Farnell element14 has secured an agreement with ARM to be the first to stock the recently launched ARM mbed IoT Starter Kit – Ethernet Edition for IBM Internet of Things Foundation, opening up opportunities for tech enthusiasts across the world to experiment and innovate with the Internet of Things (IoT). Available now from element14, priced at £79 the new development kit enables people with limited or no experience of embedded design or web development to create IoT applications and devices in a matter of minutes.
The agreement reinforces element14’s commitment to providing electronic components and development kits that support design innovation for the Internet of Things. Worldwide interest in IoT is high, with a recent global survey of more than 3,500 adults, commissioned by element14, revealing 43% want to be able to connect more devices and appliances to the Internet. This figure rises to 71% across China and India.
David Shen, Group CTO at Premier Farnell, said: “The new ARM mbed IoT Starter Kit is an ideal ecosystem to develop IoT enabled applications. The out of box experience is outstanding as it allows designers of all skill levels to get their device connected to the cloud and begin reading the kits sensors remotely in a matter of minutes. This agreement is another example of how we are leading the market in opening up new opportunities for innovation and making the right tools and expertise available to engineers and enthusiasts across the world.”
“The agreement with element14 makes the ARM mbed IoT Starter Kit easily available to any developer, almost anywhere on the planet, at a price they can afford,” said Zach Shelby, vice president, IoT business marketing, ARM. “A major focus for mbed is to lower the barriers to IoT innovation, enabling anyone to become an entrepreneur. This kit helps to deliver on that ambition.”
The new development kit, which guides users through the processes for developing cloud-ready IoT devices, comes with an ARM mbed-enabled development board, built on the Freescale FRDM-K64F Kinetis microcontroller, which has an ARM Cortex-M4 processing core running at 120MHz. An Ethernet connection links the kit to IBM’s Bluemix cloud service, which acts as a guide on how to use the board.
The kits also features a sensor expansion board, which contains a 128 x 32 graphics LCD, 256KB RAM, 1MB of flash storage, a speaker, five-way joystick, temperature sensor, accelerometer, potentiometers and a PWM (pulse-width modulation) control line to receive digital signals.
The ARM mbed IoT Starter Kit is available from Farnell element14 in Europe. Data sheets and application notes can be found on the product pages together with a range of associated accessories and 24/5 live tech support is available for any queries.
The element14 Community provides a rich resource for user of the new development kit, where more than 300,000 electronics engineers are on hand to share experiences, knowledge and advice on developing IoT-enabled applications and systems. For additional information please visit the element14 Design Center.
