AllSeen Alliance Reaches 50 Members; Expands Smart Home, Connected Car And Security Focus

GEO Semiconductor, Local Motors, Octoblu, Razer, Red Bend Software and Symantec Join the Industry’s Broadest Project to Advance the Internet of Everything

The AllSeen Alliance, the broadest Internet of Everything open-source project, today announced strong momentum in its mission to drive connectivity among devices, systems, services and the people they serve with the addition of six new members – GEO Semiconductor, Local Motors, Octoblu, Razer, Red Bend Software and Symantec.

The AllSeen Alliance also announced the addition of sponsored members: Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, CableLabs and openHAB.

The AllSeen Alliance has reached 50 members across diverse industry and vertical segments within five months of its creation in December 2013, demonstrating the industry’s desire to accelerate open, collaborative innovation for the Internet of Everything based on consumer demand. Members include top consumer electronics manufacturers, home appliance makers, service providers, retailers, automotive companies, cloud service providers, enterprise technology companies, innovative startups and chipset manufacturers.

New members include:

-- GEO Semiconductor, a semiconductor and software company that provides geometric processing, image signal processing and video compression solutions.
-- Local Motors, the world's leading open source hardware co-creation company.
-- Octoblu, an emerging platform and API provider for the Internet of Everything.
-- Razer, one of the world’s leading gaming brands.
-- Red Bend Software, provides solutions and services for managing the growing amount of software in IoT.
-- Symantec, one of the world’s largest software companies and a leader in security, backup and availability solutions.

AllSeen Alliance members collaborate on an open, universal Internet of Everything software framework, based on AllJoyn open-source code, to connect devices and services regardless of brand, transport layer, platform or operating system. The AllSeen Alliance’s scope encompasses both the traditional machine-to-machine vision of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the services and dynamic real-time human interactions that, together with connected things, constitute the Internet of Everything.

The addition of members with strong automotive ties demonstrates the AllSeen Alliance’s widening focus on Internet of Everything innovation beyond the connected home to such applications as cars and industrial settings. For instance, the connected car market – vehicles that access, consume and share digital information and services between businesses, homes, people and other vehicles – is expected to reach $131.9 billion before the end of the decade, according to Transparency Market Research. And a recent study by Pew Research Center Internet Project reports that a “global, immersive, invisible, ambient networked computing environment” will thrive by 2025, affecting everything from homes to cars to environmental sensors to wearable devices.

The addition of members such as Symantec and Red Bend Software reflect the Alliance’s attention to Internet of Everything security.

“These new members reflect not only the AllSeen Alliance’s momentum but the incredible diversity of the organizations taking part in this collaborative effort and the contributions from a broad, multi-faceted developer community,” said Joe Speed, Director IoT at The Linux Foundation.

More about the new members:

GEO Semiconductor is a semiconductor and software company that provides geometric processing, image signal processing and video compression solutions to address a wide variety of camera and projection products. These products include automotive cameras, heads-up displays, security IP cameras, smartphone peripherals, projectors and consumer cloud cameras. Customers include Philips, Sony, Toshiba, Bosch, Sharp, Panasonic and other leaders.

“The Internet of Everything has the potential to change the world, and we’re proud to join a cross-industry alliance that’s working to make sure that potential will be reached,” said Ronald Allard, VP Worldwide Sales, GEO Semiconductor. “We look forward to working with the other members to help drive an open environment, vibrant ecosystem and thriving technical community.”

Local Motors combines global co-creation and local micro-manufacturing to bring hardware innovations to market at unprecedented speed. They steward a community of hobbyist innovators, designers, engineers, makers and industry professionals, and they operate a growing global network of Microfactories, where local innovators create amazing products and consumers come to marvel and shop. In their newest partnership with General Electric, Local Motors is helping GE accelerate new product introduction through the FirstBuild Microfactory and Co-creation Platform (FirstBuild.com). Another notable innovation is the Company’s plans to make a line of 3D printed cars. These vehicles will be digitally designed and digitally made and Local Motors will print and assemble the first unit live at IMTS 2014, in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Cincinnati Inc.

“The Internet of Everything creates endless possibilities for the connected car and our customer experience, from improved safety and security to maintenance and infotainment,” said Jay Rogers, Founder and CEO of Local Motors. “Joining the Linux Foundation’s AllSeen Alliance and building proximal connectivity and interaction into our crowd-sourced products is a natural next step for us to lead the industry with innovations that change people’s lives.”

Octoblu's automation platform in combination with its SkyNet.IM IoT cloud service, expands the possibilities and capabilities of any IoT application, system or platform. Octoblu goes beyond a simple messaging platform and allows for the discovery, control, and management of any API based software application, any hardware or appliance, or social media network. Octoblu's robust security architecture and the ability to "spin up" and connect multiple private clouds provides an ideal solution for enterprises of all sizes to create innovative IoT services.

“The Internet of Everything is fertile ground for cutting-edge innovation, and we’re excited to be part of the industry’s most important project to help lay the infrastructure to allow that to happen,” said Geir Ramleth, CEO of Octoblu.

Razer is the world leader in devices and software platforms that enable, connect and entertain a worldwide community of electronic entertainment enthusiasts, 24/7.  Razer’s award-winning technology includes voice-over-IP and other social applications and devices; programs for music production, performance and enjoyment; cloud-based solutions for customizing and enhancing computer systems and related product performance; and a wide array of groundbreaking laptops, tablets, audio products, hardware and accessories, and apparel.

“Razer understands that closed ecosystems are a non-starter in the Internet of Things,” said Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director. “The collaboration taking place among so many industry leaders in the AllSeen Alliance is addressing an important need, and we’re delighted to participate.”

Red Bend Software is a leader in mobile software management. More than 2 billion Red Bend-enabled devices use the company’s software and services for firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updating, application management, device management, device analytics and mobile virtualization. Customers include more than 100 leading manufacturers, mobile operators, semiconductor vendors and automotive companies worldwide.

“As the amount of software driving the Internet of Everything continues to grow, so does the need to manage that software.  Many market segments, including automotive, mobile and M2M need to be an essential part of a vibrant, open ecosystem advancing the Internet of Everything,” said Oren Betzaleli, EVP, Products, Strategy and Marketing. “It’s great to see the AllSeen Alliance recognizing that, and we’re happy to be part of the work.”

Symantec is an information protection expert that helps people, businesses and governments seeking the freedom to unlock the opportunities technology brings -- anytime, anywhere. Founded in April 1982, Symantec, a Fortune 500 company operating one of the largest global data-intelligence networks, has provided leading security, backup and availability solutions for where vital information is stored, accessed and shared.

“The Internet of Everything holds great promise for consumers, businesses and governments,” said Roxane Divol, SVP, Alliances, at Symantec. “However, as with every new technological development, we must also be mindful of new security threats.  Symantec looks forward to collaborating with the other AllSeen Alliance members on this vital issue.”

About The AllSeen Alliance
The AllSeen Alliance is a nonprofit open source consortium dedicated to driving the widespread adoption of products, systems and services that support the Internet of Everything with an open, universal development framework that is supported by a vibrant ecosystem and thriving technical community. The Alliance hosts and advances an industry-supported open software connectivity and services framework based on AllJoyn technology accepting contributions from premier members, community members and the open source community. This secure and programmable software connectivity and services framework enables companies and individuals to create interoperable products that can discover, connect and interact directly with other nearby devices, systems and services regardless of transport layer, device type, platform, operating system or brand. For more information, please visit: http://www.allseenalliance.org.

The AllSeen Alliance is a Collaborative Project at The Linux Foundation. Linux Foundation Collaborative Projects are independently funded software projects that harness the power of collaborative development to fuel innovation across industries and ecosystems. www.linuxfoundation.org.