News

fifthplay, a subsidiary of the Niko Group, Selects Wind River Linux for Home Automation Gateway (26/10/2009)

Commercial-Grade Linux Enables Unrivalled Connectivity and Ease-of-Use for FG4000 Gateway

Wind River today announced that Belgium-based fifthplay, a subsidiary of the Niko Group, has selected Wind River Linux to enable its new home automation gateway. The FG4000 Gateway platform allows sensors, lights, cameras and a wide range of home automation equipment to be seamlessly linked to and controlled by mobile phones or via a web interface. The platform also opens up new software applications such as the ability to send SMS text alerts or emails from home equipment to mobile phones. It is also easily upgradeable with new hardware and software technology to connect with a wide variety of systems in the home.

“The Gateway concept focuses on comfort, user-friendliness and connectivity,” said Erik Van Mossevelde, director of R&D, fifthplay. “Technology is not as an end in itself, but a means of offering the consumer a better quality of life and our e-services platform enables many third parties, including distributors, service providers or public services, to deliver a range of “smart” products and services right into the home.”

The gateway uses a sophisticated self-installing, self-healing software architecture that requires a robust, yet flexible operating system. Wind River’s commercial-grade Linux platform displaces a competing version of Linux in order to provide the high-speed development and robust implementation that is necessary for a consumer product. Further, fifthplay leveraged Wind River’s award-winning support organization to speed up development time and maximize open source contributions.

“Wind River Linux provides the time-to-market and robust implementation of Linux that we need to provide the e-services platform in the home, with strong support and development tools,” added Van Mossevelde. “This allows us to concentrate on developing and providing our platform to our partners.”

“Fifthplay's innovative approach has the potential to transform home automation, and we are delighted to be the foundation of the Gateway platform,” said Andreas Pabinger, vice president of EMEA, Wind River. “We look forward to working together to provide fifthplay and its third-party service providers with a secure, rugged and safe Linux platform that is cost effective and easily supports a wide range of development environments.”

Wind River Linux is also being used for fifthplay's innovative always-on Touchscreen, which does not require a separate mouse or keyboard, and brings services into rooms in the home where traditional computers are not ideally suited, such as the kitchen, bathroom or bedroom.

www.windriver.com