IoT news of the week for May 3, 2019

Organ transfer by drone: Societies are still figuring out the logistics associated with drone delivery. They are noisy, there’s not always a good place for them to land, and they may not be the most cost-effective or reliable option available. However, there are use cases where a drone delivery could make sense. Delivering organs for transplants is one of them. Organs have to get to their associated hospital quickly and traffic can impede those efforts. Helicopters are an option, but they are expensive. At the University of Maryland, researchers have built an organ delivery drone that includes redundancy on the drone itself (it would be terrible to lose an organ because a drone’s motor failed) and sensors that monitor the conditions of both the drone and the organ. In the case covered in this article, a kidney was transferred via drone and then successfully transplanted into a patient. This is an excellent example of how people need to think about bringing IT and the real world together. In this scenario, you can’t move fast and break things, but you can take the time to engineer products that will move fast and save lives. (Medgadget)

Speaking of drones, GE Aviation wants to make them more independent: GE Aviation has signed a partnership agreement with Auterion, which makes an open-source-based enterprise operating system for drones, to make it easier to build drones that can fly independently in crowded airspace. A combination of hardware and software is needed not just to build drones that can fly out of the operators’ line of sight, but to navigate them, especially as they share airspace with other aircraft (and with each other!). GE will provide the Aircraft System avionics platform and Auterion will offer its Enterprise PX4 operating system, which includes autopilot and application computing hardware, flight management, and safety management. The lesson here is that everything will need infrastructure. (ZDNet)

AT&T’s NB-IoT pricing looks pretty good: AT&T has launched its nationwide NB-IoT network, and says it’s working to bring module pricing to $5 and will charge roughly $5 per device per year for connectivity. While a $5 module price is still high compared with the cost of Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, it’s lower than these modules have previously cost and opens up new use cases. As to the connectivity pricing, it is more than reasonable for companies that are trying to deploy sensors to manage or track operations. I think companies might have 100,000 or more sensors to manage in a given campus or work environment, which means getting data from those devices via cellular connection would cost half a million a year. That’s reasonable and opens up a lot more use cases. (AT&T)

Microsoft announces some tweaks to products for the edge: Ahead of its annual Build Conference next week Microsoft made several announcements including a SQL server designed for edge computing environments and that it wants to bring its Plug and Play connection framework to the internet of things. The new edge database can run in both connected and disconnected environments which is great for areas or use cases with intermittent connectivity. With IoT Plug and Play, Microsoft is bringing in device manufacturers to work with it so customers can “plug” compatible devices into Microsoft’s cloud without requiring new code. (Microsoft)

Bots will fight bots on the cybersecurity front: This terrifying article posits that the rising complexity of organizations and their reliance on increasing technology in more places makes them impossible to secure. Yet, at the same time, more and more organizations are adding technology and connectivity to their operations — even as the ramifications of a hack on their businesses pose dangers to the lives of people. A Netflix or a bank hack is inconvenient, but a hack that causes a hospital or a nuclear power plant to fail is deadly. The increasing importance of technology inside these organizations in conjunction with the increasing complexity of that technology means that AI-based security is the solution. Even if you don’t agree, it’s still time to get on board, because hackers will soon use AI to penetrate systems and target their weak points. (GEN)

Piper has abandoned its IFTTT integration: Piper, which makes an eponymous, all-in-one alarm device that combines sensors and camera with an alarm, has canceled the device’s integration with the IFTTT service. Piper, which was purchased by Alarm.com two years ago, said that IFTTT “has changed its terms.” As a result, Piper said it’s no longer able to provide the integration. Nor does it plan to replace IFTTT with a similar service. This is a shame for folks who relied on IFTTT to link the Piper alarm to other devices in the home, such as lights or additional sensors. It’s also worrying for consumers who might buy a device based on the idea that it will work with other products in their home through outside integrations. (Piper)

What regulations should guard our medical data? This excellent article discusses the current state of the industry associated with medical and wellness data. It proposes that such data is valuable and should be treated with the respect given to medical specimens as opposed to someone’s marketing information. It also details the lack of regulatory oversight in this area and how ill-prepared consumers are to accurately give permission for use of these devices to companies. (The Lancet)

Factory automation taken to its worst extreme: Having sensors track conditions on a factory floor or in a fulfillment center can boost efficiency, but at what cost? Amazon is using automation and tracking software in its warehouses to track conditions, packages, and workers. And apparently, in some cases, Amazon has automated the fulfillment centers so much that even firing someone can happen by machine. I say this often, but when we start applying algorithms to operations, if we optimize only for efficiency and profitability we will create ever more inhumane places to work. Machines don’t have compassion, so it is incumbent upon us to build algorithms that optimize for the world we want to live in, not for the blind pursuit of profits. (The Verge)

Here’s a neat tip on how to defeat computer vision-based surveillance: Much like using makeup to obscure the features on your face, this method takes into account that computer vision is generally comparing features at specific points to figure out what or who something is. (MIT Review)

PTC buys Factora to help it get smart factory clients up and running: PTC, which provides automation, integration and augmented reality software for connected factories, has purchased a consulting company called Factora. The deal should help PTC address one of its biggest problems — namely that it can’t seem to hire enough qualified salespeople to sell the IoT to everyone who wants it. (CRN)

Awair raised $10 million: A few weeks back I said that poor indoor air quality is the new sitting, and now Awair, has raised $10 million to help expand from consumer indoor air quality monitoring devices to helping enterprises ensure their workers aren’t breathing in too much muck. (TechCrunch)