Remote - M2M 2014 - (Page 22)

Industry News Installed Base of Wireless M2M Devices in the Oil and Gas Industry Reached 423,000 in 2013 According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of devices with cellular or satellite connectivity deployed in oil & gas applications worldwide was 423,000 at the end of 2013. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.4 percent, this number is expected to reach 1.12 million by 2018. The split between cellular and satellite based M2M devices at the end of the forecast period will be 871,000 units and 244,000 units respectively. The oil & gas industry is characterized by remote and inaccessible facilities where wireless communication in many cases is the only viable option for transferring M2M data. North America is the most advanced market for M2M applications in the oil & gas sector. The region is also the home of a majority of the players specializing in the oil & gas industry. Pason Systems, Zedi and Critical Control are North American based companies which are major vendors of field instrumentation, equipment, services and M2M solutions for the of the oil & gas industry. A majority of the companies headquartered in major oil & gas producing regions such as North America and UAE are focused on providing solutions for upstream and midstream activities. Oil & gas M2M specialists in Europe such as ISA, Powelectrics, Sensile Technologies and Silentsoft are typically more focused on downstream activities such as tank monitoring. Sierra Wireless, Digi International and Calamp are major M2M players that deliver solutions to a wide range of industries, including oil & gas. Other important players are global technology and automation companies. General Electric, Rockwell Automation and Schneider Electric are three such companies that have made substantial investments in SCADA and wireless M2M solutions aimed at the in oil & gas market in recent years. Vodafone, Numerex and Orbcomm are examples of communication providers which through in-house resources and acquisitions have developed end-to-end oil & gas M2M applications. The main drivers for adopting M2M apps in the oil & gas industry are safety and environmental concerns, regulation compliance and demand for improved operational efficiency. Machine-to-machine solutions can be found in applications such as monitoring and control of drills, wells and pipelines. Wearable Technology $50 Billion Investment Frenzy Many giant electronics manufacturers, computer services companies and conglomerates have tens of billions of dollars in the bank that is instantly available for investment to counter their saturating sales in mature markets. They all seek, "the next big thing". Wearable technology has attracted their close attention as many of them have or are developing such technology and associated services and Google Trends has a graph headed heavenwards in the last few months to show that they are certainly not alone. In March 2014, Facebook announced it will buy Oculus VR, a company that specializes in virtual reality headsets, for around $2 billion. Now Apple is negotiating to buy the company Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion, its biggest ever expenditure on a takeover. Beats is not huge: it has 27 percent of the $1.8 billion US headphones business mainly because of its premium pricing. Indeed, it has 57 percent of the premium sector of that market and it also has a music streaming service, both of which can leverage existing Apple offerings in wearable electronics. Facebook and Apple do not talk of paybacks, calling the investments strategic. Many of these huge investments also tick a box under newly hot topics overlapping wearable technology namely Internet of People (IoP) or Internet of Things (IoT). These devices are directly internet-identified now that IPv6 allows an infinite number of IP addresses to be issued. IDTechEx predicts that as many as 55 billion IoP devices in use in 2025, many employing printed, flexible electronics and completely new components. Recently, Google has paid a $3.2 billion for the small IoT/IoP company Nest Labs that has made a few million connected smart thermostats and smoke and carbon dioxide detectors. Nest hopes to earn more from selling measurement analytics than from the devices themselves. These devices detect and respond to personal needs just like much wearable technology where Google has already committed at least $1 billion to the internal development of Google Glass with a diagnostic contact lens for diabetics and a planned smart watch, all potentially connected wearable technology. 22 www.RemoteMagazine.com Cloud-Based Home-Management Market Set for Rapid Growth Cloud-based home management systems that allow users to remotely control household features like lighting and air conditioning are set for rapid growth in the coming years, with the installed base set to rise by a factor of eight from 2013 to 2018. The global installed base of cloud-based home management services is projected to grow to 44.6 million at the end of 2018, up from 5.6 million at the end of 2013, according to IHS Technology. The installed base this year will surge 63 percent to 9.1 million, as presented in the attached figure. Cloud-based home management systems and services are designed for mass-market adoption. Other applications for these systems and services include home monitoring, energy management, lighting control and independent-living services. The types of companies offering cloud-based home-management systems vary widely. One major group is existing service providers who have alternative core business lines, such as security or telecommunications providers and utility companies. These companies have entered the homemanagement market in pursuit of a means of reducing customer churn or increasing new subscriber rates and average revenue per user (ARPU). Other types of companies also are entering the fray, including device suppliers and retailers. Smart home specialists are expected to play a major role in the deployment of smart home services globally. This category of companies includes both home automation providers that are moving toward a cloud-based model, alongside a new breed of connected home specialists, such as Nest, Revolv, SmartThings, and others. North America has been at the forefront of this market to date, in terms of user numbers. However, rapid growth is expected to follow worldwide. In North America, security providers, such as ADT or Vivint, have been among the forefront of the market providing combined smart home and professionally monitored security systems. Telecommunications companies, such as Comcast or AT&T, also play a major role. In the Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) region, utility companies are expected to dominate, accounting for one-third of the installed base in 2018. Utility companies already offering or developing smart home devices or services in Europe include British Gas, Essent, Eneco, Nuon, RWE, EnBW, and Eon. European multiservice operators (MSO) have generally been slower to enter the smart home service market than those in North America, although there have been exceptions such as Bouygues Telecom and Swisscom. Others, such as SFR and Orange, have also now entered the market, with further expected to follow. In the Asia-Pacific region, some multiservice operators have been offering basic smart home services for a number of years, although volumes have remained relatively low. As more enter the market,with wider value propositions and attractive tiered pricing, the role of MSOs is set to grow. However, it is device suppliers that are expected to drive the majority of growth in Asia-Pacific. In some cases, the device suppliers are expected to focus on the creation of the "smart" hardware, using open standards to make it compatible with services from other companies. However, some appliance suppliers are expected to also own the backend system used. Industrial Control Systems Manufacturers Issue Statement of Cybersecurity Principles The Industrial Automation Control Products and Systems product section of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has released a statement of its principles on the subject of cybersecurity. Industrial control system (ICS) products are computer-based systems that make use of specialized software and embedded devices that control and automate processes and machines. They are essential components of critical and non-critical infrastructure alike, including but not limited to manufacturing facilities, oil refineries, chemical facilities, power plants, electrical grids, pipelines, rail networks, and water treatment systems. "The competitive nature of the ICS market drives continual improvement in product security," said Raj Batra, president of Siemens Industry Automa- http://www.RemoteMagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Remote - M2M 2014

Remote - M2M 2014
Editor's Choice
When Does it Makes Sense to Transition to Wireless?
Intelligent Machinery Requires Comprehensive Wireless M2M Communications
Improving M2M Communications with Wireless
Driving the Connected Car - a New World of Mobility
SDN-Based Solutions Strengthen Cyber Security in Industrial Control Infrastructure
Electric Vehicles: Where Telematics, Smart Grid and Mobile Payments Converge
Powering Today’s Wireless Sensors
M2M Visions of 2020
Satellite Communications Takes the Edge out of Risky Mining Operations
New Products
Industry News

Remote - M2M 2014