Guest Column: With Every Embedded Device Comes Embed Management Capabilities

By Mark Gentile, Odyssey Software

A long day at work can require rejuvenation from a chilled soda from the vending machine. On your drive home after a long day at work, you make a call home to ask for dinner requests with your Bluetooth, connecting your cell phone and the communications system in your car. Afterwards, you quickly stop at the local drugstore to print recent photographs off your digital camera at a self-service kiosk and while waiting, you rent a DVD from the dispense machine.

Every day, countless numbers of transactions occur due to embedded systems running in devices that are used on a daily basis. These daily encounters include: vending machines, gas pumps, kiosks, price checkers, retail point-of-sale stations and additional devices, in the hospitality, financial and healthcare markets. Embedded systems found in your home are in utility meters, appliances, DVR boxes, security systems and home electronics.