Amazon will launch delivery drones in the UK and Italy next year

Amazon has announced the expansion of its Prime Air drone package delivery system to international locations.

Starting in late 2024, customers in the UK, Italy, and a third undisclosed city in the US will have the option to receive their packages via drones.

The current Prime Air service, operational in the US for almost a year, has been delivering packages weighing up to five pounds within one hour.

Prime Air’s expansion will include the introduction of the...

Soracom aims to improve IoT connectivity affordability

Soracom has introduced a new cellular IoT data plan aimed at European startups and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

The plan, called Plan X3-EU, is designed to facilitate the rapid deployment of connected products and services while minimising data costs.

With rates starting at just €4.50 for a full year of cellular IoT data at 25MB per month, Soracom's Plan X3-EU offers an affordable and transparent solution for M2M devices and sensors.

One of the...

GSMA Intelligence: UK is falling behind in drone innovation

A report by GSMA Intelligence highlights the UK's lagging position in the global race for drone innovation.

Commissioned by BT Group, the report emphasises the need for the UK to learn from international peers and implement recommended measures to ensure its leadership in the burgeoning drone economy.

The research, supported by BT Group, reveals that countries such as Japan, Switzerland, France, Germany, and Italy have made significant progress in developing their drone...

BT powers a UK-first medical drone trial

BT is using its network to power a transformational medical delivery trial.

The UK’s largest telco by subscribers has partnered with drone specialists Skyfarer and Medical Logistics UK to conduct the country’s first over-land Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) trial.

BVLOS enables drones to travel longer distances, cut delivery times, and reduce the costs involved in ground transportation over often-congested roads.

The drone trial – completed in the...

BT taps AWS Wavelength to kickstart ‘new generation’ of IoT benefits

BT is partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to kickstart a “new generation” of IoT benefits.

The UK’s largest telco by subscribers will use AWS Wavelength – which embeds compute and storage services within 5G networks – to enable ultra-low latency applications.

Alex Tempest, MD for BT Wholesale, said:

“As we continue to build best-in-class 5G infrastructure for the UK, launching the AWS Wavelength service for our business and wholesale...

France is the next stop on Netmore’s LoRaWAN expansion tour

Netmore is continuing to expand its LoRaWAN network around Europe with the beginning of a rollout in France.

The company says it has started to deploy LoRaWAN infrastructure in the country and has begun establishing collaborations with strategic partners.

Ove Anebygd, CEO of Netmore Group, said:

”The fact that we are now establishing our infrastructure in France is a logical next step in our European rollout plan. The French market offers great potential...

Berg Insight claims 8.6M Europeans were using connected healthcare in 2021

Research from Berg Insight suggests 8.6 million Europeans were using connected healthcare solutions in 2021.

The figure relates to the end of 2021 and consists of traditional telecare, next-generation telecare, and telehealth solutions in EU27+3 countries.

“As lockdowns and quarantines were imposed all around the world, healthcare providers were motivated to adopt remote patient monitoring and telehealth solutions,” said Samuel Andersson, IoT Analyst at Berg...

Vodafone aims to improve European road safety with new platform

Vodafone is launching a platform that uses data from connected vehicles and devices to improve the safety of European roads.

The new ‘Safer Transport for Europe Platform’ (STEP) is free and compatible with all in-vehicle navigation systems and third-party map apps.

By facilitating faster and more efficient information-sharing between road users, transport authorities, and each other, Vodafone believes it can greatly improve road safety.

Joakim Reiter, Chief...

Cyberselves reaches finals of global competition for ‘teleporting’ humans into sense-relaying robots

UK robotics firm Cyberselves has reached the finals of a global robotics competition for its tech which “teleports” humans into robots that can relay what they see, hear, and feel.

The Sheffield-based company entered the prestigious Avatar XPRIZE global robotics competition and is one of just two British firms to make it to the finals. The other company is Edinburgh-based Touchlab.

Daniel Camilleri, Co-Founder and CTO at Cyberselves, said:

“We are...

Installed fleet management systems in Europe to hit 22.5M by 2025

Research from Berg Insight suggests the installed base of fleet management systems in Europe will hit 22.5 million by 2025.

The analysts forecast a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.4 percent, showing the growing interest in systems for monitoring fleets.

Berg Insight estimates the current number of management systems deployed for commercial vehicle fleets in Europe to have reached 11.5 million at the end of 2020.

Webfleet Solutions is named as the...