New AWS Device Location Services For IoT

Last month, AWS launched IoT Core Device Location, a new managed feature that enables customers to choose the appropriate location technology that works within their business and engineering constraints, without relying on Global Positioning System (GPS) hardware.

AWS also launched Location Action, a new capability to route latitude and longitude data from IoT devices to Amazon Location Service. The feature makes it easier for software developers to add geospatial data and location functionality to IoT applications.

“These are IoT location services based on one of the most accurate location services in the world, which is Amazon Location Service,” said Alsaied.

“For example, a person is sitting at a control panel and an alarm goes off at some sensor. You will get the longitude and latitude of that sensor. And you’d immediately be able to send it to a person near that location [to fix it],” he said. “You’ve saved time, money, and attended to a safety hazard immediately that could have cause big harm if it wasn’t attended too immediately.”

With AWS location data, partners can optimize their customers business processes, simplify and automate maintenance efforts, and unlock new business use cases such as asset tracking solutions across verticals including retail, farming and transportation, Alsaied said.