Calabasas software developer myDevices released a product this month with hopes of connecting to a big piece of the Internet of Things. The company now offers a customizable service to connect multiple devices on the front end while providing data collection and analysis tools on the back end. Chief Executive Kevin Bromber called the new service a culmination of development that can be used in many different industries. “We can aggregate all that information from all the sensors and solve real business problems,” Bromber said. MyDevices, a division of French technology company Avanquest, has about 50 employees, of which 30 are in the West San Fernando Valley and the others split between offices in France and Sweden. The Internet of Things, or IoT, is a tech industry phrase for the connecting of devices with sensors and software for the collection and exchange of data. Smartphones and tablets are part of the IoT but so are light switches, street lamps, water heaters, health monitors, manufacturing and industrial equipment, and toll collection systems. There can even be a connection for the lowly trash can. “Garbage cans with sensors and network connections can alert maintenance staff when they are full or let them know when they aren’t full and don’t need to be emptied,” John Chambers, executive chairman of Cisco Systems Inc., wrote last year in an article for the World Economic Forum website. One myDevice customer sells residential water softeners in Europe. When connected to the Internet, the homeowner can track and analyze the amount of water used and the wear and tear on equipment. This data tracking can in turn benefit the company selling the water softeners by scheduling service calls when they are absolutely needed, Bromber said. The IoT market is already estimated to be in the trillions of dollars and will only grow from there. Farmingham, Mass., research firm IDC, forecasts a global market for IoT services and products of $7.1 trillion by 2020. Connected homes are expected to grow around the world from between 100 million and 200 million this year to between 500 million and 700 million by 2020, according to Gartner Inc., an information technology research and advisory firm in Stamford, Conn. “In every single industry and significant business, there is an example that IoT will have an impact and that is why the analysts are saying it is a trillion-dollar opportunity,” Bromber said. Rolling the Dice Real money gaming publisher Gamblit Gaming announced two new partnerships this month. The first is with Playboy Enterprises in Beverly Hills to develop Playboy-branded skill-based games that allow for wagering. The games would go to market next year. In the other deal, Glendale’s Gamblit has teamed with Wicked Witch Software of Melbourne, Australia, to collaborate on enhancing mobile game “Catapult King” to allow for real-money wagering online and at casinos in the United Kingdom. “Bringing an internationally critically praised and fan-adored hit game to the real-money market not only gives players an experience they know and love, but it also brings an entirely new experience into the casino world,” said Darion Lowenstein, chief marketing officer at Gamblit, in a prepared statement. Gamblit operates in the online gaming niche by developing software that adds real-money wagering to casual games on laptops, tablets and smartphones. It is a potentially lucrative market as more states legalize Internet gaming. New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware are among the states allowing it. The company has six games available in the U.K. only for free download from the Apple app store that have a virtual or real-money wagering component. Wicked Witch and Playboy add to a growing list of partners that Gamblit has teamed with to develop games. The company is collaborating with Double Coconut, a game developer in the San Francisco area, on a new title. “Being able to create brand-new skill-based gaming experiences that help us grow our audience of consumers with an iconic brand like Playboy is a dream come true,” Gamblit Chief Executive Eric Meyerhofer said in the statement. Founded in 2010, Gamblit is owned by Boston’s Hard 8 Games and has received substantial financial backing from American Capital Strategies, a Bethesda, Md., private equity firm that is publicly traded. American Capital has put about $20 million into Hard 8 and Gamblit. In June of last year, Gamblit received approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission to be licensed as a manufacturer of gaming devices and interactive gaming systems, an interactive gaming service provider and a distributor of gaming devices. Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or [email protected].