LIVE FROM AT&T DEVELOPER SUMMIT 2015: AT&T focused heavily on its efforts in the Internet of Things (IoT) space at its developer event this year, also making a strong commitment to WebRTC as a tool to enable the development of innovative voice services.

Kicking off the event, Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions, repeatedly emphasised the importance of security in the deployment of new digital services.

“I am very excited about the possibilities for AT&T and all of the players in the ecosystem, but especially for developers, as you make applications that are built in a highly secure fashion and work on any platform. We intend, as you would expect, to accelerate this work and to realise the next generation of secure mobile services by being an enabling platform for the industry,” he said.

WebRTC support “first”
AT&T said it will be the first US operator to launch commercial support for WebRTC, which David Christopher, its CMO for Mobility, said will enable developers to “completely reimagine voice services”.

WebRTC enables voice and video calls to be made between browsers, without the need to install software or plug-ins. AT&T will offer an API which offers “several enhancements to the basic WebRTC standard”, enabling it to offer services that integrate with the AT&T network.

This includes WebRTC communications that can extend to landlines and mobile numbers, in addition to peer-to-peer or browser-based sessions. In a statement, the company said that this is “valuable for developers and customers and will spur growth by eliminating a key barrier to adoption”.

Also supported is the ability for developers to enable caller ID for WebRTC communications, using a subscriber’s AT&T mobile numbers for calls made from WebRTC-enabled browsers.

And developers can also enable users to move or transfer a call starting on a PC, Mac or tablet to a smartphone.

M2X platform for enterprise IoT
AT&T announced commercial availability of its M2X Data service, which it describes as “its first Internet of Things managed service for developers”, as well as new design tools “aimed at making it easier for enterprise developers to create new IoT solutions”.

“You said ‘make development easier. Free us to focus on applications and solve a business challenge. Provide us with development tools and services that are simple to learn and use, based on open standards and easy to scale. And for sure make them super secure, so I can share data between applications and among groups of users.’ Well, we’ve heard you,” said Steve McGaw, CMO of AT&T Business Solutions.

Enterprise customers can now purchase commercial plans for the M2X Data Service, a carrier-grade cloud-based data store that makes it easier to collect, analyse, and share time-series data from connected devices. It launched in beta form last year.

Debuting alongside the service is Flow Designer, a cloud-based visual development tool aimed at speeding the development time for new IoT applications. After appearing at the company’s Hackathon, “we had developers coming in with almost no IoT development experience and walking out 48 hours later with polished prototypes”, said Joe Bossalini, a product development engineer for the operator.

Digital Life update
AT&T also announced plans to expand the product and services offered as part of its AT&T Digital Life proposition, by “integrating new products and services into its home security and automation platform”.

It said that the move from a closed platform model to an open-standards managed platform will enable it to “rapidly expand the types of services and products it is able to offer to customers, as well as entering new markets while delivering an integrated experience”.

It is currently working with Lutron Electronics (window shades and lighting controls), Samsung (Samsung Techwin’s Wi-Fi IP camera, wearables), Qualcomm Life (secure medical data) and LG Electronics (smart TVs).

AT&T’s Digital Life services are currently available in 82 markets across the US, and the company is “working strategically to expand its portfolio in existing and new markets”.

Connected car developments
With regard to its efforts in the connected car space, the operator unveiled what it described as “further plans to lead the ecosystem by making it easier than ever for automotive manufacturers to integrate apps from top companies”.

Five new apps for its AT&T Drive platform were announced, which will be made available to vehicle makers for integration with connected cars. Developers include AetherPal (remote support), Audiobooks, Dash Radio, eventseeker (personalised event listings) and location-sharing app Glympse.

The company also promised that its AT&T Drive SDK will be available for “broader use in 2015”. This contains tools and documentation that enables “fast and standardised development of automotive apps for AT&T’s automotive service delivery platform”.

AT&T has also announced a sponsorship agreement with Samsung for its Drive Studio “innovation centre”, which is said to include “software solutions around IMS service and [Samsung’s] handsets, tablets and wearable devices.

And the company also announced support for another auto manufacturer – Subaru – which intends to offer AT&T LTE support in “select 2016 model year vehicles”. It will be integrated with the car maker’s Starlink in-vehicle connectivity system.

At last year’s Developer Summit, AT&T announced the Drive platform and Drive Studio in Atlanta – see Mobile World Live’s visit here.