IoT News for the week of Sept. 27, 2019

Jeff Immelt just joined the board of Tuya Smart: IoT platform provider Tuya, which underlies a ton of connected devices including the Walmart Merkury brand, has named former GE CEO Jeff Immelt as a board member and as the chairman of the firm’s Strategic Advisory Committee. Tuya has been expanding rapidly and is making a strategic push into the US market, so Immelt’s name and connections should help.  Immelt is a venture partner at NEA Associates, which is an investor in Tuya. As a side note, Tuya can mean graffiti in Mandarin so if you use Google translate on the link you’ll see the company named as Graffiti Intelligence or Graffiti Smart. (China Economic Times) — Stacey Higginbotham

Amazon is thinking about new laws for facial recognition: Unfortunately, I left the Amazon event an hour into the two-hour happy hour so I missed the appearance by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos who apparently told reporters that the company was working on facial recognition legislation that it hoped to submit to Congress to jumpstart work on new laws. He didn’t say what the suggested laws might be, so I’m not too upset I skipped out early edit the podcast. (Vox) — Stacey Higginbotham

Emerson appoints a digital transformation lead: In a continuing reminder that the internet of things doesn’t scale, and still requires a pretty significant helping hand, Emerson has created a consulting practice around digital transformation and named Stuart Harris as the new head of that business. The goal here is to elevate the discussion from the merely technical and help put in place training and processes that help the workforce transition along with the new technology and analytics. (Emerson) — Stacey Higginbotham

Here’s why you should have 2FA on your Nest: These days, I add two-factor authentication (2FA) to every device, service, and app that supports said device, service, and app. If you’re among the many people who don’t add 2FA, know that if someone gets your login credentials, there’s nothing to protect you. To better understand what’s at risk, read this story about a hacker who gained control of someone’s Nest system, remotely changed their thermostat, then spoke to them through their Nest camera. If the hacked homeowners had enabled 2FA, their Nest account and devices wouldn’t have been compromised. (Business Insider) — Kevin Tofel

Smart algorithms could protect the grid from cyberattacks: I’m constantly surprised by how old and antiquated our electric grid really is. Then again, it was designed well before the Internet of Things movement. Even so, the computers that control our electrical needs are subject to the same cyberattacks as any other computer system. So how do we prevent hackers from overloading the grid and causing major power disruptions? Algorithms! Princeton’s Department of Electrical Engineering has created programmatic ways to safely “route” power in the event of such attacks, and the details are fascinating. (Tech Xplore) — Kevin Tofel

Alexa, Legos, and robots, oh my!: Do you have a love of Legos, robotics, and Alexa skill creation? If so, you have until the end of this year to enter the LEGO MINDSTORMS Voice Challenge: Powered by Alexa contest. There are 100 prizes totaling $100,000 for winners who can demonstrate innovative Alexa voice skills with Lego’s robotics kit. This opportunity isn’t limited just to traditional developers; with parental consent, budding programmers ages 13 to 17 are eligible, too. (Amazon) — Kevin Tofel

Everything you need to know about Amazon’s big news event: Well, almost everything. I didn’t mention the multilingual capabilities or dig into the things that Alexa Hunches will be able to do such as notify you of batteries that are running out of juice or a need to restock your toilet paper. But there’s still a lot of good stuff here. (StaceyonIoT) — Stacey Higginbotham

You too can adopt a Boston Dynamics dog: Surely by now you’re familiar with Spot, the robotic canine built by Boston Dynamics. If not, you’ve missed some amazing and almost scary videos of this four-legged machine packed with sensors, a dozen motors, and enough processor power to see Spot run. Of course, there’s a hefty adoption fee. According to the company, “Our general guidance is that the total cost of the early adopter program lease will be less than the price of a car…” You’d really have to love robotic dogs to spring Spot free in this program, but hey, it’s your money! (Boston Dynamics) — Kevin Tofel

Apple may have big HomeKit plans for ultra-wideband: The newest iPhones now include Apple’s U1 ultra-wideband (UWB) chip. However, currently they can only be used to find other iPhone 11 handsets nearby to assist with file sharing. While we’ve heard previously that the U1 chip could be used to track and find lost handsets or other objects, this new report of Apple using UWB for HomeKit in the form of power outlets and other devices is intriguing. It could even hint at in-home presence detection, at least for those who carry their phone all around the house. (AppleInsider) — Kevin Tofel

Are cameras the answer to presence detection in smart homes? Speaking of in-home presence detection, I shared some thoughts this week about what devices might, and might not, be best suited for smart homes to know who is in what room. Cameras are the obvious choice, particularly since we’ve seen an acceleration in lower-cost devices with algorithms to determine who the camera sees. Given potential privacy issues, however, I’d prefer to see Bluetooth 5.0 or some other similar, less invasive tech be used. (StaceyOnIoT) — Kevin Tofel

Google Assistant comes to the Xbox One: Here’s a beta mashup I didn’t expect. You can now use the Google Assistant with Microsoft’s Xbox One gaming console. Using voice commands with the Assistant, gamers can fire up their Xbox, search for and launch a specific game, snap a screenshot after their latest achievement, or launch Netflix. I guess nobody wants to play with Cortana? (Google’s The Keyword blog) — Kevin Tofel