AT&T opens two innovation centres

US operator AT&T has opened two innovation centres aimed to accelerate research and development of technologies that will drive the operator’s growth.

The AT&T Foundry facility in Atlanta is sponsored by Cisco and will be used to test and develop products and services for AT&T’s home security and automation service.

It will also be used to develop connected car, mobility, emerging devices, and AT&T U-verse technologies. Cisco will identify key third-party developers, startups, investors, inventors and entrepreneurs to bring into the facility.

The second facility, in Dallas-Fort Worth, will focus on the development of M2M and connected device expertise, infrastructure and technologies.

The operator expressed a vision of a future where consumers can track their luggage and pet carriers around the world using M2M services, and business can remotely monitor sealed shipping containers and detect moisture.

“These are just a few examples of what you might see coming out of Plano in the near future,” said Abhi Ingle, VP of Ecosystem and Innovation at AT&T.  “The M2M/CD center will focus on rapidly designing and building prototype hardware and software for such applications, using a variety of cutting-edge hardware tools and highly secure and scalable software platforms.”