Tag: Morse Micro

Episode 388: Insurers come for the smart home

This week launched with a bang for those interested in the role insurers might play in the smart home as State Farm agreed to make a 1.2 billion equity investment in security firm ADT. This follows on the heels of Google’s equity investment in ADT in 2020 and signals a shift in the way insurance companies are thinking about the smart home. Google also said it would add more money to its ADT partnership. We then discuss a Matter demonstration at IFA and give some updates on what to expect from the protocol. After that we discuss the upcoming Google event and the Apple event from this week before taking a quick break.

The Flair vents work with a temperature-sensing puck. Image courtesy of Flair.

We don’t have a guest this week so we dove right back into the news with a trio of big fundings for the internet of things. First up is funding for a satellite IoT company called OQ that is special because it can use existing NB-IoT and LTE-M radios. The second funding is $140 million for Morse Micro, a chip company that is making chips for Wi-Fi HaLow deployments. The final funding is for Flair, a maker of connected HVAC vents for the home, which raised $7.6 million. We then talk about Ring adding end-to-end encryption for its wireless doorbell and video camera products, new ways to address your Nest Hub Max without saying “Hey Google” first, and new lights from Philips Hue. I also review the Hue Tap Dial Switch and realize my love of buttons is going to force me to do some serious work when Matter arrives. We end the show by answering a listener question about a smart button (or maybe a dumb one) for a smart garage door opener.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Sponsors:  Infineon and Silicon Labs

  • With the smart home, insurers can make sure you’re staying secure
  • Matter previewed at IFA
  • Wi-Fi HaLow got a big boost with Morse Micro funding
  • Climate change and energy conservation is driving smarter HVAC
  • I really love the Hue Tap Dial Switch

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Episode 297: IoT news from Amazon’s Re:Invent and smarter cities

This week’s show kicks off with a lot of detail about the news coming out of Amazon’s Re:Invent event happening over the next few weeks. We talk about the new ML services for manufacturing, the deal with Research in Motion for car data, and Amazon’s Proton service and container plans. We then discuss the new Wyze Watch which is available for $19.99, and a funding for Wi-Fi HaLow chip provider Morse Micro. From there, we talk about 5G in factories, Nordic’s Wi-Fi acquisition, and a little bit more information about Amazon Sidewalk. We end by answering a question about Nest thermostats.

The Wyze Watch will ship in February. Image courtesy of Wyze.

Our guest this week is Scott Turnbull, director of technology at US Ignite. He’s on the show to help assess where we are at when it comes to smart city deployments. We discuss what’s holding us back, and the need for a citizen’s bill of rights before cities start buying gear. He also has an idea for a new job created to oversee the smart city. We also talk about what the city should own and how they should fund their deployments. If you care about the future of surveillance and cities this episode is a must-listen.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Scott Turnbull, director of technology at US Ignite
Sponsors: Calix and Lee Odess

  • The big IoT news at Amazon’s big event
  • Wyze just keeps those gadgets coming, y’all.
  • I make the case for leaving Amazon’s Sidewalk service on
  • How to ensure smart cities have citizen oversight
  • Why cities should own their technical infrastructure

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Episode 270: Wink is a bad boyfriend and what about Wi-Fi HaLow?

This week’s show starts off with Wink’s new pricing plan (although it feels less like a plan and more like watching a toddler trying to chase a soccer ball.) After that, we talk about Wemo’s decision to address a known security issue by pushing users to create accounts, We also discuss the future of remote work and augmented reality as filtered through an industrial lens and as planned by Mark Zuckerberg. In other news, SoftBank is trying to sell industrial IoT software company OSISoft, while NXP has a new CEO. Professional smart home provider Savant says it will acquire GE’s Lighting biz, and we have thoughts. Plus, Kevin actually reviews a few GE smart bulbs. We close by answering a question about what to use instead of Wink.

Wemo is asking users to adopt accounts to improve security.

This week’s guest is Vahid Manian, the COO of Morse Micro, a company building a radio chip for Wi-Fi HaLow. If you are unfamiliar with the standard, that’s because after the Wi-Fi Alliance launched it in 2017, no one got excited about the so-called Wi-Fi for IoT. So far, I can’t think of a single company pushing forward with Wi-Fi HaLow devices or silicon, outside of Morse Micro. But Manian explains what Wi-Fi HaLow is good for, and why we might see it used for sending video over longer distances. I don’t know if I’m sold, but he says we can expect some devices using the tech in the middle of next year, so I’m willing to wait and see. Enjoy the show.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Vahid Manian, the COO of Morse Micro
Sponsors: Calix and Edge Impulse

  • My dysfunctional relationship with Wink
  • AR for work can be smart, but shouldn’t be surveillance
  • Why Savant is buying GE Lighting and GE is selling
  • What the heck is Wi-Fi HaLow?
  • How many versions of Wi-Fi do we need?

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