How strongly we are already dependent on computer technology today can be seen by those who imagine their daily routine without a computer in their thought experiment, but also exclude those who are not directly recognizable as computers - with keyboard and screen. We also find them in the alarm clock, the electric toothbrush, the coffee machine, the elevator, the stairwell light and the car. A life without all these tiny computers hidden in all kinds of devices and working in the background would make our lives look very different. In short: that would be hardly imaginable today.
In this context, embedded computers are currently experiencing a giant leap forward under the much-cited terms "Internet of Things" ("IoT") or "Industrialization 4.0". In short, it is all about networking with Internet services. In commercial and industrial environments, such systems have long been a topic of discussion, for example in traffic control, building services engineering or industrial plants.
In the private households, however, there are increasingly areas of application in which many suppliers are trying to position themselves on the market with innovative products. There is hardly anyone who has not heard of Siri or Alexa, owns a smart TV or listens to radio stations streamed from Sonos speakers. Many ambitious tinkerers are also trying their hand at home automation, replacing conventional light switches with smart buttons, controlling and monitoring their home with all kinds of sensors via smartphone.
To put it a little casually, many things are conceivable, almost everything is possible, but only the least of it is useful.
We find ourselves on a romping place with a lot of things that will no longer be there in two or three years. However, networking as such will not disappear, but will increase even more, as two important aspects are of importance.
On the one hand, there are high expectations on the part of manufacturers, since networked devices provide data and enable value-added services. But there are also desires and wishes on the part of consumers, which means that devices with app connections or sensor technology are already in increasing demand today.
On the other hand there are hardly any costs. Bluetooth communication is under 1.00 CHF, WiFi communication under 2.00 CHF/piece in mass production realizable.
So it is getting cheaper and cheaper and this offers new sales opportunities and the customers ask for the products.
In this area, OXON AG works on behalf of industrial partners, but also develops products on its own initiative, which are located at this interface between the virtual world and the physical world. Our background is in the Internet and software world, which we have, however, gradually expanded in recent years with a hardware team consisting of electronics engineers and designers.
OXON AG therefore has several hearts in its chest and can therefore provide competent advice from communication with the end customer (Web/App) to technical protocols.
