IoT news of the week for Dec. 3, 2021

Some things I just learned about Matter: During a recent pre-CES chat with the folks from Eve, I learned that the company is planning to upgrade most of its devices either via firmware or, in the case of Eve’s light switch and motion sensor, through new devices to Matter. But because a firmware update is so complicated, once someone updates their Eve device to Matter, they will no longer be able to switch it back to working with HomeKit only. This matters (sorry) because current Eve devices have some features that aren’t currently supported by Matter, and Eve CEO Jerome Gackel doesn’t want to kill that functionality for consumers who switch over. For example, the Eve Plug turns on and off remotely, but it also measures energy consumption. Right now, Matter doesn’t have a data model for sharing energy consumption data between devices, so that feature won’t be supported. Gackel is pushing the working group to support these use cases, and hoping they do. I hope they do, too. — Stacey Higginbotham

Alexa can now tell if your refrigerator is running: Technically, Alexa can only tell you if your water is running or an appliance is beeping. But neither of these are among the custom sounds that Amazon said Alexa would soon be able to recognize, and they’re nice features, especially for the dozens of y’all who call into the IoT Podcast Hotline each year asking for some way to automate routines around your washer or dryer finishing their cycles. Also, this news went live last week, but if you want to order the massive 15.2-inch Echo display, that’s now available for $249.99. (The Verge)

Is anyone using EdgeXFoundry? If people are using the open source IoT middleware pioneered by Dell, they might be glad to know that the Linux Foundation has released the second big version of the software — this time with long-term support, which means that the LF Edge group will pledge to support the version for at least two years. The Jakarta release, as it’s known, also fixes the graphical user interface and certain configurations. It’s possible that these tweaks will drive usage of EdgeX, but so far it’s not something I encounter people using for their IoT deployments. Let me know if you are. (LF Edge)

Karamba has raised $10.2M for embedded device security: Israeli startup Karamba Security has raised an additional round of funding led by VinFast, a member of Vingroup, the largest private conglomerate in Vietnam, with participation from SVIC, a South Korean corporate VC. This brings the total capital invested in Karamba to $27 million. Companies using Karamba embed its software as part of the device toolchain during the manufacturing process; the software then checks constantly to ensure that the device firmware and functionality don’t behave strangely. I wrote about it last year, and its approach has been gaining ground as other cybersecurity startups look at device or employee behavior to assess security risks. (Karamba)

U.S. regulators will sue to stop Nvidia from buying Arm: Not to be outdone by Chinese, EU, or UK regulators, the Federal Trade Commission has stepped up to sue to prevent Nvidia from completing its $40 billion purchase of Arm. The trial will start with an administrative hearing on August 9, 2022, but I doubt it will come to that since most analysts think the deal is now essentially dead given the regulatory hurdles and the fact that Arm’s customers don’t want the deal. When the deal was announced we weren’t in the middle of a chip shortage or as focused on breaking up “Big Tech,” but in the current climate, it’s hard to see this acquisition going through. So Arm’s next best bet will likely be an IPO.  (FTC)

Real talk about 5G and a call to stop with all the Gs: For the last few years, the marketing around 5G has been relentless, such that many of us have become deeply skeptical as adoption and use of 5G stays relatively small. That’s why I was quick to click on this relatively old article calling for us to pause on the 6G development effort while we assess if 5G has actually delivered on its promise. It notes how hype over the development of new wireless standards can distort incentives and also directly addresses the failure of 5G to make a dent in IoT use cases. I don’t actually think we need to pause development on 6G, but I do think it’s a good reality check and a call for us to avoid burdening 6G with the hype that 5G has. (Cambridge Wireless)

Are you heading to CES? As the omicron variant spreads and it remains unclear how dangerous it actually is or how effective vaccines may be in preventing its transmission, companies are pulling out of CES. I had planned to be there, but even I am wavering in my commitment while I wait and see how much we learn over the next few weeks. This article claims that some 1,700 companies are attending, down from 4,500 in the pre-pandemic era. I know that several companies have reduced their plans to send people and many companies outside of the U.S. are planning to send their U.S. teams only and have them avoid the show floor entirely. Are you going? Take our survey and let me know. (Protocol)

Seattle researchers built a wearable to prevent opioid overdoses: Researchers at the University of Washington have built a device to track a person’s breathing and inject naloxone if it detects a lack of motion or breath. The device, which aims to prevent overdoses, is designed to be worn on the stomach of opioid users. A timely injection of naloxone is an effective way to save someone’s life, so this sort of wearable could have a huge impact if it were commercialized and made available (and if opioid users wore them). The CDC estimates that this past year, more than 100,000 Americans died of an opioid overdose, so any tool that could help seems worth investigating. (The Seattle Times)

Allegion Ventures has a new $100M fund dedicated to securing the IoT: This week, I wrote about Allegion Ventures (the parent company of Schlage locks) launching a second corporate venture fund with a focus on securing data and ensuring user privacy as the IoT grows. To read more, check out the story. (Stacey on IoT)