IoT news of the week for July 7, 2023

I would love for this to be about smart building devices: Amazon’s David Limp has posted a teaser on LinkedIn asking folks to mark their calendars for September 20, when the Devices & Services team will “share a bit more of what we’ve been working on.” He says the event will happen at Amazon’s HQ2 in Virginia, which is a bummer for this Seattle-area reporter, as I would love to see Amazon showing off devices that help make offices and larger buildings smarter. Amazon may have gotten into the smart home with Alexa, but its enterprise credibility is strong. Plus, the lessons it has learned building Alexa, the launch of the low-power sidewalk network, and the ability to create a smarter building during construction means Amazon may have a new direction to show us. Or maybe it’s just an Echo with a new shape. (LinkedIn)

Nvidia acquires TinyML startup OmniML: The Information discovered that Nvidia acquired OmniML back in February in what might be a big win for startups focused on providing small machine learning models designed to run on constrained devices such as gateways or even sensors. I first ran into OmniML at the TinyML Summit in 2022, where it was showing off its Omnimizer platform, which helps build smaller models that can run on devices with less processing power. The deal makes sense for Nvidia if we envision it wanting to control not just the chips for training and running inference for machine learning, but also having the tools to rebuild a trained model to run on a robot or a camera. It’s also an indication Nvidia thinks the concept of edge ML or TinyML is worth investing in. (The Information, paywall)

Unabiz signs connectivity deal with Soracom: UnaBiz just keeps racking up the distribution agreements. This time, the LPWAN provider has signed a distribution deal with Soracom to sell access to Soracom’s global cellular network, which has access enabled by 350 mobile carriers across 170 countries. Soracom provides NB-IoT connectivity, but also 2G, 3G, and LTE connectivity. In fact, the UnaBiz LTE button I tested earlier this year uses Soracom for the LTE connection. Soracom was also an early investor in UnaBiz. Additionally, there are reports that UnaBiz is seeking an additional $100 million in funding. (UnaBiz)

Cavli Wireless raises $10 million for easier IoT connectivity: You’d think that a decade into covering the IoT I wouldn’t still be writing about startups getting funded for making a combined connectivity module and management platform, but that’s exactly what Cavli Wireless does. The startup just raised $10 million from Chiratae Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures for its modules that combine a variety of cellular modems into a single module. It also provides a management platform. It’s true: Even today connectivity is still tough for companies trying to deploy connected devices or build connected products.  (Economic Times)

There is a critical medical device vulnerability affecting software for a Medtronic pacemaker: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is calling attention to a critical vulnerability that affects Medtronic’s Paceart Optima software. The pacemaker itself isn’t at risk; the vulnerability is in the software that manages data from patient devices and runs on a Windows server inside a hospital or doctor’s office. Hackers could steal patient data and use the vulnerability to access the hospital’s network. The good news is the vulnerability is in an optional messaging feature of the software that isn’t enabled by default. The bad news is hospitals are terrible when it comes to patching their software. Medtronic has issued a patch and will work with medical organizations to implement it. (The Record)

Telit Cinterion is getting out of the car connectivity business: Telit Cinterion, a company formed a year ago when Thales sold its cellular IoT business to Telit, has sold off its automotive IoT business to another IoT player: Kontron AG. Telit Cinterion will sell off its cellular automotive wireless communication modules, covering 4G LTE and 5G modems. This will leave Telit Cinterion to focus on industrial IoT, energy, telematics, e-health, broadband, and security & surveillance. I don’t know how to feel about this deal given that connected cars were some of the first large-scale IoT devices to get connectivity. I suppose it’s pretty mature at this point. (Telit Cinterion)

Forget AI; The EU has come together on the European Data Act: Last week, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU agreed to rules on how to use and access data in the form of the European Data Act. The act governs data generated from smart objects, machines, and devices and lets both manufacturers of said products and consumers who purchase those products govern how their data is used. It also carves out portability rules and lets consumers use the data generated by connected devices they purchase. For example, this means your fitness tracker has to provide ways to pull data from the device into other services for use. Or a washing machine must make data about electricity use available for consumers to port to services, if the manufacturers also track that data. The law also attempts to prevent larger companies, or companies with a “stronger bargaining position” from unfairly demanding data or creating a “contractual imbalance.” This sort of thing happened often with Amazon demanding startups share data about connected devices that work with Alexa, even if the device wasn’t getting activated through Alexa. The law also provides ways for companies to get paid for making data available and makes an attempt to protect trade secrets. The final step before this becomes law is that both sides must now respectively approve the rules they agreed to. (The European Data Act)

EchoStar has signed a slew of customers for its LoRa/Satellite service: Several companies signed on to upgrade their existing field sensors to use EchoStar’s IoT satellite service as a backup to the existing LoRaWAN service these companies were already using.  API-K, Cyric, DalesLandNet, Dryad, Galaxy1, ProEsys and Symes can update existing gear with EchoStar’s Mobile EM2050 dual-mode satellite-terrestrial module to add the connectivity or use the module in new equipment knowing that it can then share data up to the internet using LoRa if it’s available and satellite if it isn’t. (EchoStar)