Episode 192: Amazon’s big news and UL’s cyber safety standard

This week Kevin and I start off on a heavy note discussing the things that went wrong during the Lion Air crash at the end of October relating that to the increase in sensors, software and inadequate procedures for marrying the Silicon Valley mindset with the real world. We then tackle the many, many announcements made by Amazon at its Re:Invent event, focused on the elements that matter to the internet of things. From there we discuss smaller news such as the Open Connectivity Foundation’s standards becoming an ISO standard, ISO’s new drone standard proposal and a new Google speaker. Kevin shares his thoughts on the future of digital assistants and we tell a father which connected light switches won’t require a neutral wire.

The Klipsch Google Assistant speaker is pricey, but pretty. Image courtesy of Klipsch.

After that, I speak with Gonda Lamberink, who is  a senior business development manager at UL, about the cybersecurity standards UL is working  on. We talk about best practices, why UL charges for its standard and how many UL certifications an IoT company should expect to get. We also discuss the challenges in preparing a standard for the software world, which changes so rapidly. It’s a good interview.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guests: Gonda Lamberink, UL
Sponsor: Afero

  • Sensors can lie, so how do we adapt?
  • Amazon’s new IoT services take aim at the enterprise and industrial IoT
  • Kevin is waiting for Jarvis
  • How will UL adapt it’s standards work for software?
  • What makes a device secure in UL’s eyes?

 

CES 2018 was about more than voice

CES is full of stories if you know where to look. This year we had to look beyond companies putting Alexa in everything from toilets to toothbrushes. If you did, you could find out all kinds of fascinating things, such as the big opportunities in the enterprise internet of things or what Comcast is doing with its purchase of Stringify. While roaming the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Sands Expo, I asked people what they were excited about, what they were looking for and what they think the future might hold.

Once again, we bring you the less obvious side of CES.

The results are in this podcast, with interviews with Alex Hawkinson, CEO of SmartThings; Nate Williams, an EIR at Kleiner Perkins; a CEO who sold his camera startup to Ooma, and many more. I also share my favorite device from CES, which is not exactly something you can buy at Best Buy. But if we’re lucky, we could soon see it in something from Amazon. I hope you enjoy. If you do, thank the Open Connectivity Foundation which sponsored the entire episode, and gave an update on that standard effort.

Host: Stacey Higginbotham
Guests: There are a lot
Sponsor: Open Connectivity Foundation

  • Comcast explains what’s next for Strinigfy
  • Alexa Hawkinson on Samsung’s plans for SmartThings
  • Ben Nader of Butterfleye on how to pick a buyer
  • Nate Williams on enterprise tech
  • Willy Pell on how to architect machine learning at the edge

Episode 48: Realtors ready for the smart home

We’ve talked about how whether you should take your connected devices with you when you move on previous shows, but on this week’s show Chad Curry, managing director at the center for Realtor Technology at the National Association of Realtors, takes things further. Much further. Curry discusses the future of MLS listings and how your next real estate transaction might end up with you receiving the gift of a smart hub. From there we discuss the future of home listings and what items will disappear from the home of the relatively near future. In the future when prospective buyers do a property search they may be able to request a smarter house and pick and chose their gadgets. And for those who missed it, check out the work Curry’s team did on helping people who move reauthenticate their smart devices. Most of our listeners should probably bookmark this checklist.

The future MLS listing with smart home data--GIF provided by the National Association of Realtors.
The future MLS listing with smart home data–GIF provided by the National Association of Realtors.

Before we get to Curry, Kevin and I discuss the new Raspberry Pi with integrated Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, which people are saying is THE Pi for the internet of things, the new Fitbit smartwatch and price cuts at the Pebble Time. We also run through some of the features on the Sony Xperia agent prototype shown off at Mobile World Congress which reminded Kevin a lot of the Amazon Echo. And I finally remembered to tell y’all about the future of the new standards-setting organization that formed two weeks ago with Intel, Qualcomm, Microsoft and more. So listen up, and don’t worry, next week, Kevin and I will discuss the new Amazon Echo products.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Chad Curry, managing director at the center for Realtor Technology at the National Association of Realtors

  • A new Raspberry Pi for the internet of things
  • Sony’s Amazon Echo prototype and watching the smartwatches
  • The AllJoyn engineers went to Intel and OCF is the result
  • Are you ready for connected drywall?
  • How MLS listings might change thanks to connected sensors