AT&T Hackathon winner at CTIA clinches victory using u-blox IoT platform

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Swiss u-blox, a global leader in wireless communications and positioning semiconductors and modules for the industrial, automotive and consumer markets, provided the winning hardware platform to Team "CarBon" at the AT&T Mobile App Hackathon held at this year's CTIA Supermobility Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The event, which is held regularly at major tech events around the world, was hosted at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas where over 200 developers, 47 teams, 41 sponsors and over 300 people attended. At the Hackathon, developers built apps that focused on connected vehicle and home automation with over $100,000 in prizes awarded to the winning teams.

This year's winner in the category "Home Automation" was Team CarBon who developed a sensor application that detects dangerous levels of carbon monoxide in a home garage, automatically informs the owner, remotely switches off the car engine and opens the garage door to vent the poisonous gas. The team was awarded the grand prize of ten thousand dollars for their potentially life-saving application.

The app was developed using u-blox' AT&T certified LISA-U2 2G/3G cellular modem technology and the company's C027 Internet-of-Things starter kit that allows quick prototyping of location-aware, wirelessly connected applications. The C027 is supported by the powerful and flexible open-source ARM mbed development platform (https://mbed.org/platforms/u-blox-C027) which provides free software libraries, hardware designs and online tools for professional and rapid prototyping of ARM-based designs.

"As a connectivity partner of AT&T, u-blox is helping us to enable talented developers to create powerful and useful applications that leverage remote internet access with AT&T's advanced mobility solutions," said Alex Don, Developer Evangelist. "We are pleased to work with a forward-looking modem vendor who understands the challenges facing today's designers of embedded IoT solutions."

"We and everyone at the event were excited to see real and valuable new applications being developed for the "Internet of Things". The IoT is not simply an industry buzzword, but a real step forwards for the internet that will bring tremendous benefits to people everywhere in terms of increased safety, convenience, and improved business processes," said Michael Ammann, VP of Platform Partnerships at u‑blox. "u-blox is extremely proud to deliver crucial hardware elements that enable the IoT in terms of short and long range wireless communications and ubiquitous global positioning components".

For more information about AT&T's Hackathon events, click here.

For more information about u-blox' wireless and global positioning chip and modules, click here.

For details about the C027 "Internet of Things" starter kit, click here.

About u-blox
Swiss-based u-blox (SIX:UBXN) is a leading provider of wireless and positioning semiconductors and modules for the automotive, industrial and consumer markets. Our solutions enable people, vehicles and machines to locate their exact position and wirelessly communicate via voice, text or video. With a broad portfolio of chips, modules and software solutions, u-blox is uniquely positioned to allow OEMs to develop innovative solutions that enable mobility quickly and cost-effectively. With headquarters in Thalwil, Switzerland, u-blox is globally present with offices in Europe, Asia and the USA.
(www.u-blox.com)

About AT&T Hackathons
AT&T Mobile App Hackathons are competitive events, produced by the AT&T Developer Program, and designed for attendees (technical & non-technical) to build mobile apps, get some great food, and compete for awesome prizes across different categories. Most importantly, our hackathons give you the opportunity to meet new people and scout for teammates to work on new or current projects.

SOURCE u-blox