Tag: Centralite

Episode 233: How IoT will change your sales job

This week’s show kicks off with the whimper after Apple failed to give us any exciting IoT news. We discuss the scraps Apple gave us, but move to Google’s new Nest Hub Max and the future of local wake word recognition thanks to a new chip. We also talk about Samsara, the industrial IoT’s latest unicorn, an update on the founders of Centralite, and Best Buy’s decision to kill its Insignia app. We end on a down note with the details from Trend Micro’s terrifying report that details what hackers talk about on the dark web in regards to IoT devices. Lock down that camera, people. This week’s IoT Podcast Hotline question circles back to last week’s question with a listener providing yet another way to track tools. It would work for books as well!

The Google Nest Hub Max has a huge display, facial recognition and costs $229.

Our guest this week is Elisabeth Schloten, the CEO of ECBM, a German consultancy that helps companies implement IoT for digital transformations. She explains how the internet of things differs from Industry 4.0 and then explains how to talk to employees about changing job expectations after a digital transformation. She spends much of the last half of the interview explaining how sales jobs will shift when companies sell their products as services.  It’s really eye-opening.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Elisabeth Schloten, the CEO of ECBM
Sponsors: Afero and Simple Commands

  • Where was Apple’s Bluetooth tracker or sleep tech?
  • Google Nest Hub Max recognizes your face
  • Russian hackers want smart meter secrets and Brazilians go for gas pumps
  • Where does IoT fit into Industry 4.0?
  • IoT will kill the traditional sales commission

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Episode 225: How to fix smart speaker privacy issues

This week on the show Kevin and I share our misgivings about smart speakers and some ideas to help address the privacy issues for those who want to continue to embrace the convenience, but don’t want strangers hearing their fights, farts, and friends. We also talk about the acquisition of Centralite’s assets by Ezlo, which has acquired other struggling home automation startups in the last year. Then we tackle ARM’s new licensing plan, Intel’s neuromorphic chips, and an update on Wyze (plus its next device). News bits include a new drone platform, UbiquitiLink’s funding, Eve’s new Bluetooth extender, and hacked insulin pumps. In our voicemail this week we answer a reader question about an outdoor Amazon Echo speaker.

One of Intel’s Nahuku boards, each of which contains 8 to 32 Intel Loihi neuromorphic chips. Intel’s latest neuromorphic system, Poihoiki Beach is made up of multiple Nahuku boards and contains 64 Loihi chips.  Image courtesy of Tim Herman of Intel.

This week’s guest is Rags Srinivasan, who is a senior director of growth verticals at Seagate. He’s on the show to talk about Seagate’s efforts to make its wafer manufacturing process smarter. The company started with the idea of implementing a predictive maintenance program for manufacturing machinery but realized that if it could instead use AI earlier in the manufacturing process it would have a larger impact on the company’s bottom line. Srinivasan explains the tools the company used for Athena, how it hopes to achieve a 300% return on investment and why internal branding is essential. He also extols the virtues of cameras as the ultimate IoT sensor. Enjoy the show.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Rags Srinivasan of Seagate
Sponsors: Dell Technologies and Afero

  • How companies should fix their smart speaker QA process
  • What happened to Centralite?
  • ARM’s new licensing model and Intel’s new chips have something in common.
  • Seagate tried edge processing solutions from HPE and Nvidia
  • How to get buy-in from your bosses for an IoT project

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Episode 206: Why your smart devices cost so much

This week Kevin and I start off the show with a discussion about Google’s new Coral board that provides machine learning at the edge. We then jump to sensor company Centralite’s bankruptcy filing in Alabama. We also discuss the death of Jibo and how the end of Lighthouse meant new patents for Apple. After covering all of that sad news we jump to new Alexa skills, why I want an Alexa Auto, and a new video doorbell from August Home. From there Kevin and I spend the rest of the show discussing the challenges associated with smart home hubs, the best home hubs and why you should delete your devices from your home hubs. We end by answering a listener question about connected car devices for teens.

The Centralite family of products.

Our guest this week is Chrissy Meyer, a partner at Root Ventures and a former product manager at companies that include Square and Apple. She shares her experiences building connected devices, where companies tend to go wrong and what to look for in a manufacturing partner. She also explains why a device that costs $100 to make might end up costing $300 on the shelves at Best Buy. It’s a good conversation for anyone building or buying connected devices.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Chrissy Meyer, a partner at Root Ventures
Sponsors: Afero and Western Digital

  • Why we need machine learning at the edge
  • Could the next Homepod have video?
  • Hubs are complicated even for experts
  • How to give your favorite device startups an extra chance to succeed
  • What to look for in your manufacturing partner

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