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White Paper: Seedling Platform for Internet of Things and Wearables

Posted on Posted in Internet of Things, WearablesTagged , , , , , , , ,

Wristol_BraunSeedling is a first of its kind solution and an optimized platform for wearables and Internet of Things (IoT) –devices developed by HitSeed. It enables launching connected hardware business with minimal custom effort from concept to a commercial product. The key differentiator for Seedling is the use of microcontrollers instead of microprocessors while still providing high performance, connectivity, full graphical user interface, and capacitive touch. Through the microcontroller, the other main components, and the lean and optimized software platform, Seedling offers a combination of cost efficiency, power optimization and platform flexibility that cannot be achieved with existing, computer-based derivatives like Android or Linux devices. The Seedling hardware solution can be dropped into a range of covers for industrial and home automation, smart watches, sports sensors and further.

Wristol SmartWatch is a reference product based on the HitSeed’s Seedling wearables and IoT –platform. The goal for Wristol is to demonstrate the capabilities of Seedling in wearables as well as to provide a generic reference design and end2end platform for HitSeed’s partners to enter the wearables business.

Seedling IoT platform is a microcontroller based platform, which intends to disrupt the microprocessor based IoT market from below. The latest microcontrollers have high enough performance to replace microprocessors for many use cases as their computing power is on the same level as mid-1990s PCs. For example, microcontrollers are able to drive small color displays with capacitive touch input, or pre-process sensor data needed e.g. in household appliances, sensors, and industrial controls. Therefore, in many cases Seedling based IoT platform could replace microprocessor based IoT solutions with similar performance, but significantly lower unit costs. In addition, low power consumption enables totally new use cases, because usage time with a battery is potentially several times longer than on microprocessor based solutions, leading potentially into a fully mobile, “fire-and-forget” type of device types not possible before.

Seedling platform consists of:

  • A hardware solution, including Seedling hardware board based on microcontrollers, a developer extension board to allow new sensors and other components to be prototyped, and a set of flex adapter boards for different displays
  • Software platform including FreeRTOS-based operating system and adaptation and device drivers to the Seedling hardware as well as corresponding system architecture and core user interface and communication mechanisms
  • Seedling reference applications for mobiles (IOS, Android), IoT communication gateways and cloud to provide Bluetooth-based companionship with mobile functionality and for cloud-based data processing e.g. for IoT sensors, and
  • Software development tools including GCC and Eclipse -based open source developer tool chain with on-board debugging, and Seedling platform libraries for application development.

Download the White Paper for Seedling Internet of Things (IoT) and Wearables Platform.

Ecolane Ranked 4th on Deloitte Fast 50 in Finland

Posted on Posted in Ecolane, Personal Transportation, Ride-SharingTagged , ,

Ecolane USA Inc. today announced the ranking of its parent company as the fourth fastest growing organization in Finland. While the focus of Ecolane’s business operations is predominantly in the United States, the cumulative growth rate of Ecolane’s Finnish entity reached 1,745% over the past five years. The Deloitte listing is based on Ecolane revenue in Finland in 2012, totaling 6.9 million Euros (US$9.3M). On a group level, Ecolane’s growth rate since 2008 totaled 2,203%. Ecolane’s software solution for transit management enables fully automated personal transportation and paratransit services. Based on efficient, secure and reliable technology developed in Finland, Ecolane DRT solutions (Demand Responsive Transportation) are currently used by more than 50 private and public organizations across the United States. “Ecolane aims to offer the most flexible, affordable and reliable choice for transit agencies tasked with implementing demand-response scheduling and dispatch solutions,” said Antti Hannula, Ecolane Chairman and Co-Founder. “Our core differentiator is a superior technological platform, built and perfected by the R&D team located in Finland, and based on the needs of our customers in the United States. We’re proud to be listed among the Deloitte Fast 50 and look forward to further growth and geographical expansion.” Founded in 2002, Ecolane first set out to develop a dynamic online carpooling platform. The business was quickly refocused to empowering better paratransit services, initially in the Finnish and European markets. The US entity Ecolane USA Inc. was founded in 2008, and the region has since grown to be the company’s largest market area. “Since joining Ecolane this spring, I’ve been impressed not only by the extremely fast growth, but by the passion of the Ecolane team to empower people in need of special transport, and to restore their ability to engage with their communities,” said Steve Ross, Ecolane’s US-based Global CEO. “While this is ultimately a technology company, and we’re focused on ensuring reliable real-time operation, underneath is a compelling social mission about people, not software.” The next steps for Ecolane include expansion of sales in the United States, exploring opportunities in further geographies, and developing the next-generation Ecolane platform. “Ecolane’s team is exceptional, close-knit and motivated to continue to build great products,” said Douglas Spears, VP of Product Development based in Finland. “We recently moved our R&D operations to a much larger office space to accommodate both the company’s growth as well as our intention to bring aboard new development and engineering talent.” Deloitte Fast 50 ranks the fastest-growing technology companies based on their revenue growth over a fiveyear period. For the 2013 ranking, Deloitte analyzed revenues from 2008 to 2012. For more information on Deloitte Fast 50, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deloitte_Fast_500. The listing for Finland in 2013 is available on the local Deloitte site at http://bit.ly/18b7EPE. For more information, please contact: USA: Jonathan Segal, Director of Marketing & Communications, Ecolane jonathan.segal@ecolane.com Tel. +1 610 635 6700 About Ecolane Ecolane is the most flexible, affordable and reliable choice for transit agency managers, directors and decisionmakers with responsibility for implementing easy-to-deploy, demand-response scheduling and dispatch solutions. Ecolane’s software platform restores community engagement to people who might not otherwise have access and mobility. With offices in Espoo, Finland and US headquarters outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ecolane is a technology leader in the demand responsive transportation (DRT) and the paratransit solutions market. For more information, please visit www.ecolane.com.