Weightless IoT tech goes global as Ubiik ships development kit

Weightless

Hardware built on Weightless low-power wide area network (LPWAN) technology has been launched globally.

IoT connectivity company Ubiik has begun shipping its development kit based on the standard and has started fulfilling pre-orders across 20 countries.

The Weightless Starter Kit was first announced in March and billed as a “Weightless network in a box”. It brings together base stations, end device modules and software to allow testing, evaluation and development of Internet of Things products.

The newly renamed Weightless, formerly known as Weightless-P, is an open standard offering low energy and low-cost communications for IoT devices.

It supports downlink for a large number of transmissions compared to other LPWAN technologies, which it said improves the reliability of wireless communications.

It was defined by the Weightless SIG industry body, which released the specification in December 2015.

Tien-Haw Peng, CEO of Ubiik, said: “Our partners’ critical need for a bi-directional LPWAN has served to bolster our team’s determination to bring this technology to life and make it available to the world.”

Another LPWAN technology, Sigfox, is going on a charm offensive to woo businesses in the UK.

WND UK, the primary Sigfox operator in the country, has announced it will host a two-day workshop in Daresbury, England next month to demonstrate the technology’s potential.

The company signed a deal with Sigfox in June to build a network reaching 95 percent of the UK population by 2019.