IoT news of the week for Nov. 25, 2022

Sony Semiconductor offers a new, power-efficient cellular modem for the IoT: Sony has a new modem that lets IoT devices connect via cellular, Low-Power Wide-Area Networks such as LoRa, satellite or hybrid communication channels. The chip, called the ALT1350, is optimized to reduce power consumption by 80% in standby mode when compared to the current generation and by 85% when using it to send short messages. The chip also supports both sub-gigahertz (GHz) and 2.4 GHz bands for a variety of connectivity protocols and has a secure element, a sensor hub, and local machine learning. Currently, the device is sampling to lead customers; it will become commercially available during 2023. (Sony)

Did a software update brick your Cync by GE lights? If so, you’re not alone. Savant, the company that owns the GE Cync brand of lights, sent a software update to more than 6,000 consumers and an unlucky few apparently saw the update brick their switches and lights. I reached out to Savant to discover what happened, and a spokesman acknowledged the problem and said the issue affected a few owners of the first generation Cync No Neutral Wire Smart Switch Dimmers. He added that the company has identified the bug and tried to limit its impact. the GE Cync service team is already shipping the newest version of the product out to users who have reported an issue(s) and is proactively reaching out to users who could potentially have been affected. And in a extremely friendly gesture, the spokesman emailed that, “We’ll also be following that up with a package of complimentary Cync products to express our gratitude to our users who have been impacted for their patience and understanding.” Other brands, take notes.  — Reporting by S. Higginbotham

You can buy Amazon’s sleep tracking lamp now: In September, Amazon announced a connected light that tracks a user’s sleep and wakes them up using a gradually brightening light. The device also connects to Amazon’s Halo fitness service and Alexa. If this seems like an awesome device for you, you can now shell out $139.99 for the light and six months of the Amazon Halo fitness service. I’ve tried sunrise lamps before, and they can be lovely for people who like to wake up that way. I’ve also tried bedside sleep trackers. I prefer my Fitbit, but people who snore and anyone who doesn’t want to sleep with a watch may find bedside trackers to be more user-friendly. That said, this product seems like it was built to convince people that Amazon has a complete wellness portfolio and so they should use the Halo subscription service. But the price is somewhat high for what you get, and the fact that the wake-up alarm based on your sleep tracking requires an ongoing subscription seems like something few people would want. (Amazon)

Microsoft discovers vulnerability in ancient software that affects IoT: This week Microsoft said it had identified critical vulnerabilities in the Boa Web server, which has been discontinued since 2005. Despite this software being older than my child (who can legally drive a car), older than the iPhone, and older than cloud computing (AWS launched EC2 in 2006), it is still used in industrial control systems. Microsoft says Chinese hackers used this vulnerability as recently as October to attack an Indian power plant. As for mitigation, since this software is so out-of-date, there are few patches available, but Microsoft also recommends identifying whether or not it’s in use, and then being very diligent about monitoring for malicious code. Basically, keep an eye on it. Ugh. (Dark Reading)

Soracom applies to go public: Soracom, an IoT connectivity provider owned by Japanese telco KDDI, has applied to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. As part of its sales pitch it said it has 5 million IoT connections. This is good, but honestly, I really hoped there would be more. If we’re going to have billions of connected devices globally anytime soon, we need to get more stuff online. (Enterprise IoT Insights)

Company using AI and sensors in hospitals gets $27M: Care.ai, a startup that is deploying sensors and artificial intelligence in hospitals to monitor patients, has received $27 million led by Crescent Cove Advisors. While companies ranging from ADT to Amazon are trying to deploy AI and sensors in homes for monitoring seniors, Care.ai has set its sights on hospitals and assisted living facilities. The company provides an array of sensors, including those designed for fall detection and to monitor a patient’s position in bed so as to prevent bed sores. It also tracks how patients and staff move throughout a facility. I think these sorts of solutions are probably necessary given the burden of care that’s falling on understaffed hospitals, but I am leery of having a system like this deployed without regulations governing its security and privacy. (MobiHealthNews)

Pretty much everything you need to know about Matter: Look, we have exhaustively covered the Matter smart home interoperability protocol since the idea was announced three years ago, but for those who haven’t been following along, The Verge has pulled together a giant list of FAQs and device makers’ plans for the standard. So if you are just now paying attention or don’t want to look all over the web, it’s a great place to start. (The Verge)

This is the quote of the year: “We don’t claim that we know what the metaverse is, but we have an idea of what it could be and we want to shape it,” said Peter Korte, chief technology and strategy officer at Siemens, at the company’s Siemensstadt industrial complex in Berlin. Same, Peter. Same. (Computer Weekly)

Oh look, the Goodnight Lamp is back! The Goodnight Lamp, an internet-connected lamp that came in pairs, was a design that Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino came up with almost 20 years ago and was produced back in 2012. When one person in the pair turned their lamp on, the other lamp in the pair would turn on. The idea was that in an unobtrusive way you could share your life with another person who was far away simply by seeing when they turned their lamp on and off. This refresh of the idea involves the pairing of a connected outlet and a small replica of an electric kettle that lights up. When the person turns on the electric kettle that’s plugged into the connected outlet, the replica kettle located elsewhere lights up in a specific color. The idea here is that you can track if a person is up and about simply by checking to see what color the paired kettle light is. (Russell Davies)