TMCnews Featured Article

It’s Saturday, time to highlight some embedded M2M solution stories you might have missed this past week. Here are just a few of the headlines.

This week, Sprint (News - Alert) took a stand against texting while driving. It seems more mobile users have been unable to separate themselves from their phone even while operating an automobile. This has increased the number of motor vehicle accidents and deaths.

Sprint is using M2M technology to help combat this problem. Sprint’s new OBD2 (On Board Diagnostics) solution will disable texting while driving and only takes seconds to install. In addition to disarming while driving, the OBD2 technology will also send authorities the proper information if the driver has an accident, such as GPS location, time of accident, and even vehicle details.

Another company using M2M solutions to improve safety measures is Compass4Colorado. The company announced this week that it is making high-tech GIS and mapping capabilities available for its recovery initiatives.

A primary reason for the design was the immense amount of flooding Colorado has seen in the past few years. “Companies, utilities, and government agencies across Colorado and Nebraska are faced with assessing the full extent of flood damage as recovery begins,” said W. Brant Howard, founder and chairman of CompassTools.

“We believe that geospatial technologies, especially mobile field data collection, can help this assessment phase proceed more quickly and accurately so the impacted communities can rebuild sooner.”

The company will also work with community residents and employees on using the technology efficiently.

With M2M technology being used on a daily basis by e-Commerce websites, travel companies, and other major enterprises, it’s only a matter of time before in-house retailers begin to see the advantages, too. The U.S. saw $49.8 billion in Q2 2013 desktop-based retail e-commerce spending.

Kelly Robinson, M2M product marketing manager of retail at Sprint, said that customers are demanding a “here and now” feel when they walk into a retailer and want the same feeling online. The more touch screens, kiosks, and other interactive features that in-house retailers can install, the more likely customers are to embrace them and the omni-channel experience.

Stay updated on the latest in Embedded M2M technology by visiting TMCnet.com