This era of digital connectivity is incessantly evolving through an extensive exploration of the world of IoT. In the home, the ability to connect appliances and control them anytime and anywhere is a tremendous opportunity. To make the dream a reality, the vendor community needs to make Smart Home simple and accessible to the common public, across a broad variety of software and hardware products.
SURE Universal is an early revenue start-up that has developed a complete Software IoT Platform for Telcos and Cable Operators. The solution includes a universal IoT remote mobile client, IoT gateway for Set-Top Box (STB), cloud gateway, and software for smart devices. The company has pioneered the Software-defined IoT architecture that allows scalable, secure, and userfriendly IoT solutions. SURE IoT Platform is production ready and interoperable with a broad variety of hardware devices and protocols, to provide customers with maximum flexibility and control.
The SURE Universal remote app has been downloaded 40 million times across the globe. It also won the 2016 Grand Award at the Asia Smartphone App Contest and is the first software platform to be certified by the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF), the world’s leading consortium for smart homes and IoT.
Redefining Innovation
SURE Universal has developed a complete Software-defined IoT (SDIoT) platform for Smart Home and Smart Cities, and is targeting telco and cable operators as its primary customers. The key products and services offered by the company include:
- SURE Remote – a smartphone universal remote app for Android and iOS.
- In accordance with OCF standards, the SURE Universal Remote app supports any wireless protocol in common use. Ranging from specialized smart home RF technologies like Z-Wave and Zigbee to more common networking technologies like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the app is universally compatible and connectable. Integrated with an infrared (IR) blaster, SURE Universal Remote can be used to control more than a million different IR appliances.
- SURE Gateway – Set-Top-Box (STB) software gateway for operators.
- SURE Gate is a software IoT solution for set-top box manufacturers that allows set-top boxes to act as a universal gateway to control smart homes. The SURE Gate solution is manufacturer agnostic and can control all smart home devices and protocols with hassle-free compatibility between products.
- SURE Cloud – cloud software for communications and data.
- SURE Cloud is a ready-toconfigure cloud solution that provides operators and telcos with an infrastructure for storage, data analytics, and monetization, as well as future services which can translate into new revenue opportunities.
- SURE Thing – the software for smart devices.
- SURE Thing is a smart appliance device server for IoT which allows appliance vendors to turn legacy home appliances into smart appliances with a simple, opensource solution that is compatible across all appliances, regardless of manufacturer.
SURE Universal also produces SURE Assistant, a smart speaker software with integrated smart camera and a voice control assistant.
Portraying Exceptionality
SURE Platform is a complete Software-defined IoT solution for Smart Home. It is hardware agnostic and is set to achieve incredible interoperability with almost all IoT hardware.
SURE is the only software certified by the OCF IoT standard. It delivers the highest level of data security based on OCF security specifications. Its IoT solution for operators is based on the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) business model, which has been tested and accepted by the appliance and software market.
The Epitome of Leadership
Dr. Viktor Ariel is the CEO of SURE Universal. He holds a B.Sc. degree in Physics and an M.Sc. degree in Electronics Engineering, both from Columbia University; and a PhD in Microelectronics from the Israel Institute of Technology. Viktor is also a visiting scholar at Tel Aviv University, Israel.
He was previously the General Manager of Samsung Semiconductor, Israel and the co-owner of TrasChip Inc., a company that developed microchips for cameras in mobile phones. This firm was acquired by Samsung in 2007 and was ranked number one in the world in terms of market share for mobile phone cameras.
Mr. Ray Stata is the Chairman of SURE Universal. He is also the founder and Chairman of Analog Devices (ADI), the largest analog chip manufacturer in the world.
Adapting to Volatility
While explaining the changing trends in IoT culture, Viktor explains, “While Amazon Alexa and Google Home are starting to address the B2C smart home IoT market, the IoT discipline is still too complex for the average consumer.”
He suggests that the next generation of IoT solutions will be delivered by cable and telco operators, who are well positioned in the market to provide smart home installation and technical support to consumers. Cable Operators and Telcos are leveraging SURE Universal as a standard IoT platform to address the challenges of device interoperability and data security.
Beating the Competition
When describing how the company distinguishes itself from other IoT software solution providers, Viktor stresses SURE’s unique value as an end-to-end software solution for Telcos and Cable Operators that is compatible with the full range of Smart Home appliances. , “Telco and cable operators are looking for a complete standards-compliant IoT software solution that delivers maximum flexibility and interoperability, along with robust data security. SURE Universal is the only platform that caters to this need.”
The Vision
SURE Universal initially focused on B2C business and developed the software for a universal remote that used the built-in IR blaster in Android phones. This app topped Google Play rankings and received the highest user ratings, too. However, the company has shifted its direction to B2B IoT solutions over the previous year.
The organization’s growth as the first unified remote control for connected devices has positioned the company as a global leader in IoT development. Today, the company provides an endto- end platform for connecting and controlling OCF-compliant household devices that is sold to Telcos and Cable Operators.
SURE Universal has commercial relationships with many of the world’s top STB vendors.
Source :-The 10 Most Innovative IoT Startups to Watch
