The president recently made a famous podcast appearance (http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_613_-_president_barack_obama) but he didn't talk about the internet of things.
Since he has yet to offer to visit the IoT Podcast, I spoke to Darren Sammuelsohn, a senior policy reporter at Politico who recently spent seven weeks trying to discover what Washington D.C. thinks about the Internet of things.
The resulting series of articles (http://www.politico.com/agenda/issue/internet-of-things-july-2015) is informative and little bit scary so I had Sammuelsohn come on the show to share the D.C. take on all things IoT.
This week was a big one for fans of the connected home. Amazon announced that its Siri-like personal assistant for the home is now available for anyone to buy, so Kevin Tofel and I did a fairly extensive review on the show. There's more over at Fortune (http://fortune.com/2015/06/23/amazon-echo-review/).
Kevin and I also talked about the big letdown that was the Nest announcement from last week, while also introducing a new connected device called Curb that's far more interesting for those worried about energy efficiency (http://fortune.com/2015/06/22/curb-quantified-house/ ).
And for those less excited about devices for the home, and more pumped about gadgets for your wrist, I spoke with Aarthi Ramamurthy, the CEO and founder of Lumoid, about what wearables are hot right now and who is wearing them. Lumoid (https://lumoid.com/) is a web site where you can go to rent wearables, drones and photo equipment, and Ramamurthy has some solid data to share about who's buying what. Listen up to hear her describe what may be the best job in the world for a gadget lover and maybe even find your next fitness tracker.
We spend a lot of our time focused on the U.S. market, but this week's show we review an IP camera from a French company and feature Dave Friedman, the CEO of Ayla Networks, discussing the Internet of things evolution in China. Friedman discusses a recent deal his company signed to provide the back end infrastructure that will let Chinese manufacturers connect their products to China's WeChat social network (https://www.techinasia.com/check-smart-hotel-room-controlled-wechat/). Friedman also offers to compelling stats on how much the cost of connectivity and cloud hosting has dropped in the last five years. Soon we'll add connectivity to everything!
First up Kevin Tofel and I riff on the ideas from this article in Wired (http://www.wired.com/2015/06/same-plans-tech/), which looks at the convergence of features in the big mobile operating systems and says we've basically come to agreement on what a smartphone should do. Kevin and I apply that same questioning to the smart home during the first half of our show talking about the role of the cloud, context and services. Then we hit some news from the Industrial Internet Consortium ( http://fortune.com/2015/06/16/emc-industrial-internet/) and analysis around HomeKit (http://zatznotfunny.com/2015-06/meet-homekit-the-hubless-hub/) that might make the AllSeen Alliance a little worried. Finally, we review the Netatmo Welcome camera which offers facial recognition (https://www.netatmo.com/en-US/product/camera). Listen up.
This week Apple disappointed the smart home aficionados at its WWDC conference by not mentioning much in the way of new HomeKit news and new devices. But Kevin Tofel and I discussed the challenges that Apple's HomeKit partners faced trying to accommodate Apple's security and hardware needs. This includes the Ecobee CEO's response to criticism about his older thermostats not being upgradable to HomeKit (http://fortune.com/2015/06/09/ceo-apple-homekit-mess/).
Since we don't have a guest this week, we spent the rest of the show discussing a new, $1,500 oven ( http://fortune.com/2015/06/09/june-smart-oven/) and what the heck is happening with Wink. The Wink platform is for sale and Quirky, the product development group that created Wink is getting out of the manufacturing business (http://fortune.com/2015/06/12/quirky-wink-funding-products/). Finally, we cover the Ring connected doorbell in our 5-minute review segment. Despite my enthusiasm for the connected doorbell, I learned that my doorbell isn't in the right spot on the to make the device as useful.
We now have four devices for Apple's HomeKit (http://www.zdnet.com/article/here-come-the-apple-homekit-devices-for-connected-homes/) and about as many slides detailing Google's own entry into the Internet of things with its Brillo operating system and Weave communications platform (http://fortune.com/2015/05/28/google-brillo-weaved/). Kevin and I discuss what we know about the Google strategy and more importantly, what we don't yet know. We also discuss some new research on the use of consumer connected devices in corporate It networks from OpenDNS and use our 5-minute review slot to talk about the Ecobee 3 and the Lutron Caseta devices that just launched in new, HomeKit compatible versions.
After the break, I interview Chet Pipkin, the CEO of Belkin, which makes the WeMo line of connected devices (http://www.belkin.com/us/Products/home-automation/c/wemo-home-automation/). We talk about WeMo's future in the connected home, why connected devices cost so darn much, and how long we can expect until our smart home experience become more automated. I also ask why my WeMo experience seems so glitchy compared to others. For all this and more, listen up.
Google is about to get into the smart home with new software called Brillo (http://nextmarket.co/blogs/smarthomeweekly/29309313-google-iot-os-brillo-effort-reports-to-barratt-targeting-home-routers) that will connect devices to a router. It won't be part of the Nest ecosystem of devices, but it will work with Nest devices, according to reports on the Google news. By the time the show airs, we should know more (http://www.zdnet.com/article/what-to-expect-for-android-and-chrome-at-google-io-2015/), but for now, we spend some time on this week's show discussing what another major entrant means for the smart home. It's mostly good news for consumers.
Kevin and I also explore a cool Kickstarter project that will ship in July for Microduinos, https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/microduino/microduino-mcookie-the-smallest-electronic-modules/description) tiny sensors and modules that snap to LEGOs and work with your Arduino board.
They remind me of Little Bits, and are pretty intriguing. After we discuss that, Alarm.com's initial public offering (http://fortune.com/2015/05/22/alarm-com-ipo/) and a 5-minute review of Microsoft's Cortana, since it will soon be available on both Google Android and Apple's iOS (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/microsofts-cortana-coming-ios-android-devices/story?id=31316424), Joe Mann a UX designer at Artefact, a design consultancy discusses how we can expect the internet of things to change our travel experience. We start with the smart home, but move on to Disney, air travel and hotels, since those are the venues where many people will experience the joys of a connected experience for the first time.
Hold your books and costume jewelry close because they may not survive the connected device revolution, according to Rob Coneybear of Shasta Ventures. In a conversation on this week's podcast he and I had a fun conversation about what devices might disappear, what objects might stay analog and what devices get more intelligent as we embed connectivity and sensors into more things. He expanded on his thinking from an earlier blog post, and we covered a huge range of products, from the future of the kitchen to clothing and building materials.
Coneybear provided insights not only into what he thought, but how he came to his conclusions, so anyone interested in how to divvy up the world of consumer products should listen to his segment. Before he went on, Kevin and I broke down the week's news, which included Target's move into the home automation space and AT&T's big bet on the connected car and a new product from Honeywell that is straight out of the movies. I kind of want one in my home.
Finally, we cover out 5-minute review of a web site called SmartHomeDB that smart home lovers will want to bookmark.
Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Rob Coneybear of Shasta Ventures
Andrew Bell wanted to build a better doorbell, but now he's in the enviable position of pitching his wares to Comcast's millions of subscribers, and is an Apple HomeKit partner. The Skybell co-founder joined my on this week's podcast to discuss how to allocate time and resources as a hardware startup and also to talk about what it feels like to get a call from Cupertino about your device. For that, thoughts on the boom in connected devices and whether there is a bubble listen to our guest segment.
But first Kevin Tofel and I share the news of NinjaBlocks' demise and what happens when a connected hardware company goes out of business. We also discuss Samsung's new chip family for the internet of things and introduce a new segment. We call it the 5-minute device review, and this week we start with the Myo armband, a $200, gesture-based controller you can buy on Amazon. And of course, Kevin shares his thoughts on the Apple Watch and its ability to control his new Philips Hue light bulbs.
Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Kevin and I both got what we wanted this week, with Kevin getting his Apple Watch about an hour before we recorded the show and Amazon adding support for If This Then That for the Echo speaker/personal assistant device. However both long-awaited dreams had a few caveats as we explored this week on the show, with Kevin discussing the learning curve of the Apple Watch and me laying out a big limitation with the Amazon Echo's IFTTT triggers. You can't really use it for controlling your smart home just yet.
We also had a fair bit of news this week. Comcast opened up its Xfinity Home platform to devices from some great startups such as Nest, August Locks, Rachio connected sprinklers, Skybell, Lutron and more. It was so exciting I sang a little ditty about the smart home going mainstream! Prepare yourself. With LIGHTFAIR International happening in New York this week, we also discussed lighting news from GE, plus WeMo working with the cheaper Cree connected LEDs and coming back to IFTTT. We didn't have a guest this week because I need a little time to get my iTunes and editing house in order, but we should be back in top form next week, on iTunes and even with intro music!
Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
The Apple Watch is out, and while Kevin Tofel didn’t wake up early enough to get one, I interview Mark Rolston, the co-founder and chief creative officer at Argo Design, who did, to see what he thinks of his. Rolston is designing the interface for the Peq smart home hub, and discussed how he’s thinking about designing home interfaces on the Apple Watch. We digressed to general design principles, but did focus on the home, voice control and what the Watch does badly. According to Rolston, the Watch is just like me in the mornings — it’s so desperate to fall back asleep it won’t stay awake long enough to deliver notifications.
However, aside from the Apple Watch and its design considerations, Kevin and I discussedGoogle’s mysterious FCC filings for a Bluetooth device, my first test of a Bluetooth light bulb system from Ilumi which didn’t blow my mind, but would blow my budget, and a bit more on the Amazon Echo’s future. I also get excited about the future of digital medicine with Scanadu raising $35 million and letting us know that next year we’ll be able to buy what is essentially a good chunk of Star Trek’s Tricorder device for $199.
Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guests: Mark Rolston, co-founder and chief creative officer at Argo Design
Spring is in the air, so this week’s podcast celebrates with a preview of an upcoming connected garden product that looks pretty smart — the Edyn sensor and connected water valve system that will hit Home Depot shelves in May and is available for pre-orders. Kevin I discuss the solar-powered sensors, and although it’s iOS-only for the time being, there’s reportedly an Android app coming some time in the future. We also talk about my plans for nighttime bathroom lighting, an awesome beta app that uses the Android lock-screen to control your connected devices in the home called Reach and more.
This week’s guest focuses on the business benefits of adding connectivity to your products with guest Michael Simon, the CEO and chairman of LogMeIn, the maker of the Xively service. Xively provides the back end infrastructure for connected devices, and recently launched an upgrade that offered better compliance and rules associated with devices and data. Simon focused on why that matters, what types of businesses can easily take advantage of connected products to offer higher value services and what the evolution of a connected business looks like. At the very end he dives into the architecture of the Xively platform, which boasts an “MQTT-compliant” messaging layer the Xively team built as well as off-the-shelf MySQL and Cassandra databases. I was hoping for something a little more like a knowlegde graph given the relationships it would have to track, but apparently that’s not under the hood.
So, listen up for some inspiration on the home front or for your business, and feel free to let me know what you think.
Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guests: Michael Simon, Chairman and CEO of LogMeIn
This week’s podcast we hit on my favorite topic. Lighting! First we start off in the home with Kevin Tofel and I discussing how I’m using the Amazon Echo to control my Hue lights and a WeMo connected lamp via the Amazon Echo. Then we chat with my guest this week, Willem Smitt, the vice president of marketing at Soraa, a lighting company whose customers include a variety of big name commercial clients. Soraa is pioneering the launch of Bluetooth connected lights, that launched on Tuesday via a partnership with Polish startup Seed Labs.
The ability to control your lights via your phone could offer consumers new opportunities in restaurants other commercial settings, but it also changes the nature of the services businesses can offer. Lights can store beacons or other sensors, so can become homes for sophisticated customer-information gathering tools and personalizations experiences. We discuss this on the show. So tune in to hear about the future of lighting, the Apple watch, a bit about June plans for HomeKit and the Apple TV and more.
Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guests: Willem Smitt, VP of marketing at Soraa
Fans of the connected home got some exciting news when Amazon showed of its Dash Buttons, a simple, connected button that consumers could press to order a single products from the e-commerce giant. The idea is consumers would pop a Tide button by their washing machine, a Cottonelle button by their toilet and an Oil of Olay or Gillette Fusion button by thier medicine cabinet, and as they run low, press the button to order more. It was an idea so simple that it seemed ridiculous and people wondered if it was an April Fool’s prank.
So Kevin Tofel and I discussed the Dash on this week’s show and you won’t believe why Kevin doesn’t like the idea. We also discuss the newly launched Hue Go wireless LED light, which I review ahead of its May or June launch. For $99.95 it’s a splurge, but if you like lights, I think it makes a nice gift. We kicked off the show with me sharing a segment that I recorded with Nightline, the ABC late night news program. The show came to my home and hired a hacker to film a segment on smart homes and security.
The experience prompted me to ask this week’s guest Joshua Corman to come on the podcast to speak about his efforts with a organization called I am the Cavalry, a collective of hackers, researchers and activists trying to build a more secure connected future. We spent a lot of time discussing the group’s framework for connected cars, but it’s a framework that will translate well to other aspects of the internet of things. So get ready to feel very insecure (watch Corman’s TED talk to feel worse) and to learn a bit more about Kevin Tofel’s odd network habits.
Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guests: Joshua Corman, co-founder at I am the Cavalry
Welcome to the inaugural Internet of Things Podcast with Stacey Higginbotham. It's super exciting to be able to share the show with all of you, after these past few weeks of Gigaom closing its doors and us wondering about the fate of the show. This week my co-host Kevin Tofel and I have missed three weeks but didn't miss a beat when it comes to reviewing the <a href="http://www.staples.com/D-Link-Staples-Connect-Hub/product_1181115">Staples Connect Home</a> hub version 2, discussing the <a href="https://gigaom.com/2015/03/08/apple-watch-launch-live-blog-spring-forward/">Apple Watch</a> and Kevin's earlier article on <a href="https://medium.com/@kevinctofel/the-smartwatch-conundrum-simplicity-at-odds-with-complexity-and-size-7c981cc9ea82">smart watches and their issues in general</a>. In other news, look for more Kevin coverage at his <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/article/welcome-kevin-tofel-greg-nichols-and-andrew-brust-to-zdnet/">new home on ZDnet</a>.
After Kevin and I chat, I interviewed Brady Forrest, who is in charge of PCH's <a href="http://highway1.io/">Highway1</a> incubator on how to build hardware that <a href="https://gigaom.com/2015/02/10/want-to-attract-the-average-consumer-skip-the-hardware-preview/">won't make consumers question why they bought it in the first place</a>. Forrest, who has mentored startups such as Ringly and the company behind the Drop kitchen scale, has helped build companies whose products don't suck. That's why I asked him to join me for a chat. Listen in for some good advice and to hear me learn exactly how hard it is to develop hardware for the myriad platforms out there. I gained a new appreciation for the challenges companies are going through and learned something new. Listen up, and maybe if I get enough downloads, next week I'll manage to get an intro and some music pulled together. Here's hoping!
Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guests: Brady Forrest, vice president at PCH's <a href="http://highway1.io/">Highway1</a> incubator
<ul>
<li>What you need to know about the new(ish) Staples home hub </li>
<li>Will Kevin buy an Apple Watch? Which version? </li>
<li>I cannot say this enough. Hardware is hard. </li>
<li> The many ways a product can fail </li>
</ul>