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Azure IoT Edge Hits General Availability

After a one-year preview period, Azure IoT Edge is now available via the GitHub open source code repository, marking another milestone in Microsoft's commitment to the open source movement.

Azure IoT Edge is Microsoft's cloud-based solution for bringing local intelligence to distributed Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Microsoft says that by open sourcing Azure IoT Edge, developers can enjoy more flexibility and control over their edge solutions.

The fully managed Azure IoT Edge service brings cloud intelligence to edge devices through the use of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud services (including machine learning, stream analytics, SQL Server databases and more) and custom logic local to cross-platform devices, which can operate independently even when offline.

"Now devices can act immediately on real-time data -- whether it be recognizing a crack in a pipe from an aerial view or predicting equipment failure before it happens," Microsoft said in its announcement Wednesday. "As we evolve toward a world of ubiquitous computing, the design of the IoT solution spanning hardware, edge and cloud must be consistent and secure to drive real impact."

Microsoft is also adding several new capabilities developed over the solution's preview period, including broad language support for module SDKs, tooling for Visual Studio Code in the form of the Azure IoT Edge extension, a Visual Studio Team Services CI/CD pipeline, and support for the Moby container management system.

Those new features were added to previous functionality announced at Microsoft's recent Build developer conference, where the company unveiled integration with Microsoft AI services, support for Kubernetes container orchestration, new partnerships, and third-party hardware integrations including DJI drones and the Qualcomm vision AI developer kit.

First-party pricing details are available here.

About the Author

David Ramel is an editor and writer at Converge 360.

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