Apple’s disclosure of the HomePod, a connected speaker and personal assistant, drove much of the IoT news this week. However, research from Pew on how rapidly people are becoming connected and the lack of transparency about how our data is used might end up being the story with real legs. Kevin Tofel and I discuss both this week, along with some Wink news, how he feels about the Google Home and a brand new purchase I made.
To continue with the HomePod theme, I spoke with three different people to get a sense of how voice affects adoption of smart home technology, what the HomePod could mean for HomeKit adoption and what another voice-activated speaker means for privacy. Scott Harkins of Honeywell, Adam Justice of ConnectSense and Nuala O’Conner of the Center for Democracy and Technology joined me for the discussion.
Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guests: Scott Harkins of Honeywell, Adam Justice of Connect Sense and Nuala O’Conner of the Center for Democracy and Technology
Sponsors: TE Connectivity and Affiliated Monitoring
- Wink gets on the services bandwagon
- Pew says you will never not be connected
- Honeywell says voice is a killer app for smart homes
- Could you connect HomeKit devices without changing the hardware?
- It’s good to see a company selling privacy
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The IoT Podcast is certainly a highlight of my week and something I look forward to listening to on my daily noon time walks. Thanks guys.
Although Kevin has finally bought a Google Home, I just wanted to pass on that Fry’s has the Google Home on sale for $109 ($20 off).
Also, until June 10th, Fry’s has reduced the price on some of the iLumi Bluetooth LEDS:
MS2101 – $29.99
ML3001 – $24.99
BR30 Indoor Flood – $34.99
So, the HomePod looks interesting, but when I hear the word Pod, the image from Aliens where the creature pops out of the pod and attaches to the guys face comes to mind. Ah, that’s just me. Apple typically is concerned about the aesthetics of a device and looks for some sort of Cool Factor with their consumer product, but I don’t get that impression with the HomePod. It just looks like a larger version of some of the other Bluetooth speakers I see and looks much like their MacPro cylinder server. It would be nice to hear what it sounds like though.
Speaking of HomeKit, TI has a video showing how easy it is a to connect a BLE enable project with Home Kit using their MSP432 and CC2650MODA booster pack. I’m not sure if this is to technical for this Podcast, but I do find these things cool. However, it does require an Apple MFi license to create such a project which would seem true for anyone looking to create a connected device for Apple HomeKit, which I believe you guys touched on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu2IaIP1_l8
Cheers,
Jon