IoT
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The Ellipse smart lock allows you to securely share your ride
The sharing economy took a turn toward the two-wheeled here at CES on Thursday when Lattis, "the smart city company," introduced its Ellipse Smart Bike Lock. As its name implies, the Ellipse packs as many IoT features as it can into its solar-powered frame. That includes an accelerometer to monitor for sudden stops (i.e., you crash or get hit by a car) and Bluetooth connectivity for remote unlocking and pushing theft-attempt alerts to your smartphone.
Apple is investing $1 billion in Softbank's Vision Fund
At best, most consumers know Softbank as the Japanese phone carrier that owns Sprint -- but the company is much bigger than that. Softbank has its hands in robotics, smart vehicles, processors and more. It even invests in other companies, and recently set up the Softbank Vision Fund with the goal of pouring billions of dollars into promising start ups. Now that fund is getting another investor: Apple.
Helia bulbs cut blue light to help you sleep at night
Soraa doesn't generally make lighting solutions for us plebians. Its lightbulbs grace the likes of the Palace of Versailles, not the One Bedroom of Terrence. But the company is ready to dabble in the consumer market with Helia. These smart bulbs jump not just on the bandwagon of IoT, but embrace the growing hostility toward blue light.
Zigbee crafts a universal language for smart home devices
As seamless as smart-home technology is becoming, the devices still tend to sit in isolated ecosystems. Zigbee-based gadgets don't normally know how to use Nest's Thread protocol, for example. That's where the Zigbee Alliance wants to help. It's launching Dotdot, a "universal language" for Internet of Things devices. The open platform lets hardware makers use Zigbee's software layer across virtually any other IoT network, increasing the chances that the devices you want to use can speak to each other.
Olly is like an Amazon Echo but with personality
Everyone's making a smart personal assistant these days -- thanks, Alexa! -- but most of them aren't as adorable as the Olly. It's basically a doughnut-shaped speaker that lies flat when dormant but stands and spins around with lights flashing when active. But what sets the Olly apart from the Echo-clone pack is that it incorporates a bit of personality into the mix. What kind of personality? Well, yours: Olly's personality adapts to yours over time. According to London-based Emotech, its parent company, Olly's behavior will evolve depending on how you interact with it.
WooHoo is an Echo with a touchscreen, facial recognition and more
We're beginning to see a trend here at CES. A ton of companies are either injecting their tech with a dose of Alexa or building their own Amazon Echo competitors from scratch. SmartBeings falls into the latter category, but its WooHoo device packs a lot more punch than the online retailer's smart speaker. WooHoo can do some of the things Echo handles, but it's also equipped with both facial and voice recognition, Android-powered software and a 7-inch touchscreen. Oh, yeah, and it's a full-on IoT hub for all of your smart home tech.
The Kolibree smart toothbrush uses AI to help you clean your mouth
Be honest, you probably don't brush your teeth quite as often or as thoroughly as your dentist recommends. But that's OK: With the Kolibree Ara AI-enabled smart toothbrush, you can keep up with your daily dental routine and know exactly where you've missed.
Symantec's Norton Core router aims to protect the connected home
Symantec's mostly known as the makers of Norton AntiVirus, which is probably one of the most popular antivirus software in the world despite the, uh, occasional slip-up. Now, the company is venturing into hardware, with the release of the Norton Core. It's a mobile-enabled WiFi router that touts machine learning and Symantec's threat intelligence smarts to defend your home network from getting those digital nasties in the first place.
2016's biggest privacy threat: Your phone
When it comes to handing malicious hackers' intimate details about our lives, right now Yahoo is leading the pack as one of the worst threats to privacy in recent history. Yet there's one thing that has Yahoo beat in both the amount and sensitivity of the data being leaked, as well as the frequency. And like IoT appliances, it's a well-known and massive problem among security professionals, but it doesn't garner a lot of attention from the public. I'm talking about your smartphone.
Google makes it easier to get Internet of Things devices online
It's relatively easy to build your own Internet of Things hardware, but the software is another story. How do you connect it to cloud services, push updates or just write code? Google might help. It's trotting out a developer preview of Android Things, a toolbox that theoretically makes connecting IoT devices as straightforward as writing an Android app. Think of it as a more mature, more accessible Project Brillo. You're not only using ordinary Android developer tools (Android Studio and the official SDK), but tapping into Google Play Services and Google Cloud Platform. In theory, most of the heavy lifting is done for you -- future versions in the months ahead will even grab regular updates (both from you and Google) and use Google's ad hoc Weave networking.
Microsoft will put Cortana in your smart home
Microsoft doesn't just want its Cortana in your phone or on your desk -- it wants the voice assistant to be a mainstay in your smart home. As part of a WinHEC presentation, the company's May Ji has revealed that Windows 10 Creator Update will bring Cortana to Windows 10 IoT Core devices with screens. Combined with longer-ranged voice detection (key to Microsoft's Home Hub plans), you wouldn't have to be anywhere near a PC to use the digital helper -- you could ask your thermostat about the weather, or add an appointment to your calendar through your fridge. Those concepts aren't new, of course, but Cortana can sync with your phone and Windows PC on a level that isn't possible with most smart home devices.
Bluetooth 5's faster, longer-ranged wireless is here
Bluetooth is about to become a lot less hassle-prone. The wireless standard's Special Interest Group has officially adopted the Bluetooth 5 spec, clearing the way for device makers to use the much-improved technology in everything from phones to wearables to smart home equipment. This doesn't mean that you'll see it right away, of course. The group expects Bluetooth 5-equipped products to hit the market in the next 2 to 6 months, or right around when the next wave of smartphones is likely to arrive.
Intel and Amazon team up to help developers build Alexa devices
At this week's Amazon Web Services conference re:Invent, the online retailer revealed two smart home initiatives that are getting a big hand from Intel. First, Intel built a reference design for a smart speaker that employs the Alexa virtual assistant to help with tasks. The device is meant to encourage other companies to make their own gadgets with Amazon's voice tech and the Intel platform. Developers and manufacturers will be able to get their hands on the reference device during the first quarter of 2017.
LG promotes its Home Appliance boss to Chief Executive
After a couple of rough quarters for its mobile phone division, LG announced today that it will promote Jo Seong-jin, the head of its profitable Home Appliance business, to the role of Vice Chairman and CEO of the company. While the company's new flagship phone, the LG V20, appears to be selling well, the mobile division as a whole has been dragging the company down since Q3 2015 despite record numbers from the the home appliances division.
Google, other tech giants outline ways to improve IoT security
Google, Intel, Microsoft, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and a handful of other tech industry giants joined former FCC Chief Technologist Dale Hatfield to form the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group in 2010, in an attempt to develop a set of best practices for broadband management and security. Today, BITAG laid out its recommendations for a rapidly growing industry within the world of online communication: the Internet of Things.
Hackers hijack Philips Hue lights with a drone
Surprise! The Internet of Things is a security nightmare. Anyone who was online a few weeks ago can attest to that. The massive internet blackout was caused by connected devices, and new research from white-hat hackers expounds upon those types of vulnerabilities. The target? Philips Hue smart lightbulbs. While they've been hacked in the past, Philips was quick to point out that it happening in a real-world situation would be pretty difficult. Digital intruders would need to already be on your home network with a computer of their own -- the company claimed that directly attacking the lightbulbs wasn't exactly feasible. But this new attack doesn't require that sort of access.
The Arrow Smart-Kart is a joy rider that parents can control
If you grew up in the '80s or '90s, you might have been lucky enough to own a Power Wheels car. Even if you didn't, anyone who watched TV knew the jingle. (You're probably humming it right now.) But Power Wheels are slow and not intelligent. The Arrow Smart-Kart from Actev Motors, available today, tackles some of those shortcomings. It's faster and WiFi-connected, and it has the expertise of Nest co-founder Tony Fadell behind it. But even though Fadell has been talking about building a car for a while now, the Arrow is aimed squarely at kids and their parents. Kids will appreciate the thrill of driving their own mini electric car while adults will relish the control the Arrow app gives them. Parents can set limits on the kart at the tap of a screen, making desperate screams at their offspring to "slow down!" no longer necessary.
That time your smart toaster broke the internet
Where were you the day the internet died? Last Friday the internet had its biggest hiccup to date when a whole bunch of major websites were maliciously knocked offline. Harnessing the weak security of internet-connected devices, like DVRs and cameras, the attackers used botnets implanted on the devices to traffic-overload the one business keeping those sites' domain names functional.
Qualcomm just announced the biggest chip acquisition ever
The smartphone world is starting to slow, and the companies that make the chips that go inside them are teaming up to stave off dwindling profits. Perhaps that's why Qualcomm today announced that it's picking up NXP Semiconductor for $47 billion, in what is set to become the biggest ever semiconductor deal.
ICYMI: Channel your inner magician with IoT controllers
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: If you've gotten chicken juice on your smartphone one too many times while trying to whip up a masterpiece in the kitchen, you may be interested in a motion sensor that you can control with a wave of your hand. There's the practical option, or the adorable. Do you. Meanwhile, an MIT study aims to understand urban decay and will next automate the process of scoring city photos to help with urban planning. The parody video your shortcut-obsessed friend needs to see is here, while the Silicon Valley Fashion Show story is here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
