由曾任職蘋果(Apple)、Facebook、Google、Mozilla和Yahoo的工程師成立的 Electric Imp Inc. 正在努力推動物聯(lián)網(wǎng)(Internet of Things, IoT)，他們的努力，可能讓物聯(lián)網(wǎng)進一步獲得提升在市場上的形象。 然而，這也很可能是一把雙刃劍。 每當(dāng)看到電子產(chǎn)業(yè)中出現(xiàn)具備大規(guī)模擴展?jié)摿Φ男聭?yīng)用時，總是相當(dāng)令人感到興奮。事實上，正如同首次上市時市值即被估計達800億美元的 Facebook ， IoT 也讓我聯(lián)想到“很酷”和“社交”等名詞。 畢竟，F(xiàn)acebook的前資深產(chǎn)品設(shè)計師兼使用者經(jīng)驗專家正是該公司的創(chuàng)辦人之一。 但另一方面，對我這個倔強的老頭來說，我擔(dān)心的是將來即使日常生活中最簡單的事情，也都要仰賴網(wǎng)絡(luò)來完成。“我只是想把燈關(guān)掉罷了…..什么？你說我沒有設(shè)定好密碼？” 確實，許多公司都在關(guān)注連網(wǎng)趨勢。但還有另一家公司引起我的注意：Neul Lte.。 就像Electric Imp，Neul也希望活用資料，提供IoT服務(wù)，而且該公司也提供使用端設(shè)備的芯片。我記得，Neul是蘇格蘭蓋爾語(Gaelic language)中“云”的意思。所以，Neul也有著看起來可以很“酷”的理由。 Electric Imp 和 Neul 之間的最大差異，在于Neul將注意力集中在使用閑置頻譜(white-space)無線技術(shù)作為專用的IoT無線信道，該技術(shù)在無線頻譜上大約為 400~800MHz頻段。而Electric Imp則決定采用普及的Wi-Fi技術(shù)，而非重新建立自己的無線基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施。Wi-Fi在所有已開發(fā)國家中都擁有極高的家庭滲透率，在美國約為60%；英 國、法國和德國則約為70%。事實上，目前全球使用Wi-Fi的家庭數(shù)大約達到25%。 Electric Imp提供插座和卡片系統(tǒng)，同時采取標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化的分工策略，未來也可望為所有廠商降低成本。然而，有一種說法認(rèn)為，若IoT真能成功，那么，無以計數(shù)的龐大節(jié)點將壓垮Wi-Fi頻寬。無疑地，若Electric Imp有朝一日能以25美元的價格銷售十億張以上的微型卡時，他們的創(chuàng)辦人們必然會將這個問題考慮進去。 而Neul也銷售終端設(shè)備用芯片組，但客戶仍需要投入開發(fā)部份與RF有關(guān)的復(fù)雜工作。Neul希望未來能授權(quán)給其它的芯片公司，共同推動這個商業(yè)模式。 要探討這兩套系統(tǒng)競爭或并存實際上并沒有必要。事實上二種系統(tǒng)都能共存，因為他們占用著不同的頻段。 Electric Imp可能會在消費電子產(chǎn)品領(lǐng)域找到切入點。目前包括洗衣機、電視、室內(nèi)和戶外照明等設(shè)備制造商，都希望以極低的成本為他們的設(shè)備添加區(qū)隔化特性。而 Neul由于入門成本較高，因此他們在公共事業(yè)上可能較有機會，如智能電表，以及其它由國家級單位或大型公司所建置的服務(wù)。 現(xiàn)在，Electric Imp 和 Neul 都積極搶進物聯(lián)網(wǎng)市場？但最終誰會勝出？還要觀察市場反應(yīng)。 編譯： Joy Teng 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 參考英文原文： Electric Imp's cool versus Neul in IoT ，by Peter Clarke

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{pagination} Electric Imp's cool versus Cambridge's Neul in IoT Peter Clarke The launch of Electric Imp Inc. by founders with have served time at Apple, Facebook, Google, Mozilla and Yahoo suggests that the Internet of Things might be about to get a boost in public profile. This could be a double-edged sword. On the one hand it is always exciting to see an application of electronics that we have been studying and writing about for a few years finally make it on to a bigger stage. Indeed as Facebook is about to be valued at $80 billion plus at its initial public offering it is interesting to think that the Internet of Things (IoT) could be about to get "cool" and "social." After all, a former senior product designer at Facebook and UX expert [that's user experience if you didn't guess] is a cofounder. On the other hand the curmudgeon in me fears the heavy-hand of the internet weighing down on operations that used to be oh so simple. "I just want to switch the freaking lights out. What do you mean my password is no good?" There are indeed numerous companies starting to pay attention to the Internet of Things. But one other company stands out for me: Neul Ltd. Like Electric Imp, Neul wants to host data and provide IoT services and is prepared to supply user equipment chips. Neul means cloud in the Gaelic language as I remember, so Neul has its own cool factor. The big difference between the two companies is that Neul is focusing its attention on using a white-space radio for dedicated IoT radio channels in the in spectrum at around 400- to 800-MHz. Rather than have to build its own radio infrastructure Electric Imp has decided to piggy back off Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi has high penetration in households in developed economies; reportedly 60 percent in the United States and 70 percent in the U.K., France and Germany. Indeed 25 percent of all the world's households are said to have Wi-Fi. The other difference – and potentially an even bigger one – is that Electric Imp has, with its socket and card system, neatly divided the cost of enabling IoT between the vendors of things and the developers of networks of things. The company has also standardized that division in a way that should reduce the cost for everyone. However, there is an argument that if IoT is going to be truly successful the nodes will become so numerous that they would overwhelm Wi-Fi bandwidth. No doubt the founders of Electric Imp would consider that a nice problem to have if they have sold billions of tiny cards at $25 to get there. Meanwhile, Neul is also selling chipsets for inclusion in end-user equipment which then still needs expensive development and some RF sophistication to be made to work. Neul hopes that where it leads other chip companies will license and follow. It is not necessary that one system will drive out the other. Both can co-exist not least because they are in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Electric Imp is likely to find speculative interest among consumer electronics builders and hobbyists. It lets vendors of washing machines, TVs, indoor and outdoor lighting, and so on, add a differentiating capability to their equipment at very low cost. Neul, with its higher cost of entry, may do better with institutions such as utility companies aiming to introduce smart metering and other national and big company services. So, Electric Imp or Neul? The market will decide.