Kerry McGuire, VP of strategy for the Internet of Things business unit at ARM, joined SiliconANGLE live with theCUBE co-hosts John Furrier and Paul Gillin, at the 2014 edition of IBM Impact to discuss embedded devices and how developers can speed up innovation in the Internet of Things industry.

McGuire said there is an explosion of innovation around devices and software that will help developers deploy applications for the Internet of Things market. The developer engagement and the speed of innovation has changed the mobile world and we are at the heart of the mobile revolution.

“What we think is possible is to bring the same dynamic to the Internet of Things, and speed up deployment,” McGuire explained. She said with the new embedded sensors, communications, and OSes means developers are working on fundamental hardware-level systems that will benefit hugely from enabling developers to prototype quickly.

One of the aspect how ARM is engaging developers is the new development system called MBED project. McGuire said that the MBED development platform is the fastest way to create products based on ARM microcontrollers with low cost. The project is being developed by ARM, its partners and the contributions of the global MBED developer community. She presented two new IoT hardware systems from ARM partners, which coupled with software can help developers to create IoT prototype devices quickly.

Startups are the key to IoT development

Asked how embedded devices will be able to achieve closer links with IoT initiative, McGuire said the key to IoT development is the startup companies that are coming with innovative products.

“You can develop very disruptive products, most of them around wearable technology, or industrial products,” she said. “A lot of these products will come from small startups, that is why we engage developers in this way.”

“There is some exciting transition in power,” McGuire added. “Many of the first generation IoT products are based on mobile processors. Many of the products currently demoed are generating their own power, they don’t have to rely on batteries. That is disruptive, and creates an opportunity.”

She also sees new trends emerging with the breakthrough in battery technology. “We certainly see new trends, power will be something that our partners will have to excel at for a long time.”

IoT market will go mainstream with partners

McGuire said that through the integration of hardware and software, standardized network protocols and development platform from ARM partners, enterprises can optimize for storage or networking capabilities. There are exciting opportunities around embedded systems, which she equated to portable data centers.

She explained that there will be even more focus on ecosystem as companies will need to rapidly create new devices/software and the big distinctions ARM has from the mobile industry in the IoT is diversity. “We think diversity has to be fostered in the industry,” McGuire said. ”Our long standing relationship with connectivity and power is an advantage for our partners,” she added.

She further added there was a lot of diversity in storage capabilities, as well as in the level of processing with an explosion around Bluetooth for new types of devices. In terms of hardware, McGuire said that ARM provides Cortex-M processor that has wide range of applications, from smart phones, wearable devices, home gateways to industrial control.

When asked what is ARM takes on security vulnerabilities of the Internet of Things, she said, “We could have done security in mobile earlier. With devices connecting in a transparent way, security has to be at the heart of it. This will be a big one for us to solve together in the industry, and it will take cooperation around standards.”

Many of the chips going into these devices being based on ARM, the benefits of ARM ecosystem make it easier for developers to create new products. Currently ARM has 200 licenses for embedded processors with over 150 companies, according to the most recent ARM PLC Holdings Report.