Internet of Things News of the Week, April 14 2017

Here’s a weekly roundup of important and interesting IOT news. Get this summary in your inbox every Friday when you subscribe to my newsletter.

Alexa’s hardware for all: Amazon has teamed up with chip makers to create a reference design for the far field microphone array that is inside the Amazon Echo. Combine this with Alexa Voice Services, and it’s clear that Amazon is hoping to put Alexa into as many devices as possible. This makes it easier for Alexa-enabled hardware, but I’m not entirely sure I need everything in my home capable of summoning Alexa. From Amazon’s perspective, though, this makes its voice platform the UI of the future. The one everyone will expect to talk to and train themselves to interact with. (Amazon)

IT and automation are going to change the workforce: We know this. The question is how. A new report from the National Academy of Sciences offers a cogent viewpoint on what comes next for the workforce. It also adds several new questions that deserve research if we really want to understand the impact of not just AI and robotics, but also what on-demand work and the internet of things means for the future of employment. It may not make you happier, but it will make you smarter. Fair warning, this is 198 pages, but it’s an easy read. (National Academies Press)

Burger King’s Whopper of a mistake: Burger King’s ad agency got creative with a 15-second ad spot that decided that instead of describing the Whopper it would ask people’s Google Home’s or Google Assistants to do it for them. The spot called out “Okay Google What is a Whopper burger”  and hoped to activate user’s Google Assistants to provide the answer. Outrage ensued, Google disabled the ad’s ability to activate the device (presumably by matching it to the ad’s sound clip) and Burger King got a lot of free publicity. The IoT is going to take the concept of guerrilla marketing to new levels.  (The Verge)

When AI goes wrong: Before you buy into the AI hype, read through these failures of artificial intelligence brought down by human tampering, bad training data or programmer bias. And then consider how you want to design your AI rollout. (Harvard Business Review)

IoT can help the planet: Food waste is a big deal, and this roundup offers a startup called Zest Labs that is using sensors and connectivity to curb the problem. (Huffington Post)

Comcast Ventures invests in Plume: Plume, a Wi-Fi startup with a big vision for delivering Wi-Fi as a service, has raised an additional $37.5 million from investors including Comcast Ventures. Plume’s Wi-Fi units plug into a wall and work with cloud-based software to optimize the quality of Wi-Fi in users’ homes. When I spoke to CEO Fahri Diner a year or so ago, his idea was to eventually charge services providers or end users to ensure better connectivity in homes. Thus, Comcast’s investment feels very logical.  (Axios)

Secure your stuff in 10 painful steps: IoT device security is so hard that it’s tough to fit in a handy infographic. That’s the lesson I took away from this Level 3 slide trying to tell people how to secure their stuff. With steps like “review the terms of service and data sharing policies for each device” and “contact your ISP to upgrade your router to the latest security setting”, these steps feel like something you could spend the rest of your life doing. (Level 3)

Samsung Bixby isn’t going to ship on time: Samsung has said it would launch Bixby, Samsung’s answer to Siri, with the upcoming Galaxy 8 phone. Now the plan has changed. Some Bixby bits will be part of the new handset at launch, but not the voice assistant aspect of it. Maybe building a credible voice assistant to handle tasks on the phone is harder than Samsung thought. (Axios)

The FDA is eyeing medical device security: Hospitals are often targets of ransomware attacks, but between electronic patient records and connected medical devices, the surface area of attack is now larger and the implications of a breach are life threatening. From hacked insulin pumps to hackers changing patient’s allergy data in their records, the FDA is working with device makers and other agencies on a response to the increasingly threatening environment.  (The Hill)

Connected cars will change your life by 2025: A new study from Bosch anticipates that even though most cars will not be self-driving, their connectivity will change various aspects of our lives within the next eight years. The report is thin on details, but it cites improved parking, safer cars and the use of more direct routes as benefits of this shift. (Bosch)