Snapdragon and Qualcomm branded products are products of
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could take the programming skills you already have – the knowledge that has taken years to master – and find a way to easily apply those same skills to another area of technology development? Of course it would. Even better if those skills could be applied to a hot technology that everyone is focusing on right now.
We’re talking about the Internet of Things (IoT), and using your skills in mobile app development to make a smooth transition with many of the same tools and technology that you already use every day. Here at Qualcomm® Developer Network (QDN) this isn’t a new idea – we’ve been talking about how you, as a developer, can get started on the IoT journey for more than a year now.
Happily, since that time, the technology has continued to improve – and the opportunities have not diminished in the slightest. Previous barriers to entry, including things like immature platforms, lack of hardware and software development knowledge, and high production costs are generally disappearing, making it much easier for anyone with a background in mobile app development To jump right in.
How To Get Started
A great way to get your feet wet is with the DragonBoard™ 410c from Arrow Electronics. This board is the size of a deck of playing cards, but it is packed with performance, including: a quad-core 1.2Ghz Snapdragon® 410 processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB eMMC storage, on-board WLAN, GPS, and Bluetooth (complete specs are available here).
As you will discover, the DragonBoard 410c combines advanced computational and connectivity capabilities similar to what we’ve all come to expect from today’s mobile devices. You can use this technology to develop for projects ranging from wearables to objects for the smart home – or perhaps your vision will take you to an even bigger scale, and you will create solutions for the smart city of the future.
Over the past year, we’ve seen some fascinating examples of how developers are using the DragonBoard 410c in their own IoT projects, including Andreas Gal, and the team at San Mateo, Calif.-based Silk Labs, who used IoT and the DragonBoard 410c to produce “Sense” which is a secure camera and hub for the home. Today, Silk Labs is building a software and services platform for IoT products, initially targeting home use by consumers, but the potential exists for many other uses.
This past summer we saw an amazing assortment of cool ideas from our very own interns here at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., who competed in our second annual HackMobile contest to create new ideas in just 16 hours. Not only did four of the top 10 teams use the DragonBoard 410c in their final projects, but one of those projects won the overall hackathon! Pretty cool!
Other Tools To Keep In Mind
Whatever creative thoughts you may have, QDN hosts a suite of hardware and software solutions that can help you create amazing new IoT experiences. For instance, since the DragonBoard 410c contains a Snapdragon processor and runs on Android, you can optimize your project using the Snapdragon Profiler. It runs on Windows, Mac and Linux and connects with Android devices powered by Snapdragon processors over USB so you can quickly analyze system resource use (including things like: CPU, GPU, DSP, memory, power, thermal, and network data), making it easier for you to find and fix any performance-related bottlenecks that you might have.
When you’re ready to begin, the DragonBoard 410c Starter Kit from Arrow Electronics can be setup in minutes using a standard monitor and keyboard, connecting to the internet with the DragonBoard 410c, and running the demos. You can then combine the unique features of DragonBoard 410c with Amazon Web Services to bring your project online.
To get started, make sure you register as a member of QDN (it’s free to join), and then be sure to check out the latest hardware and software resources we have available as you make the transition to IoT developer. You will find development devices, platforms for connectivity and mobile vision, plus a wide range of SDKs to help make your idea a reality.
You can find documentation about the DragonBoard 410c here on QDN as well as on 96Boards.org and GitHub -- including this installation guide for both Android and Linux; and you can purchase one of the boards direct from Arrow Electronics.
We’d Love To Hear From You!
And then be sure to come back and tell us what you’re doing with the DragonBoard 410c and IoT. We’d love to hear how your experience in mobile app development is shaping your vision for future IoT solutions.
