Latest Updates Taiwan IoT equipment and solutions development company NextDrive establishes Japanese corporation

NextDrive Inc. is a Taiwanese company that develops electronic devices and solutions using IoT technology. Most of its products are IoT gateways *1 and the "NextDrive Cube" that the company has developed is small and lightweight and can be installed simply by plugging the body into an outlet. Any device connected via the NextDrive Cube (e.g., USB camera, motion sensor, temperature and humidity sensor, infrared sensor) can be accessed by a smartphone or reliable remote control. For example, when a USB camera is connected, it is possible to observe the inside of the house using a smartphone.
The "NextDrive Cube J," the world's smallest IoT gateway, was launched as the latest model in August 2017. Cube J is a home energy management system (HEMS) gateway which can be connected wirelessly with a home smart meter through Wi-SUN (Wireless Smart Utility Network)*2 and used to control power usage in real-time through a smartphone.

For the Japanese market, NextDrive has developed HEMS-enabled solutions that utilize IoT gateways and in order to expand business they established NextDrive Co., Ltd. in Tokyo in January 2017 as a base for sales, customer support, marketing and research and development for solutions.

For the establishment of its subsidiary in Japan, the JETRO’s Invest Japan Business Support Center (IBSC) provided temporary office space, consultations (on registration and tax matters) and referral to service providers (administrative scrivener and real estate agents).

*1 IoT gateway: A device that connects a small mobile device (such as a smartphone or tablet) to a network.
*2 Wi-SUN (Wireless Smart Utility Network): An international wireless communications standard. It has the advantage of offering a longer communication distance at a lower rate of power consumption compared with wireless LANs.