Microsoft launches Azure IoT Hub

Microsoft has announced the wide-scale launch of the  Azure IoT Hub, which allows users to connect, provision and manage billions of IoT devices.

Microsoft says Azure IoT Hub acts as the bridge between customers’ devices and solutions in the cloud enabling storage, analyzing and acting on data in real time.

The hub also enables secure two-way communication over open protocols such as MQTT, HTTPS and AMQPS, and is designed to make it easy to connect with other Azure services such as Azure Machine Learning and Azure Stream Analytics.

In addition to the launch, Microsoft also announced the expansion of Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT program. The program was launched to ensure IoT solutions from global technology leaders are fully interoperable from the start.

By offering trusted solutions from verified partners that work with multiple operating systems, including Linux, mbed, ROTS and Windows, Azure Certified for IoT accelerates IoT deployments.

Over the past three-plus months, nearly 30 industry leaders have joined the program, said Microsoft. Now even more have announced their participation, including: Advantech, Dell, HPE and Libelium. Previous certified partners include: Arduino, Beagleboard, Freescale, Intel, Raspberry Pi, Samsung, Texas Instruments and others.

“IoT is poised for dramatic growth in 2016 and we can’t wait to see what our customers and partners will continue to build on our offerings. We’re just getting started and will have much more to share in the coming months,” said a Microsoft blog post.