The IoT Ethernet Starter Kit is a new hardware development kit dedicated to the world of connected objects. This solution, proposed by ARM Holdings plc (ARM), was created with the support of IBM. The only thing missing from the announcement is the price tag.

The Starter Kit consists of a board with ARM processor, sensors, LEDs and other electronic components. It can connect to the IBM Internet of Things Foundation, which authenticates and ensures encrypted transmission of data to IBM Bluemix services. These services allow visualization and analysis of data, combined with data from other sources, and can report back to the device’s instructions. Access to it is done in the browser or from an application over a RESTful API.

Intelligent IoT apps build in the cloud

The kit is intended for users who are not particularly familiar with the web or embedded development. Through prototyping, they will be guided through developing with sensors and devices and connecting to Bluemix.

Apps can be created by connecting several Bluemix services. For code, programmers can choose among many languages such as Java, JavaScript, Ruby, Go, Python and PHP. Developers can also take advantage of IBM’s visual programming NodeRED. Also good for newcomers, with the development kit, it is possible to create an application within three minutes.

ARM has yet to release the price of the kit, but said it should cost less than $200. It contains a card equipped with a Freescale K64F Kinetis microcontroller with a Cortex-M4 processing core operating at 120 MHz. An Ethernet connection connects the card to the cloud service BlueMix that provides explanations on its implementation. Other components of the card include LCD 128 x 32 display, 256 KB of RAM, 1MB of flash storage, a microphone, a five-way joystick, a temperature sensor, an accelerometer and potentiometers.

The IoT board communicates directly with IBM’s Bluemix cloud service that acts as a central repository for IoT data. But ARM emphasized that cooperation with IBM was not quite exclusive and other cloud providers can use the platform to develop their own solutions.

ARM says that securely embedding intelligence and connectivity into devices from the outset will create cloud-connected products that are far more capable than today. Smart cities, businesses and homes capable of sharing rich information about their surroundings will be critical in unlocking the potential of IoT. ARM expects the Starter Kit will accelerate the availability of connected devices by making product and service prototyping faster and easier.

IBM and ARM are hoping to win the highly fragmented market for IoT solutions with this solution. The project will compete with the Raspberry Pi, a small craft board device that can be prototyped quickly by developers for cheap. To date, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has sold more than 4 million Raspberry Pi computers, which have been used to build educational computers, economic, media servers and more.

Raspberry Pi has quickly become one of the maker community’s favorite platforms because their highly-capable, low-cost boards and compute modules enable developers to bring their vison to life. Recently, Microsoft announced that it is expanding its Windows Developer Program for IoT by making a version of Windows 10 compatible for use with the Raspberry Pi 2.

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