Cochrane, Alberta, Canada (PRWEB) December 19, 2008
ANT (http://www.thisisant.com) today announces that the open ANT+ Alliance has grown to over 100 members as individual manufacturers adopt the ultra low power interoperability ecosystem of ANT+. With the addition of latest members TKO Mobile, Inc., New Leaf / Medical Graphics (Angeion Corporation), Woodway USA, knowledgepark AG, Aspenware Internet Solutions, Pedal Brain LLC and Digital Rowing Inc, the Alliance increases the momentum of ANT+ and its adoption as a de facto standard for the sport, fitness and consumer health sectors.
As an open Alliance, ANT+ ensures the seamless communication between devices from different companies and already includes major names in sports and health monitoring such as Concept2 Rowing (the first Alliance member), along with Timex Corporation, Saris Cycling Group, Inc, Garmin, Beurer GmbH, Seiko Epson Corporation and Tanita.
“In passing the 100 company mark in only the second year of existence, ANT+ has achieved critical acceptance and created a strong, vibrant interoperable ecosystem,” said Brian Macdonald, Director, ANT Wireless. “The ANT+ Alliance has gained solid adoption in sports electronics and is now extending to include home and club based fitness and personal wellness monitoring.”
Based on the ANT optimized ultra low power wireless protocol, ANT+ provides a superior solution for interoperable, ultra low power wireless devices. As an open standard, ANT+ was established to maximize the efficiency of infrastructure development and ANT+ based product market penetration.
The ANT+ process of device profile development has also proven to be efficient in rapidly delivering optimized solutions. This is a contrast to other standards bodies (e.g. IEEE) which have been slow to deliver comparatively compromised solutions. The cost of joining the ANT+ Alliance is minimal ($ 500 for a 5 year development license) and includes the documentation, tools and applications development support. There is no charge for compliance testing as it is a self compliance process using tools provided by ANT+. This minimizes delays and costs which in turn, speeds time to market and maximizes return on investment.
“Innovative companies need revolutionary solutions and a fast response in meeting their wireless connectivity demands,” continued Macdonald. “The ANT+ Alliance enables successful business cases with application of optimized technology and the infrastructure for rapid development and integration.”
Rick Ciervo, Systems Engineering Manager for Timex Group USA, Inc. agrees. “Timex selected the ANT radio platform because it offered the data performance we required combined with the ultra low-power consumption and long battery life that our customers have come to expect from our products,” said Ciervo. “ANT+ and the ANT+ Alliance enhance the value of the radio platform by ensuring compatibility between our products and those from our Alliance partners, such as home gym equipment – this was something that was problematic for us in the past when we used our own proprietary radio system. And it’s not just a technology advantage – we also appreciate the ease with which we can develop entirely new business and product partnerships knowing that the technology won’t get in the way of product development,” he concluded.
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