AT&T Foundry Innovation Center Launched In Plano, Aims To Improve Your Life

AT&T has announced the launch of its second Foundry today, this one being located a bit north of Dallas in Plano, Texas. Calling it an innovation center, the company plans to work on the development of "products and services that improve your life," namely the Internet of Things — connected devices and machine-to-machine technologies.

Among other things, the Foundry aims to work on adding elements of connectivity and "intelligence" to devices both existing and new, with one example they offered being wirelessly-trackable suitcases, or outdoor sensors that perform soil tests and control the irrigation system. The Foundry's job is to take ideas and such and develop them into functional prototypes.

The latest innovation center features a copper Faraday cage testing room, a 3D printer, and other things of this nature, with AT&T claiming the ability to create a prototype within hours. The company, says its announcement, already has 15.2 million connected devices in the market, something that is doubled from the first 6 months of last year.

AT&T Technology and Network Operations executive vice president John Donovan said: "Adding intelligence and connectivity to a new and wide range of machines is a huge opportunity, and we welcome the challenge. This new AT&T Foundry facility has the capability to rapidly prototype hardware and develop the sophisticated software needed in the growing M2M and connected device space."

SOURCE: Engadget