Plantronics creates developer community to focus on delivering intelligent context-aware data into applications

In today's world, billions of devices connect and communicate an abundance of data about a person's location, preference, activities and availability. Plantronics is opening up a tremendous opportunity for developers to utilise this data with the launch of a full-scale developer community. Developers will now be able to create “context-aware” applications that can anticipate or take action and provide better experiences through the information generated by intelligent Plantronics devices with Smart Sensor technology.

Developers can access the tools needed to create smarter, context-aware applications through the Plantronics Developer Connection (PDC). By accessing the information from Plantronics devices, developers can incorporate presence, availability, proximity and caller information into their existing applications or create a new segment of smarter applications. Incorporating this information will result in more intelligent and intuitive human-to-device experiences.

The PDC includes technical resources, forums and application programming interfaces (APIs) through a new software developer kit (SDK) for Windows environments. The PDC is also a community for developers to connect with Plantronics technologists and learn more about the software possibilities enabled by Plantronics devices.

“Technology is about making our business lives more productive and our personal lives more enjoyable. The next wave of productivity will be driven by contextually-aware applications that speed business processes and workflows,” said Joe Burton, senior vice-president Engineering and Development and CTO, Plantronics.

“Plantronics developed smart headsets and devices with the capability to collect contextual information and present it to applications in an easy-to-integrate manner. We are opening APIs to this information so the software development community can create innovative and useful applications that leverage contextual intelligence from Plantronics.”

Resources for developers:

* The SDK can be accessed via the Plantronics Developer Connection http://developer.plantronics.com
* The SDK also includes an emulator, so developers can test their applications without a headset
* Visit the DevZone for links to technical content http://developer.plantronics.com/community/devzone/
* Learn how to code your own “TweetMe” Twitter app using our SDK http://developer.plantronics.com/blogs/Cary/2012/05/03/how-to-get-your-headset-a-tweeting
* Learn more at a Live Web Event on 9 May at 10am PDT: www.plantronics.com/launch
* Follow @ PlantronicsDev for updates

“Plantronics has been the most aggressive with regard to putting sensors in their headsets,” said Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst for the Enderle Group. “Giving developers access to these sensors, who can then do even more amazing things with them, is the natural path to take in order for Plantronics to step even further above its competitors. Shortly, the real value for headsets may come from third parties who think up amazing ways to use these sensors, and personally, I'm looking forward to being amazed.”