I received an email from Enfora this morning saying:

“Companies around the world are finding more and more interesting ways to use Enfora products in their applications. ABC News broadcast this story last week on how one of our partners is helping a local church track their outdoor nativity scenes from theft utilizing the Mini MT. The Enfora products in their applications. ABC News broadcast this story last week on how one of our partners is helping a local church track their outdoor nativity scenes from theft utilizing the Mini MT. The Enfora Mini MT is a fully certified quad-band integrated platform that provides complete GSM/GPRS functionality for mobile tracking applications.”

Watch the video here

A new-to-me vendor: M2M Technology B.V. They offer user programming tools for their hardware, which is a feature not often found, and one that’s often prevented me from working with otherwise interesting and price competitive hardware. They describe themselves as a company offering an end-to-end M2M solution providing remote connectivity to remote Internet/intranet, enterprise IT systems and proprietary systems.

Here’s an example of one of their products:

M2M Control C100 (available in GSM/GPRS and Mobitex versions)

• 8 digital inputs 0/24V (voltage free or driven, determined by a jumper)
• 8 digital outputs 0/24V (FET driven)
• 2 analog inputs 0-10V or 4-20mA
• 2 analog inputs for PT1000 resistor
• 1 analog output 0-10V

Ayantra, Fremont CA, recently announced the release of its FleetChiller solution for managing industrial chillers.

From the press release:

“This solution provides the information that service managers require to manage their chillers on a day-to-day basis. It answers their key questions, such as: Is the chiller running or not? Are both compressors running, or is one of them offline? What is the water temperature coming in and going out? Is the chiller malfunctioning in any way?”

I received a news flash this morning from M2M Magazine announcing that Axeda has acquired Questra.

From the announcement:

“The remote-service world experienced major consolidation today, as Axeda Corp., Foxboro, Mass., announced its acquisition of competitor Questra Corp., Redwood City, Calif.”

More here

Found on SmartSynch’s News page:

SmartSynch’s CTO Dr. Henry Jones appeared on M2M Radio on Dec 4 to talk about how M2M technologies will be a major contributor to development of the “smart grid”.

Listen here.

M2M Magazine reminded me that today is the last chance to submit an entry to be a speaker at the 2009 M2M Connected World next June. Forms are being accepted for corporate adopters only.

Click here to download a form online.

This is your chance to be a part of the machine-to-machine community. M2M Connected World represents the only pure M2M event in the industry. This is your opportunity to participate in this premier event, make sure you submit today!

KORE announced today that Tracking Solutions Online has selected the KORE network to power its fleet management and tracking solutions.

From the press release:

“KORE gives Tracking Solutions Online the reliable wireless coverage and control it needs to offer customized fleet management and tracking solutions that meet its customers’ specific needs. Customers can track vehicle fleets in real time, ensure that jobs are being performed on schedule, monitor speed, provide telemetry services (starter disable, lock/unlock doors, etc.), improve fuel consumption and even eliminate side jobs.”

I came a across this book today. It’s on sale at the ISA web site for $69 (non-member price).

If you’re involved in industrial automation and M2M projects you must be dealing with at least one communications network and probably more. This book will help you understand what’s out there and how they all work.

From the ISA web site:

“Industry expert Dick Caro walks you through the various industrial networks (e.g., sensor, fieldbus, control, safety buses, and so on) and then gives you a perspective on the typical applications for industrial automation network technology. The emphasis is on the intended application for each network, rather than on the network protocol that is more typically discussed in most textbooks.”