Hey Disney, are you in my Alexa? Amazon and Disney announced a partnership for the former company’s Amazon Echo devices and this week, we see, or rather hear, about the deal. You can now say “Hey, Disney!” to a supported Alexa smart speaker thanks to the first Amazon Custom Assistant implementation. Technically, this is called the Disney Magical Companion and it not only comes with Disney-related information, but a subscription fee to use it. However, this is a nominal $5.99 yearly fee for the skill to enable Disney’s companion. You, or your kids, can hear Disney-related stories, voices, play-along adventures, and music. It’s a smart move by Disney as it can get more of its content into the millions of homes that already have Amazon Echo devices. And I suspect Amazon gets a percentage of the revenue to help add revenue to its Alexa business unit. (Amazon) — Kevin C. Tofel
So long third-party Google Assistant games and apps: Ironically, as Amazon is adding a new revenue stream, Google is eliminating one. This week saw the sunsetting of third-party voice apps and games on the Google Nest Hub. This isn’t breaking news. Google announced the plan a year ago; it’s only now finally implementing it. So if your Nest Hub speaker suddenly doesn’t work when trying to access a voice app or game, don’t contact Google Support because this wind down is the reason. (9to5 Google) — Kevin C. Tofel
A hidden Bluetooth radio comes alive: Good news for the tinkerers who own a $6 Raspberry Pi Pico W module. Until now you had to use the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi radio for connectivity. But guess what? The Infineon CYW43439 chipset on the Pico W that provides Wi-Fi also supports Bluetooth 5.2. And on Wednesday, a new firmware version enabled the Bluetooth functionality. So there’s no need to buy a new microcontroller board to get this additional wireless connectivity. Just update your Pico W to the latest firmware and you’re good to go! (Raspberry Pi) — Kevin C. Tofel
Will there be an Apple Vision headset for non-pros? I can’t say I’m surprised by this news, but Apple reportedly plans to release a less expensive version of its spatial computing headset in 2025. As we already know, the Apple Vision Pro will arrive in early 2024 with an eye-popping $3,499 price tag. My take is that Apple plans to use the actions of affluent customers who buy the Vision Pro as a learning tool. It can then refine future models based on its understanding of what features are and aren’t important to consumers. With that knowledge, a cheaper model for the masses could follow, perhaps with fewer sensors, a lower-resolution display, and perhaps the older Apple M1 chip to power it. (9to5 Mac) — Kevin C. Tofel
Speaking of Apple, Siri may get gaze detection: We all know that Apple, among other companies, files for patents that never see the light of day. I think this one might, however. The company was granted a patent for “device control using gaze information.” Amazon and Google may have a thing to say about that since both offer smart displays that can detect when a user is looking at the screen. The idea here is to solve the problem where spoken words fall short. Sometimes saying “Hey, Siri” in a location with multiple speakers doesn’t activate the nearest device. Adding gaze detection to future Apple speakers would go a long way toward resolving that challenge. (Apple Insider) — Kevin C. Tofel
Cox launches service to track industrial assets: Cox, which has its own IoT network called Cox2M (I wrote about it back in 2018), has created a new service called GearTrack. GearTrack does what the name suggests; it lets industrial manufacturers track their components, parts, or finished goods. The service works both indoors and out and uses LoRaWAN for most customers, although some customers also use cellular as well. Enterprise and industrial asset tracking is a huge use case that makes use of all sorts of connectivity including Bluetooth LE, 5G, Wi-Fi, and existing LPWANs. (Cox Communications) — Stacey Higginbotham
ABB to purchase Eve in what I think is a strange deal: Industrial giant ABB said it would purchase Eve Systems, a maker of consumer smart home devices. The deal is positioned about smart energy, but ABB isn’t a consumer-facing brand, so it’s strange that it would purchase Eve, which is solely consumer-oriented. Eve will run as a separate business inside ABB, and ABB is keen to get more into smart building management, but however this came to pass, it’s odd. (Stacey on IoT) — Stacey Higginbotham
Kevin reviewed Microsoft’s DeviceScript for programming IoT devices: Programming an Arduino is a pain, and there are plenty of tools to make it easier, but for web-savvy developers Microsoft’s DeviceScript might be a good option if you want to tackle an IoT project or two. See what it’s all about. (Stacey on IoT) — Stacey Higginbotham
This guy hates the phrase industrial metaverse as much as I do: Nothing else to say, but this is a good essay. (RCR Wireless) — Stacey Higginbotham