Amazon unveils AWS Internet of Things platform for connecting cloud devices

Cloud connection service customers already include Philips and NASA

Amazon Web Services has announced AWS IoT, its own Internet of Things service to connect billions of devices to the cloud and to each other.

The announcement comes as Microsoft Azure chief technology officer Mark Russinovich told Computing that Azure offers more than AWS, especially when it comes to hybrid cloud.

AWS's new platform is designed to make it simpler for devices - including cars, turbines, sensor grids, light bulbs and more to connect to AWS services - enabling organisations to store, process, analyse and act on the volumes of data generated by devices across the globe.

Devices connect to AWS IoT's Devices Gateway, which allows users to set rules for how AWS IoT hands the data and the actions they take with it.

The service operates on a pay-as-you go model, allowing users to connect to any number of devices and allowing them to interact with each other through cloud services. Customers that have already started using AWS IoT include Nasa, Philips and Sonos.

"The promise of the Internet of Things is to make everyday products smarter for consumers, and for businesses to enable better, data-driven offerings that weren't possible before," said Marco Argenti, vice president of mobile and IoT at Amazon Web Services.

"Now, AWS IoT enables a whole ecosystem of manufacturers, service providers, and application developers to easily connect their products to the cloud at scale, take action on the data they collect, and create a new class of applications that interact with the physical world," he added.

One organisation which is already looking to improve services using AWS IoT is the Healthcare division of Philips, which sees the Internet of Things playing a role in keeping people fit and healthy.

"At Philips we aim to empower people to take greater control of their health with digital solutions that support healthy living and improved care coordination," said Jeroen Tas, CEO of healthcare informatics, solutions and services at Philips.

"Our HealthSuite digital platform and its device cloud are already managing more than seven million connected, medical-grade and consumer devices, sensors, and mobile apps," he continued, before describing how AWS IoT can help.

"With the addition of AWS IoT, we will greatly accelerate the pursuit of our vision. It will be easier to acquire, process, and act upon data from heterogeneous devices in real-time. Our products, and the care they support, are enabled to grow smarter and more personalised over time," Tas said.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has instruments and sensors collecting data from all over the solar system (and far beyond), with much of it processed using cloud services. NASA has already experimented with AWS IoT.

A statement said NASA is "highly positive" about AWS IoT the use of which "demonstrates that NASA can now use the compute power of the cloud to integrate and process the data provided by sensors in mobile devices, smart devices, conference rooms, clean rooms, and beyond."

NASA isn't the only space agency which harnessing cloud to drive space exploration: the European Space Agency (ESA) also uses the technology to juggle a host of highly complex projects at any one time.

"Cloud allows engineers and scientists to operate more efficiently. The fact they have computing power when they need it right away, they just configure it right away, is something they couldn't have had before," ESA CIO Filippo Angelucci told Computing earlier this year.