Tag: Skyhawk

Episode 436: Can Alexa (and the smart home) stand on its own?

Amazon’s head of devices, David Limp, plans to retire as part of a wave of executives that have been leaving Amazon in the last year. Also, next year Alexa and the Amazon Echo will be 10 years old, which prompted us to take a look at the role Alexa and the Amazon Echo have played in the smart home, along with what has and hasn’t changed. Our concerns about the state of the smart home are perfectly illustrated by this review of the Mill composting system created by Nest co-founder Matt Rodgers, and the news that Masonite is now selling its expensive smart door at Home Depot. There’s positive news as well, as the FCC releases its Notice of Proposed Rule Making for the IoT cybersecurity label. Y’all have 30 days to comment, so get on it. Then we talk about Microsoft’s discovery of a new set of vulnerabilities affecting industrial equipment, and a new company that will become a secondary source of Z-Wave chips. Kevin also shared his review of the Homey Pro smart home hub, which is expensive but allows users to control their devices locally. Finally, we answer a listener question about what light bulb a woodworker should use in a lamp he’s trying to build.

The Masonite smart door is on sale at Home Depot. Image courtesy of Masonite.

Our guest this week is Mariusz Malkowski, founder and CTO of Trident IoT, who tells us about the company’s origin and what it means for the Z-Wave community. He also explains how Matter will work with Z-Wave, and the importance of bridging between the two standards. We discuss the future of Z-Wave, including the plans for Z-Wave Long Range and planned security upgrades. We then cover how Trident is going to build Z-Wave chips, but also how it will focus on building or integrating other smart home radio protocols into devices, and will act as a Z-Wave certification house as well. Enjoy the show.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guests: Mariusz Malkowski, founder and CTO of Trident IoT
Sponsors: Skyhawk

  • David Limp’s departure from Amazon inspires a smart home reckoning
  • Are expensive doors and compost services the future of the connected devices?
  • The Homey Pro is an expensive hub with privacy in mind
  • Why a new chipmaker could boost the Z-Wave standard
  • Trident IoT is building a new type of chip company

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Episode 435: How Honeywell is approaching TinyML

This week we make a big announcement about the podcast and newsletter. Get ready! Then we talk about the issues with Matter and who’s to blame. We lay out the challenges that both we and The Verge have highlighted with Thread credentialing, and talk about uneven device support. It’s a mess. Other messy topics include the prospect of hacked radiation sensors in Chernobyl, as reported by Kim Zetter. Then we get chippy, discussing the new RISC-V company that Qualcomm, NXP, Infineon, and others are backing, and the proposed sale of an IoT module business to Renesas. A drone startup is building an on-demand drone network that looks like a satellite network, and we have thoughts. We also discuss Kevin’s experience and reaction to our audience’s comments on his transition to Home Assistant. Then, we highlight some tips to help you prep your home ahead of smart energy management programs. Finally, we answer a listener question about the Amazon Echo Show and devices that might work with it.

Home Assistant energy monitoring. Image courtesy of K. Tofel

Our guest this week is  Muthu Sabarethinam, VP AI/ML product and services with Honeywell, who is on the show to talk about TinyML. We start off discussing how Honeywell is thinking about using data from equipment to build services, and then segue into talking about how Honeywell might use TinyML located on sensors. Sabarethinam explains the reasons Honeywell wants algorithms that can run directly on a sensor, and how it will help with security, power, and latency. He also shares his thoughts on how companies should package their algorithms to make it easier to deploy TinyML at scale. For perspective, Honeywell supports more than a million sensors in the field that could all use TinyML. We conclude by talking about business models and how customers want to access data. It’s a great show.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Muthu Sabarethinam, VP AI/ML product and services with Honeywell
Sponsors: Wilderness Labs and Skyhawk

  • We’re hitting pause on the podcast later this month
  • Sensors can lie, so how should we offset that risk?
  • Why RISC-V is getting so much love
  • Why Honeywell wants local AI on industrial sensors
  • How to think about building AI sensors that can scale

 

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Episode 434: So many new hubs, and a primer on LPWANs

This week’s show kicks off with a surprising revelation from Kevin, who has decided to swap out his smart home platform. He explains his choice, which also may represent a theme of sorts, as we see more and more high-end smart home hubs hit the market. We discuss the HOOBS Pro device and the Homey Pro, both of which cram a bunch of different radios into one powerful box. Then we talk about California’s Privacy Protection Agency and its decision to investigate how connected car companies are using consumers’ data. Do connected car companies violate California’s 2018 privacy law? After that we dig into a new report about the troubles facing OT and IT security professionals, and marvel over a water-soluble PCB board that might help address some of the challenges associated with e-waste. The board isn’t destined for large scale production or IoT devices yet, but we applaud any effort to bring more easily recycled electronics to the market. Finally, we hear from Signify’s CEO that the maker of Philips Hue devices is planning a video camera for a home security offering. We close the first segment with a pair of comments from our listeners responding to last week’s question about turning off lights using a sensor.

Infineon is testing out a water-soluble PCB board. Image courtesy of Infineon.

Our guest this week is Alexis Susset, the CTO of UnaBiz. He’s on the show to explain the value of Low-Power Wide-Area networks and Unabiz’s plans to offer many LPWANs under one roof. He shares how the acquisition of Sigfox’s assets last year helped give Unabiz the credibility it needed to create deals with other LPWAN providers to share their networks. He also does a deep dive into the pros and cons of various available LPWAN technologies such as Sigfox, LoRaWAN, and cellular. Finally, we talk about the rise of satellite networks for IoT devices and whether or not we’ll need any more LPWAN technologies in the near future. Enjoy the show.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guests: Alex Susset, the CTO of UnaBiz
Sponsors: Wilderness Labs and Skyhawk

  • Kevin switches to Home Assistant, and even his wife likes it
  • Hubs are back, baby
  • Criminals are still hacking enterprise networks and critical infrastructure
  • How Sigfox helped UnaBiz make deals with other LPWAN providers
  • Why IoT devices might benefit from specialized satellite

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Episode 433: Tracking air quality with the IoT

This week we didn’t see a ton of news, yet we managed to talk about several big trends in IoT. We started with an update on Amazon’s planned acquisition of iRobot, and Amazon dropping the price by 15%. We explain why and then decided to explain in depth why we need the planned cybersecurity labeling plan for connected devices because so many people asked me why we need this. We then talk about Unabiz creating a partnership with Semtech to bring Sigfox technology into the Semtech network. Then we talk about insurance companies using data gleaned from drones, satellite photos, and IoT devices and how that may hurt consumers, as insurance companies try to cancel policies in risky areas. This is where climate change, the IoT, and data privacy will all intersect in ways that will harm consumers. We then ponder what will happen with Google displays as the company pulls back from its Fuchsia OS, and how a smart home reporter’s broken HVAC system made her realize the limits of the smart home. Finally, we answer a listener question about using a motion detector to make sure kids turn off their lights.

The PurpleAir Zen works both indoors and outdoors and costs $299. Image courtesy of PurpleAir.

Our guest this week is Adrian Dybwad, CEO and founder of PurpleAir, which makes a line of air quality sensors. As we head into wildfire season here on the West Coast, air quality data is becoming more important for people. For example, I turn regularly to PurpleAir data from the app, its web site, or on my Google display to see if I should go outside for a run or hold off. Dybwad and I talk about why the company was created, and how the air sensors are helping communities lobby for positive policy changes that can improve air quality. We also talk about how to think about connected devices contributing to citizen science, and why having a lot of sensors can mitigate concerns over accuracy. We spend a lot of time on how air quality sensors work and how to place them optimally as well. Enjoy the show.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Adrian Dybwad, CEO and founder of PurpleAir
Sponsors: Wilderness Labs and Skyhawk

  • Why Amazon cut the price for Roomba maker, iRobot
  • Why you (and everyone else) should care about secure IoT devices
  • What we really need from our smart homes
  • How PurpleAir uses quantity to assure quality
  • The best place to set up your air quality sensors

 

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