IoT news of the week for April 1, 2022

Another IoT network nabs funding: Based out of Seattle, practically in Stacey’s backyard, is an IoT network startup named Teal Communications. This week, Teal raised $10.8 million in a Series A funding round, valuing the company at $100 million. The company’s core product is one of convenience and simplicity: It provides an eSIM platform to provision IoT devices on more than 2,000 networks in 195 countries. That sure beats connectivity deals with individual network providers if you’re deploying sensors and other connected devices at scale around the world. (GeekWire) — Kevin C. Tofel

Will Google deliver new Fitbit hardware soon? That’s the question raised in this article, and it’s a fair one. After all, Google announced its Fitbit acquisition in February of 2019 and closed the $2.1 billion deal in January of 2021. Since then, however, we’ve only seen some Fitbit software integration in the latest version of Google’s wearOS platform. If we don’t see any new Fitbit hardware announced at this May’s Google I/O event, I have to wonder if we ever will. (The Verge) — Kevin C. Tofel

Geofencing gains a traffic safety trick: Leave it to the Swedes to show us all up when it comes to safer roads. The country just completed a promising new trial that uses geofencing techniques to create layers of safety for pedestrians and drivers. Typically, most people today use geofencing to create location-based boundaries like a virtual fence to keep a pet or child nearby. It’s also used to detect when someone returns home within a digital boundary so that lights come on or a door is unlocked. In Sweden, the technique is used to adjust vehicle speeds and even driving modes. A hybrid bus may switch to electric power to reduce noise and emissions within a certain zone, for example. We Americans like to be in control, but I have to say, I like this idea. (NYTimes) — Kevin C. Tofel

AI might evaluate your next X-ray or CT scan: I personally like my primary physician so I’m not going to tell him about this next story. That’s because he’d complain about job security after learning that qure.ai has developed artificial intelligence to review medical images. Oh, and it generates a completed evaluation in under a minute. This week, qure.ai raised $40 million after an initial $16 million round in 2020. Actually, maybe I will tell my doctor. After all, it took four days to get results from my last scans. (Economic Times) — Kevin C. Tofel 

Augmented reality continues to thrive in the IIoT: While I’m still waiting for the promise of my augmented reality (AR) world, the industrial IoT is enjoying that promise. This week, Ian Hughes, analyst with S&P Global Market Intelligence, shared some thoughts on AR as it pertains to the industrial side of things. He sees it as “the user interface of IoT.” I get it. If a technician can view schematics or repair instructions while fixing machinery, that’s surely better than the IKEA instructions I got with my new minimalist recliner. The user interface of IoT, though? I’m not sold on that, at least not universally. Still, Hughes makes a good argument. (RTInsights)  — Kevin C. Tofel

Nvidia is going all-in on AI for predictive maintenance: That AR repair scenario I just mentioned might be short-lived, at least if Nvidia has anything to say about it. The company is betting that estimates for the global predictive maintenance market will expand from $6.9 billion in 2021 to $28.2 billion by 2026. Why does that matter to a company like Nvidia? Just look back to last week’s news, when Nvidia debuted an updated AI and ML compute solution capable of up to 550 TOPS, or trillions of operations per second. The industry will need such vast edge computing capabilities to crunch data and predict when a particular part or machine may fail. I guess they can still send “pre-repair” technicians with smart glasses to fix the problem before it actually becomes one. (VentureBeat) — Kevin C. Tofel

How to make a VR glove: I seem to find an interesting DIY project each week, yet I never actually complete the “DI” part. This week, I saw that for around $60 and a weekend’s worth of time, I could make a haptic VR glove. In looking through the instructions, however, I realized this isn’t a project for beginners. But if you’re up for it and want to add on to a virtual reality headset, this might be for you. (Make) — Kevin C. Tofel

Embedded OS 101 class is now in session: Do you know the difference between a computer operating system and an embedded one? If you have any smart home devices, you’re using the latter. This very approachable overview of embedded operating systems is well worth the read if you want to better understand what they are. Plus, I hear the upcoming IoT version of Trivial Pursuit has a whole category on embedded OSes. (MakeUseOf) — Kevin C. Tofel