The Internet of Things Podcast - Stacey On IoT

After a beating on the stock market last week, I spoke with Ericsson’s CEO Hans Vestberg to understand how the company’s 5-year-old plan to change its business is going. The company has just announced a restructuring as it tried to convince Wall Street that it was making progress, so Vestberg discussed that, the role of the internet of things in its new business, and how he defines 5G. Ericsson saw the shifts in its business from the internet of things almost a decade ago, and is working hard to adapt the 140-year-old business. Hans Vestberg, CEO of Ericsson. Image courtesy of Ericsson. Before we get to the interview with Vestberg, Kevin and I spend time discussing lights. Phillips Hue has a new app that actually is worthwhile. Stack Lights introduces a new ultrasound sensor that lets it do motion detection through a lampshade, and Ilumi offers an outdoor-rated color-changing floodlight. We also discuss Nokia’s acquisition of Withings, Tile’s impressive revenue and integration with a car, and products you should buy mom for Mother’s Day instead of a Nest. Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guest: Hans Vestberg, CEO of Ericsson So much lighting! Nokia’s Withings buy is good, but the price seems low Don’t buy your mom a Nest for Mother’s Day. Buy these gadgets instead. Ericsson on its digital transformation What the heck is 5G? The post Episode 56: How Ericsson plans to remake its business for a networked era appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

28 Apr 201641min

With ride-sharing, electric vehicles and millennials who aren’t super keen on owning a car all converging, the auto industry is in a panic. But Ford, led by both Bill Ford and Ford CEO Mark Fields has created a plan to keep the carmaker relevant, even if fewer people buy cars. With this being said, there will always be people out there who love vehicles like the Ford Maverick and collecting vintage cars. In this week’s show, I chat with Don Butler, executive director, Connected Vehicle and Services at Ford, about moving from making cars to delivering transportation. Butler shares Ford’s thoughts on connecting the car, the integration with the Amazon Echo, and a few things Ford has learned from Tesla. Is this exciting news?! An upgrade at long-last to the Ford! If you want to get yours ordered, you may want to have a look at the car finance options available to you. Of course, getting a car on finance isn’t the best option for everyone. Some people still prefer to buy their cars outright. However, with the prices of newer vehicles, this can be difficult. Although, more people are finding ways around this. For example, some people might look into applying for a Petal credit card to help them build their credit up. Having a reputable credit score can increase an individual’s chances of being able to receive a loan from a bank, allowing them to own their car instead of paying for it monthly. The 2017 Ford Escape is possibly the smartest car Ford has to offer said Butler. Before Butler and I get talking, Kevin Tofel and I discuss Intel’s job cuts and internet of things strategy as well as a Zigbee chipmaker’s acquisition. We then talk about the challenge of matching tech components to the long lifespan of some home products. Kevin bought a Pine 64 development board and we talk about what he should do with it, we add a few other updates on devices such as the Philips Hue lights and cover a new deal to bring connectivity to your clothes . Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guest: Don Butler at Ford Can Intel matter in the internet of things? My smart bulb’s radio broke so now it’s dumb Connected clothes are coming What Ford learned from Tesla Discover Ford’s biggest asset as it seeks to transform its business The post Episode 55: Find out what Ford learned from Tesla appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

21 Apr 201647min

Do you want your smart jewelry to have a screen? Do you want to be able to have replica designer jewellery from Maurielle’s Replica Fashion and be able to connect it to your smart phone? If we have multiple pieces of connected jewelry how do you make it easy to program for the day? Or will you only have one sensor-laden wearable akin to to a smart watch that does everything? These are some of the questions Matt Manley, of Fjord tackles with me on this week’s show. We start off discussing jewelry, but veered off into how devices should deliver ambient information and the state of wireless power. Even if you aren’t into wearables, Manley’s comments on notifications is worth a listen. The Aries bracelet from Ringly is one example of a smart jewelry. Kevin and I kicked off the show with jewelry as well, discussing the newly launched Aries bracelet from Ringly. We then talked about the $12.5 million in funding for Luma, one of the companies trying to make a mesh router. This one offers parental controls that allows parents to stop their kids from accessing porn on all electronic devices in the home and should be out in April. We also took a look at the Wirecutter’s review of the best smart switch (outlet). For those of you shopping, they liked the Belkin Wemo Insight Switch. We quickly discuss Pfizer’s plan to use existing sensors to monitor Parkinson’s patients and the lifesaving Fitbit data everyone was so excited about. And like the rest of you on SmartThings, we’re waiting for a fix of the system which has been broken for almost four weeks. Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guest: Matthew Manley, group design direct at Fjord New smart jewelry and mesh networking routers! Medicine embraces the internet of things. And off-the-shelf hardware. The Wirecutter reviews connected outlets Turning connected jewelry from functional to fashionable Topshop has payment jewelry that only works at its store The post Episode 54: Fashion meets the internet of things appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

14 Apr 201650min

This week’s show deals with recurring themes such as whether or not you should trust the cloud, device lifespan, the Amazon Alexa platform and more lighting than a Times Square billboard. Our guest this week is Mike Pessina, the co-CEO of Lutron. He shares his recipes for great lighting (at the very end) and talks about the role of Lutron’s proprietary wireless protocol for lighting control in a world that is rapidly embracing Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Before we learn about Lutron, Kevin Tofel and I discuss the news that Nest plans to shut down all Revolv smart home hub devices that are in the field, turning the $299 device into a hunk of metal and plastic scrap. A Lutron Caseta dimmer switch (left) installed near the Osram Lightify wireless dimmer switch (right). A regular rocker switch is in the middle. While Revolv sold fewer than 10,000 units, those who own one are upset. We came up with a few suggestions that might help other connected device companies avoid alienating their users in case of failure or a sale. On the brighter side, Amazon’s Alexa platform is gaining new smarts, with the Smart Home API now available to anyone. We also tell you how to control your TV with Alexa and review the Amazon Dot. This week you also get a second review, of the Osram Lightify dimmer switch, which renters and folks who aren’t keen on replacing their wired switches will like. And once again, we ask that you take our survey if you have a chance. Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham Guest: Michael Pessina, Co-CEO of Lutron The Revolv fiasco is bad for the smart home. Where did you put your Amazon Dot? Get Alexa to turn on your TV with Yonomi. Who should buy this $30 Osram dimmer switch? What’s next for Lutron The post Episode 53: How to prevent good devices from being killed appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

7 Apr 201646min

Security is a big deal for the Internet of things, which is why we’re so pumped about having Beau Woods, the deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative, on the show to discuss nine new recommendations for securing smart home devices. These devices will all be linked to your home network, but you can access this remotely if you click here to find your IP address. The Atlantic Council and security research group I Am The Cavalry created the report to as the beginning of what they hope will become a formal framework for smart home devices. Some are basic such as design with security in mind, but others help data privacy and what happens when a device becomes disconnected form the Internet (or the app governing it). For a full list of recommendations please check the report or my summary in PCMag. The August doorbell cam courtesy of August. Before we delve into security, Kevin Tofel and I cover the big Nest drama from last week that extended into this one when former Dropcam CEO Greg Duffy defended the Dropcam employees from Nest CEO Tony Fadell’s insults. Nest isn’t the only company that acts as a smart home platform that had drama. If This Then That also ruffled some feathers as it sent out notices to longtime developers that it was changing the way it requested information from their APIs. I emailed Linden Tibbets, the IFTTT CEO, and got a quick comment, but still have questions. As Kevin and I await our Amazon Dot’s coming the day this show airs, we discussed the Amazon Dash expansion, the longer wait for June connected ovens, a connected wine bottle and the new August doorbell. We end with a plea for y’all to take our survey and tell us what you think. So enjoy the show, and please click here if you’d like to take the survey. (It’s super short). Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham & Kevin Tofel Guest: Beau Woods, The Atlantic Council Nest is run like Apple and that’s not a good thing. If this, then … drama! I like the August doorbell. Security woes are keeping people from the smart home. Here’s how to make the ultimate smart home more secure. Take our survey, please! The post Episode 52: These 9 ideas can secure the smart home appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

31 Mar 201646min

This week we have a two for one in the guest portion of the show, with Daniel Conrad, the CEO of Beep Networks explaining how he decided to stop making a connected device, take his VC funding and find a new business model. That’s part one. Part two is all about LoRa, the wireless radio technology used for low power wireless area networks, which is what his business is now built on. Conrad explains a classic entrepreneurial dilemma and then educates us all on up-and-coming networking technology that transmits small amounts of data over fairly long distances. Is this the perfect network for the Internet of things? The Bernooli bottle top. Before you get to Conrad, Michael Wolf is guest hosting in place of Kevin, and we discuss the lack of HomeKit news at the Apple event Monday, some cool connected bartending gear I saw at SXSW and Bosch’s new cloud for the internet of things. Bosch is spending $548 million on R&D in innovation tech, which is less than 1 percent of its annual revenue, but still nothing to sneeze at. For the gadget lovers, Mike and I discussed b8ta, the new retail concept for selling connected devices and tried to consider what Target’s secretive Project Goldfish is. Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Mike Wolf of The Smart Home Show Guests: Daniel Conrad of Beep Networks What’s the right retail model for selling the smart home? Make a drink with Bernooli Killing the dream of a connected speaker What is LoRa? The best startup opportunity around. The post Episode 51: This CEO killed his hardware startup to start a wireless network appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

24 Mar 201636min

This week, Kevin Tofel and I discuss the challenges of treating connected hardware like software. Nest is experiencing one of those challenges this week as it requests users accept new terms and conditions in order to use their Nest. If you don’t agree, you don’t get the app, which is frustrating users who feel that Nest is reducing the functionality of the product. Twitter users are calling this holding the device hostage, but it is a legal necessity if you change certain features. Kevin and I propose a solution. After that we spend time discussing the New Philips tunable white lights, the C by GE lights and the Stack lights, which I am trying out and still learning how to use. Paying with a Callaway golf glove with MasterCard payment tech inside. –Image courtesy of MasterCard. Our guest this week is Sherri Haymond, Senior Vice President of Digital Payments & Labs at MasterCard, who discusses the future of payments and how MasterCard’s partners are putting the ability to buy things in surprising places. Callaway, the maker of golf gear, has put payment tech into a golf glove while a fashion designer is embedding the technology in hats, handbags and jewelry. Enjoy the show. Hosts: Kevin Tofel and Stacey Higginbotham Guest: Sherri Haymond, Senior Vice President of Digital Payments & Labs, MasterCard We need granular permissions for new connected device features Lights, lights and more lights Early thoughts on the Stack lights You can pay with anything! How to secure the Internet of payments The post Episode 50: Are your devices being held hostage? appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

17 Mar 201651min

This week’s podcast is chock full of smart home stuff with updates from Nest, new products from Amazon and some new tech on the Wi-Fi front. Mozilla is getting into the Internet of things, with four ideas for possible open-source products that range from a smart home hub to voice recognition services. Kevin isn’t sold on the need for more options, but if Mozilla doubles down on security and privacy it might be worth looking at. We don’t have a guest this week since I am traveling, but Kevin and I spent a lot of time discussing Amazon’s new hardware. The launch of the Amazon Dot and Amazon Tap aren’t totally unexpected, but we’re not sure about the rationale for the portable Amazon Tap. We did both shell out $90 for the squat Amazon Dot. We also briefly discussed the semiconductor industry getting set to pass 1 trillion devices sold in 2018 and a future low-power Wi-Fi technology. So, listen up and enjoy this week’s show. Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Nest’s new features are more than meets the eye Mozilla has an IoT strategy. What? Our thoughts on Amazon’s Dot and Tap Chip sales set to hit 1 trillion units. The post Episode 49: Did you buy an Amazon Dot? appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

10 Mar 201629min