Category: lighting

Episode 128: The coolest fridges at IFA and how to build a connected product

This week launched our new hotline feature with a comment and question from you guys. Keep them coming! Before we got to the Q&A, Kevin and I discussed news from IFA, Europe’s largest appliance show. There are smart fridges, roaming fridges, washing machines and yes, speakers. We also discussed a Cat-M1 network in Africa, noting that it has an unusual property. Because it’s a day ending in Y we also had a security breach to discuss. We ended with a user experience adventure I had with my WeMo dimmer switch.

It’s a Big A** Fan!

Want to build a connected product? Then listen to Landon Borders of Big A** Fans talk about his company’s experience building a high-end connected ceiling fan. It’s a look at the beginnings of the internet of things and also shows off lessons every product manager should heed when thinking about building a connected product portfolio. He offers thoughts about working with HomeKit, Alexa and Google as well as his thoughts on manufacturing and customer service. He also drops a few surprising stats. Enjoy!

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Landon Borders, VP of connected products at Big A** Fans
Sponsors: ForgeRock and Xively

  • Roaming fridges and what makes a smart speaker?
  • Greg has a question about Homeseer
  • Only half of Big A** Fans customers use the connected features
  • Thoughts on Thread
  • There are the platforms that matter in the smart home

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Episode 125: Lockstate’s big goof and a super sensor from CMU

How do you turn a deadbolt into a brick? Update its software! That’s not funny, especially if you’re Lockstate, which rendered 500 connected door locks useless with a software update last week. Kevin and I add a bit of context to the event and then jump right into discussions about Anker’s Eufy Genie, a connected bassinet and a story that portrays Carnegie Melon’s super sensor in a scary light. We end with Caraoke, June’s new wall-mounted oven and a plan to use Outlook to schedule your Roomba.

The Snoo bassinet costs $1,160.

Our guest this week covers what we need to do to continue building out the internet of things. As SVP and General Manager of Silicon Labs’ IoT division, Daniel Cooley has the unenviable task of predicting what features chips will need three to five years before he thinks we’ll need them. In this segment he talks about pushing more math to sensors, how important it is to get security right, the future of human-to-machine interfaces and the types of business models we’ll need. He also dives into the concept of unified data models for the internet of things– essentially defining in software what a physical product can do. You’ll learn a lot.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Daniel Cooley of Silicon Labs
Sponsors: HiQo Solutions and Eero

  • Lockstate has something in common with Wink
  • Someone put a baby in a Snoo!
  • Another gadget for the hall of shame
  • How silicon companies are thinking about the edge
  • The internet of things needs data models stat!

Correction: This episode credited the super sensor to MIT, but it was built by researchers from Carnegie Melon. The post has been changed on Aug. 29, 2017 to reflect the correction.

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Episode 117: Intel’s new IoT strategy has fewer things

Intel plans to discontinue several of its boards designed for makers. Kevin and I discuss what this means for Intel’s IoT strategy. We also talk about ARM’s extension of a program that eliminates license fees to design custom chips, Ring’s new doorbell and Hue’s new lights. We then circle back on Amazon’s Whole Foods purchase and the availability of the Dash wand, while Kevin shares his favorite new Alexa Skill.

Too hot for the IoT?

Next up is blockchain, specifically how it could build sustainable IoT business models and even help generate wealth in the subscription economy. My guest Paul Brody is a principal at EY and a blockchain expert. You’ll learn a new way of thinking about subscriptions, fractional ownership and why blockchain and IoT are like chocolate and peanut butter. Listen up.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Paul Brody from EY
Sponsors: TE Connectivity and Affiliated Monitoring

  • What happens to the Intel Quark?
  • I replaced my doorbell transformer to handle the connected options
  • What do you think about Amazon’s interest in food?
  • Using blockchain to share cars or even solar farms
  • Open source software and blockchain can cut consumer IoT operating costs

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Episode 113: Google Home gets way better

It has been a week since Google I/O, which gave Kevin and me time to wade through some of the developer videos and ponder the features Google is announcing for the home and for Google Home. The jury is still out on whether Kevin is buying the device, but he is tempted, y’all! We discussed Dish’s integration with the Amazon Echo, the new maker tier on IFTTT and IKEA’s plans to make its smart lights work with a variety of platforms.

Google’s Home speaker and AI assistant.

Our guest this week gives us a chance to discuss both the smart grid and saving sea turtles, which I imagine is a relative rarity. Michael Bell, the CEO of Silver Springs Networks, joined us this week to talk about scale, the future of the electric grid and the trouble with solar power. He also talks about new businesses for Silver Springs and turtles. Enjoy the show.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Michael Bell, CEO of Silver Springs Networks
Sponsors: Aeris and Smart Kitchen Summit

  • Google Home makes calls, offers shortcuts and has new partners
  • IFTTT gets way more flexible
  • The smart grid is just the beginning
  • How to scale to 25 million devices (and then more)
  • Saving sea turtles with smart street lights

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Episode 110: IKEA’s smart home plans and will you buy an Amazon Look?

This week we discuss Apple’s plans to introduce Siri in a can, Amazon’s Style maven ambitions and a few other items on the personal assistant front. We also discuss Orbit, a new security idea from Cloudflare, and a lawsuit filed by ADT against Ring and Zonoff’s former CEO. From there we go straight into an ad which launches my new IFTTT channel so you can get the podcast and articles on my site in the form you favor.

IKEA’s smart lighting products will expand over time.

After that, I interview Bjorn Block of IKEA about the company’s four-year old effort to combine technology with the home and home furnishings. Block and I discuss the newly launched TRADFRI lights, the astonishing number of meatballs IKEA customers consume each day, and IKEA’s plans for future connected home efforts. We also discuss the environmental impact of connected products and IKEA’s plans to keep technology inside long-lived goods fresh.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Bjorn Block of IKEA
Sponsors: Samsung ARTIK and IFTTT

  • The one thing Apple must fix before launching an Echo-killer
  • A new idea for IoT security
  • IKEA thinks smart homes must solve a real dilemma
  • Will IKEA open up its ecosystem?
  • I’m opening a second-hand smart bulb store

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Episode 107: How the internet of things came to be

This week’s IoT Podcast starts with a focus on security, beginning with bot bricking connected devices, IKEA’s smart lights and Microsoft’s Project Sopris efforts. After security, we talk about a new home hub from Fibaro, TP-Link’s new mesh router, Alexa’s new lighting skills and Ring’s new video recording plan. We also cover the results from my week spent with Google Home in place of the Echo in my kitchen/living room, and Richard installed smart blinds. (Astute listeners might notice that instead of Kevin, my co-host this week is Richard Gunther, who has his own smart home podcast called Home: On.)

Have you ever wondered how the internet of things got its name? Well wonder no more, as this week’s guest explains how the phrase came to be. Kevin Ashton, who is the author of How to Fly a Horse, joins me to talk about the beginnings of IoT, his optimism about the future and how the world he imagined back in the late 90s measures up to today.

The possibilities afforded by interconnected devices are of a huge benefit to businesses. IoT technology has totally changed the way companies think about cloud computing and customer relationship management, and as a result, new solutions to common issues are constantly entering the fray. For example, companies that use Pipedrive CRM platforms can now complete a pipedrive google contacts sync to compile a comprehensive database of customer information that can be used in outreach and to highlight areas of improvement.

Over all, it is a fun episode that will take you back to the pre-dot com era.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Richard Gunther of The Digital Media Zone
Guest: Kevin Ashton, author of How to Fly a Horse
Sponsor: Samsung ARTIK

  • Security is getting better?
  • I swapped my Echo for a Google Home and this happened!
  • Want Smart Blinds? Try these.
  • Cisco’s John Chambers helped give the Internet of Things its name
  • Computer vision couldn’t have happened without connected sensors

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Episode 106: Stacey has a secret

It’s time to swap out my Amazon Echo for a Google Home because all of my integrations are working so well, and because Google added Logitech’s Harmony Hub. August added a lock for the pro channel and Samsung’s Tizen OS has a lot of security flaws. This is not good for anyone, especially Samsung.

The new Zebra SmartPack Trailer product uses a camera and offers analytics.

We talk also about Zebra’s new tech for tractor-trailers and why virtual beacons from Mist are better than real ones. Finally, I confess to a secret and contemplate an IoT device to solve it. This week’s guest Simon Bungers discusses what happens when the internet of things invades research labs, and how it could change scientists’ job descriptions.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Simon Bungers, CEO of Labfolder
Sponsor: Samsung ARTIK

  • Google Home just got better. Is Kevin convinced?
  • Zebra has good new freight tech and virtual beacons are better than the real thing
  • Tizen has some major security flaws. Roughly 40 of them.
  • Meet Smart Nora, which may help my husband sleep at night
  • Scientists will spend more time with Python than petri dishes

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Episode 105: Comcast’s platform plans revealed

This week there were two big stories in the internet of things. The first is that Google Home has expanded the number of companies it works with, adding Rachio, Wink, August and more. The other story is that Congress has repealed rules that prevented ISPs from selling your personal data. This will open up consumers’ search history to ISPs and marketers, but Kevin and I discuss what it means for your smart home devices and data. We also discuss IKEA’s new smart home products, Kevin’s poor Z-wave lock experience and hacked commercial dishwashers.

This week’s guest is in charge of a smart home platform that aims to take over a huge number of homes in the US. Daniel Herscovici is the head of Comcast’s Xfinity Home program, and he has some big ambitions. We talk about the purchase of iControl, why Comcast isn’t keen on Zigbee and why Comcast isn’t sweating standards. It’s a fun show.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Daniel Herscovici of Comcast
Sponsors: Samsung ARTIK

  • Ikea has smart home ambitions
  • Google Home… is it good enough?
  • How to protect your IoT devices from your ISP
  • Comcast wants to be the base platform for the smart home
  • Standards aren’t holding back innovation

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Episode 104: Vint Cerf has a lot of questions on IoT

This week we discuss a personal assistant from Samsung, Amazon Alexa on phones and mistakes from Google Home. We also talk about a Legend of Zelda superfan and how he controls his home through an ocarina. We then talk about ARM’s new architecture and discuss two deals ARM did last month to boost support for low power wide area networks. Finally, I now have my SmartThings and Lutron integration working, and it’s awesome!

Image of Vint Cerf courtesy of Veni Markovski.

Have you ever wanted to know what Vint Cerf, a vice president and chief internet evangelist at Google, has in his smart home? Find out in our guest segment, as one of the fathers of the internet comes on the show to discuss the internet of things and the questions we should be asking. We discuss standards, architecture, privacy and more. You’ll enjoy it.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Vint Cerf of Google
Sponsors: Samsung ARTIK and wolfSSL

  • Google needs to pivot, and its latest misstep shows why
  • Kevin isn’t sold on ARM’s new architecture
  • Yes, standards are important for the internet of things
  • We talk about Vint Cerf’s connected wine cellar
  • More questions than answers on IoT from Vint Cerf

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Episode 98: Science fiction prepared me for spying TVs

This week we discuss the city of Louisville, Kentucky adding an If This Then That channel, a settlement over televisions that spy on you, and a possible new feature for the Amazon Echo that could bridge the gap between it and the Google Home. That last tidbit was contributed by Grant Clauser, the smart home editor at the Wirecutter who took Kevin’s place this week. (Never fear, Kevin will be back next week.) Grant also provides input on the professional installer networks like Control4, Crestron and Savant in case you’re wondering about those options. We also have some kitchen M&A and security embedded in the Almond3 router.

Image courtesy of Bruce Sterling.

Our guest this week is Bruce Sterling, a popular science fiction author and the co-creator of a smart house/maker lab in Turin, Italy. Sterling discusses Casa Jasmina, overlooked aspects of the transition to smart homes and how Europe is likely to react to the challenges of security and privacy in connected devices. He also offers up the name “Talking Donkey” for devices like the Amazon Echo or the Google Home. To find out why, listen to this week’s show!

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Grant Clauser of The Wirecutter
Guest: Bruce Sterling
Sponsors: MIT IoT Bootcamp and Ayla Networks

  • Light bulbs for better health and evil TVs
  • Kitchen tech gets some M&A action
  • Don’t call it old-school home automation
  • What the heck is a talking donkey?
  • How Europe will take our smart tech and make it better

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