Episode 24: HomeKit surprise and no more passwords for the internet of things

Do you need money? Want to buy or sell an internet of things startup? Then this week’s interview is must-listen stuff. Matt Turck, of FirstMark Capital came on the show to give some advice to those seeking financing, discuss the overall funding landscape and try to pinpoint where the next big exits are going to come from. Why Turck? Because a few months ago he covered this who topic in amazing depth. So listen up to see what has changed! Sproutling was one of the VC exits this year. Before you listen to Turck, Kevin shares his karaoke picks, we dig into the upcoming Bluetooth 5.0 specification and lay out what we think Apple’s HomeKit and Home app mean for the industry. We also talk about Samsung’s plan to invest $1.2 billion into the internet of things, its cloud, and Elon Musk’s offer to buy SolarCity. It’s not that crazy, y’all! Host: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guest: Matt Turck of FirstMark Capital Sponsor: WolfSSL Kevin’s karaoke nightmare (also the latest on Bluetooth) Apple’s Home app is somewhat demoralizing What Samsung needs in IoT We’re in the second wave of IoT exits Don’t quit your day job to rush to build a new product The post Episode 64: How a VC views the internet of things appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

23 Juni 201644min

This week is all about health and wearables, starting with Kevin Tofel discussing his frustration with fitness trackers that aren’t sharing everything. This ties into this week’s guest, Ernesto Ramirez, who just received a doctorate in public health and is an expert on how people and companies are using wearables. Ramirez and I spoke about fitness trackers’ accuracy, their utility and then moved on to questions about how employers might use them for good and ill. We also talk about Kevin’s issue of being able to transfer your data because you should own it. Kevin bought a Fitbit Charge. Aside from the health and wearables chatter, I reviewed the Ilumi color-changing outdoor BR30, which was pretty great, but had one flaw, and brought on my father-in-law who was testing the Rachio sprinkler system in his yard (since I don’t have one). Both of these gadgets are great for summer! Kevin and I didn’t get to the Apple HomeKit news this week, but we will next, so enjoy this show and you’ll have something to look forward to in the next one. Hosts: Kevin Tofel and Stacey Higginbotham Guests: Greg Allemann and Ernesto Ramirez You’ll never believe why Kevin bought a Fitbit! 3 awesome things about the Ilumi and 1 bad one. Never install a smart sprinkler without checking this one thing! Check out how wearables are changing healthcare This story about your boss and fitness trackers will terrify you! The post Episode 63: Two summertime gadget reviews and wisdom on wearables appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

16 Juni 201642min

This week we got to the big story of the last few days, Tony Fadell leaving Nest. We discuss what that means for any Nest buyers out there and what it says about selling connected device. And because Father’s Day is around the corner, we came up with three gift ideas for Dad. None of them relate to ties, golf or grilling. And for people who love lighting as much as I do, we found reports of white BR30 lights from Philips Hue, something I’ve been eagerly awaiting since the launch of the white, standard A19 bulbs. The Nest thermostat courtesy of Nest. Then we move to this week’s guest, Chris Penrose, the SVP of IoT at AT&T. He chatted with me about the carriers plans for building an IoT business beyond cars, and also talked about the opening of the latest AT&T innovation center devoted to medical devices. This AT&T Foundry is based in Houston, Texas and will tackle home health devices as well as challenges associated with connected hospitals. Enjoy the show! Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guests: Chris Penrose, SVP of IoT, AT&T Next steps for Nest 3 gift ideas for Dad My dreams have come true AT&T takes on medical devices Why the last mile is now the last meter The post Episode 62: Tony Fadell set to Away mode appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

9 Juni 201638min

This week is all about chips and presence. First Kevin and I dig into the disclosure that the Google Home Device will have the same chip as the Chromecast, and we explain what that means. Then we dive into the Jawbone rumors and cover Atari’s plans for building IoT devices through a partnership with Sigfox. Finally, we ran across a presentation to add a wake up and receive technical spec to Wi-Fi, which was worth talking about since it will lower the power consumption of Wi-Fi connected “things”. The Trackr Bravo trackers. Image courtesy of Trackr. After the break, I interviewed Chris Herbert, the CEO of Trackr, a presence tag. Hebert’s vision involves making it easy to tell what room in your home something is, as opposed to just offering the address. But to do this, you’ll have to buy a $99 set of plugs that help offer fine-grained presence detection. It’s cheaper than Zuli, the other maker of presence detecting outlets, so I’ll probably give them a try when they come out later this summer. Please enjoy. Bulk is better. What’s inside the Echo and Google Home? Those Atari IoT devices may have a catch. The Wirecutter reviews smart home hubs. Taking Trackr from $70 to $30 dollars The future of voice and instant gratification The post Episode 61: Look inside Google Home and what’s up with Jawbone? appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

2 Juni 201644min

Kevin is back from Google IO this week, and so of course, we discussed the Google Home product in detail. But since voice + a personal assistant is so hot right now, we also talked about the recent Apple rumors that said it was building its own Echo-like device and opening up Siri to developers. We then talked about Pebble’s new gear, how much power my devices are sucking and Samsung’s possible decision to use Tizen instead of Android Wear on its smart watches. Google’s proposed Home speaker and AI assistant. In the spirit of Father’s Day and the start of summer, I spoke with Chris Klein the CEO of connected sprinkler maker Rachio, who talked about how a municipality could use connected sprinklers to control water usage, how to talk to your vocal users and what he learned selling Rachio in a Big Box retailer. You’ll also get my first impressions of the device. Enjoy the show. Hosts: Kevin Tofel and Stacey Higginbotham Guest: Rachio CEO Chris Klein Who will command your smart home? Pebble pivots An update on vampire power How to take a connected device from the home to the city level Hanging out in Home Depot is fun! The post Episode 60: Everyone takes on the Amazon Echo appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

26 Maj 201643min

This week I was at the NXP Technology Forum interviewing the semiconductor company’s CEO Rick Clemmer about smart cities and smart cars. The most interesting fact he shared was that the BMW Series 7 cars have about $300 worth of silicon inside them. To compare the estimates on the cost of chips inside the Apple iPhone 6 come to roughly $120. The BMW Series 7 sedan packs a lot of silicon. –Image courtesy of BMW. Kevin was at Google IO this week, so next week’s episode should be full of great insights, so Janko Roettgers from Variety was my cohost. He has just been to CES Asia, so we learned about the Amazon Echo of china called Ding Dong and the size of CES Asia. We also discussed new integrations for the Nest, the Amazon IoT Dash button and a then I was kicked out of the room where I was recording. So we didn’t get a chance to cover Google Home and the sound quality isn’t as great because I was live with a wobbly connection. I hope you will bear with it. Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Janko Roettgers Guest: Rick Clemmer, CEO of NXP So many more things work with Nest! Tips on the AWS IoT button Meet the Amazon Echo of China How a chip company thinks about the internet of things Cramming chips in cities and cars The post Episode 59: Chipmakers love the smart car appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

19 Maj 201630min

Since a quarter of residential energy use is consumed by gadgets that are “off”, Kevin and I discuss how to measure and cut back on that power consumption with a few connected devices. We also talk about Apple’s rumored Home app for HomeKit, the launch of OpenThread, the open source version of Nest’s Thread protocol and the new Almond router from Securifi. We also touch on HP Enterprises‘ hop into the internet of things and Hitachi’s new formal IoT group. The Almond 3 router. –Image courtesy of Securifi. Then we go to Rich Brown, who is the executive editor of CNET’s smart home and appliance coverage, to discuss how the news site set up a smart house in Louisville, Kentucky, the site’s favorite gadgets and how the Amazon Echo has democratized access to the smart home. The big theme of our conversation was compromise, as in, if you want a smart home you are going to have to make compromises. Hosts: Ken Tofel and Stacey Higginbotham Guest: Rich Brown, Executive Editor, CNET A smart home may be a wasteful home Deciphering OpenThread Everyone is hopping into the Industrial Internet pool CNET’s favorite smart home devices The smart home isn’t a democracy The post Episode 58: How to stop vampire power consumption appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

12 Maj 201641min

We dove into the deep end of wearables this week discussing the dresses at this year’s Met Gala, where Kevin shared that Clare Danes’ princess fantasy gown took 30 battery packs to operate. It’s not all celebrity this week as Kevin and I dove into several devices that unfortunately didn’t all quite work as we expected. I reviewed the Pebblebee Stone, a bluetooth tracker and programmable button that was supposed to connect to If This Then That, but didn’t. Kevin talked about connecting his OnHub router to If This Then That, but also had some troubles. And once again we shared news of SmartThing’s troubles–this time with a security vulnerability. We ended with Microsoft’s acquisition of Solair and Oracle’s acquisition of Opower. The Pebblebee Stone next to a pen. The other side is covered in the soft plastic. Then for the open source, DIY smart home junkies out there, I brought Kai Kreuzer, the founder of OpenHAB onto the show. He discussed the projects ambitions–let people connect all their stuff without worrying about handing over control to a vendor–and how he might commercialize the project. The conversation exposed how tough it is to get the ideals of the open source community to mesh with the reality of trying to connect your home, especially when it comes to open source security and keeping your home safe amongst all the integration. Make sure to listen up. Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guests: Kai Kreuzer of OpenHAB You must match your LEDs to your dress Some bumps in the road for IFTTT, OnHub and the Pebblebee Stone Rick Osterloh returns to Google and Kevin and I disagree Want to build your own home hub? Ease of use means totally different things to me and to Kai The post Episode 57: A deep dive into OpenHAB and some problem devices appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.

5 Maj 201645min