14 DAY TRIAL // GE, FirstBuild and Canonical are now working together in order to create an "open-source" industry standard for IoT devices that anyone can pick up and use.
IoT is the acronym for the Internet for Things, a new category of devices that are smart and can connect to the Internet, but they are far removed from anything that's been done until now. We all knew that a time would come when we would have all kinds of cool stuff connected to the Internet, like a fridge or oven, but now that we're here, we find that things have become terribly complicated.
It happened what always happens when new technology is at its beginning. Everyone made their own stuff, and many devices don't share the same kind of software, OS, or even basic connectivity. Various standards are being used in different parts of the world, and new ones are created all the time, making the work of potential app and software developers really hard. This is the main reason GE and Canonical are trying to lead the way towards a new, open-source standard that would be available to anyone.
This is not just a new standard
Right about now, you're thinking that the two companies are just adding a new standard for IoT development to the already-existing clutter, but that's not the case. They are trying to push the market to use something that's open source and that, in theory, should be usable and modifiable by anyone. This, in turn, would greatly open the market for developers and other companies.
"GE, FirstBuild and Canonical are joining forces with a novel approach: 'Crowdsourcing IoT Standards.' Via a series of contests and a crowdfunding campaign we want to crowdsource the future of the app-enabled home. The end-result will be open sourced hence anybody can benefit from it," reads the announcement made by Canonical.
The first phase of this initiative is to have a context on FirstBuild, which is the co-creation community around GE products, for users and companies alike. For now, it's called Define the Interface, and you can submit your work until October 10.
In case GE's FirstBuild sounds familiar, then you should know that they were the ones who released the first app-enabled fridge, powered by Ubuntu Snappy Core.