IoT news of the week for August 28, 2020

How to keep factory workers safe when they return to work: As I prep for my event at the end of this month on using IoT to restart the economy, I’ve been researching companies and organizations that are trying to build practices around safety for their workers as they return to work. Office environments are one challenge, but I’m especially interested in what manufacturers and warehouse operators have to think about since they have to work around inflexible production lines or physical infrastructure that make social distancing a challenge. So I was happy to read this article, which details an Indian power provider’s three-pronged approach to worker safety in the field and in the manufacturing environment. I was also pleased to see the article address the privacy concerns workers might have about the collected data, including how it might be used today and in the future. (World Economic Forum)

Starbucks really gets this whole IoT concept: If I had to pick a consumer company that appears to be taking all of my ideas about the benefits of grabbing sensor data, analyzing it, and then applying it to business problems, it would have to be Starbucks. The company has already deployed fleets of connected coffee machines and is now using the blockchain to track its coffee beans. The blockchain program lets consumers see where their beans came from and, more importantly, lets farmers see where their beans end up. Starbucks has been tracing its beans from the farm for the last two decades, so this last step merely closes the loop for consumers by putting a code on the bag that the consumer can scan. But that extra level of data and trackability will one day extend not only to bags but also to individual cups. (CoinJournal)

Those responsible for securing the IoT can probably learn a lot from those trying to secure a suddenly remote workforce: Microsoft has been putting out a lot of interesting research lately, and its latest contribution is a survey of 800 executives about their security efforts in response to the pandemic. Basically their security teams have had to suddenly secure tens of thousands of employees who up until recently were on their own networks and working with their own devices. The complexity that process introduced and the lessons learned (Microsoft highlights five) tie fairly closely with how companies need to think about securing their remote connected assets as they deploy IoT in their organizations. (Microsoft)

Kneron’s new edge AI chip launches: Y’all know I’m excited about machine learning at the edge, and the chips that will help us achieve that feat at low power, so clearly I’m excited about the new chip from Kneron, which launched this week. The most interesting thing the silicon can do is edge-based natural language processing. That means this device isn’t listening for a wake word and then sending utterances to the cloud; it is processing it locally on the device. That’s a pretty significant breakthrough, and worth writing about. The company also says the chip is twice as efficient as the Intel Movidius chip and four times as power-efficient as Google’s TPU. (TechCrunch)

Looks like GE Digital’s CEO may have the ecosystems bug: I’m obsessed with the idea that companies need to think in terms of building ecosystems as opposed to transaction-based sales when it comes to the internet of things. It seems like GE Digital’s CEO Pat Byrne may agree. In this article, he talks about the necessity of partnerships in the industrial IoT and suggests that GE’s strategy around partnerships will be changing soon. (CRN)

Seems like Semtech’s partnership with Helium is going well: Earlier this year, LoRa chip maker Semtech and distributed hotspot company Helium partnered up so Helium’s network could support LoRa devices. This was great for both companies as it expanded the availability of LoRa networks. Now the companies are offering an update, noting that there are more than 1,000 LoRa-capable cities nationwide, and that Cal-Chip Connected Devices will sell LoRaWAN hotspots and devices that run on the Helium network. Which means Helium can focus on building out the network and the software that will help users trade data on that network while another company worries about the distribution of devices. I’m feeling a bit more confident in this experiment. (Semtech and Helium)

Ambiq Micro gets its chip on Feitian’s cards: Ambiq Micro, a company that makes a super-low-power microcontroller used in other IoT devices, now has a deal with card company Feitian. Feitian makes cards used for payments and security, and thanks to Ambiq’s MCU can now offer an active biometric fingerprint reader on its cards that will draw power from the magnetic induction on a point-of-sale device or a card reader. Putting a computer (even if it’s a really underpowered one) on a payment or ID card is pretty awesome, and I’m excited to see what innovations Feitian can dream up using the tech. (Ambiq Micro)

What’s in Kevin’s house? Every few years my colleague Kevin Tofel and I write about our current smart home setups. I’m still trying to get organized after moving, but Kevin took a trip around his home and calculated all the gadgets he has installed. So if you’re curious about what’s there and what has changed, check out this story. (StaceyonIoT)

Updated: This story was updated on August 28, 2020, to correct the Helium/Semtech news item. There are 1,000 cities nationwide that now have Helium LoRaWAN networks, not 1,000 hotspots.