element14 to distribute ARM mbed IoT starter kit

element14 has signed a deal with ARM to be the first to stock the recently launched ARM mbed IoT starter kit - Ethernet Edition for IBM Internet of Things Foundation.

The new development kit enables people with limited or no experience of embedded design or web development to create IoT applications and devices in a matter of minutes.

David Shen, Group CTO at Premier Farnell, said: “The new ARM mbed IoT Starter Kit is an ideal ecosystem to develop IoT-enabled applications. The out-of-box experience is outstanding as it allows designers of all skill levels to get their device connected to the cloud and begin reading the kits sensors remotely in a matter of minutes. This agreement is another example of how we are leading the market in opening up new opportunities for innovation and making the right tools and expertise available to engineers and enthusiasts across the world.”

“A major focus for mbed is to lower the barriers to IoT innovation, enabling anyone to become an entrepreneur. This kit helps to deliver on that ambition,” said Zach Shelby, vice president, IoT business marketing, ARM.

The new development kit, which guides users through the processes for developing cloud-ready IoT devices, comes with an ARM mbed-enabled development board, built on the Freescale FRDM-K64F Kinetis microcontroller, which has an ARM Cortex-M4 processing core running at 120 MHz.  An Ethernet connection links the kit to IBM’s Bluemix cloud service, which acts as a guide on how to use the board.

The kits also features a sensor expansion board, which contains a 128 x 32 graphics LCD, 256 KB RAM, 1 MB of flash storage, a speaker, five-way joystick, temperature sensor, accelerometer, potentiometers and a PWM (pulse-width modulation) control line to receive digital signals.