The Internet of Things Podcast - Stacey On IoT

Welcome to the weekly podcast! We’re moving Black Friday to October thanks to chip shortages and shipping delays. Meanwhile, Amazon is working on a smart fridge, Google is trying to use a $10 monthly subscription and Nest thermostats to help people go green and also launching new cameras and ways to surf its displays. The Starling Home Hub gets a new feature that lets you watch your Nest cameras on HomeKit gear, and consumers interested in mining Helium Network Tokens or participating in building a LoRaWAN network for IoT have another option thanks to RAK Wireless. Kevin and I also discuss a really cute Kickstarter version of the Boston Robotics Spot robot. When it’s a small, open-source robot for kids, it doesn’t seem so scary. We also discuss some cybersecurity research on industrial controls from Nozomi. We end by answering a listener question about where to sell your old smart home gear and how to prep it for sale. The Mini Pupper is a small and cute spin on a much larger and scarier robot. Image courtesy of Mini Pupper. This week’s guest is Sanjeet Pandit, global head of smart cities and digital transformation at Qualcomm. He’s on the show a week after Qualcomm held a smart cities event where it added new SaaS-based smart city services. We talk about how the pandemic has changed what municipalities want from technology firms, and how they are redefining what it takes to make a city smart. Pandit didn’t answer a lot of my questions about how cities are paying for these services or which ones were deploying some of the more futuristic services such as predictive traffic management, telling me that the cities get to decide when they talk about their deployments. But he assures me that many cities are making investments that go well beyond smart lighting, and I suppose for now, I’ll have to believe him and hope to see what municipalities start making announcements. Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guest: Sanjeet Pandit, global head of smart cities at Qualcomm Sponsors: Trek10 and Ayla Networks Why you want to start your holiday shopping now Does anyone think an Amazon fridge could be trusted? Would you trust a tiny open-source version of Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot? What smart cities want after the pandemic Several use cases for smart cities that don’t involve lighting! The post Episode 341: Smart cities and smart fridges galore appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

7 Okt 202155min

This week’s podcast is all about Amazon (with a few other stories for variety). We start the show with a rundown of the devices and services Amazon launched at its device drop on Tuesday. We then explain what it means for the smart home and ask if this is what we want. We also question if the Astro robot is really all it seems before offering a public service announcement about updating to iOS 15 beta software. After that, we cover a new Helium miner called Finestra, designed for the mainstream consumer. As an added bonus, the company behind the new miner, Mimiq, is also building LoRaWAN devices, which is desperately needed if we want these networks to actually provide real value. After that, we talk about a smaller satellite signal module that works indoors and an incredibly irritating marketing campaign for the new Flic Twist device that puts me off from what is actually a good idea. Then, Kevin talks about his experience with the new Wyze Cam Pan 2. We close the news segment by answering a listener request for a Spanish-speaking smart home. Amazon launched a $1,000 robot. Image courtesy of Amazon. Our guest this week continues the Amazon theme. We have Anne Toth, head of Alexa Trust to discuss how Amazon is trying to introduce friction into the Alexa experience as a way to promote privacy and help consumers open up to Alexa at their own pace. She didn’t answer my question about the number of false positives or give me a convincing reason why Alexa keeps interrupting me with suggestions about other things I can do with the device, but she does a good job talking about the challenges of explaining what Alexa does and doesn’t know about people and why people may want Alexa to know more. It’s a good interview, even if I didn’t get all the information I’d like. Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guest: Anne Toth, Head of Alexa Trust at Amazon Sponsors: Trek10 and Ayla Networks Ambient intelligence is code for stop looking at your smartphone There’s a looming wave of new Helium miners Flic has a cool new device coming, but finding out about it is annoying Amazon does care what you think about privacy Alexa talks back so you know all of the cool things it can do The post Episode 340: Amazon wants you to trust its devices appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

30 Sep 20211h 9min

This week’s show kicks off with the news of the Raspberry Pi Trading company closing a new funding round of $45 million. We talk about what the Pi Trading company is, how it relates to the Foundation, and how companies are building Pis. We then dig into Apple’s plans for healthcare, including plans for tracking mental illness. Plus, we give an update on what iOS 15 means for HomePods. Helium’s network expands, or rather Senet’s LoRaWAN network expands thanks to a deal with Helium, and Inmarsat provides some context about how COVID-19 is driving adoption for IoT connectivity technologies. Arlo has updated its support options, and we hate them. Facebook has introduced new devices, and we’re kind of meh on them. But Wyze has a new camera that pans, and we’re into that. Then we talk about Kevin switching to the Meross HomeKit garage door opener. We also answer a listener question about the newly launched Home Assistant Amber device on the IoT Podcast Hotline. Home Assistant has introduced a new hardware concept called the Amber, but if you order now it won’t be delivered until November 2022. Image courtesy of Home Assistant. This week’s guest is Leo Simonovich, the head of industrial and cyber at Siemens Energy.  He and I talk about the threats facing the grid, especially as we add renewables and more two-way devices. He also points out that while the media focuses a lot on nation-state attacks, issues like ransomware and other threats are far more likely and damaging. Siemens Energy recently announced a new security product, so he explains how the company is closing the divide between IT and OT while also adding credence to the idea that we need to watch how devices behave in the real world and not just on the network when it comes to security monitoring. Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guest: Leon Simonovitch, Siemens Energy Sponsors: Trek10 and Ayla Networks You may be surprised by who’s buying Raspberry Pis Do you want an algorithm to diagnose mental illnesses? Arlo’s new support plan is anti-consumer Why the energy grid is such a reliable target for malicious hackers Siemens is using digital twins to help secure the grid The post Episode 339: Much ado about privacy and support appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

23 Sep 20211h

I need to warn y’all in advance that we don’t discuss Apple news at all this week because nothing really jumped out at us for the IoT. But we did have a lot of other big news starting with Wyze raising $100 million and sharing the precariousness of its situation over the last 18 months. We then talk about a political risk for Tuya and what that might mean for your devices, and three pieces of news from Silicon Labs’ Works With event that have big implications for radios, Matter, and security. After the chip news, Kevin sets the record straight on a story that got Matter wrong, I get excited by new chips coming out of a stealthy startup, and there’s an acquisition that will help developers work with more IoT devices.  Google has a new digital twin service for supply chains, Whoop has a new fitness wearable with a fancy battery, and Yale added HomeKit support for its cabinet lock. We end the segment by answering a listener question about new smart home cameras. The Luci device fits onto existing power wheelchairs. Image courtesy of Luci. Our guest this week is Jered Dean, who is a co-founder and CTO of Luci, a startup making a smart addition for power wheelchairs. First, Dean explains why power wheelchairs are so dangerous and why he created Luci. Then we dive into other challenges of building specialized millimeter-wave radar sensors for the device and specialized ultrasonic sensors and how challenging it is to combine those sensors and cameras into one view of the world. We also talk about why Dean added integrations to connect Luci with health monitoring platforms and digital assistants. And finally,  we talk about what it could mean if Luci shared data about what it “sees” with smart city or mapping platforms. I really had fun with this one. Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guest: Jered Dean, co-founder and CTO of Luci Sponsors: Silicon Labs and Infineon Wyze shares the details of its near-death experience Silicon Labs has new radios, a new security option and software for a unified smart home JFrog’s Upswift buy is good news for the IoT Why this startup had to build its own sensors to see the world How smart cities could help people using smarter wheelchairs The post Episode 338: Wyze comes back from the edge appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

16 Sep 202152min

This week we kick off the show discussing several smart devices that might provide a modicum of security or comfort in case of weather disasters associated with climate change. After that, we start the long goodbye to 3G and discuss how companies are reacting. And for those who are keeping track of algorithmic accountability efforts, California has a new law that could be better in my humble opinion. We also talk about the security woes for the IoT as covered by a report out from Kaspersky, before talking about some new products including a new Z-wave home hub for HomeKit, a smart dog collar, Home Depot’s new smart home app, and a prospective gun safe from Wyze. And speaking of security, there is big news in the access control space with Chamberlain getting purchased by Blackstone for $5 billion and Assa Abloy buying the company behind Kwikset and Baldwin locks. The Halo dog collar is pricey but pretty smart. Image courtesy of Halo. Our guest this week takes us beyond the edge of the earth’s atmosphere with Charlie Kindel, a former executive at Microsoft, Amazon, and Control4, who is now advising companies who are working in space. We talk about how there’s a new economic flywheel driving investment in space communications and research and how that can be an advantage for the IoT. Those advantages aren’t simply related to communications and providing connectivity for sensors on Earth. Kindel gets excited about the ways researchers building networks for IoT can apply some of those learning to communications in space, where innovations are sorely needed. It’s a really fun interview. Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guests: Charlie Kindel Sponsors:  Silicon Labs and Infineon Devices that might help you as climate change wracks havoc on the weather How I think we should regulate algorithmic accountability Consolidation hits the access control market Space is the final frontier for IoT Why investment in space is speeding up The post Episode 337: Blast off with IoT in space appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

9 Sep 20211h 1min

We start this week’s show with a look at a new surveillance law in Australia that seemingly obliterates a lot of protections around how law enforcement officials can access data and what they can do with it. We also talk about a survey conducted in the U.S. that shows how willing many Americans are to share their data in exchange for cheaper insurance. From there we cover new fundings for Brilliant, Wirepas, and Carbon Robotics. For those eager for an update on Helium’s 5G plans, the Freedom Fi hotspots will hit the market on Sept. 28. We also have updates on new products and features from the maker of Philips Hue devices, Spotify, Google, and Amazon Alexa. We end with a question from David about how to avoid the problems associated with adding new devices or hubs to his smart home network. Brilliant, the maker of smart home light switches, has raised $40 million. Image courtesy of Brilliant. Our guest this week is Charles Young, the EVP and COO of Invitation Homes, a company that leases single-family homes. He’s on the show to discuss how Invitation Homes plans to add smart devices to its portfolio of 80,000 homes and to talk about the challenges of managing that many devices. We discuss the future of predictive maintenance across the portfolio, the savings the company has already achieved, and plans for new features such as video doorbells. We also talk about the perceived longevity for different device types in the smart home. And of course, we talk about how the company handles privacy.  It’s a fun interview. Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guest: Charles Young, the EVP and COO of Invitation Homes Sponsors:  Silicon Labs and Infineon In Australia, your data can be modified and searched by law enforcement Alternative 5G networks and smart home devices raise VC funds Alexa and Google both get new features Why Invitation Homes thinks the smart home could help it be more efficient It’s pretty difficult to manage 80,000 smart homes The post Episode 336: Australia’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad surveillance law appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

2 Sep 202154min

This week’s show starts off with old news that I forgot to tell y’all about last week: The Matter interoperability standard for the smart home is delayed until 2022. We talk about what that means and then turn to Google’s confusing fitness wearable strategy and the new Fitbit Charge 5 device. After that, we discuss human-computer interfaces and a new OT security report out from Honeywell. We also share an update on the Qi wireless power standard and I get angry about the Telsa robot marketing stunt designed to stop us from talking about the safety issues associated with the investigation of Tesla’s Autopilot by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. I end with a review of the Nest Cam and Nest Doorbell devices that are now each available for $179.99. We close the news segment with a question from a listener about buttons to turn off connected lights. Surely, this understates the actual breaches, right? Image courtesy of Honeywell. This week’s guest is Lionel Robert, Associate Professor of Information at the University of Michigan. He published a paper this month discussing how robots should best rebuild trust with humans after making a mistake. The paper is really interesting, and we spend a portion of this segment discussing why we need to trust robots and what is classified as a robot. From there we talk about the personality characteristics that Robert believes will work for different robots based on their form factors, their jobs, and the people they work with. We even talk about the ethics of making robots too trustworthy. It’s a lot of fun. Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guest: Lionel Robert, Associate Professor of Information at the University of Michigan Sponsors: Silicon Labs and Infineon Google’s wellness and wearables strategy is super messed up Kevin thinks your IoT products should offer real-time feedback Google’s new Nest cameras are good for Google homes, but there are other options Should this robot be an ESTJ  or an INTJ? What even is a robot, anyway? The post Episode 335: Robots need a Myers-Briggs type appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

26 Aug 20211h

Welcome to this week’s episode! We kick it off with a discussion of SmartThing’s new focus on the edge with local control and user-derived device handlers. We then dive into four security stories starting with a flaw in the software development kit (SDK) for a Wi-Fi module, challenges with random number generation on IoT devices, and a flaw in an SDK by ThroughTek Kalay that affects smart cameras. We reserve most of our frustration, though, for BlackBerry, which had learned of a flaw in its QNX operating system and decided not to patch it. It was a pretty bad week for IoT security. But we did get some fun news. The Industrial IoT Consortium has changed its name and tweaked its focus to spend more time on business process and not just the IIoT tech, and Inmarsat plans to launch a new satellite network for IoT devices next year. We also discuss Google’s Fuschia OS appearing on more Nest devices. We end the segment by answering a listener question about the Span smart electrical panel. The Otii Arc device measures power consumption. Image courtesy of Qoitech. Our guest this week is part of a mini-theme focused on sustainability in the IoT. Last week, we heard about a new emphasis on price performance per watt from an Arm executive. This week, Vanja Samuelsson, CEO of Qoitech, visits the show to discuss adding power consumption measurements throughout the product and software design process. Samuelsson discusses common energy-draining behaviors that they can address when measuring power consumption through their design process and talks about customers such as Deutsche Telekom, which encourages developers to perform power analysis to help prevent poorly behaving devices on its network. Given how much I hate changing my batteries in sensors or recharging my wearables, I hope everyone listens to what she has to say. Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guest: Vanja Samuelsson, CEO of Qoitech Sponsors: Very SmartThings has a new strategy that DIY users should love A bonanza of flaws in the IoT. Some won’t ever get fixed. Why not launch another IoT satellite service? How to avoid choosing the wrong battery for your device Even wired devices should become more power-aware The post Episode 334: SmartThings’ new edge strategy appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

19 Aug 202148min