Red Bend Software and Telit Wireless Solutions to Improve Software Management of m2m Wireless Device
Written by Red Bend Software
Thursday, 01 February 2007
License Agreement Opens New Market for Red Bend and Benefits Telit Customers with Remote Software Update Capability that Extends Product Lifecycles
Waltham, Mass., January 31, 2007 Red Bend Software, the market leader in Mobile Software Management and Firmware Over-the-Air (FOTA) updating solutions for mobile phones, today announced that Telit Wireless Solutions SpA., an international provider of cellular m2m (machine-to-machine) technology, has licensed Red Bend's vCurrent® Mobile client software for use in its m2m product portfolio. The non-exclusive agreement represents a significant new market opportunity for Red Bend within the growing m2m sector, which is expected to be worth $285 billion and reach 500 million modules deployed worldwide by 2010, according to market research firm, IDATE.
"The introduction of FOTA upgrade capability significantly increases value to our customers by reducing on-site visits and keeping recalls of remote applications to a minimum. With FOTA, only hardware-related failures, which happen less often, will need to be fixed manually in the field, said Dominikus Hierl, President of Telit Wireless Solutions. "This is an important development for the m2m market where product lifecycles span 5 to 10 years. Having Red Bend's vCurrent Mobile embedded in Telit solutions helps customers protect their investments by keeping up with the latest software developments and changes.
The Telit Wireless Solutions and Red Bend agreement represents an exciting new capability for m2m applications, including eliminating manual field software updates, enabling cost-efficient remote application maintenance, and improving the reliability and lifespan of m2m modules. Red Bend's FOTA solution provides a cost-effective, fast, secure and reliable method of wirelessly reflashing the firmware on mobile devices to ensure that software is up-to-date with the latest enhancements and features. In 2006, FOTA became a "must-have feature on mobile phones, and Red Bend Software emerged as the market leader with its client software embedded in 58 mobile handset models used by 80 million consumers worldwide. By 2008, FOTA technology is expected to be available in 50% of all mobile devices, according to ARCchart, a UK-based research firm.
"Teaming with Telit Wireless Solutions, a world leader in m2m technologies, opens tremendous growth opportunities for Red Bend in an important and fast-growing segment of the wireless market, said Yoram Salinger, CEO of Red Bend Software. "The savings in cost and even human safety with FOTA capability in m2m devices is compelling. For instance, a utility provider will save an average of $50 to not have to 'roll a truck' for an individual service call and instead, can provision mass software updates to any number of devices remotely.
The m2m market recognizes the importance of over-the-air firmware update technology as a critical part of advanced module deployment. With m2m modules growing in complexity, both operators and manufacturers benefit from solutions that remotely perform software improvements over the air. M2m applications can be found in a range of industries and used in a number of ways, including:
Automotive Telematics and navigation / location-based systems
Fleet Management/Transportation Vehicle tracking for efficient dispatch of work orders
Utilities Automatic Meter Reading to remotely read and measure energy consumption in real time
Retail Point of sale, credit card systems and vending machines
Government/Military Asset tracking of people or cargo (including Homeland Security)
The implementation of vCurrent Mobile from Red Bend in Telit modules provides numerous advantages to customers, including:
Efficiently utilizes bandwidth-constrained wireless networks by identifying and delivering only the essential changes from an existing version of firmware to a new, updated version
Compresses the new firmware update to a package up to 97% smaller than other techniques
Eliminates the risk in rendering a device "disabled due to a power loss, via fail-safe feature
Performs pre-update verification to ensure the compatibility, security and integrity of the device firmware and update package, guaranteeing update success prior to its onset
To learn more, visit Telit at 3GSM 2007 in Barcelona, Spain in Hall 1, Stand 1E44, or Red Bend in Hall 4 Level 5, Hospitality Suite 4.5HS17.
About Telit Communications
Headquartered in Italy, Telit is a leading global mobile communications technology company. Its Wireless Solutions division develops manufactures and markets GSM/GPRS and CDMA modules for machine-to-machine (m2m) applications, which enable machines, devices or vehicles to communicate via mobile networks. Telit modules are marketed and deployed worldwide. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market (AIM) (code: TCM). For more information about the company, please visit www.telit.com.
About Red Bend Software
Red Bend Software helps mobile phone manufacturers and network operators to accelerate the adoption of new services and features, respond rapidly to customer needs, and reduce support costs through mobile software management solutions. LG Electronics, BenQ Mobile, NEC, Sharp, Sony Ericsson, and other large handset manufacturers use Red Bend's firmware over-the-air (FOTA) mobile client software to quickly and reliably deliver compact firmware updates to more than 80 million mobile phones already in the hands of consumers. Founded in 1999, Red Bend Software is a privately held, venture capital-financed company with offices in China, Israel, Japan, Korea, the U.K and the U.S. More information about Red Bend Software is available at www.redbend.com.
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