IoT news of the week for Oct. 13, 2017

Brilliant Home Technology nabs $21M in additional funding: After raising an initial $3M from SV Tech Ventures, The Box Group, and Miramar Ventures, smart lighting company Brilliant announced a $21M Series A round of funding this week. This round was led by August Capital with Miramar Ventures, The Box Group, and the Stanford-StartX Fund also participating. Brilliant expects to use the investment to expand both retail channels and partnerships as well as additional R&D. Brilliant’s take on the smart light switch is different than most. The large touch screen display is used to show weather in addition to controlling music, climate, lights and other products. The Brilliant switch also has a camera and microphone for video chatting and speaking to Amazon’s Alexa, which is built in. Brilliant switches will work with Google Assistant, Sonos, Ring doorbells, both Wink and SmartThings hubs, plus WeMo products and more when it becomes available early next year. (Brilliant)

There’s money in smart public restrooms too: Speaking of funding, here’s a name that got some more: Tooshlights. The company provides indicator lights that are wirelessly connected to bathroom stall latches so “you know where to go.” The idea here is to expedite and optimize public restroom traffic flows at restaurants, stadiums and other large venues. Tooshlights raised $3M in a Series A round led by Texas-based convenience store Buc-ee’s, LTD. I’d surely find it convenient to see that green “your toilet is available” light while on a road trip.

Czech out this NB-IoT network: While some countries are still just planning or testing NB-IoT (Narrowband IoT) networks, the Czech Republic has one fully implemented through Vodafone. The nationwide network meant specifically for smart devices and sensors was built using 4,000 LTE transmitters. In July, Vodafone announced the network was running in parts Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and České Budějovice with the expectation of full coverage this fall. It’s nice to see a network rollout that meets a schedule! (DSL.cz)

Samsung’s newest smart wearables arrive October 27: Samsung dipped an early toe in the smart connected wearable waters, long before the Apple Watch. The first products were a bit of a let down — I know because I either tested or bought them — but with each iteration, Samsung has made strong improvements. The latest devices will be generally available later this month in the U.S. Samsung’s $299.99 Gear Sport is a Tizen-based watch that works with any recent Android phone (and some iPhones, although functionality will be limited) for health tracking, notifications and apps. The $199.99 Gear IconX 2018 headphones are Samsung’s second take on truly wireless earbuds with up to six hours of music listening; you can even store music locally on the 4 GB of memory found in each little bud. An accelerometer will track your running too, although I’ll still stick with my Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE for that, thanks to the dedicated GPS and ability to take or make calls on the run. (Samsung)

Don’t touch that Google Home Mini: After a reviewer reported that his Google Home Mini was recording everything he said, Google decided to completely disable part of the hardware. Now you won’t be able to tap the top of that lovely custom mesh cover on a Mini to activate the Google Assistant. Instead, you’ll have to speak the wake word, just like you do with the original Google Home. The other touch controls for volume will still be active, however. Initially, I questioned if the issue was software glitch because the new device has to share most of the same code base as the Google Home and Google Assistant app. Turns out, it wasn’t software — it appears to be a problem with the touch mechanism — so it can’t be fixed with an software update. (Google)

Alexa now knows everyone in your family: Google Home learned how to recognize different voices in April, and now Alexa can do it too. Each family member will have to train Alexa from an Echo product or in the Alexa mobile app. The idea here is that information will tailored towards the person asking for it. While I appreciate the new feature, I’m more interested in the bigger picture. Google’s Home and Amazon’s Echo products are now in a battle to gain comparable features. But this parity isn’t the real war: Each wants to take control of the user interface and smart ecosystem inside the home. (The Verge)

Don’t count Microsoft Cortana out just yet: While we’re on the subject of smart digital assistants, it’s worth noting that Microsoft added smart home voice controls to Cortana on Windows 10 PCs as well as in the Cortana mobile app for Android and iOS. This early effort is really just a foot in the door of your smarthome as there aren’t many partner integrations just yet. However, Microsoft took the wise approach of launching with both Wink and SmartThings control. And it’s even smarter to get Cortana’s smarts on phones rather than just PCs — most people have their always on smartphone with them around the house while many computers languish in their own rooms or aren’t always turned on. (StaceyOnIoT)

Yale’s Assure Locks get an Apple HomeKit add-on: For the iOS homes out there, Yale has introduced its $49.95 new iM1 Network Module for Assure Locks that add HomeKit support. I like this approach because it’s not an additional bridge or hub that you add on your home network. Instead, this small module plugs directly into your Assure lock underneath the lock housing, so you’ll never see it. Handy! (Yale)

First code release for EdgeX Foundry arrives: EdgeX Foundry, a vendor-neutral open IoT framework hosted by The Linux Foundation, recently delivered its first major code release. Announced in April, the “Barcelona” version includes key API stabilization, better code quality, reference Device Services supporting protocols that include BACNet, Modbus, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), MQTT, SNMP, and Fischertechnik. Essentially, the framework will help provide interoperability in between smart devices and the cloud at the edge of network. Think embedded PCs, hubs, gateways, and routers all able to communicate easily for the internet of things. (SD Times)

Here’s a primer for 5G and IoT: Here in the U.S. we first saw 4G LTE service in December 2010 and we’re already on the cusp of 5G networks and millions of sensors coming online. This commentary from InformationWeek is a high level but informative take on what that means in general, as well as for IoT. The whole article is a worth a read for network n00bs but this concise insight struck me as core reason for the internet of things: “In fact, what will matter the most about the IoT is not the devices themselves, but rather the analytics that will make sense of the data, identifying problems needing to be solved, finding opportunities to improve operational efficiencies, and spotting previously unseen patterns.” (InformationWeek)