Tag: Josh.ai

Episode 431: Why Josh.ai added ChatGPT to the home

This week on the show, Kevin and I start off talking about some of the Roku gear I’ve been playing with for the last week. We discuss the gear and the subscription plans and how they compare with what else is on the market, before moving on to talk about Latch laying off 59% of its workforce in preparation for what I suspect will be a pivot from access control to a services business aimed at folks living in luxury apartments. After that, we share some tales of civil disobedience from San Francisco, where activists are placing traffic cones on top of self-driving vehicles to halt them in their tracks. Then we devote the rest of our time to novel sensors and platforms for sensing, starting with research showing that seven days of smart watch data can predict Parkinson’s, and research on a wearable for people with epilepsy that can predict seizures. We also cover funding for Pano, a camera platform that uses computer vision to “see” fires in remote locations, and a sensing platform called Nami raising $10 million in Series A financing. There’s also a new sensing device called the Nano Computer from Nodle that combines a few sensors, an Arm M-0 microcontroller, a Bluetooth radio, and a printed battery in a device that should cost about $3 per device at shipments above 100,000 devices. Finally, we answer a listener question about the Aqara FP2 presence sensor and security.

Nodle has shown off a design for a cheap, battery-powered sensor package. Image courtesy of Nodle.

Our guest this week is Alex Capecelatro, CEO and co-founder of Josh.ai, who returns to the show to talk about Josh.ai adding generative AI to the company’s voice platform. We get a lesson in Josh.ai’s history and why it decided to build a voice interface for the home even after Apple, Amazon, and other big companies launched their own products. Then he explains how Josh.ai added ChatGPT to its platform and the steps it took to help customers understand the limitations of the service. We talk about why it’s useful and how customers are using it so far. Since every company in the smart home space is contemplating the role generative AI will play in their products, this is an essential listen.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Alex Capecelatro, CEO and co-founder of Josh.ai
Sponsors: Blynk and Particle

  • Who is the Roku smart home for?
  • Latch cleaned house before Jamie Siminoff takes over
  • The most innovative element in the IoT is new sensing technology
  • What Josh.ai learned when adding generative AI to its voice platform
  • Practical thoughts on privacy for voice assistants and generative AI

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Episode 409: ChatGPT takes on the smart home

This week’s show kicks off with our hopes for privacy in the wake of President Biden calling out tech firms during his State of The Union address. Biden was focused more on targeted ads and protecting children, but children’s’ data gets swept up in smart home devices as well, so there’s a chance. We then explore why Josh.ai is combining its voice assistant with ChatGPT and note that smart home forums are banning ChatGPT. Then we talk about a win for Amazon’s Sidewalk Network and how insurers might use it and a new Electronic Shelf Label standard from the Bluetooth SIG. In more wireless news, we discuss a new modem from Qualcomm that will benefit both the industrial IoT and wearables, such as AR glasses. Y’all may recall that I’ve been pleased that the U.S. has started regulating security for IoT devices, and it looks like some of its efforts are working. In smaller news, we cover a review of the Samsung SmartThings Station, an update on Apple’s HomeKit architecture change, and funding for InfluxData. Finally, we answer a listener question about options for open source tools to manage home energy consumption.

An example of an electronic shelf label. The Bluetooth SIG has created a wireless standard to connect these labels to data and power. Image courtesy of Bluetooth SIG.

Our guest this week is Jaser Faruq, Senior Vice President, Innovation at Schneider Electric, who is on the show to discuss why his company is betting big on smart home technology to manage energy consumption, storage and generation. We talk about the three reasons energy management is such an important feature for smart homes, and what it will take to get consumers to adopt it. We also talk about what role utilities will play in the development of a smarter grid and how long it will take before this becomes more mainstream. It’s an important topic, especially for those of y’all considering the purchase of an electric vehicle. Enjoy the show.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Jaser Faruq, Senior Vice President, Innovation at Schneider Electric
Sponsors: InfluxData and Silicon Labs

  • Is the US government ready to regulate privacy? For real?
  • How might ChatGPT help solve problems in the smart home?
  • Qualcomm’s new modem is good for the industrial IoT
  • Is this a new era when electricity is a scare resource?
  • We’ll see a smarter electrical grid within the next five years

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Episode 294: Let’s talk about Thread and digital twins

This week’s show starts off with a conversation about Thread because it’s clear that it’s going to become an important radio for the future of the smart home. We explain why before discussing an update to LoRaWAN and an alternative to the big voice-controlled smart speakers from Josh.ai. After that, we express frustration with exploding doorbells, discuss a fitness tracker that finally covers pregnancy, and get excited about a new robot vacuum. On the industrial side, I try to get excited about Hitachi Vantara’s deal with Amazon Web Services and explain why Honeywell is trying to become more than just a process manufacturing powerhouse. We conclude the show by answering a listener’s question about Wi-Fi.

The new Wyze vacuum has LIDAR and will cost $199 at first. Image courtesy of Wyze.

Our guest this week is Chris Nelson, VP of Software Development at OSIsoft. He explains what a digital twin is and isn’t and attempts to cut through some of the marketing hype about where we are in terms of building real-time updateable models of machines and manufacturing processes. If that gets too esoteric, he also tries to talk about what they mean for IoT business models and shares how digital twins might be helping us find a vaccine for COVID-19. It’s a good interview if you want to figure out what’s real and what is just marketing.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Chris Nelson, VP of Software Development at OSIsoft
Sponsors: Calix and Teracode

  • Why Apple cares about Thread and you should too
  • Why not put LIDAR on a vacuum cleaner?
  • What it means when Honeywell’s CEO says it’s a controls company now
  • What’s real and hype when it comes to digital twins
  • How digital twins can help us discover a COVID vaccine

 

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Episode 266: Startups get ARM IP for free

ARM is expanding access to its chip designs to startups that have raised less than $5 million through its Flexible Access program. Kevin and I explain why this is a big deal and then go on to discuss a new gesture-based interface that could be either a gimmick or a gamechanger. From there we talk about the pandemic delaying Ford’s self-driving car plans, the closure of PetNet, and the acquisition of a smart ring by a digital key card company. Plus, we cover a robot for kids, AR contact lenses, a Google AI muddle, Google Assistant getting router controls, and a new satellite network for the IoT. We also review the Google Pixel Buds 2 and Kevin talks about his experience with the Blink Mini camera. We end by answering a question about choosing smart home devices based on your digital assistant.

The Moxie robot from Embodied will start shipping in October. Image courtesy of Embodied.

Our guest this week is Alex Capecelatro, CEO of Josh.ai, which makes a voice platform for the pro installer market. The company has just raised $11 million in funding, and Capecelatro tells us what he plans to do with that money as well as explains why Josh.ai shifted from making software to building hardware. He also offers perspective on the development of the voice market in the smart home. Josh.ai started in 2015, a few months after Amazon released the Echo speakers, and before Amazon had enabled the smart home features on the Alexa platform. The interview offers a history of voice, IoT hardware, and a hint of the future. Enjoy.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Alex Capecelatro, CEO of Josh.ai
Sponsor: Very

  • Why silicon startups are on the rise
  • Companies blaming the pandemic
  • Should you buy the new Blink Mini camera?
  • Why Josh.ai pivoted from software to hardware
  • Can a dedicated voice platform for the smart home beat a digital assistant?

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Everything you need to know from CEDIA

Grab your headset for a special bonus edition of the Internet of Things Podcast from the CEDIA show floor in San Diego. Last week I attended the show, which is aimed at the professional AV installer market to understand what’s hot, what’s not and how the business of home automation will evolve. I saw some beautiful televisions and more light switches than I even knew existed, while I walked away despairing of ever getting the smart home experience right.

This OLED screen is actually two OLED screens mounted back-to-back in a sheet of glass. It costs $20,000 and is designed for high-end retail.

I spoke with Julie Jacobson, the founding editor of CEPro to find out what she thought was cool, met with Tim McInery of Savant to talk about the benefits consumer tech has on the installer business and asked Richard Gunther of the Digital Media Zone to explain the changes in business models. I also interviewed the CEO of Josh.ai to understand why the smart home industry has progressed so slowly, and talked to Ragan Mena, the president of Audio Zeal, a custom installer to see what toys he was excited about. He did like the Josh Micro, which enables voice access for older custom systems.

This entire episode was sponsored by Ring, which is offering discounts on bundles of home security items to both consumers and pro installers. Visit www.ring.com/stacey to learn more.

  • Stacey’s highlights and news (0:45)
  • Julie Jacobson of CEPro on trends and cool stuff (10:25)
  • Tim McInerney of Savant on the benefit consumer tech has for installers (14:40)
  • Richard Gunther of The Digital Media Zone discussing the custom installer business model (16:20)
  • Ragan Mena, president of Audio Zeal explain how he decides what consumer tech to use (22:00)
  • Alex Capecelatro, of Josh.ai on why Crestron, Control4 and others have a hard time competing against consumer tech (25:10)

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Episode 33: Better Bluetooth and an AI for the smart home

If you’ve learned anything from this podcast, you’ve probably learned that the smart home is pretty much a mess if you want everything to work together in some sort of seamless, easy-to-use way. Amazon’s Echo helps. HomeKit has a roadmap, but it’s still got a ways to go. This week, our guest Alex Capecelatro, CEO of Jstar, a company developing a voice-controlled artificial intelligence for the smart home discusses how to build an intuitive self-learning home. Our conversation will teach you a lot about how machines learn and the limitations of voice for controlling your home.

The Misfit Shine.
The Misfit Shine.

Before we get to that, Kevin and I spend time breaking down the big news of the week including Lowe’s updated Iris home hub and the updated Bluetooth roadmap which includes speed updates and a mesh. We also break down Fossil’s reasons for buying Misfit, the company behind the Shine wearable device. So get comfortable, and listen up.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guests: Alex Capecelatro, CEO of Jstar

  • Lowe’s updates its Iris Smart Home Hub
  • Bluetooth is getting meshy and faster
  • Why on earth did Fossil buy Misfit?
  • Building a better Alexa with Josh.ai
  • How does machine learning even work?

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