Konekt, developer of IoT toolkits, has launched a Kickstarter campaign for Konekt Dash, a cellular development kit for the Internet of Things (IoT). An expansion upon the original Konekt Toolkit, Dash includes the hardware developers need to connect and manage millions of devices via machine to machine (M2M) cellular connection. With unparalleled security features and over-the-air (OTA) access for firmware updates, Konekt Dash paves the way for IoT solutions that deliver reliability and privacy in the field. The Kickstarter campaign will run 35 days and aim to raise a minimum of $30,000 for production of the consumer-level Konekt Dash and more secure enterprise-level Konekt Dash Pro.
A business-to-developer (B2D) product, Konekt Dash was built to facilitate rapid innovation in the “Internet of Things.” By relying on a cellular connection, Dash allows developers to deploy IoT solutions in places where Wi-Fi is unavailable or unreliable. While the original Konekt Toolkit includes the SIM card and services required for cellular IoT, the Konekt Dash significantly speeds up time to market by providing a circuit board with integrated battery management. With Dash, developers simply need sensors and code to deploy an IoT solution that works anywhere with cell service.
The use cases for Konekt Dash span all industries. The kit can easily support smartphone-controlled home security systems, dog trackers, bicycle trackers and other consumer applications. Thanks to its high-level security, the Dash Pro is appropriate for applications like parking meters, ATM security, industrial temperature monitoring and healthcare applications. Because the Konekt Dash comes with pre-loaded global cellular service, APIs, a cloud platform and a management portal (e.g. for billing and activation), just a few developers can launch a project with the resources of a much larger team.
Compared to existing IoT development kits, Konekt Dash offers major improvements in security and remote management. The Pro version features SSL, AES 256 PSK encryption and automatic, encrypted over-the-air (OTA) key exchange. In other words, all data is protected by a military-grade encryption as it travels between the sensor and the cloud server. On the remote management side, developers can complete secure OTA firmware updates and run diagnostics on each device without fear of the device breaking in the field. This makes it feasible for developers to deploy and maintain millions of devices without having to build complex network infrastructure or a custom on-chip operating system for their devices.
Konekt Dash’s Kickstarter rewards encompass many of the peripherals that developers will need to implement their ideas. Though higher reward levels include GPS trackers, air sensors and more, all levels include a free six monthdata plan (1MB per month or up to 6 MB total), which customers can upgrade if they build higher bandwidth applications.
Kickstarter contributors can also add one or more “Shields” to any reward. These include a Solar Shield to power devices, a battery to make the project truly mobile, a Relay Shield for switching external devices on and off, and a “Shield Shield” for integrating with Arduino hardware. Because the Konekt Platform is hardware agnostic, the company is offering reward tiers that package the Konekt Global SIM with familiar Arduino, Rasberry Pi and Beagleboard hardware. $5,000, the highest reward level, includes a workshop to build a new product with the Konekt team.
“Konekt Dash continues our efforts to democratise the cellular IoT space by giving makers, hackers and OEMs of all sizes access to enterprise level infrastructure in a super accessible, turnkey, open source package,” said Ben Forgan, co-founder and CEO of Konekt. “By introducing enterprise-level encryption – something no other IoT kit offers – we’re also empowering developers to create solutions for industries with strict security and privacy requirements. Essentially, Konekt Dash can eliminate nearly all the legwork that goes into engineering the complex infrastructure needed to build a cellular IoT product or solution that works without Wi-Fi access.”
“While we believe the Konekt Dash is an excellent turnkey IoT hardware solution, the platform is completely open source and designed to be hardware agnostic. We are building extensive design notes and documentation for organisations that choose to build their own hardware,” said Pat Wilbur, CTO at Konekt. “The Konekt toolkits allows for plenty of customisation and is able to support unique applications that mix and match different types of custom hardware and software. We hope the Kickstarter campaign will be the start of building a community of developers who desire to go beyond the limitations set by traditional M2M and IoT platforms.”
Konekt Global SIM cards will ship at the end of the Kickstarter campaign in May 2015. Konekt SIMs packaged with third-party hardware (Arduino, Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone) will ship in May 2015. The Konekt Dash will ship in Summer 2015.
For more information, visit www.konekt.io.
