Today we’re happy to announce the release of the Wireless for Arduino Opta, an expansion module that can quickly add cellular or LoRa connectivity to any Arduino Opta PLC (powered by the Notecard and Notehub!).

Once connected, you can leverage either the Arduino IoT Cloud SDK or our note-arduino library to configure the Notecard and its backhaul.

You can read more about the Wireless for Arduino Opta on our developer blog, or get started today with the Wireless for Arduino Opta Bundle, a kit that includes both an Arduino Opta Lite and a Blues Opta Expansion at a temporarily discounted price of $299.

A new developer release of the Notecard firmware, version 7.4.2, is now available.

The 7.4.2 release adds support for Notecard XP, adds the ability to disable the Notecard’s onboard LED (as part of the card.io API), and includes improvements to Notecard LoRa sync times.

The full release notes are available in the Notecard Firmware Updates documentation. That same documentation page also has instructions for updating your Notecard’s firmware to the latest version.

A new developer release of the Notecard firmware, version 7.3.1, is now available.

The 7.3.1 release includes a number of reliability improvements, including improved reliability of Starnote-to-Notecard communication, improved I2C reliability on Notecard WiFi V2, and general improvements to the responsiveness and reliability of Notecard Outbound Firmware Update.

The full release notes are available in the Notecard Firmware Updates documentation. That same documentation page also has instructions for updating your Notecard’s firmware to the latest version.

Starnote, our cost-effective satellite module with bundled data and transparent pricing (no monthly active device fees, and no monthly minimum), is now in stock 🎉

Additionally, we’re happy to announce a new Starnote Starter Kit is available in our shop for $99. The Starnote Starter Kit includes a Starnote, a Notecard, and a new Notecarrier XS that makes connecting everything a breeze.

Learn more about the new hardware on our blog.

This month we’ve pushed out some exciting new updates to Notehub.

Enhanced Session Queries

Much like we’ve previously done with devices and events, Notehub now offers a series of robust filters for searching through session data. We’ve also improved the performance of session queries so you’ll be able to look through your data faster than ever!

Device Journey Tracking

Earlier this year we launched a Map View for Notehub Development tier users. This month we’ve added a new journey tracker that allows you to see the location of your device over time. See it in action on the Map tab of your device.

Monitor Improvements

Earlier this year we also launched alerting functionality for Notehub Development tier users. This month we added a series of improvements, such as the ability to resolve alerts and delete monitors.

And More

In addition to the features listed above we’ve also made multiple reliability improvements, and improved our location caching when using Wi-Fi triangulation.

We’re constantly looking to improve Notehub. If you have any features you’d like to see us implement, feel free to reach out in our community forum.

Two new releases of the Notecard firmware are now available: a 6.2.2 LTS release and a 7.2.2 developer release.

The 6.2.2 release is the first LTS release to support Notecard LoRa, as well as Starnote and non-terrestrial networks (NTN). Both releases also include a variety of improvements and bug fixes.

The full release notes are available in the Notecard’s documentation here. The same page also has instructions for updating your Notecard’s firmware to the latest version.

Today we’re announcing Notecarrier R, a small form-factor Notecarrier only slightly larger than the Notecard itself. It’s similar to the Notecarrier B, but we’ve swapped out the Qwiic on the B with an ESLOV connector common to many Arduino MKR and PRO Portena boards. ESLOV provides I2C pins, as well as an additional GPIO, which we’ve connected to the Notecard’s ATTN pin.

Check out Notecarrier R in our shop or read through its datasheet. And keep an eye out for future Arduino announcements 👀

A new developer release of the Notecard firmware, version 7.2.1, is now available. The highlight of the release is support for Notecard LoRa, Starnote, and NTN (Non-Terrestrial Networks), but the release also includes a variety of new features and bug fixes.

The full release notes are available in the Notecard’s documentation here. The same page also has instructions for updating your Notecard’s firmware to the latest version.

It’s a big day at Blues, as today we’re happy to announce the general availability of Notecard LoRa  🎉

With Notecard LoRa we’re applying the developer-friendly design our users love from our Cellular Notecard and applying them to LoRa. With some simple JSON-based configuration, you can starting sending data to the cloud over LoRaWAN in minutes—with no complex device registration or provisioning required.

Oh, and one more thing...

Today we are also releasing the Blues Starter Kit for LoRaWAN. This $199 kit ships with everything you need to get started with building around LoRa and LoRaWAN. It includes a Blues Indoor LoRaWAN Gateway (pre-provisioned on The Things Stack), three Notecard LoRas, three Notecarrier Bs, and three LiPos to power it all.

To try it out, Get Your Blues Starter Kit for LoRaWAN and explore our new LoRaWAN Quickstart tutorials.

Today, we’re excited to announce Starnote—an affordable satellite IoT backup device that, much like the Notecard does with cellular, includes satellite uplink and downlink data with the cost of the device, in partnership with Skylo. Starnote offers a JSON-based programing interface consistent with the Notecard, providing developers with access to yet another major Radio Access Technology (RAT) using straightforward, accessible semantics.

Starnote is a Notecard accessory that is intended to disrupt the conventional wisdom that using satellite requires a high hardware investment (in the hundreds of dollars), and monthly device fees even when devices aren’t communicating with satellites.

Learn more at blues.com/starnote, and join the waitlist to be notified when Starnote is available.