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Friday, April 19, 2019

ThreadX sale sets up Microsoft vs Amazon IoT showdown

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

Real time operating system developer Express Logic has been bought by Microsoft, setting up a showdown with Amazon across the Internet of Things (IoT).

The ThreadX RTOS has achieved over 6.2 billion embedded and IoT deployments, especially in resource constrained environments require safety and security. This will allow Microsoft to deliver a cloud-to-node offering from Azure to ThreadX.

Last year Amazon acquired FreeRTOS, the world's most downloaded RTOS to create Amazon FreeRTOS linked to the Amazon Web Service cloud in the same way.

"Our goal is to make Express Logic’s ThreadX RTOS available as an option for real time processing requirements on an Azure Sphere device and also enable ThreadX-powered devices to connect to Azure IoT Edge devices when the IoT solution calls for edge computing capabilities," said Sam George, director of Azure IoT at Microsoft. 

"While we recommend Azure Sphere for customers’ most secured connections to the cloud, where Azure Sphere isn’t possible in highly constrained devices, we recommend Express Logic’s ThreadX RTOS over other RTOS options in the industry because of its additional certifications and out-of-the-box connectivity to Azure IoT Hub," he said.

Express Logic CEO William Lamie has been developing ThreadX for the last 23 years, and the deal appears to be mutual.  

"Today, we are very excited to share that Express Logic has been acquired by Microsoft," said Lamie. "Effective immediately, our ThreadX RTOS and supporting software technology, as well as our talented engineering staff join Microsoft. This complements Microsoft’s existing premier security offering in the microcontroller space. As part of Microsoft, we believe our customers will be even better positioned to unlock exciting new capabilities of the IoT."

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