IoT Product Roundup: Hitachi, May Mobility, LogRhythm and More

From Hitachi Vantara’s new virtual storage platform to May Mobility’s software upgrades to boost autonomous driving capabilities and Quectel’s machine intelligence software helping improve smart lawn mower navigation, here are some of the latest products from the world of IoT.

Hitachi Vantara Unveils Virtual Storage Platform 

Hitachi Vantara has announced a new virtual storage platform, designed as a single hybrid cloud data platform to allow businesses to scale data across complex, multi-cloud infrastructure.

“Having a common data plane across structured and unstructured data in block, file and object storage allows businesses to run different types of applications anywhere — on-premises and in the public cloud, without the complexities many are faced with today,” according to a company statement. 

The new platform’s launch comes as organizations grapple with rapid changes to data infrastructure in response to the rise of generative AI, cloud and enterprise data.

Hitachi’s Virtual Storage Platform One is designed as a simplified solution to help companies manage mission-critical workloads at scale, providing one control plane, data fabric and data plane across block, file, object, cloud, mainframe and software-defined storage workloads.

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The platform is managed by a single AI-enabled software stack.  

"Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform One marks a significant milestone with our infrastructure strategy,” said Dan McConnell, Hitachi Vantara’s senior vice president of product management. “With a consistent data platform, we will provide businesses with the reliability and flexibility to manage their data across various storage environments without compromise.”

May Mobility Announces Software Update to Progress Rider-Only Operations

May Mobility has released its latest software update, which provides “major performance improvements” to a wide range of vehicle functions.

The latest update is the foundation of the company's soon-to-be-released fully driverless software and signals May Mobility's shift to a focus on rider-only operations.

May Mobility's service is currently available in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Arlington, Texas, Grand Rapids, Minnesota and Sun City, Arizona, with other deployments planned for the end of 2023 and early 2024.

"We continue to make huge strides in the advancement of our technology, and this release is the next step on our path toward rider-only service," said Edwin Olson, May Mobility’s CEO. "These advancements further our commitment to providing a commercially viable service that is best situated to serve the communities where we operate."

System upgrades include tele-assist capabilities, improved object tracking, faster routing and enhanced rides through crowded environments. 

Quectel Selected to Give Robotic Lawnmowers Machine Intelligence 

Quectel Wireless Solutions has been selected to provide its machine intelligence technology for Zucchetti Centro Sistemi’s (ZCS) robotic lawnmowers.

The lawnmowers will use the Quectel LG69T series GNSS module, as well as ZCS’ Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) satellite navigation system. Combined, the technologies give the lawnmowers high navigation accuracy, with ZCS RTK using satellite tech and cloud platforms to consistently update the robot with its designated position within a 9-mile radius, using a GPS antenna.

The Quectel LG69T series supports as many as four simultaneous global constellations, including GPS, Galileo, BDS, and QZSS.

“The collaboration of ZCS’s Idea Lab (R&D area) with the company Quectel, experts in IoT solutions, goes precisely in the direction of making ZCS lawnmower robots even smarter,” said Michele Balò, ZCS’ service & customer quality manager. “RTK Cloud technology improves the transmission of information (between the robot and the cloud) and increases the accuracy of robot positioning by optimizing the autonomous navigation of robot mowers.”

Currently, RTK technology is integrated only into specific ZCS models, though there are plans to expand availability to robots designed for small- to medium-outdoor spaces.

LogRhythm Updates Cloud-Native SIEM Platform, LogRhythm Axon

LogRhythm has released the latest updates to its cloud-native software-as-a-service (SaaS) SIEM platform, LogRhythm Axon. 

Under the latest advancements, LogRhythm improves Axon’s ability to “detect, investigate and respond to potential threats” within a security operations center.

In addition, Axon’s new Signal Replay feature enables system-on-chip (SOC) teams to test analytics rules to ensure detections are optimized for their environment. 

“Continuing the effort to advance SOC efficiency, LogRhythm SIEM now provides seamless integration of log source onboarding through centralized management,” the company said. “This enhanced SIEM capability eliminates the need for administrators to navigate several servers to complete onboarding, thereby streamlining workflows through a single interface, increasing productivity, and reducing the administrative process in half.” 

LogRhythm also expanded its LogRhythm Axon SIEM platform to the APAC region.

General Micro Systems Demonstrates Military Computing Devices at AUSA 2023

General Micro Systems (GMS) unveiled multiple live demonstrations of its X9 Spider open distributed computing architecture (DCA) products, including the  X9 Manpack, the X9 Thunderbolt Rugged Display, the X9 AI, and the X9 Mission Computer, at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) conference in Texas.

Intended for wearable, mobile, portable and mounted applications on a body, in a vehicle or in airborne-, ship- or ground-based applications, X9 Spider products are small-scale and can be used as a standalone or integrated solution.

The X9 Spider Manpack mobile computer is intended for dismounted soldiers and Marines who need on-the-move, high-performance processing, communications, video, database access and AI capabilities. The mobile computer can connect to mounted assets like vehicles or command posts and connect to high-rate body sensors while processing on-board AI algorithms such as image/facial recognition, target tracking or sensor fusion. 

“Modern warfare is digital,” the company said in a statement. “A dismounted warrior needs access to the digital battlefield, but also needs wearable, autonomous compute power…The X9 Spider Manpack is the first product to provide this level of battery compute resources to soldiers and Marines in a manpack form factor processing, but entirely dismounted-mobile.”