Tag: Flic

Episode 340: Amazon wants you to trust its devices

This week’s podcast is all about Amazon (with a few other stories for variety). We start the show with a rundown of the devices and services Amazon launched at its device drop on Tuesday. We then explain what it means for the smart home and ask if this is what we want. We also question if the Astro robot is really all it seems before offering a public service announcement about updating to iOS 15 beta software. After that, we cover a new Helium miner called Finestra, designed for the mainstream consumer. As an added bonus, the company behind the new miner, Mimiq, is also building LoRaWAN devices, which is desperately needed if we want these networks to actually provide real value. After that, we talk about a smaller satellite signal module that works indoors and an incredibly irritating marketing campaign for the new Flic Twist device that puts me off from what is actually a good idea. Then, Kevin talks about his experience with the new Wyze Cam Pan 2. We close the news segment by answering a listener request for a Spanish-speaking smart home.

Amazon launched a $1,000 robot. Image courtesy of Amazon.

Our guest this week continues the Amazon theme. We have Anne Toth, head of Alexa Trust to discuss how Amazon is trying to introduce friction into the Alexa experience as a way to promote privacy and help consumers open up to Alexa at their own pace. She didn’t answer my question about the number of false positives or give me a convincing reason why Alexa keeps interrupting me with suggestions about other things I can do with the device, but she does a good job talking about the challenges of explaining what Alexa does and doesn’t know about people and why people may want Alexa to know more. It’s a good interview, even if I didn’t get all the information I’d like.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Anne Toth, Head of Alexa Trust at Amazon
Sponsors: Trek10 and Ayla Networks

  • Ambient intelligence is code for stop looking at your smartphone
  • There’s a looming wave of new Helium miners
  • Flic has a cool new device coming, but finding out about it is annoying
  • Amazon does care what you think about privacy
  • Alexa talks back so you know all of the cool things it can do

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Episode 299: LoRaWAN tries to co-opt Amazon Sidewalk

This week’s show kicks off with us discussing a fascinating interview with the head of the LoRa Alliance about its efforts to bring Amazon’s Sidewalk network into compliance with the LoRaWan standard. We then discuss Apple’s app privacy labels, a similar option for Google users, and the nutrition-style label for connected device security. Then it’s on to NIST’s cybersecurity standards, Aquanta’s smart water heaters, Amazon’s Energy Hub, and Amazon’s live translations. We then cover the new Wyze outdoor plug, the gen 2 Flic buttons, and easier Google Routines before diving into using IoT for vaccine tracking. A startup called Tive received funding and Forrester underlined the current best practices. Kevin then shares the latest news from Home Assistant’s conference this past weekend. We conclud the first half of the show by answering a listener question about how to use a light sensor to make bulbs turn on before sunset on cloudy days.

The Flic buttons are $29.99 for a single button or can be sold as a package with multiple buttons and a hub. Image courtesy of Flic.

Our guest this week is Geoff Wylde, lead, IoT and Urban Transformations at the World Economic Forum. We are discussing the latest WEF report, The State of the Connected World 2020, which was pretty much rewritten in the last few months to focus on how IoT can help us respond to the global pandemic. Wylde talks about the role collaboration plays in solving problems with IoT, the report’s findings around social equity, and the concept of compromised consent, as it relates to sharing data. There’s a lot of good info in the interview and much more in the report, which you can find here. Check both out.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Geoff Wylde, the head of IoT and Urban Transformations at the World Economic Forum
Sponsors: Calix and Plume

  • Will Amazon’s Sidewalk ever be part of LoRaWAN?
  • Can nutrition labels help with privacy and IoT device security?
  • Let’s all read the NIST cybersecurity suggestions!
  • How IoT Can help us during the global pandemic
  • What is compromised consent and how can I avoid it?

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