Tag: Software AG

Episode 214: Goodbye Anki, hello connected pets

This week Kevin and I mourn the end of Anki, the company behind Kevin’s beloved Vector robot. We also talk about the upcoming Google I/O, privacy expectations in apartments with connected devices and AT&T’s nationwide NB-IoT network. From there we discuss Congressional hearings on device security here and abroad in the U.K. In our quick news bits we talk about a $2,000 pool camera to detect drownings, the evolutions of Mozilla’s Project Things, Alexa speaking Spanish in the U.S., and Ford enabling Amazon Key for its 2017 and newer vehicles. Kevin found two good resources for the pro set. The first is a booklet on using a Raspberry Pi for computer vision and the second is a guide to using Microsoft’s IoT Hub. In this week’s voicemail, we deliver bad news to a gentleman searching for a way to help his parents avoid killing their garden.

Whistle, the company behind a connected dog collar is part of Mars’ new Kinship business.

Our guest this week touches on a topic many of our listeners will love — pets!  Leonid Sudakov is the CEO of Kinship, a newly created business of Mars Petcare. Sudakov comes on the show to talk about the newly created business he’s running that combines connected gadgets and data analytics to understand the secret lives of our pets. He talks about what Kinship is looking for in partners and how technology can help people communicate with our companion animals.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Leonid Sudakov is the CEO of Kinship
Sponsors: Software AG and IoT World

  • Residents in Manhattan are suing over a connected door lock
  • AT&T’s NB-IoT pricing is very compelling
  • Would you buy a $2,000 device to prevent drowning?
  • Connected collars and data analysis will give pets a voice
  • Are we ready for telemedicine for pets?

 

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Episode 213: A deep dive into IoT Inspector

This week’s podcast starts out with a focus on Clear Ventures’ new, $180 million venture fund dedicated to Industry 4.0. We stay with enterprise and industrial IoT to discuss a new round of funding for security firm VDOO and VMware’s new version of the Pulse IoT Platform. After that, we move to the smart home with a scoop on Arlo’s new video doorbell, Wyze getting a Google Assistant integration, Wing’s teleoperated drones, and a wearable that doubles as an EpiPen. We then answer a listener request for a smart sensor that can measure temperature, motion, humidity and light.

Our guest this week is Danny Huang, one of the co-creators of Princeton’s IoT Inspector program. Huang shares why they created the program that tracks what smart devices are on a network and what they talk to and explains how it works. Some of his findings, such as the lack of security and vendors who seem to be confused about how good their security is, are worrisome. He also discusses how Princeton is handling privacy and what the program will do to your network.  If you have a device that runs Mac OS, check IoT Inspector out.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Danny Huang, post-doc fellow at Princeton
Sponsors: Software AG and IoT World

  • Why the IoT needs a new type of computer architecture
  • How many IoT ecosystems do we need?
  • Tele-operations is going to be a big deal
  • Understanding the security categories in IoT Inspector
  • In the IoT, you can’t opt-out of data sharing

 

 

 

 

 

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Episode 212: How to find connected devices in your home or enterprise

This week’s show is all about visibility. Kevin and I get started discussing the new IoT Inspector program that tracks what devices are on your network and how they behave.  In other surveillance, we talk about how easy it is to identify total strangers using public cameras and public facial recognition programs, before discussing the destruction of a privacy law in Illinois. Intel’s decision to get out of the smartphone modem business gets a mention, as does Apple’s LIDAR investments and a new app from Waymo. In news bits, we talk about Schlage locks working with Ring, a new Alexa Skill certification, a new sport, Norsk Hydro’s ransomware, and how to run open source smart home software in the cloud instead of a Pi. We also answer a question about connected double-cylinder locks.

AI created a game called Speedgate. This image is taken from a video of people playing it.

This week’s guest is Nadir Izrael, the CTO of security firm Armis. He discusses how security challenges have changed in the era of connected devices and the business pressures behind some connected devices getting onto the network even when IT wants to say no. He also shares some horror stories associated with insecure connected devices, such as a hospital infusion pump infected with malware that was connected to a patient. Izrael says the hospital had to get a nurse to watch the patient all night to make sure the infusion pump didn’t misbehave. Weak security can cost lives, not just spam all your friends.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Nadir Izrael, CTO at Armis
Sponsors: Software AG and IoT World

  • Here’s where you can download IoT Inspector for Mac OS
  • Will you be playing Speedgate, a new, AI-developed sport?
  • What can we learn from Norsk Hydro’s ransomware attack?
  • Connected treadmills might be your enterprise’s weak link
  • How a hospital guards against malware-infected infusion pumps

 

 

 

 

 

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Episode 211: Google’s Anthos and the death of Stringify

This week Kevin and I spend a chunk of the podcast discussing the end of Stringify and the other options available to users. We also talk about the need for an easy way to transfer automations from one system to another. After that, we tackle Google’s Anthos cloud platform and what it means for the IoT and edge before veering back to consumer news with IKEA’s partnership with Sonos.  Then we cover the plethora of smart cameras at the ISC trade show, more details about Google’s mysterious Mistral board, a new HomeKit device from Eve, and JD Powers getting into the IoT. We close by answering a question about stopping your friends from telling your Google Home what to do.

The Sonos and IKEA collaboration produced this speaker/lamp combo.

Our guest this week is Andy Coravos who is the CEO of Elektra Labs, a startup that is trying to create scientifically accurate benchmarks for medical devices. The early audience is pharma companies who want to remotely monitor participants in clinical trials and need to know if the step counter on the Apple Watch or the heart rate monitor on the Fitbit is accurate. Coravos was also a former EIR at the Food and Drug Administration, and she talks about the steps the agency is taking to regulate digital health products without standing in the way of innovation and security. It’s a great conversation.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Andy Coravos, CEO of Elektra Labs
Sponsors: SoftwareAG and IoTWorld

  • Throwing in the towel on Wink and the tinkerer’s smart home
  • Google performed some sweet jujitsu with Anthos
  • Smart cameras are boosting demand for AI at the edge
  • How to eliminate the threat of digital snake oil in connected health
  • What other agencies can learn about regulating the IoT from the FDA

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Episode 210: Hannover Messe and haptic IoT

This week’s show focuses on the tremendous amount of industrial IoT news coming out of the Hannover Messe event held in Germany. We cover Microsoft and BMW’s Open Manufacturing Platform and the similarly named Open Industry 4.0 Alliance as well as the prevalence of 5G news at the show. After explaining what is going on in the industrial world, Kevin and I discuss a patent for silencing drones from Amazon, news on Google’s shopping partnership extension with Wal-Mart, and a new Google Hub. Kevin also shares his scoop on Google’s new Mistral board. We then discuss surveillance in smart cities before revisiting our answer from last week’s voicemail to add more ways to connect your smart blinds to Alexa.

A figure from Amazon’s hot air balloon patent issued this week.

This week our guest is Keith Kirkland, CEO of Wearworks, which makes a product called the Wayband. The Wayband uses haptic feedback to guide visually-impaired people using haptic feedback. Kirkland explains what his team learned about building a product, the opportunities offered by haptic feedback and how other designers should think about adding haptic feedback to their devices. And all of this started because he just wanted to build a connected suit that would help him learn Kung Fu. It’s a fun interview!

Host: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Keith Kirkland, CEO of Wearworks
Sponsors: Software AG and IoT World

  • The IT industry digs into industrial IoT at Hannover Messe
  • Why wireless matters for industrial IoT
  • Kevin’s got a scoop on a possible Google device
  • Waterproofing is somewhat important
  • Touch isn’t the same everywhere on the body

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