Alibaba Group’s cloud-computing company, AliCloud, will provide Dutch electronics giant Royal Philips with a range of communications and data-management services to support a line of Philips’ Internet-connected devices.
Under an agreement between the companies announced today, AliCloud will supply Philips with cloud servers, databases, data security, storage and data-processing services, providing the wireless communications infrastructure for Philips’ HealthSuite Digital Platform in China, according to a press release from the Dutch company.
Philips HealthSuite Digital Platform, which is also being rolled out in Europe and the U.S., is a cloud-based system that collects data from connected devices such as heart rate monitors and uploads it to the cloud for analysis of health patterns and trends. Data is available through a public API and makes targeted healthcare application development easier, whether it is for individual patients or for healthcare providers, according to Philips.
Also today, Philips launched its first HealthSuite device in China—the Philips Smart Air Purifier—along with a related mobile app that is supported by AliCloud services.
The Smart Air Purifier allows users in smog-filled Chinese cities to remotely monitor the city’s air quality and the air quality in their homes, and lets them control the air purifier via smartphones no matter where the user is located. The air purifier can also send maintenance reminders to its owners such as notifications to change clogged internal filters.
“China is the second-largest market and a home market for Philips globally,” said Patrick Kung, Philips chief executive of Greater China, in the press release. “It is an important component of our digital innovation strategy to connectour cloud-based digital platform with the AliCloud ecosystem,” Kung said, adding that the company could also roll out cloud-based solutions for its lighting products in China.
AliCloud partners with corporations, banks and local governments to provide cloud computing services. A subsidiary Alibaba Group, China’s largest e-commerce company, AliCloud has recently sought to capitalize on the tech world’s “Internet of Things” movement by working with Chinese manufacturers to create smart devices.
In August, AliCloud announced it will work with Chinese car company SAIC Corp. on a connected car; the company in March said it was working with Chinese home-appliance maker Midea to roll out a communications platform to allow users to remotely control their home appliances.
