IoT news of the week for May 31, 2019

An inside look at device production and citizen tracking in China: There have been numerous news reports over the years detailing the hardships of building connected devices in China. And more recently, we’ve heard about China’s efforts to track citizens and assign them social scores. But this video takes an even deeper look at both of these situations in Shenzhen, particularly from the perspective of non-native entrepreneurs. One marketing manager from Carv, which makes a digital skiing coach device, received a jaywalking citation that was automatically paid through his WeChat account within 20 seconds of illegally crossing the street! (Bloomberg)

Microsoft connects another IoT customer to Azure: As of last year, Tuya, a China-based IoT platform provider, hosted its services with AWS. But that presents problems for Tuya customers that compete with Amazon, such as Walmart. Microsoft and Tuya are now partnering to bring Tuya’s AI + IoT platform to Azure Cloud by the third quarter of this year. It’s a win for both companies. Tuya will have another cloud platform to power smart lights, cameras, and humidifiers to its 93,000 existing customers, while Microsoft will grab another Azure IoT win. (Tuya)

It’s getting easier to build Zigbee products for every hub: First proposed in 2017, the Zigbee Alliance announced its All Hubs Initiative this week, with supporting changes that will become part of the official Zigbee 3.1 specification. The idea is to offer common Zigbee features at the application and network layers of the spec so that device makers can more easily earn the “Works with“ badge for smart home hubs from Amazon, Samsung, Philips Hue, Ikea, and others. Better interoperability for Zigbee? Sounds good to me. (Zigbee Alliance)

Improved Philips Hue light switches inbound: Speaking of making Zigbee products easier, Silicon Labs is collaborating with Signify, the company behind Philips Hue, to extend the Friends of Hue program. Silicon Labs is defining the Zigbee cluster and offering software to bring advanced light switch functionality into the Philips Hue app, then helping to deploy firmware updates through the Hue cloud. (Silicon Labs)

Share your data and earn some cash: I’ve long understood the Google service model; I give the company personal information and it provides more useful services. But what if you want actual currency for that data? Turns out you can do it, although not through Google. Look to startup data exchanges such as UBDI, which sells the insights from your data, not the actual data itself. UBDI stands for Universal Basic Data Income and the company says the insights from your personal data and marketing surveys, anonymously aggregated with other users, could be worth hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, per year. I may just sign up for the beta, although currently you only earn UBDI currency that can be exchanged for cash starting later this year. (Slate)

Is it just me or has smart home innovation gotten stale? That’s the question I posed earlier this week in a blog post, mainly because I was thinking back to January’s Consumer Electronics Show and all of the AI/ML announcements since then. Yes, there have been a slew of them, yet our smart homes aren’t really any smarter. And most of the recently released connected devices haven’t really tickled my enthusiasm as most are small iterations of existing devices and products. Add in more and more movement towards platform consolidation between Amazon and Google and maybe you’ll agree with me. Or not. (StaceyOnIoT)

Schneider Electric invests in AutoGrid: You may not have heard about AutoGrid but the company has likely heard about you — or at least your energy usage. AutoGrid makes 10 million AI predictions about energy usage every 10 minutes; its platform is used by seven of the 10 largest energy utilities to manage their assets. Schneider Electric sees potential here, investing this week in AutoGrid through its Schneider Electric Ventures, part of the company’s newly formed Innovation at the Edge Program. Although the investment amount is undisclosed, it’s enough to make Schneider Electric a “major shareholder” in AutoGrid. Schneider Electric says it plans to combine its data centers and manufacturing with AutoGrid’s deep AI and machine learning expertise for increased energy savings. (AutoGrid)

Amazon puts out a smaller Show for $90: The smart display screen wars seem to be heating up as of late. Amazon kicked them off with the original Echo Show, only to be followed by Smart Displays from Google hardware partners and then Google itself with the Google Home Hub (now the Nest Hub) last year. Lenovo shrunk the screen with its $80 Smart Clock back in January, and now Amazon has debuted a similar product. Next month you can buy the Echo Show 5 with 5.5-inch screen for your nightstand. One key difference between the $90 Echo Show 5 and Lenovo’s Smart Clock: Amazon’s new device includes a camera with a shutter cover. No thanks, Alexa. (Amazon)

ARM explains edge computing. We talk about edge computing all the time but the concept can mean different things to different people. That’s why this explainer from ARM is worth a read. It provides a solid overview of the edge and real-world examples of how edge computing reduces costs, provides quick, actionable information, and illustrates use cases when edge computing does, or doesn’t, make sense. (IoT World Today)

You can talk to Google, which can talk to your GE Microwave: GE’s $144 smart microwave already had Amazon Alexa integration, but now you can tell Google to zap your food, too. GE added the Google Assistant option this week, so if you have this cooker you can link your GE Appliances and Google Home apps for voice controls. You can’t do that with the Amazon Alexa Microwave that debuted last year. Oh, and I’d like to see even more of these dual-personality gadgets so that consumers don’t get locked into a single digital assistant platform. (GE Appliances)