Applied AI Weekly News

Justin Grammens

The technology that is driving the future of what we call "The Internet of Things" has existed for many years. So, what has changed?

Cheap hardware - Startups are able to develop, make mistakes and iterate like never before. This includes 3D printing!
Low cost cloud based providers - Capturing data is just a small part of the equation. The true power comes with getting data into the cloud and analyzing it.
Standards - BLE, NFC, ZigBee, etc are starting to take shape. The more standard the communication layers that exist, the faster adoption and convergence you will find.
Appetite for monitoring, control and tracking - A growing trend has emerged with people wanting more data on what is going on in their environment.
Ubiquity of mobile devices - Everyone now has a mobile device that can be used to not only control things, but access all their data.

These key technology trends are redefining the Internet of Things and IoT Weekly News is here to help you understand and follow these shifts in the industry.

Sam Schroeder

Connecting our devices, homes, and business to each other, and to the internet, should provide us with more power and intelligence about our lives. While the capability of a single connected device is interesting it's the aggregate data collected by all our machines that is most compelling and valuable. Having our personal data more accessible means issues of security and privacy become ever more significant in the Internet of Things.

News

Is Your Food Safe? New 'Smart Chopsticks' Can Tell

Baidu, the Chinese search engine, has unveiled a set of "smart chopsticks", called Kuaisou in Chinese, which can detect contamination levels in oil and water, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company released this promotional video showing an engineer testing oil and water. The chopsticks are not publicly available.

Google's Driverless Car, the Internet of Things, and George Orwell

RogerKay, a contributor to Forbes, imagines the benefits and "horror factor" of giving more control of our lives to our connected devices.

Would you "hesitate ever so slightly" before handing over the keys?

The Internet of Things Is Highly Vulnerable to Hacking Says HP

In July HP released a report documenting security and privacy concerns found in "10 of the most popular devices in some of the most common IoT niches". The report lists insufficient authentication, lack of encryption, and insecure firmware as major offenses found in a majority of the devices tested.

Spansion Goes Battery-Less with Tiny 'Internet of Things' Chips

Imagine a world where batteries aren't needed and the power to run our devices is harvested from alternative sources? It's exciting to witness advancements in energy production that might keep these devices powered forever!

Wearables

Smart Fitness Earbuds

As hardware becomes more compact, it continues to open up opportunities in innovation and companies to enter a new markets. "The heart-rate monitor takes your pulse within your ear ... the ear is one of the most accurate measurement points on the body". This new technology gives engineers and designers all sorts of new opportunities to get information from the person wearing the device.

How Does the Apple Watch Compare to Other Smartwatches?

You may have heard Apple finally launched the much anticipated Watch. FastCompany Labs compares Apple's new product to other available smart watches.

From Tasting Drinks to Tracking Pigs

An interesting take on "wearables" by David Neal looking at the components used to create devices. More and more of the tech used in fitness bracelets is finding it's way to "part tracking in industry or pig management on farms." Look for the IoT to show up in unexpected places.

Crowd Funding

Smart Home, Meet Your Smart Yard

Many companies are working on water conservation methods in the consumer space. This Kickstarter project ties it into some of the existing home automation platforms such as SmartThings, STACK or Almond+.

M2M Company Takes Grand Prize

A startup focusing on M2M and based out of Mankato, Minnesota has taken the grand prize in the 2014 Minnesota Cup. Having early stage investment in these types of companies continues to help fuel the sector and spawn a whole host of new startups.

Wearable Internet of Things Innovator Sensoria Raises Series A Investment

Investments in wearables and new technology startups continue to flourish. It seems like you can’t go more than a day or two without hearing about another startup being funded or acquired. Sensora is interesting in that it’s one of the first to create bio-sensing fabric on an open development platform. They don’t make add-on’s to your existing clothes, but instead put the sensors right into the materials. Pretty cool technology that is going to be mainstream in the future.

Network

Wi-Fi, Not Cellular, Seen Ruling Internet Of Things

There was an interesting discussion with regards to the fact that the existing cellular networks were not built for the M2M traffic and devices were using today. Wi-Fi and other technology like 6LoWPAN are a much better fit than 4G as it's unlicensed, can be implemented at fraction of the cost and are lower power.

Books

Physical Computing: Sensing and Controlling the Physical World with Computers

Published in 2004, this book was well ahead of its time. It is amazing to see how much it crosses over into what today is in the IoT mainstream. The book not only gives a great overview of the basics in electronics and sensors, but does an excellent job of covering why systems are designed the way that they are. It's a definite read for anyone who is building devices for the Internet of Things, regardless of your role. Even those who are not directly involved in the engineering of a product will get a lot out of reading the Introduction and the first 2 Chapters for a basic foundation. Enjoy!