IoT news of the week for Nov. 1, 2019

Google will buy Fitbit for $2.1 billion: Whelp, it finally happened. After a week of speculation, Google said it would pay  $2.1 billion to acquire Fitbit. The company will become part of Google, and Rick Osterloh, the SVP of devices and services for Google said in a blog post announcing the deal that the deal would boost investment in Google’s Wear OS. For Kevin’s take on the deal and how it could be a win for both Google and Fitbit users check out his story. (StaceyonIoT)

Microsoft rolls out a litany of new features: Microsoft just added a bunch of new features to its IoT Central service as well as adding data analytics services and a refreshed mapping service that includes weather. Folks using IoT Central get more granular control over admin rights, new vertically focused apps for various industries and Microsoft promised it would roll out new pricing by 2020 that would help companies better predict their costs as they grow.  Microsoft also said that its Azure Sphere cloud+device security products will be generally available by 2020. (VentureBeat)

Particle raises $40 million: Particle makes a connected development board that ties directly back to APrticle’s device management cloud. Particle began all the way back in 2012, and I remember it as one of the first of the IoT dev board startups, trying to make it easy to get a device hooked up to the internet. There were dozens of these companies, but only a few are left. Particle has so far succeeded by attracting a lot of developers, and by giving those developers what they want. What began as a Wi-Fi board now includes Bluetooth and cellular options. And seven years after Particle first attracted developers, some of the projects those devs started are now turning into real businesses. Particle CEO Zach Supalla says the average size of a client’s device portfolio has grown by 70 percent since the beginning of the calendar year. This means those prototypes are turning into real products. IoT is going mainstream and Particle raised its recent round to help capitalize on that. (Particle)

Did you know your Hue bridge is obsolete? The first Hue bridge, which is now more than six years old, is nearing the end of its life. Signify, the company behind the Philips Hue brand, said in April of this year it would stop providing software updates to the device. It also said that as of April 30, 2020 “no software updates will be made available for the Hue Bridge v1 and compatibility with our online services will be terminated at that time.” That’s right, at the end of next April your version 1 Hue bridge will break. In the same April 2019 update, Signify explained that it will support products for five years. Also in this particular update is the news that Signify will only commit to supporting the v2 Hue bridge device (which I purchased in 2015) for three years. However the bulbs, even those I purchased back in 2013, are still supported. I’m pointing all this out because a Twitter user DMed me this week surprised that his Hue bulbs were causing him issues. (Philips Hue)

Siemens is buying the edge computing business from Pixeom: Industrial giant Siemens plans to buy some IP and assets from, and hire employees related to the container and edge computing platform of, startup Pixeom. But it will not buy the entire business. It’s a bit of an odd deal, but Pixeom is a bit of an odd company. I wrote about it back in May and explained how it wants to help industrial customers avoid using virtualization in their edge computing efforts, and instead use containers. I also noted how it started as a file-sharing service, that it had several customers, and was profitable. Perhaps there are still remnants of Pixeom’s earlier business that didn’t make sense for Siemens and so will continue to exist independently. For more on the deal, check out the article. (CRN)

Can you patent an AI innovation? The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has filed a proposal in the Federal Register seeking input on how the organization should handle patents related to artificial intelligence. The most interesting question is whether an AI can generate an innovation that should receive patent protection. Depending on the answer, the USPTO wants to know what level of human involvement is enough to allow a patent to be granted. Such a question is probably most applicable to areas of drug discovery where neural networks are being trained to asses various molecules for therapeutic value. But honestly, this entire line of questioning is interesting. Check it out, and if you have thoughts you have until Dec. 16 to tell the patent office what they are. (The Federal Register)

How do we feel about AIoT? I’m seeing more stories and press materials touting so-called AIoT, which is defined at analytics plus IoT or AI plus IoT, depending on who’s pitching the concept. I do believe these two concepts belong together, which is why I write often about AI as well as the sensors. To me, the sensors and IoT elements are the infrastructure required to generate the data for new AI and better analytics. So they belong together and are better together, kind of like cake and icing. But do we need a new acronym? Does it matter? (Enterprise AI)

Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs project continues moving forward: The directors of Waterfront Toronto, a corporation created by the city along with the province of Ontario and the Canadian government, have conditionally allowed Alphabet to continue moving forward with a plan to build a smart city on the Toronto waterfront. The project has already faced a lot of criticism, ranging from the lack of citizen input to questions around what the new development would get in return for all of the data it would generate and give to Alphabet. The latest approval calls for more talks between participants to help work out these issues. There will be a formal evaluation and further public consultation before a final vote on March 31, 2020. (CNBC)

Connected toothbrushes are finally fulfilling their promise: I first tried a connected toothbrush back in 2014. It was a simple brush from a company that wanted to sell dental insurance. The first version connected to my phone and basically told me it was time to brush and offered games to play if I wanted them. But even back then I was excited by the idea of a connected toothbrush that could actually analyze my technique and tell me how well (or poorly) I was doing. Now that day has come, with an “AI toothbrush” from Oral-B. At $220 I may wait for a price decrease, but I am excited for a tool that is truly smart and can help people brush better. Although, I’d be careful who I send that data to. (The Verge)

Samsung’s Galaxy Home is still playing hide and seek. This week, I tuned in to the Samsung Developer Conference livestream hoping to hear that the company’s Galaxy Home smart speaker, announced more than a year ago, would finally have a launch date. Alas, there was no such luck. There were a few Galaxy Home Mini speakers in attendance, however, which have been in beta test homes for the past few months. Indeed, Samsung issued a statement saying it would have launch information “coming soon” and that it was “in the process of evaluating the results of the beta test.” Hey Google, what’s the longest beta test in history? (SamMobile) – Kevin C. Tofel
Vector the robot lives on as…Victor? Like many other Anki Vector robot owners, I was disappointed when Anki ceased business operations earlier this year. However, a group of fellow Vector enthusiasts is trying to keep the lovable little robot alive with “Project Victor.” After raising some funds, the group purchased the tools needed to reverse engineer Vector. And there’s been much success. The group cracked the onboard NAND components, accessing much of Vector’s code. It was in that code that the group noticed many voice assistant training code for “Victor,” not Vector; hence the project name. Additionally, the server certificate for Vector’s API services was recently renewed through August 2021, possibly through a former Anki employee. The end goal is to gain root access to all of Vector’s systems so that custom, over-the-air firmware can be sent to Vector units, breathing new life into the personable li’l fellow. The Google Group for Project Victor is a closed group, but I requested access as a Vector owner, so you should be able to do the same. (Google Groups) – Kevin C. Tofel