Intel has launched its Internet of Things (IoT) platform, a reference model designed to unify and simplify connectivity and security for IoT.

It has also introduced integrated hardware and software products based on the new platform and is partnering with firms like Accenture and Dell to expand the ecosystem of system integrators and move IoT from “infancy to mass deployment”.

“The platform helps deliver innovations to market faster, reducing solution complexity, and delivering actionable intelligence faster by offering a defined, repeatable foundation for how devices will connect and deliver trusted data to the cloud,” the company said in a statement.

In the summer, the Open Interconnect Consortium was launched to drive the development of IoT, offering competition to the existing Qualcomm-led AllSeen Alliance. Intel was part of the consortium, along with Samsung and others.

Meanwhile, another company wanting to cash in on IoT is Canadian operator Telus, which has launched a host of technologies that connect and control machines, Reuters has reported.

These will include applications, such as helping restaurants check the temperature of food as well as provide retail traffic analysis to improve stocking in stores.

“The driving force behind it is focusing less on the technology and more on making business easier and consumers’ lives better,” said Shawn Sanderson, the head of Telus’s IoT campaign, adding that the portfolio of services available will be expanded over the next two years.

Telus previously moved into health, providing electronic medical records, and believes expanding into connecting devices is the logical next step.

What’s more, Deutsche Telekom’s open smart home platform Qivicon has announced two new partners, China’s Huawei and Netatmo, a French firm that manufactures weather stations and thermostats for smartphones.

The aim of the partnerships is to focus on developing smart home-compatible terminal devices and control elements.

According to Netatmo founder and CEO Fred Potter: “Qivicon’s platform is at the intersection of two major trends within the technology industry: the Internet of Things and the connected home sector, creating opportunity for like-minded companies to collaborate and bring bigger, smarter innovations to consumers at an accelerated pace.”

Just earlier this week, Xiaomi launched the $150 Mi Air Purifier, as it continues to diversify its product line and efforts in the IoT space.