IoT news of the week for Jan. 27, 2023

How to think about your job as a data scientist: This isn’t a news brief so much as a recommendation to anyone who reads this newsletter and is interested in how to build AI models to go read this post. It’s a nice overview that links software development to solving existing business problems and to how companies should think about using existing automated machine learning tools such as Amazon’s SageMaker to help them automate business decisions. The goal of the post is to explain how to think about building models as a means to solve business problems, and give guidance on how to do so. I found it really helpful. (O’Reilly)

Will the CIO take over operations technology as well? This overview of a panel held earlier this month quotes Samsara’s CIO predicting that because of increasing digitization, traditional operational technology roles will converge with information technology roles. That isn’t new, but he adds that as this happens CIOs will take on the role of managing operations much like they do IT today. That’s a pretty bold prediction, especially in industries where OT is inextricably tied to the end product, such as in physical manufacturing. (Tech Republic)

Cognizant acquires a services firm to expand in the IoT: IT consulting firm Cognizant plans to acquire Mobica, an IoT software engineering firm, for an undisclosed amount. The deal is expected to close in February, and will add about 900 employees focused on embedded software engineering to Cognizant’s roster. Mobica provides services for companies working on connected devices and digital transformation, chips, and modern mobility platforms, all of which Cognizant would like to offer as the IoT becomes more enmeshed in business. (Arc Advisory Group)

Tado gets €43M in funding after failed SPAC: German smart thermostat company Tado has raised €43 million ($46.8 million) to help expand into smart energy management services. The funding comes in the wake of a failed attempt to go public via a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) last year. Tado is one of the earliest smart device companies, having formed in 2011, and it has a large presence in the European Union. In addition to adding energy management services it is also designing a thermostat for the rental market, which it plans to launch later this year. (Tech EU)

Nozomi Networks expands its IoT security monitoring to more devices: Nozomi Networks has introduced what it calls a security sensor to monitor more devices for security breaches. The Nozomi Arc isn’t actually a sensor, but a software agent that will run on Microsoft, Linux, and MacOS devices at the edge, which expands the capabilities of Nozomi’s IT/OT security monitoring product. The original product monitored network behavior, whereas the Arc takes that to computers and gateways inside the network. It doesn’t stretch as far down as individual programmable logic controllers or other embedded OT devices, but every little bit helps. (Nozomi Networks)

Amazon’s Blink has a new floodlight camera: Amazon has announced that it is now selling a new wired Blink floodlight camera for $99.99. The new camera provides 2,600 lumens of LED light and 1080p video quality, which is pretty good at that price. If buyers subscribe to Blink’s monthly service they can get person detection and cloud storage as well. There is local storage on the camera for storing clips. The camera is the first Blink-branded floodlight cam with integrated lighting (prior to this, one could purchase an additional floodlight mount for Blink outdoor cameras). (Amazon)

Serbia’s largest telecommunications provider builds a combined LoRaWAN and NB-IoT network: Telekom Srbija will build a Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) that uses both unlicensed LoRaWAN and licensed NB-IoT to provide connectivity. This combined network will use Actility’s ThingPark Wireless LPWAN service management platform and update to Telekom Srbija’s cellular network. I’m also seeing more of these combined cellular and LoRaWAN networks offered through new satellite players as opposed to traditional telcos. So maybe this will start a new trend in combined networks. (Actility)

Kevin was ready for an OTC hearing aid, but he did this instead: We’ve been excited about the potential for smartphones, machine learning, and better earbuds to help turn traditional earbuds into hearables. And now that the FDA has approved the sale of over-the-counter hearing aids, many companies making hearable devices are turning to making more traditional hearing aids. Kevin has played around with hearables before, and thought he might need to buy a traditional hearing aid, but he found out some tweaks to his AirPod Pro 2nd gen earbuds worked instead. (Stacey on IoT)