Category: security

Episode 121: Everything you need to know about Bluetooth Mesh

Bluetooth mesh is finally here y’all and we dig in deep to the technology in this episode. First off, Kevin and I discuss what this means for other mesh network technologies and some basic specs. Kevin and I then turn to the topic of IoT security vulnerabilities, the return of Google Glass, an Alexa-powered alarm clock and news of an IoT platform funding. We also complain about the lack of data on device security after taking inspiration from an FBI warning for smart toys. A few news bits on different low power wide area networks rounds out the news portion of the show.

Google Glass
Google Glass goes commercial. Image courtesy of Google.

After that we’re back to Bluetooth mesh with Ken Kolderup, the VP of marketing for the Bluetooth SIG. Kolderup dives deep to explain what Bluetooth mesh is for and how the SIG handled Bluetooth’s power constraints. The solution is a managed flood network that requires developers to use different “mesh models” for different devices. It gets really complicated, really quickly. This show has it all: crazy gadgets and nerdy tech. Enjoy.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Ken Kolderup, VP of marketing at the Bluetooth SIG
Sponsors: Schlage and Affiliated Monitoring

  • What is Bluetooth Mesh?
  • Glass is back, y’all
  • To secure your kids’ data, accomplish these impossible things
  • Sensors and lighting are mesh’s first environments
  • Learn all about Bluetooth’s managed flood network

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Episode 118: Reviewing Eero’s new gear and IoT ransomware

Alexa has new skills thanks to the Echo Show launching this week, and the Google Home gets some fancy new code. Kevin and I discuss how to turn your Echo device into an intercom, my take on the new Eero routers and a new $100 million fund from TrendMicro for IoT security. There’s also Apple’s reported acquisition of an eye-tracking firm to discuss, since augmented reality is supposedly one way we’ll tackle the influx of information connected sensors can provide. We also talk about Petya and ponder what the ransomware threat means for IoT.

The Echo Show has a 7-inch screen. And Alexa!

This week’s guest is Daniel Elizalde, who teaches a course at Stanford on IoT product management. Elizalde offers his advice on how to develop a connected product from the hardware all the way to the service. In our conversation, he shares common mistakes, does a deep dive on risk management as part of our security discussion and provides a framework for companies trying to “add some IoT” to their business. It’s a helpful listen.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Daniel Elizalde of Tech Product Management
Sponsors: TE Connectivity and Affiliated Monitoring

  • Drop in on your Echo-owning friends with Alexa’s new talent
  • What if an IoT company like Wink or Nest gets hit by ransomware?
  • Stacey reviews the new Eero routers
  • In IoT, security is essentially risk management
  • The biggest product mistakes a company can make

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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 115: All about Apple’s HomePod

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.

The Apple HomePod. Image courtesy of Apple.

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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Episode 112: Google’s IoT Cloud takes on Amazon and Azure

This week we recorded before the big rush of news from Google I/O but we managed to cram in the details on Google’s new IoT Core beta that offers developers a cloud-based platform for connected devices. Since Google servers are used frequently by businesses it would be interesting to see how google monitoring would work within this new cloud beta. Kevin Tofel and I also discuss Android Things and the moves Amazon has made with the Echo to compete with anticipated Google news. These include notifications on the Echo and a pledge to pay some developers. Add to this, Samsung’s new ARTIK modules, Honeywell’s new venture fund and some speculation on Spotify and we have a solid show. Plus, soon I can shop at B8ta.

GE’s appliances can talk to Alexa or Google’s Assistant.

Our guest this week is Bill Gardner from GE Appliances, who shares the industrial giant’s thinking around connected ovens, stoves and more. There’s some bad news, an AI named Geneva that works with Alexa and Google Home, plus a call for partners in building the smart kitchen for the future. And just for fun, I find out why I may want a connected washer and dryer. Enjoy the show!

Hosts: Kevin Tofel and Stacey Higginbotham
Guest: Bill Gardner of GE Appliances
Sponsors: Aeris and Smart Kitchen Summit

  • Google gets semi-serious about an IoT cloud offering
  • Amazon’s pulling out the stops to keep devs with Alexa
  • Sorry, old appliances won’t get Wi-Fi
  • Meet Geneva, the bot that will connect your kitchen
  • Get a sneak peak at GE’s plans for the kitchen of the future

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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 108: Owning digital property could save our privacy

Kevin is back for this week’s show, and we talk about Google Home, Amazon’s latest hardware plans for the Echo and how we think voice may evolve. I installed the Honeywell T5 thermostat as well as a leak sensor from Honeywell, and share what I liked and what I didn’t. We also discuss Kevin’s field trip to the Biosphere 2 project in Arizona and the latest developer survey from The Eclipse Foundation.

Bitmark’s platform used a custom-designed blockchain to store digital property records.

After some more news, we turn to this week’s guest. Sean Moss-Pultz, CEO of Bitmark, explains how he thinks giving people the ability to own digital property will make privacy easier online. His company has built a blockchain based software product that stores rights to someone’s digital data whether it’s photos or fitness info. We discuss why this sort of record matters and how Bitmark plans to make its abstract ideas real. It’s a fun discussion.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Sean Moss-Pultz, CEO of Bitmark
Sponsors: Samsung ARTIK and IFTTT

  • What devices do I want to talk to in the home?
  • News from Lutron, August and Logitech
  • A modest proposal for smart thermostat makers
  • Should we turn digital assets from intellectual property to just property
  • Donate your data — or just keep track of it online

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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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