IoT news of the week for Oct. 18,2019

IoT devices will give a boost to PKI certificates: One of the popular ways to secure a connected device is to keep a secret identity stored on a secure portion of the chip and then check that identity against a certificate stored in the cloud. There are different ways of doing this, as I wrote about a few weeks back, but the point of this survey from nCipher is that connected devices are indeed driving the increased use of certificates. The report also brings up a looming challenge associated with this model: there’s no real function in the enterprise to manage certificates and this sort of security. (nCipher)

John Chambers’ new startup Pensando raised $145M for edge computing: For more than a decade, a cluster of four engineers at Cisco created innovative hardware companies that were spun out of the networking giant and then brought back in-house once the inventions were tested in the market. But those four engineers left Cisco a few years ago, after CEO John Chambers departed. They’re back now with a company called Pensando Systems, which Chambers is chairing, and $145 million in new funding from HPE and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Pensando is trying to tackle computing at the edge by creating the right mix of energy-efficient networking, compute, and storage that makes sense for the demands of the IoT. (VentureBeat)

Here’s a new worry about connected devices: I wasn’t prepared for the direction this story took. At first I thought it would chastise folks for deploying software that rendered malware-infected IoT devices useless as a way to stop the malware from spreading or more devices becoming part of a botnet. But the article veered off that path to caution that the software used to remotely brick infected devices represents a significant threat all on its own. Because the malware doesn’t distinguish between devices, it could take a networked infusion pump off a hospital network as easily as a networked camera. One of those devices is pretty critical, so the concern is that using and building software to remotely brick gear is irresponsible and dangerous. (Dark Reading)

Nanoleaf lights try for a Hue-like TV-experience: Nanoleaf has announced desktop software that will let your Nanoleaf lights complement the lighting on the computer monitor or on a television plugged into the computer. The goal is to get the lights around your television or computer (if that’s where you have placed the Nanoleaf lighting panels) to pick up the colors in the screen and then choose one of four different lighting modes to enhance the surrounding space. However, for this to work on a TV you have to plug it into a computer running the desktop app, and Netflix content played through a Mac won’t work. Hue has done something similar with its own lighting strips and bulbs. (Cnet)

Are you ready for ambient AI? I have spent hundreds of words this week talking about ambient computing, but what happens when the sensors on those devices are capable of running a variety of AI models to detect things such as glass breaking, your family’s faces, or even the sound of a baby in distress? Then what we’ll have is this concept of ambient AI, where a device with a multitude of sensors can use the data it gathers to determine what’s happening in the home. Amazon introduced this with its Guard service on Amazon Echos; the Echo devices can listen for the sound of glass breaking and alert their owners. But as researchers at the University of Washington have shown, mics could also pick up the sound of a baby having trouble breathing, which could then turn Alexa into a night nurse capable of waking up a new parent if their newborn is struggling. Granted, I don’t believe this feature is ready for the public market just yet, but think about how many dedicated devices in your home might one day be supplanted by an ambient AI. (Geekwire)

Sequans has a new, lost-cost NB-IoT chip: One of the challenges of today’s IoT is finding a Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) that is easy to use and relatively inexpensive. Cellular can be easy to use because the network coverage is handled by the carrier, but the radios that go inside devices can be pricey. Connectivity can be pricey too, although carriers are trying to offer cheaper and more innovative plans. With a new chip from Sequans (the Monarch NB02S) a high level of integration should enable customers to buy the module for less than $5 at high volumes. The sub-$5 price point is an important one for companies trying to build relatively low-cost devices that can take advantage of the cellular NB-IoT networks, so when this chip starts hitting customers’ hands later next year it should enable new NB-IoT products for mid-2020 and beyond. (BusinessWire)

Zebra has seen a huge jump in company-wide IoT adoption: Zebra, which makes a variety of RFID products for retail, logistics, manufacturing, and sports customers, has issued its third annual report on what it calls “The Intelligent Enterprise.” The report has some excellent facts inside, but one that jumped out at me was that across verticals, 46% of businesses deployed IoT solutions company-wide, an increase of 8% from 2018. That’s a significant growth in company-wide deployments, and signals that vendors trying to sell IoT are getting better and their customers are likely getting more familiar with the challenges of implementing big IoT projects. (Zebra)

Check out the Mind Your Own Business Act: Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has unveiled an updated federal privacy law that would protect consumers from the misuse of their data. The law allows customers to sue firms who misuse data, gives the Federal Trade Commission power to issue large fines to companies that misuse consumer data, and also forces companies to be more transparent about the data they collect and what they use it for. There are lots of other things in this bill to like, such as trying to prevent companies from turning privacy into a luxury good by allowing people to pay more to opt out of tracking. We have to do something, and while I think most of the ideas here won’t gain ground with the industry or other lawmakers, it’s a very positive start for consumers. (Vice)

Google Assistant is Alphabet’s future: Kevin Tofel went to the Google device event this week in New York City and walked away impressed with how the company is pulling together data from its various hardware products to develop a real sense of context about the user. That context will help Google deliver a smarter home, a smarter Assistant, and even better productivity software. (StaceyonIoT)

Why Google needs to lock down its Nest ecosystem: As Google focuses on building a story around Google Assistant as an intelligence designed to help you in the home, office, or on the go, it needs to lock down the world of myriad smart home devices made by Nest. I explain how Google is doing it and what it means for the smart home in a story from earlier this week. (StaceyonIoT)