We are pleased to announce that we will be adding support for the WebSocket real-time communication protocol to the Soracom Beam Website Entry Point. While WebSocket support has been available as a Limited Preview since our previous announcement, with this update, WebSocket functionality will now be available as a Public Beta without needing to submit an application.

Together with today's release, we would like to inform customers of the upcoming schedule for updating the existing Soracom Beam Website Entry Point to support WebSocket connections. If you have been using the WebSocket-supported entry point since the previous Limited Preview announcement or are planning to use WebSocket connections, we kindly request you to carefully review the following information.

New WebSocket-supported Soracom Beam Website Entry Points

Starting today, the following temporary WebSocket-supported Soracom Beam Website Entry Points are now available:

• beam.soracom.io:10080
• beam.soracom.io:10081

If you would like to begin testing WebSocket functionality, you may use these entry points.

Please note that the existing Soracom Beam Website Entry Point beam.soracom.io:18080 does not yet support WebSocket connections.

Updates to the existing Soracom Beam Website Entry Point

Starting on July 1, 2024, we will begin updating the existing Soracom Beam Website Entry Point beam.soracom.io:18080 to support WebSocket connections. This update will take place over several days.

Once the main entry point has been successfully updated, the temporary entry points mentioned above will be discontinued. You will then be able to continue using WebSocket connections with the main entry point.

Effective dates and What to do

If you have been or would like to begin using WebSocket connections:

• Starting today, use the following temporary Websocket-supported Soracom Beam Website Entry Points:
  • beam.soracom.io:10080
  • beam.soracom.io:10081
• Starting on July 1, 2024, Soracom will begin updating the existing Soracom Beam Website Entry Point to support WebSocket connections.
• Once the update to the existing entry point is complete, stop using the above temporary entry points and switch back to the existing entry point:
  • beam.soracom.io:18080

If you are using the existing Soracom Beam Website Entry Point but have no need for WebSocket connections, or if you are using other Soracom Beam entry points, this update will not affect you and no action is necessary.

For additional details, please refer to the Website Entry Point (WebSocket-supported version) documentation (Japanese).

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact the Soracom Support team.

We have added a new feature to Soracom Cloud Camera Services (SoraCam) that allows users to share compatible cameras with other operators.

The following functions, which previously were only available in the ATOM app, are now available in the Soracom User Console:

• Share a SoraCam compatible camera that is in your account with another operator.
• Accept or reject cameras shared to you from another operator.
• Cancel the sharing of a compatible camera that you have shared.

For detailed instructions on using these functions, please refer to the SoraCam: Sharing Compatible Cameras documentation (Japanese).

We are pleased to announce the aiwa tab AB10L, a SIM-free 10.1-inch Android 13 tablet that can fit a wide variety of use cases, which is now available in the Soracom IoT Store.

aiwa tab AB10L

• Availability: Japan
• Price: 22,000 yen (tax included, shipping not included)
• Bundled with 1,000 yen SORACOM platform coupon (valid for 6 months, applicable only to services under Japan Coverage)

For more details, please refer to the product page (Japanese).

We are pleased to announce the following coverage updates for Soracom Air for Cellular connectivity.

planX3 and planX3-EU

Coverage updates

(*1) 2G network sunset/shutdown

(*2) 3G network sunset/shutdown

(*3) planX3 only

We are pleased to announce the following LPWAN coverage updates for Soracom Air for Cellular connectivity.

planX3 and planX3-EU

(*2) 3G network sunset/shutdown

planP1

Coverage updates

(*2) 3G network sunset/shutdown

Postponement of Soracom Lagoon 2 service discontinuation

We previously announced that the Soracom Lagoon 2 service would be discontinued on May 31, 2024. However, we have identified an issue of duplicated alerts in Lagoon 3 that may affect some customers and have decided to postpone the discontinuation.

This postponement will allow us to investigate the cause and implement appropriate measures. However, at this time we have not yet determined the new date for Lagoon 2 service discontinuation.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by this issue and greatly appreciate your understanding and patienc

Request for migration to Lagoon 3

For any customers who have not yet migrated to Lagoon 3, we kindly request you to do so as soon as possible in order to determine if you are affected by this or other issues, and so that we may assist you promptly.

We thank you for your cooperation as we work to resolve these issues and improve the quality and stability of the Lagoon service.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

We are pleased to announce the following coverage updates for Soracom Air for Cellular connectivity.

plan01s and plan01s - Low Data Volume

Coverage updates

(*1) 2G network sunset/shutdown

(*2) 3G network sunset/shutdown

We are pleased to announce that 5G-NSA (5G non standalone) coverage for plan01s is now available in the following countries.

• Azerbaijan - Bakcell
• Canada - SaskTel
• Cyprus - Epic
• Denmark - TDC
• Greece - Cosmote & Wind
• Hong Kong - CSL
• Luxembourg - Post
• Singapore - SingTel
• South Korea - SK Telecom
• United Kingdom - O2

For complete details about data rates, supported carriers and radio types, and coverage in other countries, please refer to the Supported Carriers documentation.

We are pleased to announce that we have released the Soracom Device Implementation Guidelines to help customers with their development of IoT devices.

These guidelines explain important factors for developing new devices or selecting existing devices, such as:

• Compliance with laws and regulations
• Adoption of standard specifications
• Use of efficient protocols
• Optimization of data transmission volume
• Security measures
• And more

With the growing number of cellular-connected IoT devices, mobile network operators (MNOs) are increasingly scrutinizing the behavior of devices connected to their networks, especially wary of devices that exhibit aggressive reconnection or unstable data transfer behavior. These guidelines will help you design or select efficient devices that adhere to various requirements set by MNOs in order to maintain mobile network performance.

Please note that with the release of these guidelines, the SORACOM Air for Cellular Best Practices Guide will no longer be published.

Cell Location is a feature that provides the approximate geographic location of a device using a Soracom IoT SIM based on the known location of the base station that it is connected to, even if the device does not have its own GPS receiver.

The database of base station location information used by this feature and its corresponding getCellLocation and batchGetCellLocations APIs has been provided by the Mozilla Location Service (MLS). However, due to the sunset of MLS, Soracom will be changing the reference database to OpenCelliD.

We would like to advise customers using the Cell Location feature of the following impact of this update:

New license requirements

Once the reference database has been changed, all data obtained through the Cell Location feature, including the getCellLocation and batchGetCellLocations APIs, will be subject to the CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Action Required: If you are using data from the Cell Location feature (including its APIs), you will be required to comply with the above license. Please review the terms of the license and make any necessary adjustments to ensure compliance.

Updated location information

As the reference database of base station location information will change, some of the location information may be different. For example:

• Location information that was previously not available may now be available
• Location information that was previously available may no longer be available
• Other aspects of location information, such as geographic position or accuracy, may change

No changes will be made to the method of using the Cell Locations feature or its APIs. However, if your application relies on this data, please be advised that the data returned may include these or other changes.

Effective date

This update is scheduled to take effect on June 3, 2024.

Please note that the effective date may change without prior notice.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact the Soracom Support team.

We have added a new feature that allows adjusting the playback speed of Soracom Cloud Camera Services (SoraCam) videos stored in the cloud.

With this feature, users can fast-forward or slow down video playback, convenient for quickly locating specific events or conducting detailed observations.

For detailed instructions on how to use this feature, please refer to the SoraCam: Playing videos stored in the cloud documentation (Japanese).

We are pleased to announce the Waterproof/Dustproof Antenna Set for Soracom Onyx LTE™ USB Modem (SC-QGLC4-C1), now available from the Soracom IoT Store. This set includes a pair of Taoglas GA.130.201111 antennas and necessary adapter cables for connecting to a Soracom Onyx modem.

Waterproof/Dustproof Antenna Set for Soracom Onyx

• Availability: Japan only
• Price: 5,236 yen (tax included, shipping not included)
• Bundled with a 200 yen Soracom platform coupon (valid for 6 months, applicable to services with Japan coverage only)

Set contents:

• (2x) Taoglas GA.130.20111 Waterproof/Dustproof antennas (cable length: 2m)
• (2x) CRC9-SMA adapter cables

For more information, please refer to the product page (Japanese).