FogHorn Brings Industrial Analytics, Machine Learning to Android
Lightning Mobile marks developer’s first foray into mobile industrial IoT
Edge intelligence software developer FogHorn announced the release of its first mobile product that aims to bring real-time AI and machine-learning capabilities to Android-powered devices in industrial settings.
The Lowdown: The new Lightning Mobile supports ingestion of all Android event data and can efficiently process digital, audio, video, and image-based content. Support for edge-based deep learning model inferencing solves issues like image recognition of bar codes and health and battery monitoring of high-volume deployments of mobile devices.
The Details:
Because much of Lightning Mobile’s real-time data analytics are accomplished on the device, it can operate in low-connectivity environments. This approach should make it easier for ISVs and systems integrators to leverage Lightning Mobile to build and market solutions for use cases where connections to cellular networks and the cloud are limited.
FogHorn also launched an ecosystem initiative to expand the portfolio of applications that can run on Lightning Mobile.
Background: According to GSMA Intelligence, industrial IoT connections will overtake consumer IoT connections in 2023, increasing more than five-fold to 13.8 billion in 2025. The emergence of LTE-M, NB-IoT, and 5G; the benefits of leveraging battery-powered, low-cost devices; portability and re-configuration flexibility; growth in high-density deployments; and the coverage and security benefits of mobile technologies are all contributing to the rise, the analyst firm says.
The Buzz: “We are extremely excited to bring FogHorn’s next wave of edge computing innovation to market with Lightning Mobile, pushing real time analytics and AI to OT professionals through their mobile devices,” said Sastry Malladi, CTO at FogHorn. “This will unleash a wave of new industrial use cases including next-generation bar code scanners, portable factory environmental monitors, manufacturing using a high density of devices such as smart screwdrivers, advanced fleet applications, and more. We see a tremendous global opportunity for this technology.”
“Over 85 percent of mobile operating systems worldwide are Android,” said Mike Guilfoyle, director of research at ARC Advisory Group. “For FogHorn’s customers, more of their operations technology staff can leverage edge intelligence for real-time analytics in the field, without the restriction of fixed-position devices. By enabling OT-staff access to edge computing on handheld Android devices, it will expand the pool of thinking about what is possible at the edge. This will inevitably lead to new use cases for industrial and commercial organizations.”