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It was another fairly busy week for the active embedded M2M solutions sector. Here are some of the top stories as reported on by TMCnet.

First up, Jeff Davis was promoted to senior vice president of Engineering by Multi-Tech (News - Alert) Systems. An employee of the company for nearly 32 years, Davis spent the last six as vice president of Engineering, responsible for the development of 34 domestic patents and numerous foreign patents.

In his new SVP role, Davis will now head up engineering teams for both of Multi-Tech's product lines, M2M and Unified Communications (News - Alert). He will also expand his responsibilities to oversee new product development.

Next, STMicroelectronics announced the availability of software and associated microcontrollers designed to optimize performance and usage of low-cost electronic equipment. Called STM32Java, this comprehensive toolbox supports the development of advanced GUIs for products ranging from kitchen appliances to industrial tools.

"Even very small systems with limited resources, can now have smartphone-smooth user interfaces that are clear, intuitive and attractive," said Dominique Jugnon, Microcontroller Development Tools manager, STMicroelectronics (News - Alert). "STM32Java is the first commercial-quality development platform that truly enables product developers to realize that goal."

In other news, Identive Group unveiled GameChangeR, a developer's solution that allows developers to create and incorporate contactless RFID technology into electronic games. GameChangeR doesn't require extensive expertise with RFID, allowing developers unfamiliar with the technology to harness its power nonetheless.

Included in the GameChangeR kit are a specially configured RFID reader, three GameChangeR tags and a USB-UART converter. Meanwhile, a high-level API is made available through the 13.56MHz, ISO14443A reader, allowing for easy, secure collaboration.

ABI Research released its Intelligent Transportation Systems vendor Competitive Assessment this week, identifying Kapsch TrafficCom as the top player in the industry. This is due to the company's outstanding performance in terms of hardware, software and solutions — particularly with toll collect and road use charging, traffic data monitoring and management, and road and vehicle safety systems.

Siemens managed a close second place, with its strong showing in regional coverage, traffic management, software and middleware, and big data. Hitachi (News - Alert) was identified as third in the market, scoring high in quality and reliability in areas including smart cities integration and multimodal mobility.

Lastly, Norsat International launched the first product in its satellite M2M product line for the oil and gas industry, Sentinel RMC. This solution offers seamless site data control and monitoring in real time via an intuitive Web-based interface.

A comprehensive end-to-end solution that includes communication services, a rugged remote terminal unit for data collection and management and data hosting, Sentinel RMC helps to interpret data and provide connectivity via mobile, satellite or terrestrial means. Furthermore, this solution can be customized to meet customer needs.

That's all for this week in review. Be sure to check out the Embedded M2M Solutions Channel for more news in this sector.