for exams using the online ThingWorx platform training or by registering for instructor-led classes from PTC University. Candidates who successfully complete the program receive a digital badge they can use to promote their expertise within the global ThingWorx peer community, said PTC. Certification is valid for two years, it said. PTC has more than 200 training centers in 35 countries and teaches more than 100,000 students per year, it said.

Orbcomm expects to close next month on its planned buy of South Africa's Skygistics and its South Africa and Australia subsidiaries, Orbcomm said in a news release Tuesday. Orbcomm said the Skygistics deal will expand distribution for its product set in various IoT markets, including numerous African nations, and comes as Orbcomm looks to be a global IoT services provider. Skygistics already distributes satellite connectivity products from SkyWave, an Orbcomm subsidiary, it said. The deal's terms weren't announced.

AT&T has been focused on the IoT since 2008, though what the IoT is exactly is still not widely understood, said Chris Penrose, AT&T senior vice president-IoT, in a blog post. “When I tell people I head up our Internet of Things division, they often look at me with a little bit of confusion. Isn’t the Internet full of things?” Penrose said that if people don’t know what the IoT is, they soon will. “The future of IoT will enable more things to take care of themselves,” he said. “One example is a machine that can let a foreman know that it needs a new part, or a car alerting a driver that the battery is low on juice. This capability frees up our time to focus on the big picture and where we’re going next.” Also last week, Verizon said that the IoT is now mainstream (see 1604050030).

IoT went mainstream in 2015, said Verizon in a report released Tuesday. Globally, the installed base of IoT endpoints will grow to more than 25.6 billion in 2019, up from 9.7 billion in 2014, and hit 30 billion in 2020, said Verizon, citing an IDC report released in February. Global spending on IoT will hit $1.3 trillion in 2019, up from $591.7 billion in 2014, with a compound annual growth rate of 17 percent, it said. “2015 was the year IoT gained legitimacy,” Verizon said in its report. “Businesses budged off a ‘start small think big’ mindset. Today, they’re building IoT into future strategies and business models.” Key areas for IoT growth include smart cities, energy, agriculture, transportation, healthcare and home monitoring, the telco said. Enterprise businesses say that revenue growth is the biggest factor driving them to adopt IoT, said Verizon, citing an Oxford Economics study commissioned by the telco. “The view has been that IoT is a mashup of complex technologies used only by early adopters,” said Mike Lanman, Verizon senior vice president-IoT and enterprise products. “In the past year, we’ve seen compelling examples of how IoT is being deployed by a wide-range of enterprises, entrepreneurs, municipalities and developers to address relevant business, consumer and public needs. Meanwhile, consumers are more willing to try new technologies and apps that introduce a better way of life.”

Intel estimates that 30 percent of the IoT “market segment” by 2020 will require “functional safety” such as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), said Ken Caviasca, vice president-platform engineering and development in Intel’s IoT Group, in a Tuesday blog post. That was Intel’s rationale for acquiring Yogitech, an Italy-based "expert in semiconductor functional safety and related standards,” Caviasca said. Acquiring Yogitech “furthers our efforts to win in ADAS, robotics and autonomous machines for market segments like automotive, industrial and other IoT systems that require functional safety and high performance,” he said. “For years, Intel has been providing high-performance IoT systems that allow people and businesses to make better-informed decisions. The industry is now moving from automating data to inform better decisions, to automating actions informed by real-time data. You can see this evolution in the autonomous vehicle prototypes that nearly all have Intel inside. Functional safety is a requirement for these and other IoT customers. We see the combination of high performance and functional safety as a natural evolution of Intel’s IoT platform and strategy.” Intel is confident that the Yogitech acquisition, terms of which weren't disclosed, “will take our autonomous systems efforts to the next level,” though “we’re not ready to share product roadmap details yet,” Caviasca said.