Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

YouTube approaches Netflix-sized revenues

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YouTube video revenues reach Netflix level

As if we needed more evidence that cord cutting has reached mass market scale, YouTube announced advertising revenues for the quarter of $6 billion, up from $4 billion. At its current pace, Alphabet’s YouTube division will reach Netflix’s revenue size of $29 billion by year end. Netflix’s revenues are derived completely from subscribers, whereas YouTube relies on both subscriptions and rapidly increasing ad revenue. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: While the video entertainment market continues to change dramatically, the desire for advertisers to reach their audience and the need for advertisements to fund content does not. While Netflix has turned the video economy upside down, its reliance on subscriptions for revenue limits its ability to fund new content and new initiatives. Alphabet’s multi-channel approach to advertising — dominating on-line advertising and now gaining ground rapidly in the arena we used to call TV at home — places the company in a position to bypass Netflix and potentially build up an arsenal of original content. Does the viewing audience need more original content? Consumers says yes.

Microsoft crushes COVID

The long list of companies that had their best years continues, and Microsoft reports its best quarter since 2018. The company’s Azure cloud services unit continued firesome growth (50%) and the Xbox division reported 34% growth. All other divisions (there are ten) expect for Office Consumer reported double digit growth, resulting in 19% across the board. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Microsoft is like a utility stock or a grocery chain — its products are staples that are required for our existence and while it has competition, it dominates the majority of its categories. Think of it as the new GE. Satya Nadella, with some support from COVID, deserves extensive credit for focus, execution and stamina. While people have been loading up on bitcoin, they may have overlooked the long game brought to investors by the no-longer-sexy Microsoft.

Musk’s next frontier — your home

Elon Musk, increasingly a voice worthy of your attention, is fixing his sights on people’s homes… their garages, to be precise. Musk is citing Texas’ recent winter grid failure and rolling blackouts in California as proof positive that utilities are not equipped for the future and that maintaining a constant and renewable energy supply depends on a combination of your electric car and your Tesla Powerwall (in-home battery) to stabilize energy consumption. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: It used to be fun to bash Musk and his brash claims, but after he has successfully sent people to space, is a prime supplier to NASA, and has opened a car plant in China, we have to listen closely. Energy providers have known for nearly two decades that they are standing on a burning platform, and hopefully are considering a progressive, eco-friendly future with Elon and Tesla paving the way.

Tertill — a Roomba for the garden

From the original designer of Roomba is Tertill, a similar device that, powered by solar, traverses the garden to whack any detectable weeds with its nylon weed whacker. Barrier devices can be located around tinder young plants in order to repel the roving weed whacking robot. At $440, the device is not an impulse buy, but can be obtained through CNET for a $90 discount.

dis-rup-shun: Robots — so much promise but such little success at doing the things we don’t want to do as well, or better than we can. Save for industrial robots used on an assembly line, robots, especially at home continue to fall short. The reality is that many home chores require the dexterity and nimbleness of the human body and machines just aren’t yet as good. No doubt, over time, robots will be equal to the task, but how long? Expect to wait another decade for really productive home robots.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Apple pulls plug on original HomePod

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Apple pulls the plug on original HomePod

Apple announced last week that it will discontinue the HomePod — the original version that was initially priced at $299. The company, instead, will focus future development on its HomePod Mini, the $99 version of its Siri-supported smart speaker. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Apple’s move is not surprising, but disappointing. Why has the company that is capable of doing just about anything not given us enticing home automation options? Does Apple not think the home automation/smart home market is big enough? Global enough? It is not the company’s nature to shy away from paths that are well trodden by competitors such as Google and Amazon. After all, the strong growth of the smart home market will be even stronger when consumers are more confident that their most trusted brand can make the experience seamless, elegant, and interoperable with other products. Apple, please bring us video cameras, doorbells, thermostats and the like that will seamless work with HomeKit on our iPhones, iPads and Macs.

New Nest Hub tracks sleep

Nest has released its 2nd generation hub and apparently wants it to live next to your bed. In addition to voice controls, control of smart home devices, and an ample screen, the device will track sleep patterns using Soli technology. The device is priced at $99 and is the smaller, camera-less version of the larger hub. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: Despite being available for several years, this product is still looking for a home in our homes. Kitchens are logical control centers of homes, but Google wants to put this hub next to your bed and help you with your sleep. For those that want to measure sleep, doing so without a wearable or an under-mattress device is nice, but many will be reluctant to place a listening device in their bedrooms, especially from a company that does such a fabulous job of collecting detailed information about our every move, browsing action and purchase. Let’s see how this goes over with consumers.

Phone Wars: Samsung brings back accessories in mid-range Galaxy

Samsung has unveiled a new line of Galaxy phones — the A52, A72. As expected, they bring even more features at lower costs. The prices are not yet disclosed, but expected to be in the range of $500 to $650. The surprise of the announcement is that Samsung is bringing back features and accessories that were abandoned last year: an earphone jack, a memory card slot, and a charger in the box. Of course differentiating new phones with features is increasingly challenging. Samsung has improved display quality, sound quality, and camera quality — with a 32-megapixel front-facing camera and four rear-facing cameras. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Samsung is making some quick shifts in strategy as research indicates people are keeping phones longer — closer to 3 years, and many have felt a significant squeeze from the pandemic. By providing more for less in a mid-range product, Samsung is likely to pick up a few market share points. It would be fascinating to view the market research that says consumers want chargers, memory card slots and an earphone jack. Were these added back to gain more market share or to stem consumer backlash that was caused by the elimination of these features?

Smart home and aging-in-place

Interpret, the consumer insights firm that employs this author, is pleased to be partnering with two smart home leaders: Develco Products and People Power Company for a webinar on the state of the smart home and its application to aging-in-place. The complimentary webinar is on Tuesday, March 30th and features Develco Products’ head of sales and Gene Wang, CEO and co-founder of IoT software company People Power. Register here.

dis-rup-shun: The needs for automation to assist seniors and enable them to live in place are acute, and new technologies offer great possibilities for unobtrusively tracking movements of seniors to make sure they are safe, healthy and active. Changes in sleep behaviors, bathroom behaviors, and routines are early warning signs of illness and smart home technologies have the potential to raise red flags before seniors get ill, or worse, experience a fall. Key challenges are determining who will sell these technologies, and who will pay for them. Join us on the 30th to hear how these companies are advancing the cause of technology-assisted aging-in-place.

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Zigbee Goes to Mars

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Zigbee Smart Home technology goes to Mars

Zigbee, a long-time smart home standard, powering many smart home devices, is the communications standard enabling communications between Mars Rover Perseverance and its Ingenuity companion drone. ZDNet

dis-rup-shun: If it’s good enough for NASA, it is good enough for my home. For many years, a silly debate existed in the smart technology space between standards bodies — each one professing why theirs should be the only. About five years ago, long after Wi-Fi became the de-facto standard for PC communications, the standards wars cooled down as proponents realized there is room for multiple protocols. Many smart home lighting and energy applications have been built on Zigbee’s standard, and the Alliance’s maturity and long presence in the market was certainly well-endorsed when NASA sent the standard to Mars.

Smart Home fitness company Tonal partners with Nordstrom

Tonal, a hot new at-home connected fitness device, like Peloton is hot and picking up popularity quickly. Tonal, unlike Peloton, is a wall-mounted monitor, camera, with variable tensioning cables. Owners can join classes from their homes, and can monitor their strength and conditioning progress. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: It used to be the tech needed retail and, for many years, struggled to find profitable outlets. Then BestBuy figured out the right balance, and the Apple Store defied the odds and made bricks and mortar locations red hot. With Amazon effect bleeding retail establishments, adding tech to the mix is breathing new life into retailers. Target has beefed-up its electronics with more Apple products, and now Nordstrom is getting a needed infusion by becoming the retail outlet for the hot home gym company, Tonal. Retailers are quick to jump on the one thing that Amazon cannot provide — hands on display of products.

Have you been invited to the Clubhouse?

The by-invitation only Internet chat experience, Clubhouse, is getting plenty of attention. Elon Musk’s recent appearance is still being discussed. Facebook, adept at copying competitors, is fast at work to create an alternative to Clubhouse. The trendy app is an online forum for by-invitation-only invitees to listen to, and converse with celebrities, big thinkers and innovators. New York Times

dis-rup-shun: Clubhouse has quickly defined a new online forum — a cross between a podcast, Messenger, talk radio and Zoom. Invitees come together at a designated time (unlike a podcast) and have the opportunity to just listen, or converse with a big thinker and a community of followers. It is unlikely a coincidence that the app has grown virally during a time when concerts, lectures and in-person classes are almost non-existent. The new media format will likely deal yet another cut to serial radio and TV programming, and will siphon a number of hours from podcasts, despite the strong growth of latter.

Apple to be a significant Mixed Reality player

Apple’s Tim Cook has indicated that virtual reality and its variants will be a big part of the company’s future products — from a VR helmet, to glasses, followed by contact lenses in 2030. Apple follower Ming Chi-Kuo expects a helmet to be released next year, with glasses following in 2025 — precursors to contact lenses. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Mixed reality versus virtual reality versus augmented reality — what’s the difference. Virtual reality is all about visiting a far-away land through the use of technology. Mixed reality blends virtual sounds, sights and feedback with reality — overlaying an actual location, person, or object that is near you with sounds and sights. One often cited application is being able to look up and down a street and have changing images of what is inside the buildings on the street — pictures of the sushi boat at a restaurant across the street. Apple’s aggressive push into services, such as Arcade and Apple +, lays the foundation onto which mixed reality experiences can be built.

 

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

The Day Fry’s Died

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Goodbye Fry’s — we will miss you indeed

The demise of Fry’s Electronics hurts more than so many closings of the past year. As Wired reported, the chain was an important if eclectic part of many people’s journey through technology. Wired reports that Fry’s was yet another victim of the Amazon Effect. It was a place that claimed “if it has a plug, we sell it.”

dis-rup-shun: What made Fry’s important is what has made it irrelevant. For many years, it was one of very few places that had anything you needed related to computers or electronics, and you could pick up a case of Pringle’s alongside a new hard drive. Fry’s, for many of us, was always a long drive away, as the stores were frequently located in outer suburbia. It wasn’t a place easy to drop in to meander, rather it was a place to visit with a purpose. Nowadays, the best place to aim through endless isles of unrelated but interesting stuff is at the end of a mouse — Amazon.com. And getting products from Amazon is so much quicker and more convenient than driving, parking wandering, reading, then choosing.

The Broadband Miracle of Mississippi

The Governor of Mississippi is changing the state in a most radical way — spending a portion of the state’s coronavirus stimulus grant of $1.2 billion on rural broadband. The state’s connectivity is currently ranked as 42nd among the fifty states, with at least 35% of rural residents without access to broadband. The Mississippi legislature smartly assigned the money to 15 electric co-ops and gave them only six months to spend it, creating a mad rush for deployment. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The pandemic has brought, along with its destruction, a myriad of success stories. Upgrading the rural citizens of Mississippi is a brilliant move, especially with the unplanned infusion of $1.2 billion into the state’s coffers. The long-term implications for the state are numerous as access to jobs, education and information will increase for an otherwise un-connected population.

Scheduled text messages — now on Android

Android users received a highly beneficial feature with the addition of scheduled text messages on Android phones running Android 7 or higher. Previously this feature was available only with third-party messaging apps. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: In a time when smartphones are so advanced, meaningful new features are few and far between, but this one is significant.  How many times have you forgotten simple tasks that others have asked you to do because you are focused on something else? How many times do parents fail to register with children who are so engrossed in their mobile device that they never heard a request, despite nodding their heads? This feature, for parenting alone, is worth installing instantly.

Target to open mini Apple stores 

Target continues its battle to remain a relevant alternative to online purchases, and the company has fared well during the pandemic by offering same day pickup at most stores. Now the company will open mini-Apple stores within a store — hoping to keep people coming to Target as the outlook for a return to shopping as normal appears only months away. 17 Target stores will feature an Apple shop in the initial roll-out, which will not include a Genius Bar. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The blurring of the lines continues in retail and tech, and Target has always lived on the edge of mass discount retailer and upscale shopping experience. Target’s electronics department has long been almost good enough, but lacking a few options. This move will close that gap to an extent, and likely skew the customers entering the store slightly upward as it will attract a few more shoppers seeking premium Apple devices.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Ring + Alexa make for electronic doorman

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Ring and Alexa now work together to handle visitors to the front door

Ring, owned by Amazon, now has a feature, available to premium Ring Protect subscribers, that employs Alexa to converse with visitors to your front door. Through the Ring app, subscribers can turn on Alexa Greetings which will respond to a visitor, based on their statements, and report back to the homeowner with a message, or will instruct a delivery person where to leave a package. When integrated with other Ring cameras with motion detectors, the doorbell can warn visitors that they are being recorded. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The concept of the doorbell is changing. Imagine what a technological breakthrough the electric doorbell must have been — replacing the wrap of knuckles on wood and ensuring that the homeowner could hear a visitor even if he or she was far away, and could scurry to the door to greet the visitor. The doorbell of the 21st century will analyze a visitor as they are walking up to the door, performing a near electronic background check, confirming their identify, mood and intentions and determining how to deal with them before they even press the button. With success, homeowners will never have to actually speak in real time or face a visitor, unless they are the anticipated kind. Camera technology will continue to isolate neighbors from one another, but hopefully live safer, and lose fewer packages to porch pirates.

If work has gone remote, why is Big Tech still building?

Wired contemplates the massive Silicon Valley construction projects even as tech companies have opened work from home as a permanent offering. Tech companies are simply growing too fast to throw building projects in reverse, as these projects have been on the board for a number of years. In addition, many workers surveyed have stated a preference to return to the office.

dis-rup-shun: Work life after the pandemic appears to offer plenty of options — both a space at an office, or at least cubicle, or the option to work from home, or a combination of the two. The pandemic has given us the opportunity to see if we can rely on remote tools, and effectively coordinate a distributed workforce. The result, for the majority of companies, appears to be a resounding yes.

Tovala provides smart oven and meal kits for busy foodies

Tovala is a tech company and a food company. It makes both smart ovens and fresh food meal kits to go in the oven, and the software to scan the food information on the package to cook the contents correctly. The company has received an investment round of $30 million on top of investments made by Comcast Ventures and Tyson Foods. The company is riding the wave of people who, due to COVID-19, are spending more time at home and want to eat fresh foods, but don’t want to take the time to shop or read recipes. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Tovala not only makes the blade, but also the razors, and in classical marketing form, the company provides deep discounts on its razors (ovens) to sell more blades (meals). But does the target demographic really need a specialized oven that can perform other functions, but is primarily geared toward selling the Tovala meal kits? That is a tough sell, but perhaps affluent people who are busy but have not yet purchased an armada of counter-top appliances have room for an extra oven in the kitchen if it assures them of better in-home dining.

Disney’s streaming services shrug off Covid-19

Disney’s amusement parks business has been all but decimated by the pandemic, however Disney’s streaming services, including Disney + and Hotstar, in India, have mostly made up for the losses at the parks. The company now has over 146 million total paid subscribers across its streaming services as of the end of the first quarter. The parks revenue was down 56%, and its future hangs on the rate at which people get vaccinated and return to vacationing. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Disney is yet another of many companies that has been able to dodge the pandemic bullet — not due to luck, but due to good timing. The transformation of the video industry continues to happen in record time, with AT&T DirecTV telemarketers desperately phoning customers to offer to cut their bills in half before they cut the cord completely. Meanwhile, cord cutters continue to tack on extra streaming services — slowly moving their monthly video expenses towards the amounts they formerly paid for cable bundles.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Where does Zoom go from here?

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Zoom Rooms are the new conference rooms

After a year of phenomenal growth that helped keep the economy moving even during the Pandemic, how does Zoom continue to stay on top of the video conferencing market? Zoom Rooms, the new name for the office conference room when empowered by the new Zoom software. Zoom Room software counts the number of bodies in a room and helps remind participants how to social distance, or reminds them that too many bodies are in the room to maintain safe air quality. The software also features new controls that turn the smart phone into the presentation remote — providing control to those outside the room, and enabling people in the room to not have to touch the same device. CNET

dis-rup-shun: We are still thinking of Zoom calls as a substitute for meetings in conference rooms, but that is about to change as video conferencing becomes the norm — even with people in the same building. Joining conferences by meeting in the same room will be the new exception to the norm — and will be seen as nice but not necessary. Zoom will need to push the envelope of video conferencing to stay ahead of competitors anxious to close the gap between themselves and the category leader, Zoom.

SpaceX SN9 rocket test ends in fiery crash

Elon Musk’s pursuit of placing humans on Mars continued with another test of the SN9 rocket, which lifted off from Boca Chica, Texas for a successful trip to 10 kilometers. The trip down resulted in a crash, as the craft was not able to right itself for a gentle return to Earth. CNET

dis-rup-shun: SpaceX had a banner year last year, as it twice ferried astronauts to the International Space Station, and back. You have to crack a few eggs to make an omelette, or in this case, wreck a few rockets to get to Mars, so we can rack this up as progress. Musk was also quick to point out that these tests are stressing the bureaucracy at the FAA, which may also need to be cracked in order to accommodate an innovator such as SpaceX.

Microsoft to Australia “I will never leave you”

Last month Google threatened to pull the plug on the country of Australia if it did, in fact, pass legislation requiring Google to pay news publishers a fee to link to their content. Microsoft took advantage of the public relations opportunity by assuring Australians that Microsoft would never pull its search engine, Bing, from down under. Bing holds only 3.6% of the Australian search market. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: While news organizations and media companies have long been the whipping posts of the freedom of information afforded by the internet, it is unlikely, and unwise, for governments to attempt to curtail market forces. As Parler, Trump, Facebook and Twitter are learning daily, restrictions on the posting of news and opinions is a difficult and murky business which continues to lack rules and guidelines. The blurring distinctions between social media providers and news providers will continue to vex modern civilization until credible organizations develop a transparent and public standard that defines news. It may be awhile.

Canon AI driven camera makes photographers optional

Canon’s robotic PowerShot PIC is a camera mounted on a swivel, infused with AI. It follows its subjects and takes pictures either on command or as it calculates it should. This is the ultimate selfie camera, as it makes the production all about you.  TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: The camera industry is an amazing shrinking phenomena and it must reinvent itself or be nearly completely subsumed by the smartphone. Canon is working hard to redefine the camera and create new use cases and form factors, but even so, these new use cases are peripheral to the central role of our smartphones as our “camera for all occasions.” Just like Kodak, brands such as Canon and Nikon will have to hasten their diversification and reinvention to stay relevant.

 

IOT, Smart Home

Smart perfume reflects your mood

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And now… smart perfume

Ninu Perfume has combined AI with fragrances. Using a mobile app, you can inform your smart perfume about your day and about how you are feeling, and it “custom blends” a unique fragrance of the day, right in the applicator. The app’s digital assistant, Pierre, helps mix the occasion-specific fragrance and informs you when you are running low and need to reorder. Ninu is made from premium, eco-friendly ingredients and housed in a well-designed case. Input

dis-rup-shun: This is the ultimate internet of things play, as we had breakfast cereal boxes and toasters in the queue for receiving smarts well ahead of perfume bottles, but let this stand as a great symbol for the vastness of this category includes. Making simple pleasures of life more personal and “custom” have merit, as most people want a personal touch, and when we start going out of the house again, this will be a conversation item.

Samsung Bot Handy robot

Samsung showed off, at CES, a one-armed mobile robot that is able to pick up objects, using cameras and intelligence to apply the right force at the right time. The demonstration showed the robot moving dishes from the sink to the dishwasher, pouring a glass of wine, and placing a single flower stem into a small vase. While this device is not likely to reach market in its current state, Samsung is displaying some impressive capabilities which will find their way to market over countless, and likely bumpy attempts to make robots main stream home products. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Specialized robots, such as robotic vacuums, do work and are selling well, but a multi-purpose butler is a long way off. Home tasks can be done very quickly and affordably by efficient-minded homeowners or fair-priced domestic workers. Watching a bulky and expensive robot slowly perform single tasks at low speeds has no place in busy households of multi-taskers. Expect household robots to be at least five years away from being popular items.

Alarm.com offers touchless doorbell

In the age of COVID, and with general heighten awareness about spreading infectious diseases, Alarm.com now offers a touchless smart doorbell. by simply standing in front of the device (or standing on an appropriately labeled doormat), the visitor can simply stand and wait to be spoken to. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Doorbell cameras are a great addition to the home, and will become the standard for any home in coming years, but there is room for improvement. First, if you have much activity in front of your house, motion sensing sets off alarms quite regularly, which can be too frequent. Secondly, the delay time from first ring to activation and engagement with the person outside often takes too long. As these deficiencies are addressed and facial recognition determines what and even who is there, then these products will become far more helpful.

Mobile home theater from Asus

The Asus Latte 1 is a home theater projector and Bluetooth speaker about the size of a large cup of coffee which projects images up to 120 inches in size at 700p. While the price is not yet known, the device offers an easy way to turn most any place into a home theater. Input

dis-rup-shun: Think of the places that you could turn into a movie-watching party: dorm rooms, campouts, hotel rooms, birthday parties, business presentations. If you can recall all of the occasions that you have hurried to a client site to give a presentation and the AV gear won’t cooperate, popping out your own projector to “just start” could be an impressive move. While this is a niche product category, it has potential of becoming a useful business or entertainment tool in coming days.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Highlights from Virtual CES

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A new GM reveals the future of transportation

GM, following a year when the electric car upstart, Tesla, became more valuable than all of the Big Three automakers, revealed at CES its path for the future. The company unveiled its new division, BrightDrop, designed to provide logistics companies with an all electric delivery van and an electronic pallet platform. In addition, GM’s Mary Barra unveiled a new electric, flying personal taxi drone, called eVTOL which will be branded Cadillac. CNET

dis-rup-shun: These announcements are bold, as it seems clear that GM, the behemoth of American industrialism that foundered for many of the last thirty years, clearly understands that the future is not about fossil fuels, not about people owning multiple large cars, and not about running all over town to shop. The future is heavy with ecommerce, fractional services, gig-economy, and environmental conservation. GM gets it and is acting accordingly, knowing full well that the business model of the legacy carmaker is a path to certain extinction.

CareClever Cutii Robot

This is a useful robot. The friendly looking screen and speakers are on a small but sturdy pedestal on wheels. Cutii is designed to help seniors, by keeping them informed, tracking their movements, escorting them on walks, and coming to their aid if they fall. Cutii is not designed to open, close, lift and cook, but it does offer communications and visual contact so that a senior can request access to information, entertainment and communications from his or her robotic companion. Wired

dis-rup-shun: With many seniors in near isolation during the pandemic, such a device would likely be comforting, convenient and could offer a great deal of safety — enabling loved ones to see if a senior’s health appears compromised. Of course, any device that helps a senior in case of a fall could be a lifesaver.

Toto Wellness Toilet

Japanese manufacturer Toto displayed a smart toilet that analyzes waste, with every use, and provides feedback to an app regarding how you need to tune your diet, and other health indicators. The device will be expensive when released, but for those really into the quantified self, it will offer regular feedback on health. Wired

dis-rup-shun: For several years, we have seen smart toilets that offer massaging, soothing, water cleansing, and now, health assessments. Given the costs of such technologies, it will be years before builders offer these devices as standards in upscale homes, but with the recent concerns over toilet paper shortages during the pandemic, bidet-featuring smart toilets will remove one more concern from daily lives.

TCL Series 6 TV with 8K

Chinese TV maker TCL continues to wow consumers with high quality televisions at sub-one thousand dollar prices. The Series 6 offers 8K resolution support in an affordable package. Wired

dis-rup-shun: The world is only now beginning to expect content in 4K resolution, and it will be at least a couple of years before a great deal of 8K content is available, but if you are about to invest in a television that you plan to keep for 5 or more years, buying an 8K set is wise.

N95 Electronic Face Mask

Game hardware company Hazel has developed an electronic N95 mask that not only lights up with different colors, features re-usable N95 filters, but cleverly is made of plexiglass that enables people to see facial expressions and read lips. Wired

dis-rup-shun: We hope that masks are not here to stay, but they may be, or may be for those particularly vulnerable or uncomfortable with no distancing. If we are going to wear masks, being able to see people’s mouths and expressions will make interaction with masked people far more comfortable and effective.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Robotics are a star of Virtual CES

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New robots for virtual CES

Increasingly popular stars of CES have been robots. This year’s virtual CES will feature a number of robots including: LG’s UV robot that moves around to disinfect surfaces, Moxie — a Japanese robot that is cute and intended to help entertain and educate children, John Deere’s robotic grain harvester, Daesung’s Hive Controller robot that harvests honey without human beekeepers. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Robots have been slow to become mainstream, instead being heavily utilized in factory automation. As we let go of the misconception that robots are multi-purpose, intelligent servants or companions, and apply AI and automation to repetitive tasks, we will see more frequent adoption. Expect more specialized devices, perhaps not previously considered robots, to be the examples of robotic automation — to prove their value by increasing efficiency and performing tasks that humans find difficult or tedious.

2020: An amazing year for tech

It was a rough year for many, and an amazing year for others. The seven top tech companies increased in value by $3.4 trillion. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook, Tesla and Nvidia. The global pandemic and government investigations have not tarnished the meteoric rise of these companies.  Surprisingly strong iPhone sales, Amazon’s rise in online sales, Microsoft’s Teams surge, and the strength of Google and Facebook’s advertising stronghold plus Tesla’s record deliver of electric cars in Q3 set new records. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Imagine what 2020 would have been without the economic engines of the top tech companies. There is little doubt that their dominance makes it difficult for others to compete, but our economy, without the strength and growth of these giants, may have been very bleak. COVID-19, moreover, fueled the growth of many smaller tech companies, including Zoom and Slack, that have also had a significant year.

The Walkcar — a new form of transportation

The Walkcar is a new device from Japanese company, Cocoa Motors. It is the size of a large laptop computer with four wheels. Standing on the composite square device will transport the ride at a maximum speed of 10 mph. At just under $2000, and a size that will fit into a large computer bag, the urban dweller has an alternative to the Onewheel. CNET

dis-rup-shun: If a laptop-looking powered skateboard is called the Walkcar, then are perceptions of transportation changing? How do we define cars? Are new entrants to the workforce counting on Walkcar-like devices to be their transportation of choice, knowing that Uber or fractional rentals of real cars are available for those seldom occasions when more is needed.

Cync by GE Lighting is new smart home line

GE Lighting, purchased last year by smart home device maker Savant, is planning to stay firmly planted in the smart home market. Its C by GE line is changing names to Cync — and will release a new outdoor smart plug and a new app to control it. CNET

dis-rup-shun: GE is a strong consumer brand. The mother company, GE, has sold its brand to many companies, including Jasco that makes a large array of electronics products under the GE brand, and now Savant, owner of GE Lighting, will use the brand to drive affordable smart products into the mass market. Smart light bulbs are a top selling smart home product, and Savant is wise to leverage the popularity of the brand.

 

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Biggest tech events of a year unlike any other

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Biggest tech stories of a year we will always remember

It has been a year for the history books. With nearly 2 million killed by the coronavirus, unprecedented racial strife, record wildfires, hurricanes, one of the most unusual presidential elections and even record stock market levels attained, the world is a very different as the year ends. CNET has admirably captured the top 20 tech stories of the year. Here are a few of the most interesting:

Apple broke from Intel and began shipping products with its own M1 processor. This shift gives Apple far more room to differentiate its products from the rest of the pack and may lead to levels of innovation we never expected from Apple.

Tesla becomes most valuable car company, at least for a while, as the popularity of electric vehicles has soared and are now considered by most to be the standard for the future. Despite many bumps in the road, Tesla has soared and has been rewarded for being a pioneer in an industry that is not new, but had not seen, until Tesla, widespread success.

Space gets busy as SpaceX sent astronauts to the International Space Station, launched more constellation satellites, and won a large federal contract to provide rural broadband. Meanwhile China sent a craft to the moon, and NASA launched a robot to Mars.

The pandemic alienated those not online. The digital divide has left 18 million Americans without adequate broadband, meaning 5% of the population could not participate in online shopping, entertainment, community and remote work during the lockdown.

The pandemic was jet fuel for Amazon, which hired 375,000 employees and posted a third quarter profit of $6.3 billion as people flocked to Amazon and other online shopping sites for essentials, including entertainment.

Video gaming surged as those stuck at home played more games, ordered new games, and lined up to purchase new consoles, including the new Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 — meanwhile the Nintendo Switch was difficult to find in stores.

Technology fueled the Black Lives Matter movement as smartphones quickly spread video of the killing of George Floyd and subsequent protests across the world, raising the issues to the height of public conscious.

Quibi came and went. The mobile only premium video service was a big risk and failed big, taking $1.75 billion in investment capital with it. Some blame the pandemic for preventing viral growth of the service, but the pandemic also fueled consumption of other online content.

Streaming video was fueled by the pandemic, as people stayed at home and consumed more content, further boosting Netflix, Disney Plus, Peacock, and HBO Max — which abandoned an industry norm of reserving new releases for movie theaters only.

Zoom becomes a new standard for work and community. Weekend use of Zoom increased by 2,000% as people continued to use Zoom for social gatherings, not just connecting to customers and co-workers. Zoom’s security problems led the company to make a number of changes to its platform throughout the year.

Scientists developed a vaccine in record time, developing what is called a messenger molecule, which tricks the body into creating antibodies. The fast development of the vaccine will likely change forever the way drugs are created, tested and approved.

dis-rup-shun: Many people have agreed that the year 2020 has accelerated the development and adoption of emerging technologies by ten years. While that may be an exaggeration, it is certain that business communications and, subsequently, travel, are forever changed. Entertainment and gaming, telehealth, have been accelerated by many years. Use of offices, home offices and second homes is likely forever changed, as is shopping. Hopefully families and friendships have been strengthened by the pandemic and the good fortune enjoyed by tech firms can help lift those who have been forever damaged by the events of 2020. Happy New Year.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Zoom will host record Christmas gatherings

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Merry Zoom Christmas

Zoom is preparing for what could well be the biggest day of the year, so far, for the service that has been one of the bright points of the global pandemic. The Zoom boom is particularly pronounced for Londoners and 18 million Brits southeast of London who were put on high alert, following a new strain of Coronavirus impacting that region and calling for the cancellation of Christmas gatherings even among small groups. Zoom may well be the most used “utility,” ahead of voice conversations on phones, and entertainment streamed across screens. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Zoom continues to do an excellent job or keeping families, teams, clients and managers connected. It is possible that video conferencing has kept may relationships more connected than they would have without a pandemic, as many relationships which consisted of emails and one or two face to face meetings have now been replaced by weekly or bi-monthly virtual face to face meetings. The future will likely look a lot like 2020, but hopefully not out of fear of infection.

Beware of fake shipping notices

Scammers and hackers are phishing this season, using fake shipping notices that appear to be from Amazon, UPS or FedEx. When some of these messages are clicked on, malware can infect a system and give access to hackers who, in some cases, have used ransomware to extort or “brick” people’s personal devices. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The use of cloud-based services is so easy, one should get in the habit of saving anything valuable to a cloud service. Many are free, and many cost less than $100 per year — a good value in today’s dangerous computing environment.

The outlook for TVs at Virtual CES 2021

The world’s largest electronics event, CES, will be online this year. As usual, TVs are a focal point of the event. CNET does not anticipate 2021 TV sales to be as strong as 2020 sales, but those were in part fueled by a global pandemic. To expect in 2021: TVs are getting even larger. Sales of sets that are 70 inches or bigger were up 82%. OLED continues to be a popular technology for best in class devices, and this year Vizio joined Sony and LG in offering OLED. 8K will continue to be discussed, but sales of 8K resolution sets will likely remain very low.

dis-rup-shun: CES is always the focal point of amazing consumer technology innovation and wonderment, with countless news stories broadcast from the show floor. This year will likely be no different, except for the fact that there is no show floor. Will CES of the future become an online channel for news releases and product tours? COVID-19 has the potential of transforming CES from an event to a media channel or portal, through which most brands will introduce products in expectation of wide press coverage around the globe. This transformation may also mean that CES moves from an early January event, to a 52 week-a-year event.

More about alleged Russian hack of federal systems

More information has been revealed about the massive hack that occurred in past weeks that has given back door access to users of a network management application from a company called SolarWinds. The breach has potentially given unauthorized access to the networks of the US Department of Energy and the Commerce Department. In addition to Microsoft, about 24 companies are believed to have used the infected version of the SolarWinds software. CNET

dis-rup-shun: What are the implications of attacks such as this? We know this will be far from the last, and that cyber warfare is real and ongoing. Some key learnings include the fact that everyone must, in fact, keep updating passwords and using different passwords, despite the difficulties of doing so. It means that companies and governments are wise to maintain redundant networks with different vendors. It means that IT managers of most all organizations should assume that their organizations will be attacked, if they not already been, and that an economic hotspot that is getting hotter is online security. Data and network security tools and companies are likely great long term investments.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Hack of federal systems is “grave”

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Hack of Federal systems considered “grave”

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has stated that the extensive hack of U.S. federal government agencies is sophisticated, complex and poses a grave risk to the U.S. federal government. It seems that the sophisticated attack, attributed to Russia, started about the time of COVID-19s arrival in the U.S. The vulnerabilities appear to be tied to IT supplier SolarWinds, whose cloud software updates included an unknown back door planted by hackers. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It seems that 2020 was, in fact, worse than you thought. While the U.S. was focused on COVID-19, stimulus legislation and a hotly contested presidential election, Russian (alleged) hackers were having a field day with Uncle Sam’s computer networks. Is it time to unplug the federal governments computers — all of them — and perform a fresh reboot under the fresh watch of the smartest cybersecurity kids in the country? Are federal governments better of decentralizing their data infrastructures to make it harder to topple, or single, central databases that are guarded better than any networks in the world?

Privacy feud pits Apple vs. Facebook

Apple is seeking changes in the privacy policy of apps running on iOS (any mobile Apple device). The policy, called  App Tracking Transparency, enables consumers to learn of what apps are tracking info about them and to opt in or out. Facebook, a company whose advertising intelligence relies on tracking app activity and collecting data, is not happy, as a mass movement by consumers to “opt out” will reduce the effectiveness of Facebook’s data harvesting technology. Facebook’s claim is that Apple’s move will hurt small businesses and is taking out advertisements in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and the Washington Post to say so. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Pop quiz: which company do you trust more with your personal data? Rank in order of most trusted between Facebook, Apple and Google. It is likely that you answered most trusted: Apple, and it is likely that it is tough to decide who is third between Google and Facebook. What is certain, though, is that Facebook continues to build a reputation of the bad boys in the privacy debate, and Apple will certainly win the PR battle in this feud.

Airlines have kept afloat, in part, by converting to all cargo

Passenger air travel has been down, thanks to COVID-19, by 71% to 96%. The industry has been decimated moreso than restaurants or retail. Airlines are still in business thanks to a large bailout by the government(s) and, to some extent, their ability to pivot to cargo carriers. United led the charge to begin flying all cargo flights, trading weight in the upper (passenger) deck for more weight in the cargo hold. United has now flown over 8,000 cargo only flights.   Wired

dis-rup-shun: Resilience and reinvention are the keys to survival, and the airlines are clinging to cargo shipping to buy more time. Shipping COVID-19 vaccinations around the globe in temperature controlled containers will guarantee some short term, high-value cargo for carriers, but rebound of significant passenger levels is not expected until 2023. Innovation and reinvention will have to continue for two more years, and let’s see how else airlines can re-purpose their crafts for the long haul.

Who won the smart home in 2020?

CNET writers debate which Big Tech powerhouse won the smart home in 2020. Their discussion is actually limited to smart speaker and voice assistants, a key, but not complete, part of the smart home. The best smart speaker recognition goes to Amazon. The best voice assistant recognition is a tie between Amazon and Google and the best data privacy recognition goes to Apple.

dis-rup-shun: The biggest disappointment of 2020 is the fact that Apple has not thrown its weight around with regards to smart speakers and smart home. The Home Pod mini is nice, but more expensive than its competitors that offer far more home control capabilities. If any player can upset the race that Amazon is winning, it is Apple, but Apple is not focused here. Perhaps 2021 will see a bigger home automation play by Apple, but likely not.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Walmart expands driverless delivery to Louisiana

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Walmart driverless trucks pass first test

Since last summer, Walmart has been shipping goods a 2-mile distance between stores in its hometown of Benton, Arkansas. The pilot vehicles have completed a total of 70,000 miles. The driverless program will now be expanded to Louisiana. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The retail giant, once the innovator in consumer sales, has fallen behind giants Amazon and Google and has some catching up to do. Beating some of its rivals in driverless delivery will not only provide a cost advantage in some scenarios, but give it some innovation chops needed, as Amazon has beat Walmart to cashier-less store innovations, streaming video dominance, Prime membership, and of course, in number of online shoppers.

UK proposes content rules for social media

The UK government has proposed regulations that will fine Facebook, Instagram,TikTok, Twitter and other social media giants for allowing access to harmful content. The proposal calls for a very significant fine for those social media companies that allow harmful or toxic content. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: This move is aggressive, but definitive.  The EU legislators are drawing the line — determining that social media is not a free speech platform, but must only exist as a platform for civil discourse. The challenge, of course, is deciding who gets to draw the line through content that may be “in the gray” and in enforcing standards. How do you define toxic? Okay, how do you define probably toxic? How do you police the millions of sites and posts of dozens of social media platforms? This is an opportunity for AI to be pressed into service. Don’t expect this legislation to pass without some significant compromises.

Spotify amps up podcasting arms race with Prince Harry and Meghan

Spotify adds to its significant podcast lineup that already includes Kim Kardashian West, Joe Rogan, President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. Prince harry and Meghan will be joining the streaming audio provider, following a similar contract signed with Netflix for documentaries. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The power couple clearly have good business counsel, as they are combining Meghan’s showbiz chops with one of the most popular and private institutions – the Royal family. The combination is nearly guaranteed success. And Spotify is in an arms race with audio content competitors, including Apple, to redefine the entertainment landscape. What was, a few years ago, a scrappy Swedish streaming music service is now a major entertainment provider going head to head with some of the world’s largest media companies. Strong vision and execution have made Spotify a great story to watch.

Amazon Echo devices now provide live translation

Amazon has announced that Echo devices are now capable of translating a conversation between two people in different languages. This follows Google’s similar service, Google Translate, that has been available for the past year and offered across multiple devices, including Google’s smart speaker, Google Nest Home. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: The ability to easily translate across languages could mean that Amazon’s and Google’s technology could find themselves in the heart of commercial transactions — helping make a transnational sale, or negotiate a contract. It is certain that the tech giants want to move their technologies more deeply into not only the home, but into the enterprise, and being the chief translator across the globe will likely given them a strong position in many global operations.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Google Home makes scheduling events a breeze

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Google Home makes scheduling home events easier

New updates to Google Home enable you to set commands for the future — up to seven days. Some applications might include turning lights on at 6 am, or turning on holiday lights at 5 pm. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Home automation for the mass market is now Google and Amazon’s turf to lose. These companies have, moreso than any other, placed the smart home hub into the homes of nearly 30% of the U.S. population, according to Interpret. Three variables will enable these companies to slowly own a larger part of the connected home: keep integrating third party products; keep device prices low; make connecting devices mind-numbingly easy. Apple, with HomePod is not playing this game, and therefore, will not be a major player in smart home, but Google and Amazon already are.

And if you liked the story above, here are the best, inexpensive smart plugs

Want to have Google start the coffee maker at 6 am? Plug it into these very inexpensive and (getting smaller) smart plugs and you have instant smart home. TP-Link’s Kasa, Wyze and Wemo make small smart plugs, all of which communicate with Alexa or Google Home and range from $15 to $50. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Smart speaker and smart plugs are a game changer for holidays. If you have lights on your house or a Christmas tree, then there is no more plugging and unplugging, and no more struggling to program complex outdoor timer mechanisms, whose instructions are hopelessly tiny or lost after the first season of use. Using a smartphone app or voice to control holiday decorations is reason in itself to automate.

What is open banking and how is it changing consumer finance?

Open banking is the concept of big banks with lots of customers sharing data about your accounts with other vendors that you desire to connect to your bank account. The movement enables new fintech companies with interesting savings or payment capabilities to use financial data housed by your bank. The U.S. startup Plaid, that Visa seeks to acquire is an example. Swedish fintech Tink has received 85 million euros to reach a valuation of 680 million euros. The company is backed by PayPal. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Open banking will make for a far more interesting life for consumers. We will be able to open an app, release our credit score, and instantly receive offers for loans with various terms — much like choosing a credit card. Transferring accounts from multiple sources will be a breeze. Scamming will also likely increase — a price we are all paying for online convenience.

Apple AirPods Max for $549

Apple has gone toe to toe with Sony and Bose with high end over the ear headphones, leveraging the popularity of AirPods’ brand. The headphones are driven by Apple’s own H1 chipset and feature adaptive noise cancellation features. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: What do you do if you have started making your own silicon (processors) and the economics of silicon manufacturing bring profits only after higher volumes are reached? If you are Apple, you make more products in order to have more internal customers for your semiconductor fabrications. Expect Apple to ramp up the number of products, and numbers of variations of products in those lines, to keep the company and profits growing.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Starlink wins contract to beam broadband to rural America

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SpaceX’s Starlink wins $885M rural broadband FCC contract

Musk’s ventures are riding high. For the first time in history, two SpaceX rockets are docked to the International Space Station and the company’s Starlink satellite chain has its first win from the FCC. The contract is part of a $9.2 billion government initiative to provide rural citizens with access to broadband. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: A few months ago, rumors had it that Starlink had been shunned by the FCC, but it is no surprise that Musk’s company has found its way into this contract. Serving rural homes, those that have been left behind the online revolution, is a perfect application for Starlink, as orbiting infrastructure can eventually, with enough subscribers, be less costly than pulling copper through sparsely populated areas.

Uber jettisons its autonomous vehicle division

Uber is selling its Advanced Technologies Group, the team that is developing autonomous driving technologies, to Aurora Innovation, a competitor, for $4 billion. The move signals Uber’s focus on approaching profitability by trimming ventures not likely to be profitable in the near term. COVID-19 has placed unexpected financial strain on a company that, like Google, seemed willing to make investments on many emerging technologies. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The safety concerns of autonomous vehicles make development of the technology a political hot potato, despite the fact that self-driving cars may already be safer than nearly a third of human drivers. The pandemic is causing Uber to focus on profitability — a reality that will benefit the public as the service has become an essential utility that our society would be hard pressed to do without.

Apple’s Fitness+ to debut next week

Apple is joining the home fitness revolution by providing online exercise classes starting on December 14th. The service, which synchs classes with Apple devices that have video screens, is available for $9.99 per month. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Apple is following blockbuster Covid-19 winners Peloton, Mirror and Tempo, and, like its competitors, is building its program around a device. In the case of Peloton, the core device is a bike, for Mirror, an Internet connected mirror, for Apple, its service is tightly integrated with the Apple Watch. Apple’s iTunes was the teacher that taught product makers that content sells the device, and the company continues to add increasing value to most all of its hardware (HomePod seems to be the exception) through content and accessories.

Even Musk is moving to Texas

Musk confirmed on Tuesday that he has, in fact, moved to the Lone Star state where the Boring Company and Space X have facilities. Musk has, of late, been clashing with regulators in California, adding to the allure of Texas. Earlier this year Musk announced that the Tesla Cybertruck manufacturing plant would be located near Austin’s airport. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Silicon Valley is loaded with engineering, marketing and venture capital talent, but it seems that the brain drain is gaining momentum and for those of us that live in Texas, it seems that the majority of Californians who are bailing out have Texas in their sights.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Amazon borrows a slice of your home network

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Amazon Sidewalk: you are the network

If you haven’t already heard, Amazon is turning your home into a public utility. New Ring doorbells and cameras, and new Echos are broadcasting a tiny sliver of your home’s bandwidth to the neighborhood, using low power Bluetooth radio technology. If your neighbor’s dog is wearing a tile based tracker (that uses Bluetooth technology) and runs through your yard, then your home network is helping your name track and locate the dog. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Sidewalk is an interesting concept, similar to one that Comcast tried a few years ago. It raises a number of questions, such as: during high bandwidth times of day, are my home network devices not giving me their all because they are reserving some bandwidth for the neighbors?; or is the Sidewalk network really open to any compatible devices, or is Amazon creating an environment optimized for Amazon products?; and finally, how do I feel about turning my home into a public utility, and will cars be stopping in front of my house when passengers want to momentarily surf the web? More to follow…

Upgraded SpaceX Dragon resupplies the International Space Station

On Sunday, a new and improved version of the SpaceX Dragon, (Dragon II) reusable space craft left Earth with supplies for the ISS. The new version of the craft is able to carry 50% more cargo into space. This is the 21st launch of a SpaceX craft on duty for NASA. CNET

dis-rup-shun: SpaceX is proving to be a good partner to NASA — linking Musk’s out-of-this-world ambitions with renewed national focus on controlling the “bandwidth” of lower orbit, access to the Moon, and potentially be the first to arrive on Mars. While the U.S. government’s conservative NASA and Musk seem like strange bedfellows, the partnership is looking good. Expect some ambitious accomplishments from this partnership.

Apple reportedly preparing newer, faster silicon

Apple, as stated, began transitioning some of its lower end personal computing line from Intel chips to its own M1 family of processors earlier this year. Now the company is said to be producing faster chips that are likely to displace Intel’s place in Apple’s higher end devices. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: What we do know about producing microchips is that it is an extremely expensive undertaking, requiring armies of gifted engineers coupled with equally gifted fabricators in bunny suits. The question is, once Apple creates adequate silicon to power its own line of products, does it also become a microprocessor company, competing with Intel, Qualcomm, NVidia and others? Does the company begin to power other vendors’ devices with Apple chips, or is that like licensing the unique Apple software experience to competitors? If one studies the stumbles of the world’s greatest companies, they usually occur after large and great companies get so big and diverse that they lose their core advantages (as perhaps Intel has now). At what point does vertical integration become a threat to the magic that makes Apple special?

How to regulate Big Tech: follow the European Union

U.S. legislators have spent two years pondering the regulation of Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook and others. The European Union, on the other hand, is acting swiftly and succinctly, pledging to have guidelines for regulation announced this week. Regulator Margrethe Vestager states that as long as Big Tech firms list their own sites at the top of so-called open shopping sites, they are not competing fairly. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Self-prefacing is a practice that has helped build Google, Apple and Amazon into the giants they are. Amazon Basics, the generic equivalent to whatever you are shopping for, pops up as you begin to place your online order, reminding you that you have an often less expensive alternative. This practice has out Walmarted even Walmart, a company struggling to catch up online with a company that offers everyday low prices without leaving the comfort of your desk.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

COVID and Warner smack down movie theaters

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COVID victim: theatrical window for movie theaters

Warner Media just dealt a blow to the struggling movie theater industry, but allowing HBO Max to debut new blockbuster titles on the same day as they appear in movie theaters. The “theatrical window” is the time that new releases are only available in movie theaters. Warner and HBO have closed that window, or shattered it with an announcement that HBO Max will show new titles on the same day they debut in theaters, for no extra charge. CNET

dis-rup-shun: This kick of a man down is not a surprise, as content producers have been whittling away the theatrical window for the past several years, but this bold move means that other movie producers will likely follow. The move makes recovery that much more difficult for movie theaters that will be hard pressed to lure nervous patrons back, especially when the same content is showing on the couch with free snacks.

Esports team Fnatic hires doctors to test digital athletes

Some professional digital athletes earn over $1 million playing video games for audiences. These competitors practice and play over 10 to 12 hours daily, causing health problems. Now that esports are being sponsored by big brands, being in top shape is crucial, and British team Fnatic has hired doctors to research the impact of sleep and stress on game performance. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Just like professional golf, video game competition is an example of a fun thing that can become damaging when you take it too far. Esports is growing and so is the money behind it. Expect esports athletes to continue to refine their training and become nearly as popular of pro athletes.

Now you can text Alexa from your phone

Amazon is testing a new Alexa feature, enabling an Alexa app user to text questions or commands to Alexa from the screen. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: This feature may be useful in the future, when Alexa is a lot smarter, but for now, Alexa is not as smart as Google. If you wish to get answers to questions, the G has far better answers. But perhaps if you don’t want to wake someone, or you are in a meeting, and you want to ask Alexa to do something for you, this is useful. The greatest potential may be to control the home when you are away. For example, if the doorbell at home rings while you are in a meeting at the office (if you return), you could ask Alexa to tell the delivery man to leave the package next to the garage. But there are a lot of things that need to improve for even that small transaction to be a reality. Let’s wait and see how it will evolve.

Global sand shortage will impact technology pricing

Did you know that there is a shortage of sand? Years of construction and the building booms that consume massive amounts of concrete have depleted many reserves. Desert sand is not useful, as the grains are too well worn and smooth. Glass, like semiconductors, refined from silica, require a steady supply of the natural resource. As the growing global population requires more buildings, more glass, and more technology products, the material will become more scarce, influencing pricing. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The pandemic has caused an uptick in purchases of technology products, as well as a surge in building, as people upgrade their homes and move to outskirts, preparing for decades of “work from anywhere.” Just ask any real estate professional in a resort area, and he or she will report a banner year in 2020. Recycling, smaller buildings, and substitute products are all important trends to watch in the coming decade. Now the expression “go pound sand” may have new meaning as entrepreneurs seek new sources of the material.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

For $20 everyone can have a smartwatch

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Wyze $20 smartwatch — no more excuses

Wyze, the company that continues to pump out well designed and amazingly affordable smart home products, including cameras, thermostats and smart locks, has done it again. This offering, a $20 smartwatch with nine days of battery life, is compatible with Apple Health and Google Fit. The device also includes heart monitoring and sleep tracking features. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: If you have resisted the allure, so far, of an Apple Watch, just not certain if it will be all that exciting, then your excuses have been eliminated. For $20 you can determine if a smartwatch is interesting to you and you can control your Wyze smart home products, like thermostats and cameras, from your wrist. Then you can decide if Apple’s value adds are worth the upgrade. Happy holidays.

HP Enterprise joins Silicon Valley exodus

HPE, the non-consumer spin-off of the company formerly known as Hewlett Packard, announced that it is moving its headquarters from San Jose to Houston. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: You have to admit, the first reaction is that the company should move into the Compaq campus in north Houston — a sprawling office complex that has not been the same since HP swallowed Compaq in a bold move that resulted in both companies becoming laggards of the commodity PC business and Carly Fiorina losing the CEO job. That merger was a bust, and to see HPE go back to Houston makes it seem like life is moving in circles. Hey California, are you pleased that giant tech companies are packing up and moving to Houston, Austin and Dallas in droves? Aren’t tech companies the cleanest businesses and solid tax bases? Should you do something to keep companies in your beautiful but pricey state?

Salesforce needs some Slack

Salesforce has stated its intention to acquire Slack, the group messaging platform that now lives in the shadow of Microsoft Teams, for $27.7 billion. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: Slack, founded by a founder of Flickr, has moved from an edgy tool for start-ups to an enterprise grade groupware app, especially important during the pandemic. Despite its success, Microsoft Teams — included in with the cost of the Office Suite — along with similar offerings from Facebook and others, offers a serious threat to Slack’s growth. Slack, however, benefits from a loyal following and from some awkward features in Teams. Salesforce, having risen to a cloud software giant, is anxious to spur growth by adding features — at the peril of becoming so large and complex that small businesses will choose more nimble applications. Salesforce is a godsend for Slack as the competition is getting fierce for the groupware company.

AWS Panorama turns IP cameras into computer vision

Amazon Web Services, ever seeking to add value to the cloud, has announced a product called Panorama which makes any IP camera really smart. Panorama enables the video feed from a standard IP camera to become an intelligent device — recognizing problems with machines, with products on an assembly line, or perhaps spotting workplace safety issues. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: If this really works, it has endless applications. Taking the discussion back to consumer IoT, imagine what a Ring (owned by Amazon) doorbell could do if it was smart enough to tell you who was at the door, or why a strange car parked on the street is a concern, or that front hedge was looking quite dry.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Europeans to clean up space garbage

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Europeans send giant claw to clean outer space

It is estimated that over 3,000 dead satellites are orbiting Earth along with 900,000 pieces of space debris. The European Space Agency is building a large claw that will be sent to space to reach out and extract space junk. The device will launch in 2025 and will be for hire — being commissioned by those that need to clear a path in space. CNET

dis-rup-shun: All of these space junk items are potentially deadly to useful satellites and space craft, meaning that avoiding the debris or cleaning it up is critical to the burgeoning space travel industry. Good for the Europeans for again taking the lead on an important technology priority!

Amazon Eero a good fix for crummy Wi-Fi

As the world is acutely aware of the quality of home Wi-Fi, as it is the lifeline to entertainment, communications, school and work, we find that we are often paying for speeds that we rarely receive. Amazon’s Eero Pro 6 mesh router system is an expensive ($599) but likely quick fix to Wi-Fi pains. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Many households have been the sheltering place for previously launched family members, having returned for home cooking and rent-free living — hopefully with remote jobs intact. These squatters tend to complain profusely when Wi-Fi access is less than stellar and a mesh router may be worth it to quell the insults.

Good things to know if you are thinking about a new TV

For those considering a new TV for the holiday season, and not sure what to consider when faced with a myriad of options and price points, CNBC’s TV buying cheat sheet is very useful. First, decide if you are looking for a solid upgrade to a new TV, or one that will be state of the art at least for a few years. OLED vs. LCD, UHD vs. 4K and Roku vs. Samsung are a few decisions to consider first.

dis-rup-shun: The advantage and disadvantage of great new TV features is that whatever you buy, it will be obsolete in three to six years, depending on how much leading edge technology you wish to reach for. A tougher decision is if you should buy a TV that has Roku or FireTV software already built-in or not. In four years, the TV experience will likely be very different, so buying a good but less expensive TV that you can upgrade in four years is a good plan.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Realme is 7th largest smartphone brand

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Realme becomes seventh largest smartphone brand

China’s Realme smartphone brand was launched in 2018 by Sky Li, a former Oppo executive who determined that 18 to 25 year old  were underserved by the established smartphone brands. He launched the brand by producing live rap events at college campuses in India. The new brand has sold more than 50 million handsets, mostly in India and China. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: The stories of marketing visionaries continues to amaze — seeing opportunities where others do not. It is the story of Ross Perot and EDS, of Apple’s early days, of countless fashion companies, of Nintendo, Tesla and Pepsi. Understanding consumers well enough to understand the marketing messages that most resonate with them results in grabbing market share from the incumbent providers, keeping the global economies vibrant, and creating new wealth.

Tech companies rush to IPO in late COVID period

The days of COVID-19 may be numbered, and a slue of tech companies that have thrived during the pandemic are lining up for an end of year public offering. The companies on deck include AirBnB, DoorDash, Affirm, Roblox, and Wish.

dis-rup-shun: The market is seeing near record breaking highs despite a spike in COVID across the U.S. With vaccines on the horizon, but not likely to be distributed for three to six months, companies that are capitalizing on the pandemic, providing services that are particularly important to a sheltered public must act quickly before they determine demnad in a post pandemic economy.

Understanding self-driving cars

To understand autonomous cars, one has to determine the level of autonomy being offered. Level 4 is a state in which we can choose to drive or sit and watch, whereas Level 5 is a state in which we don’t have the option to drive. As we move toward the Level 5 experience, we need to understand what’s offered today and what is next. The Society of Automotive Engineers has offered this following guide to understand the evolution of autonomy.

SAE levels of driving automationdis-rup-shun: Not only safety, but economics are tied to each level of autonomy. Hailing a driverless car via app or smart speaker likely relieves us of the burden of owning a car, but rather subscribing to a ride service. It seems logical that Amazon’s car service can pick us up moments after we ask Alexa to find a ride. Similarly, Apple and Google, who know where we are (or at least where our smartphones are) at any given moment will make certain that a car is nearby so that with a tap of the app, the car pulls up as we are ready. With our daily routines stored in their cloud, these tech giants will, with 90% accuracy, know when we want a car versus when we wish to walk.

The best smart thermostats

Smart thermostats arguably were the catalysts for the popularity of smart home products. As extensions of your smartphone, these devices not only increase convenience, but increase efficiency — saving your HVAC systems from running needlessly and ultimately saving money and energy. While the category leader was once Nest, CNET cites Ecobee as the top player, followed by Nest, and Resideo’s Honeywell.

dis-rup-shun: According to Interpret’s smart home market research, smart thermostats are now owned by 12% of U.S. consumers. While most people like the idea of saving energy, the increase in comfort and convenience, including easy integration with Google Nest Home or Alexa-powered devices, makes owning a smart thermostat a very simple, basic necessity. Consider a retrofit of your home thermostats as a smart holiday activity.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Amazon’s pharmacy is about to shake up the drug biz

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Amazon Pharmacy has landed

Amazon announced Amazon Pharmacy — a service that will deliver subscriptions to your door. Prime members will receive free shipping and discounts of up to 80% on generics. Shares of Walgreens-Boots Alliance, CVS, Rite-Aid, and GoodRx tumbled on the announcement. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Remember when Walmart was the company that caught all the attention for wrecking existing businesses? Amazon Pharmacy will take a bit bite out of the established pharmacy business, and to Amazon’s credit, where were the big pushes by CVS, Walgreens, Rite-Aid and others to nail down the direct-to-consumer business over the past couple of years? Expect Amazon to gobble up a significant share of the prescription business over the next year.

Apple blinks

The battle between Apple and many other software firms that don’t want to pay the App Store tax of 30% took an interesting turn when Apple announced that it was halving its take on transactions to 15% for companies grossing less than $1 million. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: If this small gesture is expected to mollify the likes of Facebook, Epic Games, Spotify, or the U.S. Justice Department, Apple will be disappointed. The issue at hand is whether or not the two app stores constitute a duopoly. But all sales channels charge a percentage of sales, so where does the DOJ draw the line? The fact that Apple is making some moves on its own may signal that the company wants to get in front of legislative actions.

Work from Home must be done correctly, says Harvard Professor

Professor (Raj) Choudhury has been studying remote organizations since before the pandemic. He says that in order for a company to properly implement a remote model, it must: i., seek the best talent wherever they are, and allow them to work wherever they wish, ii., not implement work from home models primarily to save in real estate costs, iii, must decentralize the C-suite, lest middle managers congregate in a physical office to get their share of face time, iv., stop measuring performance based on inputs of time, but, instead, on results. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Many companies have been virtual for many years, and have stopped thinking about locations as being key to their culture. If the best people make the best businesses, then they will thrive wherever they are. The post-COVID world will find a number of stodgy, office-centric companies trying to reinvent their culture into a “work anywhere” culture in order to compete for talent. Meanwhile suburban and resort real estate prices continue their COVID run-up.

Chinese smartphone giant Oppo bets on AR

Oppo is betting nearly $8 billion on developing everyday AR tools. The company, one of China’s largest smartphone makers, has developed glasses that are thicker and heavier than normal glasses, but not as awkward as wearing your smartphone on your face in a SCUBA-mask like configuration that U.S. makers like Oculus and Korea’s Samsung have offered.  The company hopes to leverage 5G technology to provide mobile experiences unlike anything on the market. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: A common application of augmented reality (AR) that appeals to a mass audience, is yet to arrive, as core gamers have been the consumer targets for the technology thus far. If Oppo can create mass appeal for AR, expect China to take a lead in the race for developing “the next big thing” for smartphone technologies, leaving Samsung and Apple to play catch up.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

The Four Horsemen of Facebook’s Apocalypse

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Facebook’s new threats: four rising social media apps

The election and claims that Facebook is censoring the conservative voice has led to a re-shuffling of the social media hierarchy. The disruptors include TikTok, which, having sidestepped the Trump ban, continues to pick up steam with 980 million users. Others are Parler, which has doubled to nearly 8 million, acting as the network for conservative voices, positioning itself as the Fox against the CNN of social media Facebook. Discord is a site that appeals to gamers, and caters to nearly 100 million users. OnlyFans is a social media site catering to the porn industry, and therefore not permitted by Apple to have an app. While numbers are unknown, it is estimated to have more than 75 million users. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The social media industry is beginning to look like the cable TV industry: specialized sites that offer the content and point of view most valuable to you. Facebook created the space, but now has spawned alternatives and isn’t sure how to put the Genie back in the Facebook bottle. Does the social media giant try to be all things to all people, or is it forced to better define its position to hold on to a core audience? Clearly it has to take a position and the company is being forced to define its position by either having an editorial position, or being the global bulletin board for all speech — ugly or not. The company is still trying to find its identity and, in the meantime, competitors are feasting on the uncertainty.

Airbnb rises from the ashes to go public

IPO filing shows that the fractional home rental company experienced a 19% drop in revenues over the past quarter. The offering was first planned for last August, but delayed so that it could further trim payroll and shore up the listing ship.  The company has never been profitable and the prospectus warns that it may never reach profitability, but like Uber, it is the elephant in a new industry it is mostly responsible for creating. The Verge

dis-rup-shun: The pioneers of the industry, such as Uber and Amazon, decades before, are able to hold off profits until far down the road — instead, successfully changing the dynamics of their industries. With scale comes dominance, followed by profits. As the days of COVID-19 may be numbered, Airbnb could be ready to steadily grow into the next Amazon.

Space X has done it again — with three (and a half) astronauts

Space X sent another manned probe to the International Space Station on Sunday, and this time the crew is joined by a Baby Yoda that floats when zero gravity is reached. The Verge

dis-rup-shun: Elon Musk’s Space X continues to take the front and center position in the space race — safely lifting astronauts into space not once, but twice. The frequency and reusability of the company’s space craft suggest that the future of space exploration and space commerce is here, perhaps offering civilians an opportunity to travel through space in a couple of short years.

It’s (Ring) doorbell season, sings Underwood

Amazon has leveraged Carrie Underwood to promote her new album available on Amazon Music by creating an ad in which Underwood entertains people through their Ring doorbell camera. The advertisement then captures a host of happy holiday people as seen through their doorbell camera. AdWeek

dis-rup-shun: Surprisingly, Amazon does not go for a “three-fer” by having a Prime delivery truck and person roll into the screen to deliver more holiday stuff. Seems that during a congressional investigation on anti-competitive practices, a company wouldn’t remind consumers that it not only owns the smart doorbell company, but also owns the music service used to purchase one of the most popular artists of the time. Cross-selling across owned companies is smart and not against the law, but is a reminder that Amazon owned companies are increasingly surrounding consumers.

IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

Ring doorbells catching fire

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Ring doorbells are (burning) hot

Ring has sold millions of doorbell and smart home cameras, enabling do-it-yourselfers to enjoy inexpensive substitutes to security systems. The company, however has recalled 350,000 units sold between June and October. If the doorbells are installed with the wrong type of screws, the battery can catch fire. So far nearly two dozen front door fires have been reported. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The DIY (do-it-yourself) smart home products market is hot, as people can quickly and inexpensively add useful technologies to their lives. The problem, of course, with letting people do things themselves, is that they are free to do things wrong which, in this case, leads to a fire and, consequently, very dissatisfied customers.

Chipotle opens online only restaurant

Imagine a restaurant that does not offer a serving line, tables or places to dine. The new online only Chipotle in Highland Falls, NY, does not accommodate walk-in business, but is made to serve online orders for pickup only. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The new world of digital living continues to rapidly adjust to the pandemic. Despite the possibilities that a vaccine will end the pandemic sometime in mid to late 2021, the online shopping economy that has thrived will continue to do so. Whole Foods has developed similar shopper-less grocery stores. Amazon Prime trucks are rolling through neighborhoods seven days a week. Expect to see an increased emphasis on online order fulfillment.

How Apple’s new chips can change the computing experience

Earlier this year, Apple starting shipping computers that are run not by Intel’s microprocessors, but by Apple’s own M1 chipset that it spent ten years developing. How will that change the computing experience? For Mac users, the computer is likely to become much more like an iPhone or iPad, likely driven by app icons, always including touchscreens, with longer batter life, higher performance and possibly lower prices. CNET

dis-rup-shun: What seems like a fairly insignificant change — using a different microprocessor in its computers — could lead to the greatest differences in computing in the Windows world and the Mac world. By really changing the interface of the computer, making it much more continuous across the Apple product line, Apple could lead many more people to leave the Windows world for Macintosh. The losers here, of course, are both Intel and Microsoft, and an additional winner could be Google as it benefits from chaos by pushing, even harder, Chromebooks during a time of transition.

Cord cutter’s guide to choosing the best service

If you haven’t yet cut the cord, you will want to make sure your new streaming service offers live local channel access as well as your favorite specialized channels, such as ESPNU, the Golf Channel, or National Geographic. CNET‘s guide to streaming services, complete with price comparisons, makes that easy.

dis-rup-shun: To get what you want, you will likely be paying at least $65 before adding Netflix, Disney + or other subscriptions, and rumor has it that when you go to quit your pay TV provider, they may come close to matching this price with a leaner bundle.  Then, of course, one has to factor in the set top box rental fees and the purchase of streaming media devices to add to existing TVs, before an apples to apples comparison is complete.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Vaccine news deals blow to stay-at-home tech

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Vaccine news deals blow to stay-at-home stocks

On the good news from Pfizer that a Coronavirus vaccine candidate from Pfizer and BioNTech appears 90% effective, shares of tech stocks that have flourished during the pandemic saw an immediate drop. Zoom, Amazon, Netflix, and Teledoc are some of the biggest Covid-19 winners that were immediately impacted by the announcement, losing up to 5% of their value in pre-market trading. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The idea of a post-pandemic economic recovery, with a new President-elect, could be great for everyone. Most agree that life after pandemic will remain different, but the question is how different? New lifestyles and work habits should remain viable options, and expect these pandemic winners to continue to be strong alternatives in a more online economy.

Next generation ADT Google smart home

ADT, in its quarterly earnings announcement, revealed that it will work with investor and partner Google to develop a next generation home automation and security platform that will leverage machine learning, intelligent alarm and video verification. ADT.com

dis-rup-shun: What is the future of an ADT/Google partnership? How long will development of such a platform take? The good news for consumers is that apparently ADT recognizes that the traditional security system that relies on calling the police in case of a problem is growing long in the tooth. Law enforcement in many cities is stretched thin. Consumers want immediate feedback of exactly what is happening in their homes. Doorbell cameras are offering a deeper sense of engagement with the home. Consumers are increasingly investing in home systems for comfort and convenience. The partnership could raise the bar for home systems, but in the meantime, advanced technology firms such as Alarm.com, Vivint and Honeywell (among others) will not be resting, but will be offering enhanced solutions — but likely with a cloud partner other than Google.

Why you should use Apple Pay or Google Pay

Despite being available since 2014, mobile pay apps have caught on slowly in North America. Today, nearly 50% of iPhone users use Apple Pay at least occasionally, with Google Pay rising as well. Global Apple Pay transactions are 10% of credit card transactions. Wired makes the case for using mobile pay more, as it is convenient, faster, doesn’t require your wallet, and is actually more secure as each separate transaction requires facial recognition, your security code, and or facial recognition. Credit cards in the U.S. mostly do not require a PIN, meaning a thief with your card can buys things with it.

dis-rup-shun: Why U.S. consumers have been slow to adopt mobile payments is a curiosity, as more convenience and more security are great motivators. Less contact during Covid-19 should motivate us to hold up our phones rather than press PINs into a keypad. Near field communications will improve such that the point of sale device may soon display our names as soon as we approach the check out stand and simply ask us to confirm the purchase by looking into our phones.  So simple.

Virgin Hyperloop conducts first human transport test

Virgin Hyperloop, the Elon Musk concept later purchased and branded Virgin by Richard Branson, has completed its first trip at speeds over one hundred miles per hour with people on board. The 500 meter test tube in the desert outside of Las Vegas sends the compartment through an air vacuum tube. The vision of hyperloop is to transport people at speeds over 600 mph.  To date its top speed has been 240 mph. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: It is difficult to predict how long it will take for this technology to become reality, but if speeds well over those of a bullet train can be attained, the attractiveness of this mode of travel increase quickly. Traveling from San Francisco to L.A. in 30 minutes could be a game-changer, and could be a great alternative to overnight delivery of specialized cargo. Acquiring the land, or digging the tunnels or elevated rails, however, is a daunting infrastructure project.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Smart toaster for perfect results

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The smart toaster is here for $300

If you are really into toast, the Revolution Cooking R180 is the product for you. It’s touch screen interface enables you to specify exactly how you like your bread, and provides accurate timing and progress reports. The pricey device, however, does not connect to the cloud, so Google or Facebook can’t tell when you are making breakfast or cannot send ads for bread to your toaster screen. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: The smart kitchen is slowly arriving, with many devices offering smarts of questionable value. Is a smart kitchen smart because of intelligence built-in to the appliance, or because it uses cloud-based resources to help prepare meals? Smart kitchen appliances bring value when they enable control remotely, like from the bedroom, home office, or remote office, and when they provide guidance or insights based on recipes or knowledge of what supplies are on hand in the pantry or refrigerator. So expect high-end kitchen appliances to increasingly have their own touch screens and be called “smart,” though smarts require remote control and, for better or worse, connections to the cloud.

Did you leave your garage door open?

No more guessing if you left the door open, as a number of inexpensive garage controller add-ons make it simple to see if the door is open or closed or to open it for someone else. Chamberlain’s MyQue is simple and inexpensive and works with Apple’s HomeKit (for an additional fee), meaning you don’t have to use a separate app for the garage door. The more expensive Tailwind can be voice controlled through Alexa and works with Amazon Key, if you are a frequent buyer through Amazon. You do need to have a strong Wi-Fi signal in the garage. CNET

dis-rup-shun: It is exceedingly affordable to transform home systems into smart devices. Doing so, however, introduces “app fatigue” which is the frustration of having to dig through your smartphone to find an app in order to control a device — often resulting in a decision to not use that device often. Apple and Google hope to overcome this barrier with a “do-all-smart home operations” app. Apple’s is Homekit and Android offers a number of options including an app called Gideon. When our cars are outfitted with Alexa on -board (many new ones are), then we can talk to our smartphone in our car to control the garage doors.

Sony Playstation controller “game changer”

New consoles will arrive next week, and gamers are anxious to get their hands on them. Sony’s new controller, DualSense, is packed with new features including better haptic feedback, a headphone jack, a USB-C connection, adaptive resistance triggers, speaker, microphone and touch pad. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The world is now awash with gaming options across any platform, so the console experience must be quite special in order to justify the investment. “Real gamers,” as some like to call themselves, will not settle for less than a high performance gaming PC or top end console, or both, and Sony and Microsoft are racing to provide that premium experience.

Alibaba cloud growth outpaces Amazon

Chinese tech giant Alibaba reported growth of its cloud computing division that dwarfed that of larger cloud providers Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Both U.S. based cloud providers grew, in the same timeframe, 29% and 48% respectively. Alibaba’s growth in the September quarter was 60%, further affirming that the future of computing is in the cloud. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: 5G has arrived, making the vision of super fast access, from mobile devices, of cloud-based content, a reality. The implications for this new model are vast, from shopping, to entertainment, to mobile commerce. Expect Alibaba to catch up in revenue size to AWS and Azure very quickly.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Gig economy bolstered by California voters

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California vote gives gig economy green light

Hanging in the balance yesterday was California Proposition 22, which would require gig workers such as Uber and Lyft drivers to be considered employees and receive benefits. The defeat of the proposition was a green light for emerging gig economy companies, including DoorDash, Instacart and Postmates which rely on hourly contractors to provide new services at low prices. Other states will likely see the California vote as an indication of consumer sentiment. CNet

dis-rup-shun: The gig economy, defined as using the Internet to temporarily employ under-used resources, such as cars, people or homes, make up 1% of the U.S. workforce and rising, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While a small percentage, the ability to reduce the unemployment rate by 1% is a big deal. Expect new and innovative ideas, such as Task Rabbit and Wag!, to continue to pop up and help supply meet demand.

Even AT&T is ready to cut the cord

AT&T is in talks to sell up to 50% of its legacy DirecTV, AT&T Now and Uverse units to private investors. The potential transaction values the DirecTV business, for which AT&T paid $67 billion, at somewhere in the range of $15 billion. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The startling decline in value of the DirecTV business unit in just five years is hard to fathom, but is a reminder of why Randall Stephenson, former AT&T CEO, rode off into the sunset earlier this year. The company is now in a position to hastily remake its video strategy to compete with a much more nimble Netflix that does not have the baggage of wireless services or legacy telecommunications and satellite TV services to deal with.

Game console strategies summarized

With new consoles on the verge of release, The Verge summarizes Microsoft and Sony’s future in gaming. Microsoft is out to create, maintain and grow new game customers regardless of platform — providing solutions for PCs, for mobile from the cloud, for discount consoles and for serious consoles. As Microsoft will not release its new consoles with new blockbuster game titles, it will lean heavily on compatibility with legacy games to excite users. Sony’s Playstation strategy is focused on providing a premium console experience with some brand new titles and with a new haptic feedback readied controller, the DualSense.

dis-rup-shun: The differing strategies will be exciting to watch, as it appears that Microsoft is hard at work to fend off newcomers to the gaming space such as Amazon and Apple who are seeking to convert everyone to a game subscription. Sony, on the other hand, may further engage the traditional core gamer — a specialized but profitable niche market — and extract additional dollars per unit by rewarding loyalty and honoring the exclusive experience sought after by serious gamers.

The best smart home products

Gizmodo provides the latest of frequent lists of best smart home devices. Gizmodo’s list has a few dark horses. The picks include:

Best Wi-Fi mesh router: Netgear Orbi.  Best smart speaker: Nest Audio.  Best robotic vacuum cleaner: Neato Botvac D7 Connected. Best smart display hub: Google Nest Hub Max. Best smart lock: August Wi-Fi Smart Lock. Best smart plug: Belkin Wemo Mini. Best connected lightbulb: Philips Hue. Best connected security camera: Logitech Circle 2. Best in-home exercise system: Peloton Bike.

dis-rup-shun: Most of us are spending a LOT more time at home, and investing in smart products for entertainment, convenience and security makes more sense than ever before. Fortunately the industry keeps cranking out better and more affordable smart home products.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

In-game campaigning further blurs reality

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Politicians turn to in-game campaigning

Biden’s campaign has released a “Build Back Better with Biden” roadmap within the popular computer game, Fortnite. This placement follows an in-game voting station and Biden yard signs found in Animal Crossing New Horizons. The Verge

dis-rup-shun: Meeting your target market on its own turf remains a timeless saw within marketing, and the Biden crew has done just that, further blurring the borders of real life with the alternative realities of gaming. Just when you retreated to computer and console games to escape the barrage of political ads — you find yourself back to reality.

Ford hints of $20,000 electric car

The future of the auto industry is electric, and with Gen Alpha’s less likely to own cars, Ford is gearing up for a new kind of car experience. Current electric vehicles (sedans and trucks) are targeted to a luxury buyer, but the future calls for highly affordable electric vehicles, according to Ford’s new CEO, Jim Farley. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Car makers are scrambling to reinvent themselves as it appears that the industry will revolve around fractional use (transportation-as-a-service) of autonomous, electric vehicles — three key elements that are missing from the majority of offerings today. Electric vehicles require little maintenance and few moving parts, threatening the service revenues of the auto dealership. Given that many consumers will give up auto ownership for transportation service subscriptions, the sales department of the dealership also faces an uncertain future. Which elephantine auto maker can tap dance the best to avoid the endangered species list?

Netflix strategy — increase price and value indefinitely

Last week’s increase in subscription prices for Netflix is baked into the long term strategy of raising prices each year, along with increasing the value of the service each year. The company has veered away from its strategy of becoming a low-cost HBO replacement, to one of becoming a low-cost replacement of the entire cable package. As the quality of the cable bundle degrades, given that providers will reserve the best content for streaming services, Netflix will increase the quality and price of its offerings. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Netflix continues to create a new price tier for streaming services in the range of $13 to $20 per month. Because the company is not seeking price parity with cable bundles that easily average $100 per month, it leaves room for consumers to add 2 or 3 services to the household mix. Even with several streaming services, the new bundle is priced far below cable, forcing traditional cable providers to meet streaming TV packages such as Hulu, Sling and YouTube TV at a $50 to $60 per month price level. If you haven’t already, it’s time to restructure your TV bundle.

A man’s hatred of printers

Wired’s Simon Hill asks why, in the 2020s, do printers still suck? Describing the awkward relationship most homes have with their inexpensive devices that consume semi-precious ink cartridges and the ferocity of ink subscription services at insisting the printer stay on and connected, Hill hits home.

dis-rup-shun: The cost of printing, unlike the rest of consumer technology, seems to have hit a floor beyond which it will not fall, despite the ridiculously low prices of printing devices. Leave it to Amazon to deliver printed documents to our doors in about an hour after hitting the “Print to Amazon Prime” button.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Rivian transforms the pickup truck experience

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Rivian R1T is the shape of trucks to come

What’s a Rivian? It is an all electric pickup truck that is larger than a Ford Ranger and smaller than an F-150. Like the future of electric vehicles, it is powered not by one central engine and drive train, but by four electric motors linked directly to each wheel, resulting in a simpler design, more space in the cockpit, and regenerative breaking which means that the vehicle progressively slows as you back off the accelerator. The Rivian comes in three different battery range options, adjusting price and time between charges to meet particular needs. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The electric future is arriving quickly, with many exciting offerings arriving in 2021. It seems like the most excitement is with trucks, including the new Electric Hummer, the Rivian, and the Tesla Cybertruck. But trucks are where auto makers earn a profit and where many electric options will be offered.

Netflix implements price increase

Netflix announced a price increase of around $1 for each of its plans. These new prices will show up on customer bills in the next two months. Shares of Netflix and competitor Disney were up on the news. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It has been discussed many times that the current streaming economy doesn’t add up — to win more subscribers, streamers have to create and acquire very expensive premium content — which must be subsidized by other profitable business units.  Unlike Disney, CBSViacom, AT&T and others, Netflix does not have theme parks, wireless services or a large catalog of syndicated shows. Expect Netflix to continue to raise prices and live in the area defined as “cheaper than cable, but more than it used to be.”

Advertising recovery buoys Alphabet, Pinterest and Snap

Google parent Alphabet posted better than expected earnings across all of its operating concerns, driving its share price up 7%, and confirming that advertising has rebounded from its early-COVID-19 pullback. Meanwhile, other Big Tech failed to impress Wall Street, resulting in a decline across the tech sector. Apple’s sales figures for the iPhone 12 are not included in the past quarter’s less than interesting results. Twitter’s stock was down on strong performance but disappointing new user acquisition. Facebook stock was also lower on a decline in users, and Amazon’s growth expectations did not exceed what has already been recognized as the target range of up to 38%. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: In what continues to be two sides to the same COVID-19 coin, online sales and advertising continue to surge, even as retail, restaurant and service businesses gasp for life. Cash continues to flow through the online economy, creating demand for knowledge-worker jobs and providing disposable income to be spent on food and consumables, if not the latest fashions and hottest new restaurants.

Bose Tempo audio frames: sunglasses that talk

For $250, you can own Bose’s Tenor, Soprano or Tempo audio framed- sunglasses. These stylish sunglasses enable you to listen to music, take calls or talk to Siri without fumbling for AirPods or extracting your phone from your pocket. For those times, like riding a bike, when you want entertainment but don’t want to block outside noise, an audio sunglass frame may be the solution. CNET

dis-rup-shun: What could be better than discreetly listening to music, conference calls, or podcasts while running, walking, biking or skiing? As we humans continue to believe in the myth of multi-tasking, tools that help us be two places at once are invaluable, and at this price, these frames are worth a try.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

SpaceX global internet service ready for beta

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SpaceX prices Starlink satellite Internet beta at $99 per month

SpaceX, the company that has been pumping hundreds of satellites into low orbit for the past year, is now ready to do business. The company is offering a beta version of its satellite internet service for a $499 kit fee and $99 per month. Speed expectations are low at first, says the company. The service will provide possibly intermittent speeds of 50 to 150 Mbps during its first months as it builds up infrastructure. While this service may be lacking in speed and economy, it may be the best available in many parts of the world. Forbes

dis-rup-shun: SpaceX’s promise is to provide internet access across the globe — enabling a truly global service and one that connects very remote places to the world wide web. With the diaspora of urban workers heading to the hills in the time of COVID-19, connecting urban outposts to the rest of the world is critical, and certainly worth a premium. The philanthropic possibilities of the StarLink service are also exciting — connecting people who had neither the funds nor the infrastructure to the rest of the web can transform economically depressed communities.

T-Mobile pushes into the streaming video business

T-Mobile, always the uncarrier, has been offering its subscribers a companion streaming video (TV replacement business) for as low at $10. Now the carrier is opening up the service to non-subscribers, who can add premium channels to TVision for $40 and up per month. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Thanks to T-Mobile for keeping the playing field competitive and differentiated. Now that Sprint is part of T-Mobile, the company that people liked to ignore is putting a dent in the establishment. And think of a wireless carrier also being your TV provider? That sounds like a company called AT&T, but priced at half of what you used to pay for your TV + wireless bundle.

The demise of cable TV inevitable

Leaders of traditional cable operators are preparing for the nuclear winter that awaits further defection by cord cutters. Cable operators are expected to lose another 25 million households over the next 5 years, calling into question the sustainability of the infrastructure, including financial (debt) structure supporting the industry. Shifting assets to streaming services will have to happen quickly and is already reshuffling the leaders of the pay TV industry, with companies such as Netflix, Apple and Disney joining the incumbents as the power brokers. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Outgoing and departed cable execs, including AT&T’s Randall Stephenson, placed huge bets on keeping enough subscribers onboard to keep the ship afloat, but the the pay TV tide is turning more quickly than some expected, and there is question if revenues from streaming subscriptions will be sufficient to fund the over the top services. Leadership in the streaming industry requires premium content, and producing premium content, either in the form of great shows or live sports is extremely expensive and may require subsidies from other business units, as Disney, AT&T, CBS Viacom and some have, but Netflix does not. In a tough spot, potentially, are owners of sports franchises who will find it increasingly difficult to get enormous TV contracts that they and their players have become so accustomed.

Nest discontinues DIY home security system

Nest has confirmed the discontinuation of its Nest Secure DIY home security system in a box. The kit, released in 2017, sold most recently for $399. The decision to shut down the product comes a few months after Google invested $450 million in professional security leader ADT. The Verge

dis-rup-shun: The discontinuation of Nest Secure is a surprise, and yet no surprise at all. It is a surprise, because it appears that smart device makers like Amazon, it’s Ring division, and Google’s Nest are marching from making popular and well-priced devices, to making well-priced integrated systems consisting of more and more components. It is a surprise in that Google has a vast war chest, and, having made a large investment in ADT, seems to be in position to play the long game in smart home. It is not a surprise in that Google’s hardware strategy is continuously perplexing — seemingly designed by players of musical chairs who don’t stick to a plan for more than a few months. And not a surprise in that buyers of smart home products don’t appear to be buyers of integrated security systems. Security systems buyers appear to be different animals, and where the two meet is still hard to discern. One thing for certain: someone at SimpliSafe has cracked a bottle of champagne on the Nest news.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Facebook amps up the cloud gaming race

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Facebook launches cloud games but not on IOS

Facebook is joining Google, Microsoft and others with a cloud gaming offering. Facebook’s offering, however, does not require controllers and does not offer a console-like experience. The offering will likely increase the appeal of gaming within Facebook, but is not supported on IOS, given Apple’s app policies. The feud between Facebook and Apple originated with Tim Cook’s remarks about Facebook’s privacy policies, and continues as Facebook joins the growing parties of companies objecting to Apple’s control of commerce via the App Store. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Companies are jumping on the anti-trust bandwagon, trying to seize an opportunity to crack Apple and Google’s hold on all things app. The situation, however, is more interesting when Facebook, one of Congress’ targets for reform, is adding fuel to the fire. Will Apple escalate issues by furthering its criticism of Facebook’s security policies, and will the feud accelerate legislative actions? The infighting among BigTech companies will hasten needed legislative actions. Meanwhile, every tech giant will soon have its cloud gaming offering, making it difficult for customers, regardless of their price/performance preferences, to resist playing games at some point in their week.

London Tube deploys UV technology to clean surfaces

London’s Transit for London authorities have outfitted multiple locations with UV-light based cleaning devices that sanitize handrails on escalators. The authority states that trials of the technology show that it reduces germs on handrails by 50%. UV light is projected on handrails at one point in their circular rotation, keeping them constantly treated.  CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Public spaces will never be the same after COVID-19, and London is taking action to make spaces safer — not just from COVID-19 — but from germs carried and transmitted through touch.

Tips for a telemedicine future

Telemedicine is likely a part of your future. While most people will continue in-person doctor visits, these visits will likely be augmented by telemedicine appointments. Telemedicine provides an opportunity for patients to centralize their care information in one place, as providing a list of medications, contacts and health history will increasingly be the responsibility of the patient, not the doctor. This information will enable different care professionals and specialists, to be included in a remote care model. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Telemedicine will enable participation by multiple specialists, in many parts of the world, to be involved in the care process, and moving from a model in which a primary physician is the central point of one’s health care journey to one in which the patient is his or her own advocate will not happen for some. But for the masses who will be challenged with ever rising prices for shrinking coverage, movement to more cost effective care models will likely involve shopping for telemedicine suppliers and presenting one’s own case to chosen providers.

Bissell SpinWave is a robotic mop and vacuum

The evolution of robot vacuums continues, and Bissell’s $250 SpinWave combines mopping capabilities with vacuuming. The device looks much like a Roomba but includes two spinning cloth mops and a water tank in the unit. CNET

dis-rup-shun: For the price, these devices are helpful with regular maintenance, but technology has a way to go before replacing elbow grease. Expect robotic home cleaners to be a household mainstay in five years, but until then, they are nice-to-have additions to heavy duty vacuum cleaners, mops and brooms.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Quibi: a spectacular failure

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Quibi is one of the more spectacular tech flops of the decade

Quibi will be shutting down before end of year, terminating its contracts with a long list of movie stars, athletes and celebrities who were featured in the mobile only short form videos. Quibi was original and bold. In a time when lives were far more mobile, would people become so fascinated with premium content that this fad would have been a hit? Former Disney CEO and Quibi leader, Katzenberg, along with Meg Whitman of eBay fame, have issued an apology for blowing $1.75 billion in a little over a year, and will go on to other creative projects. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Perhaps Katzenberg and Whitman saw themselves as the next Steve Jobs, creating something radically different and of high quality, that people would love. Speaking of Jobs, if Apple acquired Quibi and branded it Apple iPhone TV, or something similar, initially giving a few hours of content to every Apple device owner, then migrating them to paid plans, the service would likely be a smash hit. Consumers, however, are not in the mood for another monthly charge that only lives on a mobile device, especially when spending most all of their time at home.

The surge of electric pickup trucks

Overnight, the world is faced with a number of electric pickup truck choices, even though the pickup truck audience has not been asking for one. GM’s electric Hummer, an electric F-150, Tesla’s Cybertruck, join startups Rivian, Bollinger and Lordstown on the truck scene. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Pickups and SUVs are the growth engines of the auto market, and the vehicles that are sold at higher margins. Electric pickups, however, come at higher prices, in some cases, prices over $100K. So the automakers are counting on tapping a luxury truck buyer, not the average pool man. Time will tell if the market will bear a glut of expensive, luxury electric trucks, but GM and Tesla are betting yes.

Large percentage of Apple’s service revenues paid by Google

Google is paying rent to Apple. The search company pays Apple to be the default search engine of the Safari browser, resulting in revenues attributed to Apple Services in the amount of $8 to $12 billion per year, or 17% to 26% of Apple’s services revenues last year. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The number of Safari users who would likely select Google to be the default browser would likely be near the same figure even if the search engine was not associated with Safari. The red flag, however, is that Apple has touted the early success of its services business, implying that people were lining up in droves to pay a monthly fee for games, music, news or other content. It turns out that a quarter of that success is attributable to Google’s rent payment.

Smart vents may fix your HVAC woes

Getting the right amount of air conditioned air to the right room at the right time is a challenge in many homes, and a problem that vexes many homeowners. One application of smart home technology that addresses this problem, well, smartly, is the smart vent. Smart vents open and close based on sensor readings in each room indicating temperature imbalances, and determining which rooms are occupied. Flair’s smart vents draw power from two small C cell batteries and can be connected to popular smart thermostats to “just work.” TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Smart vents should be a standard issue in any home and certainly will be in the future. Using sensor technology to measure and adjust in the background not only is a simple application of technology, it is more efficient and far simpler than climbing into attics to attempt to adjust ducts to change air flow.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

And you thought you didn’t want a Hummer

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The Hummer you thought you’d never want

Hummer is back, and it is electric, and you will want it. The new version features a removable roof and crawl mode for tough terrain. The 300 mile range and 1000 horsepower engine, along with the convertible features make this pickup truck highly desirable to spend time in the great outdoors and be good for the environment at the same time.  CNET

dis-rup-shun: Car companies are trying an interesting strategy to remain relevant in the next decade, and that strategy is to create premium electric vehicles with fat margins and lots of buzz.  The Chevy Volt got a lot of attention, but you don’t see many on the road. A head turner like Cadillac’s new LYRIC EV SUV, or the new Hummer EV, or electric Ford F-150 will get people talking about the new future of the car industry.

Snap’s strong quarter signals comeback for brand advertising

Advertising has suffered during the pandemic, causing a slowdown in the service economy. Snap, parent of Snapchat, posted a strong quarter and year over year revenue growth of 52%, signaling a return of advertising by large brands. The strong results buoyed the stock price of other social media giants. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: While the economy must weather the uncertainty caused by a peculiar election as well as the third surge in coronavirus cases, the rise in all things digital remains a driver of economic growth. Our lives have moved online and outdoors, and companies catering to both of those experiences are showing strong growth and keeping many people actively employed.

Verizon beats estimates

Speaking of all things digital being on the upswing, Verizon added more subscribers of Internet services and wireless phone accounts than expected. The company added 283,000 postpaid phone subscribers in Q3, beating an estimate of 268,000. While the company’s revenues are down, its prospects are up. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: As mentioned above, if a company is in the business of enabling our digital lifestyles, they are in a good place. As the COVID-induced diaspora of city people to the country continues, people need to pick up hot spots or install faster internet service at their beach or mountain houses.

Apple’s MagSafe charger is teenage awkward

Apple’s new wireless charging technology, MagSafe, includes aligning a charging disk to the back of the phone via a built in magnet. Of course, if you are using an older phone that does not have a built in magnet, aligning the surfaces is a little tricky. And Apple does not include the AC electrical outlet plug (brick) in new models, but requires users to acquire one that conforms to the newer USB-C interface. Gizmodo

dis-rup-shun: Only Apple can get away with forcing people to adopt new standards without giving them the tools to do so. We are in the awkward adolescent/teenage years of growing into the next phase of connecting and charging devices, and for the next two to three years, there will be countless request from friends and loved ones who ask “do you have this kind of adapter or charger…?” Once we get out of the house, we will have the opportunity to build community through accessory sharing.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Artificial intelligence begins to write emails and memos

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AI apps compose emails and text copy

GPT-3 is an artificial intelligence text generation technology that learns the context of communications. By offering two or three word commands, a user can employ GPT-3 to write a thoughtful, relevant email message, ad copy, or memo. Compose.ai and Snazzy.ai are two examples of applications capable of generating relevant and detailed text. Wired

dis-rup-shun: AI authoring apps may be the first real example of machine learning that makes writing skills nearly unnecessary. If machines, not people, determine writing styles, then variations in styles will quickly diminish and certain books will need to be labeled as “handcrafted” or developed by human intelligence in order to distinguished language artists from computer programs. The art of writing will be seldom practiced in business and technical communication.

Gates on breaking up Big Tech

Bill Gates has been through anti-trust hearings, when Microsoft was fined millions in the 1990s. Gates has stated that the congressional investigation of Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google should regulate each company individually, as they each serve different markets with unique challenges. For social media, the issues to scrutinized include “advertising to children, wiretapping, bullying and the dissemination of false information.” For ecommerce, the issues are sharing customer purchase history and shipping address across multiple websites. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Each Big Tech company has unique competitive advantages, but the most complex company to scrutinize is Amazon, as the company is in many different businesses and is able to leverage advantages of, say, Prime Video to gain more information about the preference of online shoppers. Unraveling the highly vertically integrated business of Amazon, by itself, is a huge task, and then there are problem children such as Facebook. The congressional committee on competition will have its hands full, potentially, for several years.

Google Maps updates Busyness feature

In response to the pandemic, Google has added and updated a maps feature called Busyness, that tells you how busy a store, restaurant, park, or other public place is before you go. For those striving to avoid a crowd or beat the rush, this could be a game changer. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Great features like this come to you courtesy of, well, you. Your personal information about where you are (with your phone) at all times provides the input to this, and other great utilities. In the debate over the creepy-ness of Big Tech constantly collecting personal data, we have to remember that great and useful features like this are a reward from allowing the tracking of personal data.

China may block Nvidia acquisition of ARM

Nvidia, a U.S. chip company that is thriving in the world of increased gaming and Internet of Things devices, as well as connected cars, plans to acquire chip design licensing company, ARM, a U.K. based company. The Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has the ability, just like the EU or DOJ, to block the transaction based on the grounds of limiting competition. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: While both companies state confidence that the deal will occur, Chinese regulators, having been tormented by the Trump administration over security concerns regarding Huawei and, most recently, TikTok and WeeChat, have to be ready for a fight. Expect SAMR to put a big battle to block this acquisition.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Will iPhone 12 spur a supercycle?

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Will the new iPhones spur a ‘supercycle?’

In 2014, Apple’s release of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus spurred a massive upgrade cycle and $61 billion in revenues to Apple and their accessory partners. That was the peak of iPhone revenues. Some claim, however, that because 30% of iPhone users have a phone three or more years old, and now that 5G is supported, many will rush to upgrade. Other remind that we are in a pandemic-induced recession and that 5G is not yet important to users. Regardless, Apple’s business is more diversified than ever and its stock price continues to climb. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Apple’s marketing sophistication continues. It now offers more models to fit the tastes and price tolerances of a larger audience, with more shiny colors, and has, like women’s fashion, made an old look (angular corners) new again. Curved edge iPhones will now signal to your friends and peer group that you are out of step and certainly don’t possess the transformative speeds of 5G technology. Meanwhile, Apple, with sleight of hand, has raised the price of the base phone by $100 by introducing a lower end model priced like last year’s base model. Will anyone notice?

Finally, a HomePod Mini

Apple has missed several release cycles in the increasingly crowded smart speaker evolution. It’s expensive HomePod, a $299 competitor to Echo Studio and Google Home Max, was released two and a half years ago and, according to Interpret’s research, appealed mostly to high income families who are Apple loyalist. Yesterday, the long awaited HomePod mini, listing for $99, joined the fray, enabling a more cost-conscious customer to combine interest in a smart speaker or pretty good music player, with admiration for Apple products. 9to5Mac

dis-rup-shun: Apple’s answer to the Amazon Echo Dot is attractive, yet what does it do for us that its competition does not? Other than being powered by Siri, which some may prefer to Alexa or Google Assistant, the device has good sound for a small speaker and attractive cloth housing. For a company that usually offers something more, Apple continues to be a follower in the smart home department — lacking that really compelling experience, or really rich service offering, that has become a part of its fabric.

When PopSockets get in the way

PopSockets, that rubber handle that sticks to the back of your phone to enhance your grip on your $1000 mobile computer, is in the way of Apple’s new MagSafe technology. MagSafe is the technology that enables you to place your iPhone on a charging surface, rather than plugging it into a charger. PopSockets fans will find that they need to remove their beloved accessory to properly charge their iPhone on MagSafe surfaces — an inconvenient truth for a company that has thrived on the back of phones since 2012 and has earned former Colorado college professor, David Barnett and his philanthropies, millions of dollars. PopSockets is said to be designing a new device which can be easily removed for charging, but meanwhile Apple itself is reportedly getting into the stick-on accessories business and that could be a problem for PopSocket. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Making your fortune at the feet of a giant is great, until that giant steps on you. Just ask some of the erstwhile entrepreneurs at Netscape, AOL, CaseLogic, Intercom, and many others — companies who have lived in a niche, until that niche gets big enough to be incorporated into the core product line.

Blue Origin breaks record for reusing rocket

The space billionaires are playing for keeps — keeping their rockets running, that is. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin just completed its seventh landing of a rocket returning from outer space. The New Shepard space craft touched down in the West Texas desert on Tuesday, beating the record of Musk’s SpaceX by one. The space billionaires have proven that the future of space travel, like airplanes, includes landing the craft intact. Another new feature of the space race is great, crystal clear video coverage of the launches and recoveries. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Today’s space race is an example of how competition in a nearly open playing field accelerates innovation. Relying only on government-backed space initiatives would result in glacial developments, spurred only by the fear of falling behind other superpower, especially as politicians are increasingly distracted by reelection campaigns and the global pandemic. Regardless of how the Department of Justice regulates Big Tech in upcoming months (or years), Bezos and Musk already have their places in history as true innovators that reshaped global commerce.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

AI-coached virtual sales calls more effective?

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Chorus AI technology improves Zoom pitches

The traveling salesforce is locked down and doing their best schmoozes via Zoom. But now, Chorus, an AI-driven software platform is able to analyze the Zoom conversation and inform salespeople when they are talking too much, or not addressing customers’ primary objections. This virtual coach can keep salespeople within the guardrails of corporate best practices, and keep those best practices fresh on individuals’ minds. Wired

dis-rup-shun: The idea of a receiving in-meeting tips from an AI-based application has the potential for making virtual sales meetings more productive than in-person meetings. Do you trust an algorithm to tell you when your salesforce is “talking right” over sending them on the road (post-COVID-19) to host power lunches, tickets to games, and happy hours? Most people don’t argue that face to face meetings are invaluable, unless, of course, your team does a better job virtually with the help of a coach.

Tomorrow is iPhone 12 day – what to expect

Apple’s unveilings of the next iPhone are always events that lead to great speculation about how many faithful and how fast, will upgrade to the latest model. The rumor mill, provided by CNET, offers a number of features expected in tomorrow’s release. These include sizes — moving from the three (regular, large and extra large – Pro Max) in the iPhone 11 to four with the 12, which adds a mini (5.4 inch). Enhanced camera features have become a staple of new phone releases, and it is suspected that the iPhone 12 will enable portrait mode in videos. This model will support 5G cellular connections — a feature Apple chose to skip on model 11, which was likely smart timing on their part. And, drumroll, it is rumored that the base price for the 12 will be $649, less than the base price for the 11.

dis-rup-shun: The feature race between Samsung and Apple continues to be in lock step, with each smartphone leader taking a slight advantage with some features that are inevitably offered by the competitor shortly thereafter. In terms of horsepower and cool features, the Android vs. Apple discussion is the phone battle continues to be a commentary on simply on personal preference. Like the upcoming U.S. Presidential race, most people have long ago decided which tribe they prefer and swaying them to a new platform is extraordinarily difficult. These announcement events are really about keeping the core buyer intact and enticing them to upgrade.

Video gaming revenue in China from smaller towns

China is the largest video game market in the world, and 70% of video game revenue is coming from Tier 3 – 5 cities where, according to Niko Partners, 76% of gamers live. Niko Partners believe that better mobile infrastructure, cheaper smartphones, and less entertainment options make gaming a core activity in smaller cities. They note that “smaller cities” often have populations of over one million, meaning that a successful entertainment offering cannot ignore the interests of Tier 3 – 5 cities, in a market of nearly 1.4 billion people. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: CNBC says that Netflix does not view other streaming services in China as its competition, rather it views video games as the threat. Given that smaller cities in China are more likely mobile Internet users than home broadband, the path to higher monetization of services is mobile and therefore, more personal.

China hands out $1.5M to test digital currency

China is leading world banks in experimenting with digital currency. China’s central bank just awarded $1.5M in digital renminbi to 50,000 people in a lottery. Over 3,000 merchants in Shenzhen are setup to accept the currency which is not a crypto currency, and can be accepted by a number of digital wallets. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: China is acting quickly to prevent the rise of efforts such as Facebook and friends’ Libra digital cryptocurrency, which was thwarted by central banks around the world. Moving to digital currency will solve many problems for central banks, and likely create more complex ones as digital security is a moving target. What digital currency will likely do, however, is enable the central bank to see exactly where and how much money people are spending — another loss of privacy and potential loss of control of funds in “emergency situations.”

 

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Amazing but true quotes from Big Tech

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Juiciest quotes from Antitrust Report

The U.S. House of Reps investigation of Big Tech continues to be one of the most fascinating subjects in our time — with truckloads of data suggesting that the world’s largest tech companies were using their success and intelligence to, well, grow. Wired tracks fourteen of the juiciest quotes coming from Facebook, Apple, Google and Amazon.

dis-rup-shun: What business person says, “I want to build a really successful business, but not too successful, as I want to make sure I have a lot of really good competitors who make it impossible to grow past a certain level, and then I will tell my shareholders and employees that this is as good as it gets — look elsewhere if you want more?” It is hard to blame these “kids in candy store” tech execs who invented new markets and forgot that success at the cost of restricting competition is against the law. But they are about to get a lesson in line-drawing and when to know when to turn down the “total world domination” knob.

IBM gets focus

IBM, long the most recognized brand for computing for those that were adults before Apple was a rock star company, has gained new focus. The company announced this week that it is splitting into two companies: the IBM brand will stay with the company focusing on hybrid cloud solutions (high margin business) and Newco will focus on IT infrastructure solutions consulting — the crowded space of bidding on design and management of corporate IT departments and projects. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: IBM has been one of the most mis-understood brands for decades. Once known for mainframe computers, then made famous for launching the business PC, the company does little of the former and none of the latter. The company has spent the last two decades diminishing in influence over corporate computing and struggling to be known for its crown jewel, the “Watson” branding of cloud computing. IBM has a new CEO, Arvind Krishna, who is cleaning up the shop and focusing on growth segments. Just like at Google and Microsoft, fresh blood and fresh thinking is already doing wonders for IBM’s outlook.

Samsung has blow out quarter

Samsung’s quarter ended in September saw a smashing 58% increase over the prior year — about $10.6 billion. The company has benefited from an uptick in demand of consumer products (thanks COVID), a stocking up on memory chips given sanctions against Huawei (thanks Trump) and an uptick of display orders in preparation for the release of the next, and 5G compatible, iPhone (thanks Apple). CNBC

dis-rup-shun: For all the talk of the global economy being in shambles, there are many white-hot bright spots that are keeping the engines of commerce humming, enabling people around the world to shop online, pay their mortgages, and keep credit cards warm. Unfortunately for those locked out of online economies, the percentage of people living in extreme poverty has risen to the highest levels in decades. The digital divide is not a growing local, but rather a global crisis.

Wyze removes price barrier from smart home

Wyze is the smart home technology company, that for the last several years, has been selling competitively featured smart camera for a fraction of competitors. The company is now offering a $30 doorbell camera and a $50 thermostat to join its $20 smart camera and $8 connected lightbulb. CNET

dis-rup-shun: For every promising new market, there is a spoiler who offers a good enough product at a price point  which is “off the price curve” and Wyze is that spoiler for the smart home. What could possibly be their strategy? Perhaps they are trying to be the unicorn of the device world, rapidly capturing as many users as possible in order to make a big, fat exit to a Google or Amazon. Whatever the plan, they are removing cost as a barrier to participation in the smart home market — providing useful products for less than the cost of a meal for two. Let’s see if they can throttle the adoption curve.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Congress has spoken: Big Tech is anti-competitive

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Tuesday is the start of the biggest legislative overhaul of the century

For nearly a year, congressional investigations into anti-competitive practices of Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon have been ongoing. Findings were released Tuesday,  delayed over late breaking information from a whistleblower with new information about the Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram. The new information, reportedly, offers a smoking gun regarding Facebook’s agenda to thwart competition by purchasing Instagram for $1 billion. Republican Representative Ken Buck calls the proceedings one of the most bi-partisan efforts in recent history. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Congress spent over a year building its case. Now the real work — to reshape old legislation formed to protect consumers and small businesses against the monopoly power of the railroads and mega banks, or to create new legislation which focuses on protection of consumers’ personal data — must begin. This will require intellect, innovation and thousands of hours and millions of taxpayer dollars sparring with Big Tech’s legal armies in order to erect new guardrails that keep the economic engines humming without treading on personal privacy or small business opportunity. Now that Pandora’s box has been opened, it will take the full cooperation of both parties to enact effective legislation.

TikTok is now the number two teen app

TikTok has surpassed Instagram as the second most favored app for teenagers, trailing only Snapchat. According to a Piper Sandler report, 34% of teens favored Snapchat, 29% favored TikTok and 25% favored Instagram. Usage, on the other hand, still places Instagram in first place (84%), Snapchat in second (80%), and TikTok in third (69%).

dis-rup-shun: TikTok’s brush with the Trump Executive Orders nearly impacted a very large segment of the teen population, and handed to Oracle an extremely valuable social media asset. The quick adoption of TikTok also reminds Facebook, king of social media, how quickly it can be deposed by an upstart service.

Super Nintendo World opening soon

Lifelong fans of Mario and Luigi can soon immerse themselves in Super Nintendo World theme park at Universal Studios in Osaka, next year. The park will include a Super Mario Kart ride, and Power Up bands that one wears throughout the park makes the visit a game in itself. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Super Nintendo World is evidence that companies are investing in a post-COVID normalcy, and fully expect travel and personal experiences to return to almost normal, with people spending their savings on in-person experiences with large crowds of like-minded people. Over a twenty-plus year time horizon, perhaps another six months of uncertainty and delayed openings will not impact the business plan of a venture such as Super Nintendo World.

Slack adding cross organizational capabilities

Slack, the intra-company direct messaging collaboration platform will soon enable communications between organizations. Users will be able to share a personal ID that anyone can connect to — regardless of organization. This capability will enable Slack users to receive messages from any of their contacts at any company.  The Verge

dis-rup-shun: This development confirms that change is not always progress. There are currently no rules in communications. When you think your work environment borders on meltdown on occasions, with emails, phone calls, text messages, LinkedIn messages, in-Zoom chats, Slack and Teams messages coming at you at all times, many times from the same people using multiple tools at the same time, enter cross-organizational features from Slack. Not only will this feature result in a higher volume of Slack interruptions, but will inevitably lead to the scenario, so frequently seen in iMessages, that we accidentally respond to the wrong conversation with the correct, and often embarrassing, message. While Slack is in a run for its life as it competes head to head with Microsoft’s FREE Teams, with memories of monopoly road kills including Netscape Navigator and Novell Netware, this “value add” may tilt the scale for some users who simply have to unplug something if they hope to finish a task in a ten hour workday.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Twitch is the playground for future military brass

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US military increases recruiting activities on Twitch

The new military requires a new type of recruit, and he or she is likely lurking on Twitch — Amazon’s Internet channel for video game streamers. Twitch hosts 3.9 million monthly unique streamers — people who wish to play and watch other people play video games live. These game enthusiasts display many of the skill sets needed by the armed services to operate today’s and tomorrow’s weaponry, intelligence and tactical command operations. While the armed services have not been well received so far by this audience, the Pentagon has stated that it will continue to invest more in recruiting from this population. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Cyber warfare and cyber weaponry, along with unmanned drones and craft, are the future of geopolitical power struggles and tomorrow’s military requires a change in mix of personnel. Less needed are the brawny jar heads whose physical strength and courage are in another world, while increasingly important are brainy nerds who would not have considered themselves warriors in the past. Until the armed services learn the culture of core gamers, their recruiting tactics will remain awkward, but expect recruiting to become more effective once the recruiters better understand the recruits.

Apple Watch SE — Apple applies iPhone lessons to watch

Apple’s new Apple Watch SE follows the script from iPhone SE — take components from previous generations, add new software with a few key features disabled, and sell for less. The Apple Watch SE at $279 to $304 lives in the space between between the current Series 6 and the older Series 3. It is a reincarnation of Series 4, enabling the owner to run the latest OS and most of the current features, without the always-on face and ECG features while saving $120 or more. The body materials and types are limited, as are the colors. The Verge

dis-rup-shun: Apple’s leadership, not only in technology, but in marketing, continue to develop. Apple fairly quickly applied learnings over product pricing to the Apple Watch lineup, relying on colors and accessories to drive excitement among a more price sensitive shopper — unlocking a new demographic that it was potentially missing with its flagship lines. As Apple’s future is more about services than devices, it benefits by making its services, such as Apple Fitness, more accessible to more people through more devices. Expect to see more SE variations in other products, including computers, streaming TV devices, and even AirPods.

Nest Audio is newest in Google’s lineup of smart speakers

A refresh to Google Home had been expected for some time. The new Google Nest Audio is the latest flagship in the smart speaker lineup, with this colored-cloth device shaped like a large chiclet, and designed to look less like a tech gadget and more like a home decor accessory. The slow transition to Nest branding continues, but unlike better-known thermostats and smoke detectors from Nest, this device uses a separate app – a fact running counter to the assumption that Google is seeking to create one interface for all its devices. The Nest Audio sells for $100 and features bigger, better speaker components and a faster quad-core processor — enabling more on-device computing and improved security. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Google’s hardware strategy continues to be disjointed, with Nest being one brand, while Pixel and FireTV are other brands within the brand. While the Nest Audio appears to be a welcomed update to Google’s smart speaker base product, it is difficult to see how this product is the next step in a clear strategy. Amazon, on the other hand, clearly plans for Echo and Alexa to be an interface to most any home appliance, from microwave to TV, but for Google, it seems that this device is mostly a reaction to a fast changing smart speaker market that expects better sound and better looks.

Portable Bluetooth Projector from Anker

Anker, a company that sells some impressive devices through mass merchant retailers has added a portable projector to its lineup for $550. The device offers a small, easily portable, battery-powered projector/speaker combo device that may be perfect for back yard TV watching — requiring about 9 feet to project a 100 inch picture. With the built in speaker and on board Wi-Fi, the system can stream content from one of your favorite accounts without involving your PC or smartphone in the mix. CNET

dis-rup-shun: New technologies continue to give us new, never before considered product categories. While many are turning to Samsung’s outdoor optimized smart TVs to permanently affix on the back patio or poolside, Anker provides a device that can bring the indoors out in a mobile kind of way. As the pandemic continues to keep people mostly tethered to the home and back yard, investments in home entertainment continue to rise, and who doesn’t need to take TV, movies and YouTube clips to the back patio?

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

Google’s new, disparate collection of devices

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Google’s curious collection of new devices

Google’s annual hardware event, on the heels of Amazon’s string of announcements, featured an updated Pixel phone that supports 5G, a new Nest smart speaker, and a new Chromecast with Google TV dongle with remote, that looks more like Roku or Amazon FireTV. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Google continues to provide compelling products that occupy a minor share of their respective markets. Apple’s strategy is clear: leverage uniquely well-designed products to support ecosystems of services that surround a consumer’s life. Amazon’s strategy is becoming clear: to be a dominant provider of products and services at all points of consumption, and to create new opportunities for consumption of products and services. Google’s strategy, other than being the preeminent provider of search services, is difficult to discern. How do these interesting devices advance Google’s strategy? Can having a minor share of mobile, smart home and streaming video help the company become more than a search giant, or are these mere placeholders to keep Google in other arenas while it determines its next big play?

YouTube TV’s battle with Fox Sports looks a lot like cable TV

Pay TV subscribers (that is most of us) have grown accustomed to the occasional disputes between our chosen carrier and a content provider and aggregator, and most of the time, the dispute is around professional sports carriage. YouTube TV is going through its own dispute with Fox regional sports networks, as Fox has pulled many regional networks from the YouTube TV’s line up. The Verge

dis-rup-shun: The movement en masse of subscribers away from pay TV services to over the top services, primarily to lower the monthly TV bill, is facing the same hurdles to cost savings as before. The astronomical prices charged by pro sports team owners have to be paid by someone, and that someone is now the streaming TV service subscriber. The costs of streaming services have progressively increased, with YouTube TV now costing $64.99 per month. As the “invisible hand” of the economy pushes traditional pay TV prices down, will the price advantages of streaming services essentially disappear — once again leveling the playing field?

This is not your father’s garage door opener

Just when you didn’t think you could get excited about garage doors, LiftMaster has combined the MyQ camera technology into its next generation garage door opener, alerting your smartphone when your garage door opens, and enabling you to have a two way conversation with those in your garage. The system also works with Amazon’s Key service, in which delivery people open your garage door to slip a package in, protecting you from porch pirates. CNET

dis-rup-shun: LiftMaster’s commercial, recreating a scene from Ferris Beuller’s Day Off, is definitely worth the 10 seconds required to watch — especially the final scene that features Ferris’ good friend Cameron Frye. The Secure View Garage Opener is the marriage of a Ring-like smart doorbell and a garage door controller. The camera, however, is not mounted on the door but rather on the ceiling-mounted controller, enabling a view of the car and those entering the garage. Expect this to be the new standard for garage doors in new homes and a few older homes, as having a connected camera dedicated to the garage is a no-brainer.

A scathing review of the FCC’s broadband report

Wired, never afraid of politics, offers a scathing evaluation of the U.S. FCC’s report on broadband, suggesting that the agency’s definition as well as counting of broadband access is deeply flawed. Wired suggests that, in order to show better results, the agency has lowered the bar on what defines broadband service. The discrepancy in number of people without coverage ranges from 18.3 million as stated by the FCC and 42.8 million, estimated by third parties.

dis-rup-shun: Broadband, especially in times of pandemic, is a lifeline to education, jobs, entertainment and (sometimes real) news. This, arguably more than phone service, is an essential service just below electricity and running water on the hierarchy of needs. If the U.S. has 331 million citizens, then somewhere around 10% to 12% are unserved, according to these estimates. While the number of unserved people is large, one has to imagine that a sizable share of the unserved choose to remain so. For the statisticians, the question is how many of those that want services can not access them, and what is the number of people who are vigilantly working to stay off of the grid?

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

Amazon puts your credit in the palm of your hand

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Amazon to use your palm print as your credit card

Brilliant and scary, Amazon is implementing palm reader technology, Amazon One, which uses the individual and distinct signature of your palm, rather than facial or retinal recognition. The technology links your name, phone number and the credit card on file so that anyone who passes through their unattended convenience stores can charge products with only their hand. The company has side-stepped the controversies surrounding facial recognition by using the palm. The technology will be offered to other industries, including stadiums, airports and office buildings. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: It seems that this technology would end sales of alcohol and cigarettes to underaged persons as it is hard to use a fake palm, unless, of course, nefarious entrepreneurs create fake ID gloves — something that teens could slip onto their hands to emulate a fake person. The potential for easing access in concerts, stadiums and airports, not to mention speeding up trips to Target or the grocery store, is promising. The technology could be used to start your car, use your ATM card, and many other things. For those concerned about Amazon’s dominance of online markets, consider how this technology will put Amazon in the center of retail shopping and give them complete knowledge of each customers location and purchase history.

Microsoft outage cause undisclosed

Microsoft users (isn’t that everyone?) experienced an outage on Monday evening, impacting use of all cloud-based applications including Office 365, Teams and OneDrive. Little is know about the outage, which was resolved after about five hours, and credited to a “change” that was made. Forbes

dis-rup-shun: We have come to take the cloud for granted as being secure, reliable, and always on. It is hard to imagine that a lone developer at Microsoft could have implemented an update that brought the entire Microsoft world to its knees. On the other hand, if the good people in Redmond were hacked by nefarious forces, the fact that they restored the system in under five hours is an impressive piece of work. I still feel better about the brilliant minds in Redmond being responsible for protecting my data over leaving me to my own devices, hoping that Norton antivirus, or the security application du jour, is protecting my personal and business assets.

Yale’s smart delivery box is out to defeat porch pirates

Yale’s Smart Delivery Box is heavy duty plastic container with a smart lock that can be controlled via smartphone app to safely receive all but large packages from delivery services. The box has an impressive number of safety features and options that anticipate a host of scenarios. The problem, however, is that most delivery people don’t take the time to place items in the box. Educating delivery services, and perhaps incentivizing them to use the box, may the answer to address the rising leakage of products due to porch pirates. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: The number of claims for stolen packages will only rise as the online commerce trend continues upwards. Yale’s device makes great sense, as does Amazon Key, a service which allows homeowners to unlock their front door for an Amazon delivery. The first logistics company that offers secure delivery — using their own lock box or partners such as Yale, will have an advantage in most neighborhoods. Until that feature is seen as a competitive differentiator, delivery services will see lock boxes as seconds-wasting friction. Expect lockboxes to become an integrated part of the delivery service experience soon.

Google enforces 30% app store cut

Google is cleaving tightly to Apple before the storm of legal action initiated by Epic. Google has announced that it will enforce its policy of all in-app transactions paying the standard 30% to the app store — a stated policy that it has been lax in enforcing. Google appears to be closing ranks with Apple ahead of the storm initiated by Epic and a growing number of companies claiming that the app store policies are anti-competitive. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Why Google is drawing a harder line prior to legal action is hard to understand, unless the company believes its policies will be upheld in higher courts. The winds of change for Big Tech are starting to howl, as legislators continue to stack evidence of anti-competitive policies. Apple as of late has been using its “more private” message to differentiate from Google and curry favor with increasingly privacy-wary consumers, but this battle puts both giants in the same boat.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

The Social Dilemma – A Worthwhile Wakeup Call

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The Social Dilemma – a sobering documentary

There is a great deal of buzz around the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma which features a number of former Pinterest, Facebook and Google developers who are, for the most part, credited for making the social networks what they are today. Featured developers have left their employers due to fears that what they created is ruining our culture, society and democracy. The documentary is in the top 10 of most watched shows, and provides strong, if heavy handed insights into the profit motives and damaging potential of addiction to social media. CinemaBlend

dis-rup-shun: The documentary is effective at raising awareness and is certainly thought-provoking. It does not, however, acknowledge that the advertising industry, since its inception, is about manipulation and reality twisting. It also fails to remind viewers that social media, just like any other addictive habit or substance, may not be so harmful if kept in balance. It does, however, illustrate the damage of total immersion and the particularly harmful effects on impressionable teens. The show rightly mentions that social networks need regulation but does not tie back to the fact that advertising (print and TV) has long been restricted, particularly limiting advertisement of tobacco and alcohol. The documentary does a good job of elevating awareness that social networks need some strong regulation — something our Congress has been slowly and steadily, but not conclusively, addressing.

Tesla, EVs and range anxiety

Only 2% of autos sold in 2019 were electric, though the majority — over 80%, were Teslas. Last year, over 143 new EVs were offered. The biggest objection to EVs, however, are lack of range and availability of prevalent and fast chargers. Partnerships with EVgo and ChargePoint to rollout electric charging stations across the countries, that are fast and universal, will help lower the objections by getting more EV makers to work together to support standard chargers. Tesla’s proprietary charging format — requiring the company to build its own charging infrastructure, is unlikely to be emulated. Developing infrastructure for an entirely new mode of transportation will take time, and a great deal of capital. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The EV industry is in a critical place — most automakers have made significant sacrificial investments to become EV makers — convinced that a fossil fuel future is very limited. Convincing consumers that EVs are ready for prime time will take another five to ten years, and to do so, creating nationwide webs of charging stations is mandatory. In the meantime, consumers can take a transitional approach — using EVs for intra-city activities and having a fossil burner for road trips.

How epic is Epic’s battle with Apple?

Epic’s fight over Apple’s tight control of its own App Store (and Google for its store) is so much more than a fight over the percentage of the sale paid to the app store. The battle is really about anti-competitive practices and the applicability of anti trust laws to Big Tech. CNET

dis-rup-shun: This battle will likely be a watershed event of our generation, as Epic has become a catalyst in an overdue assessment of where to draw the line with Big Tech.  If Apple and Google win the skirmish, then the pressure on legislators to determine what defines anti-competitive practices will simply grow stronger, and the job of forming new legislation will only grow bigger. If Epic and the Coalition for App Fairness prevail, the future of the app business and the grip that Apple and Google have on their device ecosystems will be loosened. This event will also impact Amazon and their Kindle ecosystem, and may go as far as impacting Amazon’s increasing grip on the majority of online shopping with its Amazon Basics line. Regardless of the outcome, we can expect more experiences and marketplaces to return to native web apps — enabling mobile users to go to optimized websites, via the phone browser, for near app experiences that are not apps downloaded from app stores. While performance and ease of use will be less, consumers will quickly grow accustomed to native web applications that offer better prices, or easier access to the things they will not go without.

Alexa gets more conversational and asks you questions

One can say to Alexa, “Alexa, join our conversation,” and the device will then be “at liberty” to ask clarifying questions about what is your favorite temperature, what you mean by “play music” or the size of the pizza you ordered. These “learnings” will be account specific and as a result of users authorizing this level of involvement but can make the device more useful as it seeks to assist its owners. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Machine learning, or AI, as it is often called, can simply be described as the process of collecting more data to improve the outcomes or interpretation of a command. Computers are still not intelligent, but are able to more accurately calculate a positive result if they have more data to use to reduce the variability of factors in an algorithm. If you choose to assist your assistant, outcomes will be better and if you have already decided to open your home to a smart speaker, a smartphone, or most browsers, you have already entered into a relationship with advertisers which seems, for the most part, to offer you valued conveniences in exchange for personal information. (See first article).

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Amazon rapidly owning the home

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Amazon’s surprises

Yesterday’s reveal from Amazon had a few interesting surprises: here is a run down taken from CNET‘s coverage, complete with some thoughts…

Amazon Luna: This $6 per month cloud gaming service gives people a wide variety of games for PCs, FireTVs, and smartphones. Games will be displayed in 1080p resolution, with 4K coming, and response time will be 60 frames per second. Smartphones running IOS 14 can play using web apps (in other words, not apps downloaded from the Apple App Store) but Android smartphones are not yet supported. And, with the $50 controller, gamers can connect directly to the cloud, rather than the primary gaming device (PC, FireTV or smartphone) thereby reducing latency and hopefully providing a more console-like experience. XBox and Playstation controllers will also work with the new service. Ubisoft is one of the game publishers supplying hit titles to Luna, in this case Assassins’ Creed Valhalla. Twitch, Amazon’s live gamer streaming service, will be integrated into Luna, ensuring that the new service is for core gamers.

Amazon Echo (Sphere): The new Echo looks nothing like the old Echo, but is a sphere and is in the middle of the line (Dot as entry point, Echo Studio as top of line). The new sphere comes in four colors and is touted to have improved sound, selling for $100. The Echo includes a Zigbee hub (wireless radio standard) to connect and communicate with other smart home devices, such as door and motion sensors and connected lighting. Clearly Amazon wants to continue to be the center of the smart home. It also supports Sidewalk, which is essentially a wide area network formed by sharing a reserved and partitioned slice of your Wi-Fi network with your neighbors, and vice-versa.

Other changes to Echo include a new spherical Dot with a better speaker, a kid’s Dot that features Sidekick, a service that reads books to kids. A Dot Clock is this generation’s clock radio.

A new Echo Show smart speaker and smart display not only pivots to follow you as you move around the room, but supports Netflix, Hulu and Prime Video and has a feature to “delete everything I have ever said.”

Eero 6 and Pro 6 are mesh routers that implement the faster and wider bandwidth Wi-Fi 6 standard. They are the fastest and widest covering routers from Amazon.

Ring cameras come to the car. Ring’s Car Cam and companion product for Teslas document traffic problems, fender benders and even burglaries. The Ring Car Alarm plugs into the car’s diagnostic port (yes, you have one) to sense when bad things happen to your car.

Always Home Camera is a drone mounted camera that can be enabled each hour to make 5 minute fly arounds of your home — inspecting doors, windows, pets and checking to see if your kid’s bed is made. The flying camera provides encryption to help lower the creepy factor if someone you don’t know gets a hold of your inside footage.

Ring Mailbox Sensor — is a small sensor to place on your mailbox door to alert you when you have mail, or when someone who shouldn’t is taking your mail or packages.

FireTV Stick 2020 and Lite — two new version of the FireStick streaming media controllers that offer more TV control, 4K resolution, and use less energy.

dis-rup-shun: Whew, that is a lot of stuff and most all of it looks cool. What are the big takeaways? Amazon has squarely planted itself in the center of the consumer experience. Between content, catalog supplies, groceries, home security, communications and gaming, Amazon is in the very center with purchasing power, stickiness (Prime), compelling pricing and instant delivery. Amazon whiffed on smartphones, but they are filling in all the spaces around the main device pillars of our existence, which Amazon seems to have contentedly ceded to others: TV sets, smartphones and PCs. Apple, of all power players, should be worried, as Amazon is quickly serving far more consumer needs than Apple. Google is struggling in the hardware business, and Microsoft pulled back on consumer products, save XBox and Surface, some years ago. There is no player close to getting in Amazon’s way!

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

Google says work from home flexibility is here to stay

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Google developing hybrid work from office/home model

According to a recent company-wide survey, 62% of Google employees want to come back to the office, but not everyday. The company is developing policies to support a blended, or hybrid work from home and office model. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It seems that flexibility is the operative concept, and using flexibility as an employee benefit will be critical to attract and retain talent in the future. Zoom, Teams, Bluejeans, Skype, are all here to stay, and most workers seem to have convinced employers that performance is equal or higher from home, and many claim that their hours at work have increased as a result of not commuting.

Spotify founder pledges a billion Euros to moonshot startups

Daniel Ek, CEO and founder of the world’s most popular streaming music service, Spotify, has pledged one billion euros, about one third of his wealth, to funding European technology ventures. Ek hopes to promote and stabilize European tech companies and stop the trend of these companies being snapped up by U.S. based rivals, and for strong tech talent to be lured from European shores to Silicon Valley. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It is a great world when billionaires like Bill and Melinda Gates, Mackenzie Bezos, Warren Buffet and Daniel Ek pledge billions towards making the world a better place. Hopefully these leaders will inspire both millionaires and billionaires alike to elevate economic opportunities, reduce poverty and disease, and clean up the environment.

The real security crisis — not China

Shelly Palmer’s essay on TikTok, WeChat and security concerns is well summarized and not political: the concern for data privacy and security is that Big Tech, regardless of country or cloud, is not regulated regarding what they can do with the data that they extract through their apps. Palmer states “TikTok and WeChat have no better opportunity to use data against a single American or America than Facebook or Google or China or Russia or Tom, Dick or Harry do. The “Chinese Data Boogiepeople” are not coming to get you via TikTok or WeChat. The data elite already manipulate your world in ways you do not understand and have zero control over.” Palmer calls for bipartisan legislation to regulate the use of data, and disclosure of that usage.

dis-rup-shun: Palmer states that there is no single documented case of Big Tech using the data it has collected on you and me in an abusive manner. The Russian election interference was not a case of Big Tech acting poorly, but rather a case of Facebook offering an open channel abused by bad actors. While the WeChat and TikTok cases will be a central focus of the upcoming election, what, unfortunately, is not being discussed is a uniform data privacy policy that will be used as a unit of measure for all companies from all countries collecting personal data.

Nest Audio Speaker leaked

From a Walmart source, it appears that Google will announce, by end of month, the Nest Audio Speaker, with, of course, Google Assistant built in. Speculation has pricing at $100. Engadget

dis-rup-shun: Looks like Amazon and Google, having packed voice assistant technology into darn near every product with an outlet, are going back to the basics and working on bringing high quality sound at low prices to the home. Will these products be on par with top quality connected speakers from the likes of Bose, Sonos and JBL? Watch for reviews to guide shoppers in the upcoming holiday season.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

Microsoft beefs up games properties

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Microsoft purchases Fallout, Elder Scrolls and Doom for $7.5 billion

In its largest games software acquisition to date, Microsoft will purchase video games publisher ZeniMax for $7.5 billion. Microsoft will control popular games Fallout, The Elder Scrolls and Doom, as it continues to beef up offerings in its XBox offerings, both cloud-based XBox Games Pass as well as a new, two-level Xbox console offering. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Video gaming is at a critical juncture, with enthusiasm high for the next generation of PlayStations and XBoxes, and with a number of larger players, including Microsoft and Apple, seeking to win over new and existing game players across all device platforms with cloud-based gaming services. Once a consumer commits to a cloud-based service, they are highly likely to purchase consoles, computers, peripherals, and other add-ons from within that service network, and Apple is fishing in Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo’s pond, with Amazon circling. As Apple reminded us all in its announcements last week, the services bundle is king.

AT&T Communications Exec says 5G iPhone may not be a big hit

In a move not likely to boost his longevity with AT&T, Communications CEO Jeff McElfresh stated that October’s release of the 5G capable iPhone may not be the massive event that people expect. He went on to say that given the current uncertainty in the economy, people may be slow to embrace 5G, a technology that ultimately may serve corporations more than consumers. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Jeff, have you met Lily, the nice lady on the AT&T commercial who has been dropping blue balloons onto a giant 5G sign and telling us that 5G is a huge deal? Of course uneasy financial times and lack of understanding about 5G could hinder adoption, but your partner is Apple and when Apple says it is a big deal, it will be. If your bosses at AT&T don’t reassign you to the mail room, the ghost of Steve Jobs will be visiting.

Micro weddings use Instagram for community

The Pandemic has all but killed the wedding business. A number of entrepreneurial wedding planners, however, have reimagined the wedding as a 12 to 20 person event at an upscale, exclusive venue that is primed for photography, and broadcasting via Instagram. The Reimagined Wedding is a business that books small events in an luxurious setting in Ojai, California, where stunning scenes of a small number of people can be photographed in order to be shared with large numbers via Instagram. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: There are a number of reasons why the micro wedding may be around longer than COVID-19. Focusing on the social network as audience is much less expensive, yet tends to respond with accolades and affirmation, giving the newly weds a sense of community, a chance to impress, and savings accounts intact. Expect the online broadcasts of major cultural rituals such as weddings, funerals, graduations, church services, bar mitzvahs and the like to be equally important to the production.

Smart bike helmet

The Lumox Matrix smart bike helmet features rear facing LED lighting which can be controlled through an app, a handlebar-mounted remote or via a button the strap. The LED lighting acts as a turn signal, but can also display patterns selected and programmed by the wearer. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Safety may be difficult to sell at $295, but for anyone who has had a close call on their bike, this device could well be a bargain. Expect app-controlled lighting to be integrated with electric-assisted bikes and new technology makes biking more fun, safer and more theft-proof. COVID-19 has led a to a run on bicycles, with most shops out of stock as stay-at-homers have flocked to family rides and outdoor exercise. Mark the bicycle industry as one of many unwitting winners of the global pandemic.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

TikTok is positioned for long term success in the U.S.

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ByteDance may be the winner in TikTok resolution

President Trump, over the weekend, gave his blessing to an arrangement in which Oracle will become TikTok’s cloud partner and owner of 12.5% of its shares, while Walmart will own 7.5% and parent ByteDance will own the remaining 80% while the social media platform will continue to operate with no disruption.  The arrangement includes TikTok contributing large sums to a national education fund, hefty tax payments as a U.S. company, and plans for an IPO in coming months. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: While ByteDance was strong-armed into this arrangement, it looks like they have now have some very solid partners, especially as Walmart found its way back into the deal after the Microsoft/Walmart alliance to acquire TikTok fell apart. The Chinese parent company now has deeper ties with U.S. investors and impressive partners. How will Walmart leverage its new investment? Will TikTok become a major advertising platform for the retailer, or will Walmart simply enjoy the returns from its major investment in social media?

iCloud is the star of the Apple One bundle

According to CNET, the most significant component of last week’s announced Apple One bundle is iCloud storage. The bundle options include Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness and various amounts of iCloud storage. Despite storage being far less featured than other services, it is an increasing essentially part of people’s online lives, as the size of data files, particularly photos and videos, increases with higher resolution.

dis-rup-shun: Storage as an essential utility is becoming the cloud-based safe deposit for our lives, and Big Tech companies are battling to be the storage utility of choice, hoping this choice will bind us to a vendor for life. But Google continues to disrupt Apple, Microsoft and others by offering much easier and free apps that, at a minimum, result in consumers using multiple services and keeping Google as a part of their personal cloud mix.

What’s new about the new Apple smartwatch

Apple continues to gain more publicity surrounding its watch. So what’s new about its WatchOS7, the newest software for the device? Here is the list: native sleep tracking that does not require use of a separate sleep app; workout app recognizes more movements such as dancing; cyclists get better route planning and guidance; improved Activity App; 20-second count down for hand washing; volume monitoring to let you know when sounds are too loud or too long; wellness metric to monitor mobility and cardiovascular health; more watch face options; car key fob functionality enhancements for those that own BMWs. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Apple’s domination of the smartwatch market has been fast, but Android solutions will catch up quickly. The smartwatch, however, is quickly moving from a luxury item for gadget lovers to a more essentially device to facilitate daily routines. When your doctor requests data from your smartwatch as part of your annual checkup, and when you stop carrying car keys as your smartwatch opens your home, office and starts your cars, then will we still call these devices watches?

Alipay is global leader in mobile payments

More than 711 million Chinese have made Alipay, a digital payment app, part of their daily lives. The app, developed by Ant Group, enables people to order and pay from restaurant menus, hail taxis, and pay bills. The app collects so much data from consumers, and offers such competition to state-owned banks, that Chinese government intervention is inevitable. Meanwhile, the company is headed toward perhaps the largest IPO of 2020. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Many parts of the world, and Asia in particular, are well ahead of North Americans with regard to adopting mobile payments. In the U.S., banks have begun to enter into partnerships with Apple and Google to enable the Big Tech firms to offer financial transactions and to delay total disruption of their industry. The complete restructuring of the banking industry due to Big Tech, however, is inevitable, as the Big Tech firms with transaction data have far more information and personal data from consumers to enable them to have very accurate pictures of credit worthiness. Stay tuned for a massive transformation of banking in the next five to seven years.

Uncategorized

Apple looking more like Amazon

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Is Apple striving to look more like Amazon?

Apple, the most valuable tech company in the world, held its quarterly announcement event on Tuesday. As has been well covered, the announcements included a new line of Apple watches, new generation of software for iPhone and iPad, new iPad lines, a fitness subscription service, and the Apple One bundle which includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, iCloud storage, Apple News+, and Apple Fitness+. Absent from the announcements were the next iPhone and HomePod. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Remember when Apple announcement events were all about shiny objects? Apple now wants to be your trusted music, news and fitness provider — asking even more of its loyal followers. The shiny objects that Apple is the best in the world at building, are now becoming merely the remote controls to access the content at the center of people’s lives, like Kindles and FireTVs. The recent announcements also seem to indicate that Apple doesn’t want Disney to get too fond of using the “+” sign, as Apple has emulated the extremely successfully Disney+ streaming service and borrowed the naming format for its premium tier TV, news and fitness offerings.

Not too happy with Apple: Spotify

Spotify, not in the Apple fan club, used Tuesday’s announcements of the Apple One bundle to repeat its call to governments around the world to recognize Apple as hindering competition. Spotify, like games publisher Epic, is not happy about giving Apple a cut of purchases made through the Apple App Store. 9to5Mac

dis-rup-shun: Microsoft got its hands slapped after attorneys general from multiple states claimed in 1998 that its bundling practices hindered competition. Netscape Navigator was the defacto standard browser before Microsoft bundled Explorer, and Novell Netware was the standard network software provider before Windows magically connected computers. Spotify is the defacto standard music service in most parts of the world, but it sees a light at the end of the tunnel and it looks like an apple.

Justice Department warns that video games are new hacking target

The Justice Dept issued a warning that the billion-dollar plus video games business is the next target for sophisticated hackers, citing that free-to-play games such as Fortnite brought in revenues of $2.4 billion from in-game purchases in 2018, making popular games a rich target. The Justice Department attributes much of the game-focused hacking activity on a group called Apt 41. CNET

dis-rup-shun: For those trying to find a career path, cyber security and data privacy should provide you with a secure vocation for the rest of your days.

Amazon enters battery recycling business

Amazon is investing in an electric car battery recycling business, called Redwood Materials. The company was founded by a former Tesla executive who helped design the Lithium Ion batteries used in Tesla’s cars. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Forward thinking and environmentally responsible, Amazon is putting its cash and muscle behind a noble cause and an attractive revenue opportunity that won’t fully come to fruition for another five to ten years.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Microsoft puts data center on the ocean floor

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Microsoft’s cloud goes under the sea

Microsoft has successfully concluded one stage of an experiment to locate data centers on the ocean floor. Its shipping container sized data center was submerged off of the coast of Scotland’s Orkney Islands, where cool waters and 100% renewable energy from the islands resulted in servers that ran eight-times more reliably than land-based servers. The success of Project Natick will lead to larger submerged data centers that can be located closer to customer locations, rather than in a few large land-based data centers. TechCrunch.

dis-rup-shun: Moving data centers closer to customers and reducing power requirements thanks to cool temperatures under water is an opportunity to make “the cloud” more sustainable. But what objections will be raised by environmentalists who may think that disturbing marine topography is not worth the value of reducing carbon emissions? The concept has great promise, but may not win the favor of all.

YouTube’s TikTok killer debuts

YouTube Shorts will debut first in India, where the nation has cracked down on China-based technologies for similar security concerns as drove the Trump Executive Orders. The service will allow users to make 15 second video clips set to music. Along with Instagram Reels, the service seeks to take advantage of transitional times to dethrone TikTok. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: With Oracle the apparent winner of TikTok, disruption to the service will likely be minimal, making the plans of its challengers more difficult. With YouTube the beloved and highly popular video delivery platform of choice for millions, it has the opportunity to win over those who may subscribe to the security fear mongering.

Singapore Airlines plans trips to nowhere

Hundreds of planes are grounded and thousands of seats go unsold as the pandemic watch continues. Singapore Airlines and Japan’s ANA, among others, are offering, or planning to offer flights to nowhere – sightseeing flights that fly low over scenery and unique locations. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Re-purposing of assets in the time of COVID-19 continues to occur as creative business people seek ways to survive. Rideshare drivers are becoming package deliverers, restaurants are serving family meals, complete with alcoholic beverages, from tables set up in parking lots. Bus lines are pushing special event charters, and airlines may have found a way to amuse home-bound citizens who want to see the world.

Amazon hiring another 100,000 workers

Amazon’s revenues for the quarter ending in July were up 40%. The company is struggling to keep up with the increases in demand, and will hire an additional 100K workers in various cities in the U.S. and Canada. Workers will be in fulfillment centers, sorting centers, delivery centers, among other places. Forbes

dis-rup-shun: The re-structuring of the economy continues, and even if our society returns, in part, to its old ways of shopping after the pandemic subsides, Amazon will continue to play a larger role in the lives of people who have found that staying and working at home are simply more convenient than running around to shop. Expect Amazon to continue to grow post-pandemic, albeit at a slower rate.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Big Acquisitions: Tracfone, TikTok, Arm all to be absorbed

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Verizon to acquire Tracfone Wireless

Tracfone Wireless is the biggest wireless carrier that no one has ever heard of. The company, based outside of Miami, is a subsidiary of American Movil, Mexico’s largest telecom company. Tracfone has nearly 21 million subscribers and 90,000 retail locations and seven brands, including Walmart Family Mobile, Straight Talk, Simple Mobile, Total Wireless, Telcel America. Like most MVNOs, Tracfone resells network traffic on the big three carriers, and 13 million of Tracfone’s subscribers are already running on Verizon’s network (62%). The transaction will be for $7 billion in cash and stock. CNET

dis-rup-shun:  Why would Verizon spend $7 billion to acquire subscribers that already run on its network? Three reasons, at least: 1. Tracfone has 8 million subscribers that are not running on Verizon’s network. If the carrier can convert some or all of these to its network, it has an instant boost in subs; 2. By cutting out the middleman, Verizon’s net profit per subscriber just increased on 13 million customers; 3. By acquiring seven brands and 90,000 retail locations, Verizon’s sales channels and marketing strategy just exploded.

Oracle the apparent winner of TikTok

After a Trump Executive Order requiring the sale or closure of TikTok, Oracle has reportedly beat interested acquirers Microsoft/Walmart and will be making a major investment in the ByteDance subsidiary. CNBC

dis-rup-shun:  The marriage of Oracle and TikTok seems even more awkward than TikTok and Microsoft/Walmart. Oracle is not a consumer facing business and this is a bold departure for the enterprise database master. Perhaps the new Oracle wants to be a mainstream cloud provider and is seeking multiple “front end” software brands to boost its growing cloud infrastructure business in an attempt to close the very wide gap between it and Amazon Web Services.

Nvidia to acquire Arm Holdings

Nvidia is a company that made its mark by being a supplier to high-end video graphics — riding the video game boom of the late 90s that continues today. In years since, Nvidia has become an import supplier of chips that power in-dash automotive entertainment and navigation systems, and for self-driving cars. Arm is the entity that holds the license to the chip architecture used in essentially all mobile phones. Arm is currently owned by SoftBank, a company that has lost a mountain of cash on its investments in WeWork and Uber. The offers is for $40 billion. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: This is a big move for Nvidia, which will now collect royalty payments from giants Qualcomm and Apple who use Arm technology in their own chip sets. Does this signal that Nvidia wants to also be a top provider of Arm processors to the mobile phone industry, or simply a strategic financial play? Probably some of both.

Aston Martin offers race simulator

Want to have the most exotic video racing simulator in your game room? Aston Martin and Curv facing simulators have introduced a carbon fiber cockpit with a large, curved monitor and Formula One simulation software. The rig runs $74,000 and only 150 will be built, so hurry. CNET

dis-rup-shun: If you were thinking about getting into Formula One racing, a $74,000 simulator is an inexpensive way to get your feet wet and find out if it is really what you want to invest a few million into.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

Foldable Computer Options Improve

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Microsoft Surface Duo has promise but rough edges

The Surface Duo provides two screens in a very portable format — enabling tow apps to be open side by side, or a large split screen for a single app. Some complaints about the new form factor include no wireless charging (no big deal) and some software bugs (annoying). For $1,399, however, one would expect only the best. The device is especially good for people who are married to Office software, and in a pinch, the clam shell design can emulate a laptop with an onscreen keyboard. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Being a pioneer is tough, and Microsoft, after failing several times in the mobile space, is making another attempt. The company has a reputation for taking other products and making them better, and in this case, they are taking Android and putting it in a new, maybe better, package. Microsoft, with its current CEO Nadella, is on a winning streak, and hopefully this new product will lead to more mobile innovation.

Peloton sales surge 172%

In the fiscal quarter just ended, Peloton’s sales surged as the company struggled to keep up with demand for bikes and treadmills. In addition to fitness equipment, the company’s sales of apparel have boomed while most clothing sales have lagged during the pandemic. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: National fitness clubs are quickly moving to offer online classes, as the future of the gym is questionable, especially as companies offer the work from home option. Working out is much easier when no commute is involved (to the gym or to work). Peloton’s energizing content (instructors and workout options to meet any tastes/preferences) is leading to high loyalty and with the recently announced lower-priced equipment, Peloton is mopping up on people’s fitness budgets, to the detriment of fitness clubs.

Galaxy Z Fold smartphone for $2000

Samsung’s first foldable phone last year was a flop, with problems with the screen and hinge. Samsung’s latest Z Fold offering is much improved, but pricey. This device has three screens, if you count the inside screen as two (two halves), one outside to use like a smartphone, and the large inner screens to use more like a tablet.  CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It will be a long time before folding computers are mainstream, but if wealthy buyers purchase enough of the new novelty devices, the technology and design will improve and become a viable option at price points that fit the mass market. When we return to air travel, these devices may become staples for the coach class road warrior.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Electric vehicles continue their march toward mainstream

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Uber pledges to go all electric

Uber, like rival Lyft, has pledged to operate only electric vehicles by 2030. While an admirable pledge, the problem lies in the fact that Uber is fighting states to convince them to rule that their contractors, and those peoples’ cars, are not Uber employees or property. For the company to deliver on their pledge, they will have to hire owners of electric cars. Currently less than 3% of cars sold are electric. Wired

dis-rup-shun: While the automotive world will change drastically in 10 years, will a substantial enough number of drivers own electric cars in a decade, to enable Uber to operate only EVs? Perhaps the rideshare companies are planning a change of strategy in which they will own their fleets and use contract drivers — but this will change the economics of the gig economy industry, making the companies more like, well taxi or bus charter companies.

GM invests in electric truck maker Nikola

GM has developed an innovative battery for electric vehicles. It will have the opportunity to use that technology in electric pickup trucks made by Phoenix-based Nikola, and will also make a fuel cell system. GM announced an 11% ownership stake in Nikola, a sign that GM is moving aggressively to transform its business, making EVs the heart of its future. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Despite yesterday’s dip in Tesla’s share price, Wall Street has been extremely tough on traditional automakers, valuing them increasing like dinosaurs in waiting. GM is running quickly to avoid the endangered species label and to be perceived as an automaker with a future.

A dress that changes shape based on your mood

Fashiontech — the practice of incorporating technology into fashipn may be an acquired taste. Dutch designer Anouk Wipprecht‘s 3D printed fashion dress, called the Pangolin dress, incorporates 1,204 tiny electroencephalography sensors that one wears over the brain, like a hairnet, to sense brand waves. The dress lights up, changes color and moves based on brain activity — reflecting calm and peacefulness or agitation. CNET

dis-rup-shun: It would, at times, be helpful to understand someone else’s mood before engaging in discussions or negotiations. We have all known people whose body language is a good indicator and warning system for their dispositions. Fashiontech could make this much easier on one’s community, or be far too revealing. Don’t expect to see this dress in boutiques in the near future.

Geofence warrants use your smartphone as evidence

What’s a geofence warrant? It is a new legal vehicle being employed by law enforcement. First, after police identify a time and location of a crime, they issue a warrant for location data from a tech company such as Google. Detectives then take anonymous data from the tech company and try to match it to a person. This practice has grown 1500 percent, according to Google, but recently two judges have denied warrants, citing them as clear violations of privacy rights. Wired

dis-rup-shun: The increasing battle between technology and privacy rights is getting more interesting and complex. While using personal data in investigations seems to be a clear violation of privacy, was the same said when DNA evidence first became a part of criminal investigations?

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Microsoft XBox Series S is the mini-console

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XBox Series S — a miniature game console

The console wars are as interesting as ever, with cloud gaming subscriptions changing the landscape. Enter Microsoft with a miniature XBox. the Xbox Series S sells for $299 and is four times more powerful than the Xbox OneX, its predecessor. Perhaps most interesting is that Microsoft will be pushing both the Series S and its new larger console, the XBox Series X on a monthly plan, combined with its gaming content subscription. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: XBox versus Playstation is a religious discussion, much like IOS versus Android. But Microsoft has made an important chess move here, going after a semi-core gamer. The target market is someone who likely doesn’t own a current, up-to-date computer, but does own an iPad and smart phone and enjoys using them for gaming. Upgrading the experience without a large cash outlay, by adding a few dollars to the monthly gaming subscriptions, flies under the budget radar. Who would have thought that there was room for a semi-core gamer’s console in an increasingly crowded array of devices between mega-gaming desk-side PCs on one end, and smartphone on the other? We will know, post holiday season, if Microsoft nailed it or shot an air ball.

iPhone 12 could be the 5G spark

In case you haven’t turned on your television, you may not have realized that 5G is now here. Commercials for AT&T and Verizon’s 5G networks have likely not turned your heads, as no one has yet found the killer app. Apple is expected to introduce or announce the iPhone 12 in coming weeks, and it is expected to support 5G. The question is, will Apple also roll out an app that exercises 5G sufficiently that we all need it and quickly upgrade? Apple’s marketing magic is expected to make us all sit up and pay attention to the new 10x faster network. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Even during the pandemic, people get out of the house — either to work remotely or to visit family. The need for a super reliable and adequately fast roaming hot-spot for your PC or tablet is certainly a killer app, and one worth upgrading for — if not immediately, but as soon as your wireless carrier offers it. What if we discover that 5G provides us with better internet connectivity at home than our patchy home broadband provider? Will our 5G phones become the go-to connection for the rest of the household and even for Netflix viewing? At that point, 5G fixed mobile will make the landscape even more interesting.

China lands first reusable spacecraft

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been getting all the attention as it successfully ferried two astronauts to the International Space Station and back this year in its partnership with NASA. China launched and landed a Long March-2F rocket from its Jiuquan launch center in Inner Mongolia over the weekend, reminding the world not to count China out of the new reusable rocket race. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Conquering the new west, as the space frontier seems from an American point of view, is a race to establish dominance, or at least keep a seat at the table, as first to get there divide up the spoils. And what are the spoils? At a minimum, the possibilities are control of global communications networks, and, of course surveillance. Add defense or offensive military capabilities – god forbid, and more commercial applications such as mining new minerals and resources on other planets, revolutionizing the travel industry, and, of course, colonization of new outposts.

Rising resentment toward parent employees at tech firms

Tech message boards are stating that employees with children at home may not be as effective as others. A survey by Care.com revealed that 45% of workers with children at home believe their career advancement has suffered due to juggling work and family at home. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The coronavirus is undoubtedly re-shaping our culture. Builders are now offering homes with two separate offices, and people are flocking to vacation homes and rentals to change their scenery. Will the pandemic lead to a structural change in the workforce, nudging our culture back to a time when one parent remained at home to raise the family? Will families reset financial expectations to live on a single income — perhaps cutting back on cars

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Apple’s cloud to run on wind power

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Apple data center powered by wind

Apple is following through on its commitments to move to sustainable energy, investing in the world’s largest onshore wind turbines in Denmark. The turbines will power its data center in Viborg, Denmark which houses the App Store, Apple Music, iMessage and Siri. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: While Big Tech companies are being battered for anti-competitive practices, leading the world in sustainable data centers should shore up some consumer sentiment. As Apple moves ever more aggressively into service businesses, data centers will be as important as assembly factories in terms of fair wages, practices and responsible resource use.

Ford bundles pay-per-mile insurance

Ford has partnered with insurance company Metromile, a company that sells auto insurance “by the mile.” The odometers of the connected Fords immediately communicate to Metromile how many miles have been driven and when, resulting in consumers insuring their cars based on usage, not based on time of ownership. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Connected cars can tell the cloud how many miles they have been driven. Gone are the days of insurance actuaries having to calculate premiums based on averages when exact data is available. Insurance-as-a-service is a game changer that will lead many other fixed-rate services to become usage based (remember when phones were based on usage?). What’s next? Major appliances, including washer and dryers and HVAC units being charged on actual cycles, rather than on ownership?

Peloton adds to product line with an Apple-like strategy

How do you follow a strong IPO, blockbuster demand and a loyal subscriber base? Give them more! Peloton, replete with workout content to a loyal subscriber base is pulling an Apple and enhancing the product line, giving its community more entry points to its content. The company is reportedly offering a lower-end treadmill ($3000), a step down from its $4,295 offering, and a premium bike, bike +, with plans to lower to price of its current bicycle mainstay. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Like Apple, the company has a very loyal base and a growing library of content. By opening the platform to a more price conscious consumer while giving the premium buyer some upgrade choices, Peloton is set to extend its lead in the increasingly competitive connected fitness market.

Evoca offers a fourth way to get HD TV 

Options for HD TV signals include antennas, cable, streaming and now Evoca. Evoca, based in Boise, offers Next Gen TV, complete with 4K, HDR and higher frame rates over the air. Think of it as cable TV broadcast to the home not over wires, but wirelessly. For those with questionable internet connections, this is sort of like cutting the cord yet you receive a decoder set top box. CNET

dis-rup-shun: New TV keeps looking like old TV, just using better technologies. The host of new options should keep competitors from jacking up prices too high and getting too fat and happy, like pay TV providers of yesterday. Providers, however, continue to get squeezed by rising prices of content, especially by the ever hungrier sports leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA). To feed these fat cats, TV services with live sports will never be much less than they are today.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Supermarket of the future doesn’t have a front door

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Amazon opens online only supermarket

Amazon’s new Whole Foods Market in Brooklyn is open, but not to customers. The facility is laid out like a grocery store, but is open only to Amazon employees who are fulfilling online orders for nearby Brooklyn residents. Fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic, online grocery ordering is surging. Engadget

dis-rup-shun: The supermarket of the future may not be open to the public. Perhaps this is the solution to food deserts, where operating grocery stores in blighted areas is not economical. Perhaps low income households can subscribe to grocery services, and are provided a 4G wireless ordering tablet. While this service wouldn’t provide Whole Foods with the margins they seek, perhaps tax abatements will provide incentives to operate in trouble spots.

Alexa for Residential puts Echo in apartments

Alexa for Residential is Amazon’s push to fill apartment units with Echo devices that will remain in place even as residents come and go. The devices will help lease the units by answering questions to prospective renters, then can be connected to personal accounts including Amazon and Spotify, and when people move in, and can be disconnected when people move out. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Amazon is moving quickly to ensure that its smart speaker technology becomes the standard for smart homes across the land. If smart speakers become a standard in most all new buildings, then the foundation is laid for smart locks, smart lighting, security cameras and the like, and Amazon will be the rental smart home kingpin. Now about privacy — while Amazon insists that landlords will not be eavesdropping, convincing residents of the same may be a challenge.

Ready for color changing light bulbs?

Philips Hue brought the novelty of controlling the color and brightness of home lighting to an app about half a dozen years ago. The product was a hit and arguably a game changer. But with requirements for a separate hub, and a price point far above just a bulb, the product was not mainstream. Now Philips offers Wiz connected LED lighting for about $13 per bulb, controllable through an app and mostly compatible with all three voice platforms. CNET

dis-rup-shun: There will be a time when you will tell young people that back in the day, light bulbs came only in a whitish hue and that using different colors for scenarios, certain rooms, or times of day simply was not an option. Archaic, yes. The challenge now, for lighting companies, will be educating consumers on the benefits of using different colors around the home. Why do we need anything besides bright and dim?

Google to build mixed-use town in Silicon Valley

Does Google know something that the rest of us don’t? Just as companies appear poised to implement indefinite work from home policies, the tech giant is building a town in Silicon Valley. The Mountain View development will transform open land into a mixed use development, including retail, offices, 1,850 apartment units, 20% of which will be dedicated to low-cost housing. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Good for Google — following through on its promise to help with the housing shortage caused by the Silicon Valley tech boom even when it appears that remote workers may ease the crunch in the Bay Area. Will the forty acre development be akin to the Japanese factory towns housing workers for Fujitsu, Toshiba and other companies, and will the community offer living only for Google employees? Density with quality will be a welcome change to the density that describes today’s sprawling Silicon Valley.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

Best Buy and Zoom shatter expectations

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Best Buy Q2 shatters expectations

Best Buy’s Q2 sales were up 5.8% and online sales increased by 242%. Best Buy’s CEO attributes success to products that help people “work, learn, connect and cook at home.” CEPro

dis-rup-shun:  While the numbers are impressive, if one calculates money saved from purchasing no plane tickets, buying little gas, not eating out, and generally staying at home, one can buy a lot of tablets, computers, TVs and new appliances. The question is, then, how do we help service workers shift into the tech industry and help redistribute the diversion of money to tech-based tools and entertainment.

Zoom Q2 shatters expectations

Speaking of amazing quarters, Zoom continued its rise to the industry standard for web conferencing (both for social and business engagements). Quarter over quarter annualized growth was 355%. Stock price is up 369% since the beginning of the year. CNBC

dis-rup-shun:  A lot of money has been made in the stock market this year — especially on tech companies, and what a rebound from Q1. The fact of the matter is, so much of the global economy is thriving, just as the face-to-face service industries have been devastated, that it feels that the current recession is a re-alignment of the economy rather than a pull back.

Lenovo redefines the PC with the leather laptop

Lenovo’s new Yoga 9i answers the question about what’s next in laptops, given “crowding out” by tablets and foldable devices. The new device provides premium features such as a giant touchpad that stretches from edge to edge, provides haptic feedback, a finger sensor that works even when fingers are wet, and black leather bonded to the aluminum case. CNET

dis-rup-shun:  The laptop market needs some spice as tablets from Microsoft (Surface), Apple and the Surface Duo foldable more-than-phone-less-than-tablet device are providing so much power and functionality, causing people to question their need for a laptop. With premium or luxury laptops, people will, once again, crave the space and luxury of a full laptop. Expect Dell and HP to follow with luxury versions of laptops.

Next Starlink Constellation scheduled for Thursday

On Thursday, SpaceX will launch its 10th batch of 60 satellites that will join the 600 satellite train, orbiting the Earth to provide Internet services and communications to even the most remote corners of the globe. CNET

dis-rup-shun:  What sounded like an outlandish scheme from Musk has, once again, become a reality. SpaceX’s Starlink has been shunned by the U.S. Department of Defense, to which SpaceX was trying to sell communications services to troops located in remote places. In Musk style, however, Starlink services will be embraced by a number of opportunistic global entities and “the establishment” will follow, putting SpaceX in a strong position to become a global powerhouse in broadband services. Starlink likely has some members of the CCP on edge, as well.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Direct to consumer prosthetics are game changers

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TrueLimb 3D printed prosthetic from Unlimited Tomorrow

Imagine a prosthetic arm that costs one tenth of the current going rate ($80,000), and is custom made and 3D printed to be an exact match for the missing limb. Young entrepreneur Easton LaChappelle is doing just that, using a scanner, and delivering a prosthetic in as short as two weeks. TrueLimb is using a direct to consumer model, cutting out the medical prosthetics industry. Think of it as Warby Parker for prosthetics — sending a limb straight to your door. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Staggering — the way in which a bright mind with a passion for a solution can disrupt a well-established industry and push it to a new level. Expect a big established player to trade twenty-four year old Mr. LaChappelle many hundreds of millions of dollars for his small company so that it (the incumbent) can have a future.

Musk demonstrates Neuralink

On Saturday, Elon Musk, acting as spokesman for his own company, demonstrated Neuralink’s early products, implanted into the brains of three pigs. The coin-sized device combines AI with brain functions. Musk’s demonstration focused on the potential for the product, including helping people with limb damage, blindness, and Parkinson’s disease, to name a few.  The installation of the link node is to be performed by a robot, without blood loss, inside of an hour. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Two years ago it would be easy and convenient to brush off Musk’s bold claims and simply label him an overconfident tech tycoon. With Tesla topping the valuation of global automakers, factories humming on several continents, and with the successful SpaceX journey to the International Space Station and safe return, Musk’s credibility is high. Is he the Thomas Edison of our time? If so, Neuralink could be his most important and useful contribution yet.

Amazon wins FAA approval for package delivery

Amazon is the third delivery company to gain FAA approval for its drone delivery service, following Alphabet owned Wing and UPS. Amazon’s Prime Air drones can deliver packages of five pounds or less to a distance of about 15 miles. The drones are approved to operate in areas of low density. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Interesting to note that the service can operate in low density areas and deliver in a 15 mile radius, which seems counter-productive given that Amazon is unlikely to have its mega distribution centers in low density populations. On the other hand, perhaps it is more efficient to send a drone launching truck to rural and more remote suburban areas where 10 deliveries are scheduled and have drones complete the last ten to fifteen miles, then return to a mobile base, rather than sending a truck to each and every location.

China introduces new legislation for company sales, complicating TikTok

China responded to the U.S. government’s prohibition against certain companies deemed to be a potential security risk by enacting new requirements that the Chinese government must approve sales of certain technologies. This legislation could certainly block the sale of TikTok to whatever party ultimately seeks to purchase it (Walmart/Microsoft, Oracle). CNN

dis-rup-shun: The new legislation is a logical counter-punch to Trump’s executive orders. If the U.S. government is going to intervene in the free market for security reasons, why shouldn’t the Chinese government — for security and strategic asset purposes — do the same? Brick by brick, walls blocking free trade between the two countries continue to rise. Will the next U.S. president continue to raise the wall, or use the current restrictions as a new base from which to redefine rules of trade? Stay tuned.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Amazon goes after wellness tracking

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Amazon Halo is a different twist on wellness

Amazon’s Halo smartphone application, fitness band and service is a late and different entry into personal fitness tracking. Some differences from Fitbit and Apple include: a fitness band with no screen that instead transmits data to the smartphone app; a focus on body fat content over weight; a microphone on the band that listens to your voice tone and determines when you are under stress; a body composition base line analysis derived from a selfie of your unclothed body. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Amazon’s approach is creative, and wants to leverage several key trends: voice technology (in which Amazon excels), it is a service more than a gadget, starting at $65 per month for six months, then $3.99; it offers a device that is in a category all by itself (screen-less fitness band). Amazon has a history of breaking the mold, and has been highly successful with its Kindle service and with Alexa, but colossally failed with the Fire Phone. Dave Limp, Amazon’s head of devices, is not afraid to take some big risks, and Halo appears to be the latest biggie.

Walmart teams with Microsoft to acquire TikTok

The TikTok problem — how to comply with Trump’s executive order to stop doing business with the social media platform if it is owned by a Chinese parent company — takes another twist as Walmart teams with Microsoft to acquire the company. Oracle entered discussions two weeks ago. TikTok’s interim CEO says there are synergies with Walmart. Analysts expect a deal to be worth $20 to $30 billion. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: On the surface, synergies with Walmart are hard to envision. On the other hand, Walmart is striving to catch up with Amazon in online presence, and the sheer number of subscribers on TikTok make it a strong advertising platform that could be transitioned to an ecommerce site with some clever and, at first, subtle connections to online shopping.

Xiaomi’s under display camera to ship next year

Who is Xiaomi and what is an under display camera? Xiaomi, for those have not been reading the news, is a Chinese tech giant. Some might call them the Samsung of China. Xiaomi has been gobbling up smartphone market share in China and India, keeping Samsung and Apple nervous about the two largest smartphone markets. An under display camera is a front-facing camera (selfie) lens that is not visible as it lies under the display screen and “looks” through the display screen from the opposite direction so that having a front facing camera does not disrupt the screen layout. The iPhone 11 has a notch in the top of the screen that houses the selfie camera. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: Why does it matter? With global smartphone penetration approaching 50% of people (Statista), finding ways to differentiate smartphones on features other than price has proven extremely difficult. Cameras have recently been the epicenter of new innovation, and Xiaomi is seeking to be the first with a new innovation that makes for more screen real estate. Xiaomi has not been an innovation leader, but instead, a fast follower. Bragging rights for an industry leading innovation could go to the company.

Apple app store flexes its muscles against Facebook app

In the spotlight of Apple’s widely publicized battle with Epic Games, the company has been called out for banning a Facebook app which stated (before Facebook removed it) that “Apple takes 30% of this purchase.” Apple has been very clear that discussions of its business model are not allowed within apps, so the fact that Facebook briefly released the now removed message has observers wondering if Facebook is attempting to call attention to the current Epic battle. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: While not the scale of a Boston Tea Party or an Arab Spring, it seems that app creators are hoping to create a groundswell of support to pressure Apple into new pricing policies. The business decision of risking revenue to make a point is a big one, and it seems that Facebook accomplished its goals (visibility) without risking business, whereas Epic has decided it can afford the losses of revenue resulting from its app’s removal from the app store.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

The new face of fast food stores

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Fast food in the post COVID world: Taco Bell Go Mobile stores

It is often said that the pandemic has accelerated changes that were in the wings. Such is the case for Taco Bell, whose new Go Mobile store format focuses on drive through customers, minimizing dine-in space. The Go Mobile format will feature dual drive through lanes, with one optimized for customers and food delivery drivers who order using the Taco Bell app and inform the store, through the app and GPS how close they are to the store. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The rate of technology innovation will never be slower than today, and the rate of structural changes to our culture brought about by COVID-19, especially real estate, remain astounding. New homes are being built with not one, but two home offices, and commercial real estate developers are scrambling to determine the future of office life. Space planners, who just finished lowering cubicle walls, are busy raising them. While Taco Bell is modeling the new look of app-powered fast food, the days of the salad bar and self-serve restaurant formats are, for now, done.

Coronavirus exposes the broadband gap

18 million Americans do not have broadband access. In a time when working, learning and staying connected require the internet, the problem is more than an inconvenience. CNET‘s six part podcast explores the problem, how it occurred, the state of National Broadband Plan, the promise of 5G, and thoughts on how we resolve this problem.

dis-rup-shun: Elon Musk can fix it. SpaceX’s Starlink chain of low orbit satellites are supposed to bring broadband to all hard-to-reach parts of the planet, and with the fixed cost of deploying the satellites not dependent on the signal recipients’ locations, the economic problems of serving remote customers is not an issue. That leaves only the issue of economic disparity, which can be addressed by government subsidies.

The first of many rulings on Epic v. Apple

U.S. District Judge Rogers rules that Apple cannot revoke Epic’s developer licenses, though it can continue to block Epic’s Fortnite apps from the Apple App Store. Rogers notes that the “current predicament appears to be of its own making,” regarding Fortnite being banned from the app store. The legal sparring over this incidence is expected to continue for months to years, as this is a precedent setting argument. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: This is a very important battle to watch. Epic broke the rules of the app stores, and Apple and Google responded in a predictable way. Epic is making the case that the app stores limit competition and are monopolistic, which, by the way, is the same point that the U.S. Department of Justice has been making for months. Epic seems willing to be that catalyst that enables change. And the winds of change are blowing, if you haven’t noticed.

Level Touch is the future of smart locks

Hard to get excited about smart locks? According to our research at Interpret, 15% of homeowners say they intend to invest in a smart lock in the next 90 days, and 10% report owning one now. The point is, smart locks will soon be to homes what power locks were to cars in the last century — standard on all but the oldest, or most budget models. Two barriers to adoption in already constructed homes have been aesthetics and battery life. Level Home has released the Level Touch, a smart lock whose battery will last for one year, and whose hardware looks no different from a standard (not smart) lock. Using NFC, a smartphone app or the simple touch of the finger will open or lock your door. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: This company is made up of some former Apple designers, and their experience shows. If homes automatically lock (that’s the default) except when authorized people (smartphones) are nearby, then the entire game of home security changes. Locks, not entry sensors, report to a central controller and app who is in or out, cameras verify when questions arise, and the police are called only in rare circumstances where data and images confirm a real problem. A home will essentially know, at any time, who is in or out, and the homeowner will enjoy that peace of mind.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Police use smart speaker data for evidence

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Police increasingly turning to smart speaker data in murder investigations

Amazon reported that it has received 3000 police requests for smart speaker data in the first half of this year, and that it has complied 2000 times. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Smartphones know everywhere you have been. Smart speakers know if you were home and capture some of what you said. Between these two devices, there is a wealth of data that could be used to defend or convict you. Bottom line — if you are going to do something you shouldn’t, leave your phone behind and unplug your smart speaker. Given our increasing use of technology in everyday life, including cameras in our homes, cars and offices, hiding from the law will be increasingly difficult.

Botnet FritzFrog is infecting hundreds of servers

COVID-19 is apparently not the only virus in growth mode. Security firm Guardicore Labs announced the discovery of a botnet — programs that connect many computers together to form a network with no one common control server, making detection and management difficult. The origin of the FritzFrog botnet is unknown, but it has targeted government, university and transportation companies. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Cyber warfare is extremely advanced, and the thought of a government or organization quietly aligning tens of thousands of computing assets for the purpose of shutting them down, stealing information or holding them ransom is very concerning. That person you know who refuses to participate in online banking may not be so crazy, after all. As technology advances, so do the skills of hackers, meaning off-network redundancies are important.

Zoom outage hits back to schoolers

Just when you were counting on Zoom to keep the kids engaged and safely back to school, the service appears to have experience outages in various cities, especially along the East Coast. Gizmodo

dis-rup-shun: As if remote schooling is not difficult enough on parents, an outage of a utility that we have all taken for granted as the glue that holds together our virtual lives is sputtering. The outage, combined with the story above on the FritzFrog, reminds us that our online lives that we depend on, are more vulnerable than expected. A disruption of our online services will literally leave us cut off for as long as our network is down. No man is an island unless his internet service is out.

SugarCRM acquires Node to add AI to CRM

SugarCRM is a free (at first) customer database management application that has been around almost twenty years and is used by many small businesses not yet ready to invest in customer relationship management assets. By combining Node’s AI to customer databases, SugarCRM will tell you (for a fee) which customers are most likely to churn, and which are the richest targets. ZDNet

dis-rup-shun: AI or machine learning — call it what you like — will continue to find its way into most all applications, so that our software applications will begin to “intuit” our end goals and call our attention to things our software think are most important. This is the natural evolution of computing, wherein decision making will increasingly be performed by our computing assets and our job, as managers and humans, will be to decide when to trust AI-based decisions or override them based on our intuition, experience and knowledge.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Fortnite-loaded phones for sale

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Fortnite-loaded phones for sale on eBay

If you wanted to play Fortnite on your phone but, for some reason, didn’t have it downloaded before Apple and Google removed it from their app stores, eBay sellers are your friend. Phones with the app loaded are listed for hundreds to $10,000 dollars by sellers. Business Insider

dis-rup-shun: You have to love a free market, where people are free to spend big bucks to buy someone else’s phone, with someone else’s account which could be suspended at any moment and shut down by Apple or Google. Or perhaps you have to love the entrepreneurial spirit of consumers who were quick to think they have something of significant value. The beauty of the free market economy is on display at eBay, and the Boston Tea Party of our time is taking place before our eyes. Will it spark a revolution against the Kings of Tech, or will the rebels remain outcast from the halls of commerce? Stay tuned.

Apple becomes most valuable tech company

Apple’s market valuation hit $2 trillion this week. The company is now valued more than all but eight countries’ economies. Despite Coronavirus, sales of iPhone and subscriptions to services have thrived. The introduction of 5G capable iPhones, that can download content at 10x current speeds, is expected to touch off a wave of new phone sales.  CNET

dis-rup-shun: Many of us recall the year, 1997, when Apple was out of cash and had become a bit of a joke. What company would seek to to offer an alternative against the wave of IBM PC compatibles, and hot companies such as Compaq and Sun Microsystems? Apple is a case study on focus, focus, focus.

Airbnb tests a shaky economy

Another COVID IPO is in the works as Airbnb has filed to launch a public offering amidst a revenue decline of 67%. The company has taken on significant debt to stay afloat, and valuation has fallen off its once lofty $31 billion. NYTimes

dis-rup-shun: With Apple having announced a stock split, and the number of trades being executed by millenials who have flocked to Robinhood to play in the market, breaking records, the time may be now for Airbnb, especially before the bubbling-hot market cools down.

Verizon puts a nail in the coffin of pay TV

Verizon, owners of FIOS TV, have declared the traditional pay TV model dead and cold, as it bundles Netflix, Disney +, and ESPN + into wireless subscription plans. The new plans don’t offer a termination date, moving the core component of video bundles from cable services to wireless phone services. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Verizon’s move is a high stakes game of devaluing TV streaming to lure and keep subscribers on their wireless plan. While they aren’t the first wireless carrier to throw streaming into the package, they are upping the ante, challenging others to follow suit, changing the economics of streaming plans and finding creative ways not to compete by lowering the price of service plans.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

Apple reworks radio

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Apple retools linear radio

Apple has long been adjusting its radio services, seeking to keep people close to iTunes, then keep them close the brand. The company announced a rebranding of the Beats 1 station, and launch of Apple Music Country and Apple Music Hits. The Music stations will feature a number of high profile musicians and celebrities, hosting music shows. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: The definition of radio is in disarray, or at least in the context of online radio. When we get in the car and turn on a radio station, or even a satellite radio station, we know what to expect. Online radio, however, is in flux. Podcasts are starting to push their way into streaming music services such as Spotify, which has made big, bold investments into podcast content. Amazon has free services for Prime members, but also paid streaming radio. Apple, determined as of late to boost its services business, is offering a confusing assortment of radio options, both streaming and linear. It is likely that Apple is still suffering from having disenfranchised music fans after saving the music business with iTunes. While iTunes was the greatest thing to happen to music in recent history, iTunes’ clunky digital rights technologies frustrating even loyal Apple fans and sent them running to Spotify and Pandora One. Now Apple is struggling to get them back.

Oracle enters the TikTok bidding

Competition is good for everyone, and especially for TikTok owners and investors who were at risk of forcing to sell to Microsoft, due to Trump executive orders. Oracle has now entered the process, reportedly working with venture capital firms that already have a stake in the social network, potentially assembling an offer that will best Microsoft’s interest and increase investors’ returns. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Creating an auction for TikTok will provide TikTok stakeholders with the opportunity to get “market returns” on their investments, albeit sooner than planned. The sting of government intervention will likely be reduced as Oracle’s entry into the transaction may encourage another party or two to jump in and bid up the price further, or will convince Microsoft to fish or cut bait.

SpaceX recycles

Another space first this week will be the lift off of yet more Starlink satellites. Starlink, as as reminder, is the chain of thousands of small, low-orbit satellites that will orbit the Earth in a chain. One goal of Starlink is to deliver Internet access to all corners of the globe, where wires have not yet reached. Today’s launch is unique in that it will be sixth time the SpaceX rocket booster has launched a payload into space, proving that a rocket can, in fact, be recovered and reused. CNET

dis-rup-shun: SpaceX continues to set a new bar in space travel, having just completed its first successful launch and return of two astronauts to the International Space Station. Imagine, in a couple of years, proclaiming your frustration with AT&T or Comcast or Verizon and declaring that you are switching your Internet service to Starlink.

Best outdoor security cameras

CNET lines up top outdoor cameras. The category is hot as people embrace DIY home security. The top players are Arlo on the high end and for the doorbell, and Wyze for the best value.

dis-rup-shun: Features that Arlo offers, such as E911, that enables you to reach law enforcement from within Arlo’s app, redefines home security and blurs the lines between pro-monitored systems and DIY. With many police forces being de-funded, the chances of police responding to your pro-monitored alerts are slimmer, meaning direct contact with authorities may be more effective. Think about it — will politics, rather than technology, topple the current home security industry model?

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Uber and Lyft may withdraw from California

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California law may sink Uber and Lyft

A California judge has ruled that the ride share companies must classify their drivers as employees, not independent contractors. The move will require the companies to pay benefits such as health insurance and vacation to their drivers, upending the business model that enables these companies to offer their services at less-than-taxi rates. In November, California voters will have the opportunity to decide if ride share drivers can be considered contractors, potentially saving the industry.  CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Is opposition to drivers as contractors coming from drivers, or from operators of taxi companies? Crushing the ride share business model will not help employment and will disappoint consumers, who have voted with their feet that traditional taxi services are sub-optimal. If these companies pull out of California until November, consumers as well as out of work drivers will have some time to decide if they are better off without ride sharing.

Zin electric boats are the Tesla of the lake

Zin has built an electric boat. Aside from the $250K price tag, the benefits are substantial: nearly no maintenance, “fill-ups” are about $5, they are fast, and battery placement in the center of the boat means the craft stays level in almost every maneuver. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Zin, like Tesla, is the early model that will enable the uber wealthy to show off the latest and greatest, and will hopefully be followed by mass market models. Anyone who owns a runabout or even small fishing boat knows that it is rare to be out for more than four or five hours (the life of a battery), and a boat starts up about 50% of the times you wish to use it, making a low maintenance craft a weekend warrior’s godsend.

The Fortnite experiment

Fortnite, one of the most popular games across multiple platforms, including mobile, published by Epic, has taken on Apple and Google, deciding to bypass their app stores and the 30% fees associated for in-app purchases. Apple and Google promptly responded by taking down the apps from their respective app stores. Epic was quick to file suit, claiming the two tech giants are monopolies that restrict open competition. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The move by Epic raises a couple of questions. First, did the company time its move to directly follow the public examination of Big Tech by the U.S. Congress, adding yet another event to the legislators’ investigations? Secondly, did Epic’s economists do the math and determine that even if Apple and Google blocked their products from the apps stores, the 30% increase in margin on transactions would make the company better off? Time will tell, and perhaps Epic has decided that it will be an agent of change, despite the objections of Apple and Google.

Keeping garages smart

Garage door controllers are not something that you replace more than every 20 years or so, so unless you are buying a newly built home, technology to remotely control your garage door and see if you left it open will require retrofit technology. CNETreviews a host of Wi-Fi systems that are add-ons to existing controllers that use cameras and sensors to enable you to let the repair man into the garage when you are away. Leading brands include Chamberlain MyQ, Garadget, Alcidae Garager 2, Nexx Garage.

dis-rup-shun: The garage is a place in the home that smart technology will be enjoyed almost more than any other, given the frequency of people’s use of this home entry. Surveys performed by a number of researchers show that new homes with smart technologies, such as smart garage doors, sell faster and for a slight premium. Expect smartphone controllable and voice controllable garage doors to be the standard for most upscale new homes offered by builders.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Apple bundles services: Apple Prime?

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Apple turns to bundling 

Bundling, the practice of offering a number of services or products together for a discount, has built many a company including AT&T, Comcast, Amazon, and soon Apple. Apple will be bundling Music, streaming TV, gaming and iCloud storage, and perhaps other benefits including an online workout service, in an Amazon Prime-like subscription that gives the faithful so much for a flat monthly fee. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: How can you refuse it? Services that you really want (Apple TV) along with some nice-to-haves, like Apple News and Arcade, for just a few more dollars per month. The good people at Peloton probably didn’t see an Apple fitness channel coming, but the data about home workouts is too enticing to pass up. Apple, with this move, is moving more deeply into the wheelhouse of Amazon and AT&T, providing attractive service revenues as well as its blockbuster lineup of Apple devices. Seems that Big Tech’s formula for the future consists of three critical components: cloud-based services, specialized content and apps, and consumer devices.

Microsoft seeks to create a new class of computing

Microsoft’s Surface family of products have been a wild success — offering Apple like design for the Windows crowd. Now Microsoft is going out on a limb with the Surface Duo, a foldable two screen device that is not a Windows computer, but too big to be a phone. The Android-based device is thin and elegant, offering two very portable screens for those who want more screen while on the move. Microsoft has decided to pass on 5G for the first release. The device can be pre-ordered at AT&T, Microsoft.com or Best Buy. CNET

dis-rup-shun: It is rare to see Microsoft go all “Apple-like” and think it can create a new product category. The company traditionally has not been good at firsts, but excellent at second or third offerings. After the dismal failure that was the Nokia acquisition, Microsoft has decided to be an innovator. The device looks very tempting to pair some earbuds as a media player and phone, but will an Android-based computer satisfy the mobile office worker? If you want to play with $1,399, it will be a great experiment.

Waze adds contactless fueling to its app

Waze has partnered with both ExxonMobil and Shell, incorporating those companies’ rewards app into its own, enabling the user to purchase fuel at the pump without touching payment screens. CNET

dis-rup-shun: COVID-19 continues to reshape the new normal, and buying gas may never be the same. Even if you have resisted the fuel rewards programs, as you don’t think of yourself as loyal to a gas station, Waze has found a way to keep you from straying to the convenience of Google Maps or Apple Maps. Touchless payments have been popular in other parts of the world, such as Asia, for a number of years, but slow to catch on in the USA. Touchless fueling will accelerate mobile payment adoption assuming Americans start driving again.

Intel counting on next generation chip to put it back on top

Intel, the golden child of the era of computing, has been beaten up lately. Apple has bailed on Intel, AMD’s chips have bested some of Intel’s, and Qualcomm and Nvidia continue to eat away at Intel’s core customer base. Intel’s next generation, generation 11 chipsets, called Tiger Lake, should put the company back on top. Tiger Lake processors are faster, smaller, provide better graphics and use less battery power. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Competition is tough in the chip business, and China has just announced more emphasis on chip making given icy relations with the west. Intel’s corporate structure has served it well in traditional markets, but the company has been slow to be the engine inside of new connected device categories. The future of computing looks a lot less like a computer, and Intel needs to c

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Robinhood out trades Schwab and E-Trade combined

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Discount online trading platform Robinhood blows past rivals

Robinhood, the online trading platform that offers no charge trading, and no minimum account balances, has smoked its online rivals, facilitating more revenue trades in June than E-Trade and Charles Schwab combined. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Free is a very attractive business model for consumers and one that is most always rapidly embraced. Robinhood shattered the brokerage industry practice of charging dollars for what cost pennies, and offers trades for nothing. The company makes money from the interest of its customers’s deposits, and evidently consumers have been doing a great deal of trading while sheltering in place. Like so many industries, the Internet has stripped the fat profits from stock brokerage. Robinhood appears not to be profitable, but is valued at $8.6 billion. Like Uber and Lyft, the company has shattered the old ways of doing business, but is it sustainable?

TCL expands Roku powered line of smart TVs

CNET says TCL smart TVs are the best value for the money and they feature the very user friendly Roku interface built in. Its new 6-series line of TVs includes mini-LED technology, making for an even better picture at a mid-level price. CNET

dis-rup-shun: During the pandemic, sales of smart TVs have increased, especially of TVs bigger than 65 inches. Right now, there is a good chance you are somewhere in the near, mid, or post cord cutting stage, and asking yourself which path to cutting cable you will take. Roku is a strong alternative to turn all of your TVs, dumb and smart, into smart streaming receivers. TCL makes it easy by adding Roku to a high quality picture.

Walmart reaches out to Instacart to battle Amazon 

Walmart has reached a partnership with Instacart for same day grocery delivery in an effort to challenge Amazon Fresh and Amazon Prime Now with Whole Foods. The service will first be piloted in four markets in California and Oklahoma.  CBNC

dis-rup-shun: The pandemic has been a rocket booster for Amazon’s delivery business for all products. It was in the right place, with the right services, at the right time. Walmart, always a couple of steps behind in the online business, is trying to catch up by offering a rival same-day grocery delivery service. Once again, consumers are the winners and hopefully many of the out of work restaurant workers can get in on the food delivery business as an employment alternative.

Lucid electric car trounces Tesla’s range

The Lucid Air electric luxury sedan, to begin production in September, has a range of over five hundred miles in independent tests — beating Tesla to the 500 mile benchmark. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Think about it. You may well be driving, right now, your last gasoline combustion engine vehicle. If not your last, it is likely to be your second to last. Soon you may be driving a beautiful new luxury electric car from a manufacturer you have never heard of. And that electric car will rarely need the same kinds of service that your current car does, so you can start saying goodbye to your friendly mechanic, the attendant at the corner gas and go, and your lube shop. Do it yourself lawn equipment is already well into the switch to electric, and motorcycles, boats, jet skis and ATVs will follow. Think of the fresh air and peace and quiet.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Zillow cites reshuffling of real estate

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Zillow CEO cites the beginning of real estate reshuffling

In an earnings call, Zillow CEO Rich Barton stated that the uncertainty of the duration of the pandemic, combined with indefinite work from home policies by many companies, has initiated a reshuffling of real estate. Major trends include expanding room to work at home with additional privacy, valuing outdoor spaces including yards and courtyards, and fleeing large, expensive cities. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Research by Interpret shows a significant uptick in purchases of TVs and digital entertainment devices during COVID-19. Understandably, people are investing more in their home lives and making repairs and improvements. Barton believes that these trends will last beyond the next few months, signaling a significant shift in living trends. Life in large cities has been arguably more pleasant, with roads less crowded, air less polluted, and fewer people in public places. The question is, ten years from now, will we see 2020 as the year that city planning and home plans changed, as people spent more time in home offices, kitchens, walking in the neighborhood and enjoying their patios and yards?

Packaging as a service

The pandemic has caused online shopping to surge, straining logistics providers and significantly increasing the amount of packaging waste. Enter LivingPackets and The Box, a container intended to be reused hundreds of times, and packed with intelligence that notifies the shipper and receiver of its whereabouts, its contents, and if it has been opened or tampered with. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Smart packaging already makes sense for high value contents, and a number of companies have created packaging with inexpensive sensors. Cheap sensors in a box can be tossed, assisting with security but not with reuse. LivingPackets will have to convince shippers that the costs of maintaining The Box are less than the costs of disposable packaging plus loss claims. For high volume customers who can return the boxes easily when the next shipment arrives, it may make sense.

Interview with Bill Gates: this will be over in 2021

Bill Gates, in a lengthy interview with Wired, expresses optimism that COVID-19 disruption, for rich nations, will be over by the end of 2021. For poorer nations, it will take another year, and it will take several years to recover from the economic damage done by the pandemic. Gates states that the innovation of drug companies will shorten what otherwise would be a five year run before the global population builds natural immunity.

dis-rup-shun: Gates’ ability to cut through the media noise to deliver straight facts is a breath of fresh air, and knowing that Gates has invested essentially all of his wealth, time and talent into making the world a healthier place is inspiring. May his friends Mr. Bezos, Zuckerberg and Musk follow in his footsteps as they become the elder statesmen of tech.

Streaming wars hit tipping point in Q2

The streaming video providers all had a blockbuster second quarter. The pandemic has buoyed old and new services alike, and the question is what is the long term outlook for consumers and how many services will the average household keep after the shelter in place timeframe? Disney + service is several years ahead of growth projections. Netflix subscriptions surged by 10 million new additions. ViacomCBS’ new ad-supported, free to consumers service sold ample advertisements, and NBCUniversal’s new Peacock service signed up 10 million new subs. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Speaking of reshuffling, the pandemic has resulted in consumers taking more action on adjusting their TV spending to provide what they want and when. The big question is how will the return of live sports impact the time and money spent on streaming services, as the hours of viewing time freed up by the absence of live sports has driven, to a large extent, the pursuit of original content.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Teledoc becomes first health tech giant

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First true health tech giant is born

Teledoc, one of the largest remote care companies is acquiring diabetes management giant, Livongo, for $18.5 billion. The combined company is expected to reach $1.3 billion in revenues this year as remote care is surging. Livongo relies heavily on coaches and a line of glucose monitors to help employers help their employees manage diabetes. Teledoc’s 70 million customer reach expands Livongo’s care potential. Stat

dis-rup-shun: The remote care model, in place for half a dozen years or more, is surging as a result of the pandemic. Remote care is a big win for consumers, as convenience is a bonus, and a win for doctors, who are able to see more patients via telehealth. Employers are winners in that the cost of care and ability to access the right care quickly helps keep people on the job.

Disney Plus exceeds expectations and takes second place

Disney executives forecasted that the new streaming service would reach 60 million to 90 million subscribers by 2024. On Tuesday, the company announced that it had reached 60 million subscribers. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The Mouse continues to surprise, as a dip in theme park attendance seems to be offset by a smash new streaming video service that is doing what no one expected — gaining on Netflix as a strong second place provider. Disney executives earned their stars by launching special features such as Star Wars’ Mandalorian and then the broadcast of Hamilton. Expect another surprise soon that will entice even more people to sign up for the service.

Cadillac unveils Lyric: the future of driving

Watch out Elan, Cadillac is about to leapfrog electric cars with its 300 mile range Lyric SUV. This is the future of cars and the future of GM, a company that is pulling ahead of Ford and Chrysler’s EV development. The Lyric styling is very impressive as is its environmentally responsible, fast-charging battery system, its 33 inch curved display screen, and Super Cruise self-driving mode. CNET

dis-rup-shun: While price was not revealed, this is the EV to have. Early photos of this sophisticated SUV will engage a new audience that wasn’t excited about Cadillac and will be a strong competitor to those considering a Tesla.

Uber beats expectations on bad quarter

Uber’s Q2 revenue declined 28% but beat analyst expectations. The ride sharing business was off by 73% over last year, but the food delivery business was up 113%. Food delivery has moved from luxury to necessity, and the company beat analyst expectations as a result. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The pandemic may be exactly what Uber needed to reshape its business, reduce costs, and find the profit in the drivers for hire business. In another diversification move, the company purchased a European taxi software company. Expect Uber to be a much more efficient company post-pandemic.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Black Girls Code to train a million girls

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Black Girls Code

One national study determined that black females comprise only 3.1% of computing jobs in 2019. Kimberly Bryant formed the organization Black Girls Code to teach 1 million girls to code by 2040. The organization was founded in 2011. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Among the many great promises that Bryant’s organization provides, one is to fix the problem of facial recognition. The potentially highly useful technology has been scuttled by major tech companies due to the inherent racial bias determined to be a part of the technology. In short, a technology developed by mostly white programmers has been tested by mostly white testers, resulting in code that works mostly well on white populations, but not well with other races.

Examining evidence against Big Tech

CNBC does a great deal of digging through the more than one million documents collected by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on antitrust. The excerpts provide direct evidence of BigTech execs making defensive and offensive moves to thwart smaller competitors, such as Diapers.com, WeChat and Yelp, to name a few.

dis-rup-shun: Despite the revealing documents, drawing the line between operating a competitive business and using unfair advantage may, in some cases be difficult. Amazon looks more guilty than Facebook. And Google looks more guilty than Apple. Nonetheless, it is clear that these giants need a big babysitter to remind them of the rules of commerce and when they are stepping over the lines.

EU puts Google’s acquisition of Fitbit on hold

In other antitrust news, the EU commission on competition is investigating the proposed $2.1 billion merger of Fitbit with Google, expressing concerns of data privacy. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: The EU has long been very aggressive in protecting the data privacy of its citizens, having created the GDPR standards for data privacy over a year ago. Google will likely make some assurances on how and where Fitbit user data is stored, and will likely satisfy the EU commission and move forward with the merger, and continuing its efforts to catch up with the Apple Watch, which is dominating the wearables market.

Sorting out the home security confusion

Our friends at CNET have done a nice job of explaining the growing confusion that is home security. There are DIY systems that are self-monitored, those that include pro-monitoring and there are professionally installed pro-monitored systems, and drawing the line between the categories is more difficult. In a pair of reviews, the CNET team lists the best DIY systems as SimpliSafe, Abode, Nest Secure, Ring Alarm. Other mentions include Honeywell Smart Home Security System, Scout Alarm and ADT/SmarThings Starter Kit. The editors also list the best pro-installed systems, and Comcast Xfinity wins that race.

dis-rup-shun: I will be discussing the differences in home security and smart home buyer segments in a presentation next week to the Security Industry Associations webinar. Anyone is welcome to attend if they register here.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Tablet sales surge in pandemic

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Q2 tablet sales up to 26%

According to Canalsys, sales of tablets rose 26% in Q2. The iPad was the biggest winner, shipping 14 million units, but others including Samsung, Amazon, Lenovo and Huawei benefited as well. CNET

dis-rup-shun: In uncertain times, when working and schooling from home are critical for survival, yet the paycheck is uncertain, the tablet provides a cost-effective substitute to computers, TVs and game consoles. The pandemic is just the accelerent required by many industries to have a record quarter, just as many are barely surviving.

Microsoft’s xCloud game service is $15 per month

Microsoft seeks to become the Netflix of games with its xCloud service at $15 per month, or free to those that already subscribe to the company’s Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The new service expands game play to Android mobile devices and will eventually be available on Windows PCs. The service provides unlimited access to over 100 games including “Destiny 2,” “Gears of War 5,” “Grounded” and “Halo 5. To accompany the service a number of third parties have built mobile game controller cradles that convert mobile phones to handheld gaming devices with easily accessible sticks and buttons. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Cloud gaming services will seek to appeal to a larger gamer population — one that is less likely to spend the money on Xbox consoles or games. In the “as a service” economy, consumers are accustomed and seemingly willing to make long term, small payments for unlimited services as shown by the success of video streaming and music streaming, not to mention monthly shaving or clothing subscription services.

Google’s augmented reality brings insects and animals into your home

Google is quietly building a case for AR, a technology that holds much promise but few applications. Using Google’s AR technology on Android devices, one can add many dozens of insects, felines, and exotics in 3D to their home and to photos — spicing up selfies and family portraits. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: AR will find a place in our everyday lives, likely in maps and navigation, and then for shopping for products. For now, however, creating lifelike 3D creatures in our photos is a good demonstration of the technology in an educational and entertainment setting. With people spending so much quality time with themselves, why not enjoy the animal kingdom and increase your appreciation for nature?

Google’s Pixel 4A top of class

For an Android phone that rivals $1000 plus phones, this model has a number of industry leading features at a price of $349. The product has a leading camera, a sharp OLED screen, a headphone jack, and a very slim case. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Differentiating a $1000 phone over rivals at half he price or less will become more and more difficult for Samsung and Apple. Apple has the advantage of an ecosystem of popular products and apps, that, for the Apple faithful, simply can’t be substituted for Android products. For the rest of the pack, it is a race to the bottom as big players such as Google drop prices to gain market share. The smartphone business is looking a lot like he PC business of a decade ago.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

TikTok survives the weekend as Microsoft chats with White House

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TikTok survives the weekend — fate still uncertain

TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has been declared, by President Trump, banned from operating in the U.S. Watchers expected the service to be shut down over the weekend, but news of acquisition by Microsoft were confirmed on Sunday. Microsoft hopes to conclude a deal by September 15th. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Microsoft has, with the exception of its Xbox division, been focusing on corporate and cloud-based computing. The company shut down its Mixer video game streaming service in June, encouraging users to shift to Facebook. Acquisition of TikTok would be Microsoft squarely in the social network business, in competition with Facebook. The move will be good for Facebook in the midst of anti-trust proceedings by Congress, as it will provide the company with an acceptable competitor that does not play in this space, possibly lessening pressure on Facebook. If Microsoft pays a market fee to ByteDance, then everyone may be a winner, with ByteDance’s investors making a large return, TikTok users continuing to enjoy the service, Microsoft gaining a lucrative business unit, and POTUS ensuring that exploitation of U.S. user data occurs only on U.S. soil.

Google buys stake in home security leader, ADT

ADT is the largest provider of professionally monitored home security services in the U.S. Google, with its Nest brand of smart thermostats, cameras and smart speakers/displays has been selling into homes mostly through retail and HVAC channels. Google’s investment of $450 million for 6.6% of ADT portends of Google products being sold through ADT’s team of salespeople and installers across the U.S. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: This move by Google could be the end of speculation regarding BigTech’s role in professionally installed security. For several years, the industry has been wondering when and how the giants will engage the pro-installed segment. With this partnership, Google can move directly into the professional channel, securing a share of the devices installed in each new home or small business served by the nation’s largest sales and installation team. The Google Nest Home Hub line could eventually serve as an alternative to the ADT “panel” — the heart and brain of a home security system. These components are currently supplied by Resideo (hardware) and Alarm.com (software). With its investment, Google will begin to enjoy a small share of the millions in recurring monthly revenues generated by ADT and can begin to edge out Amazon’s Alexa voice technology which is baked into ADT’s Command system. Declaring that Google will use the home security system to take over the entire home ecosystem and disrupt the current pro-install channel is premature, as there are many hurdles to doing so. What cannot be underestimated, however, is the ability to leverage Google’s advances in AI and cloud technology to offer a home automation and security system that is much smarter than anything in the field, including facial recognition, false alarm detection, smartphone integration, and “community monitoring.” The parties that will sleep less, as a result of this partnership, are Alarm.com and Resideo.

Bob and Doug splash down

The SpaceX and NASA team launch and recovery of astronauts to the International Space Station concluded on Sunday with a perfect landing. After 63 days in space, the two “Space Dads,” as they have become known, landed off the coast of Pensacola to a waiting gallery of private fishing and pleasure boats. The intact Dragon capsule was loaded onto a recovery ship where the space travelers were removed and whisked to the Pensacola Naval Air Station via helicopter.  New York Times

dis-rup-shun: The flawless mission is an unmistakable and significant victory for many parties. First, for NASA and the U.S. Government, as it successfully selected, regulated and orchestrated a private third party in one of the largest private/public missions ever, demonstrating that the agency can work with a flashy and bold company such as SpaceX in a restrained, disciplined and safe manner. Secondly, this is, of course, a triumph for Elon Musk and his SpaceX team, as they have demonstrated their ability to send humans to space and return them very safely. Musk’s bold claims of frequent commercial flights to space and Mars landings seem much closer now. Finally, the mission was a great victory for technology. The Dragon craft, like a Tesla, is highly automated with elegant glowing touch screens that seem to suggest that the astronauts are simply there to watch the automation from a gaming chair. The fact that the mission performed flawlessly and to precise timings and landing points is confirmation that today’s technology, while not perfect, is astonishingly accurate.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Big Tech versus US Congress

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USA vs Big Tech

The day on The Hill occurred on Wednesday, and legislators, as expected, held no punches while interviewing the CEOs of Big Tech — Google’s Pichai, Facebook’s Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Bezos and Apple’s Cook. A few key moments included: “Our founders would not bow before a king, nor should we bow before the emperors of an online economy,” stated David Cicilline, chairman of the subcommittee. Rare bipartisanship was in the house as Jim Sensenbrenner, R, Illinois, made it clear that company size and success are not the concern, but blocking competition is. The congresspeople have done their homework and it appears clear that some action will be taken, but not for many months.   CNET

dis-rup-shun: The congresspeople sound focused, measured and determined, not something that can be said, of late. It appears that mounds of anti-competitive evidence have been collected and the action of the committee going forward will not be about if Big Tech is anti-competitive, but what to do about it. The congress must find a balance between the pressure for the USA to lead in the race with China on 5G and AI, keep the job creation engines cranking, and restrict these same companies from anti-competitive practices. Finding that balance will be a challenge and will take some bright minds.

Perseverance Mars rover launched on Thursday morning

One of NASA’s most ambitious projects launched for Mars in the early hours of Thursday — putting the rover on the surface of Mars this coming February to explore a crater that once held water — 3.5 billion years ago. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The craft, with its self-driving rover and helicopter will explore like no other explorer before, drilling into the service of the planet in search of subterranean water molecules. If water is identified, what will the next move be?

Best smart home products: Google and Amazon removed

CNET constantly provides “best of” lists. It’s latest Best of Smart Home products list removes products directly branded by the two giants, and excludes companies owned or funded by Google and Amazon. The remaining top players are:

Best smart speaker… Apple HomePod

Best smart display … Apple iPad

Best mesh WiFi system… Netgear Orbi

Best smart plug … TP-Link Kasa Smart

Best smart light bulbs … Wyze bulb

Best smart thermostat … Honeywell T9

Best home security camera … Arlo Pro3

Best home security system … Simplisafe

Best video doorbell … Arlo video doorbell

Best smart lock … August Smart Lock Pro

dis-rup-shun: These companies provide solid products that work with the Amazon and Google products not listed. Given the antitrust winds blowing in Washington, it is unlikely that these companies listed will be acquired by the two giants, perhaps helping them shape their courses to live in a market being expanded rapidly by the giants.

Ready for your smartphone to help brush your teeth?

Wired reviews the OralB iO Series 8 connected toothbrush. Aside from being expensive ($250), the device does not always accurately reflect what parts of your mouth have been thoroughly brushed. But for someone who is plagued with problems, having a visual guide via a smartphone app may be worth the investment.

dis-rup-shun: The market is full of newly launched connected appliances that fail to fully reach the potential of connectivity, or have failed to offer any real benefits of connectivity. It may be a while before tooth brushing apps reach a mass market, but the benefits are not hard to imagine especially when costs are inline with everyday products.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

Alexagate jams Alexa’s microphones

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Alexagate device jams Echo’s microphones

For a mere $99, one can purchase an add-on device designed to sit atop one’s Amazon Echo in order to render the microphones ineffective by bombarding them with sound waves. To stop the blocking, one simply needs to clap (remind you of something else?) and then speak the watch word “Alexa…” TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: The mere existence of this device raises some curious questions. Do owners of Amazon Echos not believe that the on-board mute button works? Do owners of Echos really fear that their privacy is being invaded? If yes to the above, do these owners get sufficient benefit from these devices that they don’t just turn them off to relieve their privacy concerns? As more and more devices come with voice control built-in, the question becomes more relevant: is the convenience greater than the perceived risk? Apparently the 30% of households that own one or more of these devices answered yes.

CES goes online

The Consumer Technology Association announced what we have all been expecting, CES 2021 must not be a live event, but a virtual gathering. Las Vegas will miss out on the 171,000 tech tourists that descend upon the city each year from around the globe. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: This is the right move — anything less would have put CTA in a bad light and would have led to many disappointed (and possibly infected) exhibitors. The blow to Las Vegas, the travel industry at large, and exhibit companies, still reeling from the cancellations of last spring, cannot be overstated. The economic superpower that is CES will be but a shadow of its normal self when presented online. Like many things impacted by Covid-19, CES is one that may have needed a reset. The event has become so enormous that it is difficult to manage from a visitor’s perspective. Perhaps the post-Covid-19 event will be more user friendly.

Apple vs. Google and the world in mobile app philosophy

It is important to understand the architectural tension between Apple and Google at this point in the evolution of mobile technology. Put simply, Apple wants to drive all users through its App Store, where it can not only maintain quality of experience, but control all app-based commerce. Google and a large number of large companies including Uber and Microsoft, are proponents of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) — apps that are in large part powered by the web, but continue to function even if not connected. PWAs drive commerce to the web, Apple apps keep commerce in the app store. CNET

dis-rup-shun: This mobile app philosophical difference is yet another example of closed versus open approaches, and Apple is one of the few companies that has thrived, over a long period of time, within a closed architecture. Android is the dominant global operating system because it enlisted the help of the non-IOS world and created strength in numbers. Just like mobile operating systems, one mobile app architecture will not win, but the ways of building and doing business on the two platforms will grow increasingly different.

Perseverance rover set to explore Mars in 2021

The Perseverance rover is NASA’s new self-driving Mars car, that includes its own helicopter, 24-camera array, and water well drilling apparatus. The device has unprecedented intelligence, battery power, and on-board capabilities, including instruments that will attempt to find oxygen in the Martian atmosphere. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Given the increased attention on the new space race, with countries and companies competing to get back to the Moon and to Mars, NASA has really upped its game and packed this mission with significant scientific capabilities. This mission will aggressively check Mars for water and for atmosphere — clearly seeking to discern how challenging it will be to, one day soon, colonize the planet.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Google extends work at home for one year

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Google delays office reopening until July 2021

The Mountain View company announced that the work from home option, for employees who are not required in the office, will remain available for another 12 months. The move is attributed to the uncertainty of schools reopening for the Fall 2020 to Spring 2021 school year. CNET

dis-rup-shun:  Google is confirming that which was expected — uncertainty over the Covid-19 pandemic will last well into 2021. The move will likely be followed by many companies, and will further the diaspora of urban workers to mountain, beach and lake houses, keeping restaurants, transit systems and shopping malls mostly empty for the coming year.

Atlas of Surveillance shows where surveillance is occurring

Between Ring doorbell cameras, license plate readers, traffic cameras and individual building security cameras, a fabric of surveillance points cover urban areas.  The mapping project is a collaboration between  the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the University of Nevada, Reno, Reynolds School of Journalism. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Just like in the action series 24, it appears that cameras are almost everywhere in urban areas, but unlike 24, accessing all the feeds quickly and easily is a bureaucratic impossibility. Perhaps the constitutional separation of states and Federal governments and their agencies will keep this an impossibility, or perhaps Google will do it first! 

Chernobyl fungus could prolong space visits

The sun’s harmful radiation is filtered by Earth’s atmosphere, minimizing damage to humans. In space, however, without the filtration of the atmosphere, humans receive 20 times the radiation as on Earth, making outer space uninhabitable, long-term, for humans. A fungus that is thriving on the radioactive Chernobyl site has been sent to the International Space Station for observation and results show that it may become an important companion to space explorations, as the bacteria consumes harmful radiation and converts it to energy — enabling fast growth of the organism. CNET

dis-rup-shun:  Further wonders of science — a “clean up” fungus is available to do what mankind has not figured out how to — clean up harmful radiation. Just when you thought Earth could never undo the damage inflicted by man, we see an auto-correction mechanism. Does such an organism exist for the damages caused by global warming?

Apple begins manufacturing iPhone 11 in India

Apple holds 1% of the share of the Indian smartphone market, but it is a dominant player in that country’s luxury phone market. After striving to find a contract manufacturer in India, its partner Foxconn has started building iPhones in Chennai. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun:  The move enables Apple to reduce its reliance on China-based factories while increasing its presence in the world’s second largest smartphone market, from which it could launch a lower end iPhone built especially to take advantage of the enormous market.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Alexa is now asking you the questions

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Alexa is now asking questions to consumers

Hunches are the Amazon name for machine learning triggers that anticipate, most frequently correctly, what you want Alexa to do. Alexa may ask you, upon hearing you walk into the kitchen, if you want to turn on the coffee maker, as you do daily. Alexa usage has quadrupled over the past two years, and the devices are getting better and better at understanding our patterns and habits. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Creepy or cool? On the one hand, one must remember that Alexa’s “mind” is only a series of algorithms that become more accurate the more data they have to factor into their calculations. On the other hand, if a third-party has the ability to analyze this data for unauthorized or un-known purposes, conflict is coming. What is a fact, is that voice has already become an important part of our interaction with machines and will likely be used to start the car engine or select the floor for the elevator to stop. Touchless controls will be more important to a pandemic-aware society, and those that resist will find it increasingly difficult to function in many settings.

Big Tech goes to Washington

Big Tech companies have been summoned to testify before Congress on Monday and discuss anti-competitive practices. Wired’s scathing account of how competition is dead, and has been for a couple of decades among the tech giants, spares Apple from bad boy status. Amazon has altered commerce, Google has created a curated Internet, and Facebook has fueled extremism in America, according to Wired.

dis-rup-shun: If competition is good for both business and consumers, and if the U.S. and Western nations are experiencing unprecedented income inequalities, then it will important to see if the visit with Congress next week leads to any real action by regulators, or more “window dressing.”

Intel announces chip delay 

Intel’s stock price was hammered in the markets yesterday after the company announced an expected six month delay on its next generation product – 7 nanometer processors. The delay will cause Intel’s largest PC customers, including Dell and HP, to delay new product offerings. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Will Intel’s dominance over intelligent devices ever return? Not likely, as the chip making business, as the delay announcement reminds us, is a very difficult and precise business. Intel owned personal computing, but recently lost Apple, as the company has moved to making its own semiconductors. Intel mostly missed the mobile market, and the Internet of Things business consists of hundreds of device types, so being really good at more than a few will be exceedingly difficult. Note that Intel’s execs were not invited to the antitrust conversation in Washington this Monday, as the chip company is no longer a candidate for limiting competition.

Microsoft shows off Halo Infinite

Microsoft’s Xbox Series X preview session live streamed yesterday, teasing the public with views of new games. Front and center was Halo’s new release, Halo Infinite, which boasts bolder and bigger graphics at 10x the frame rates of prior versions. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The Halo franchise has been the biggest driver for Xbox, and Microsoft is counting on the sequel reviving the core market’s appetites for another helping to the tune of  probably close to $400 or more for the Series X console, plus the game. Our society has greatly changed in the last few years, and have the tastes of core gamers changed as well, such that they are less interested in Halo and other first-person shooters? Microsoft conducts a great deal of research, and has apparently concluded that the core buyer is still a shooter.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Cybertruck plant lands in Austin

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Austin scores $1.1 billion Tesla plant

The much hyped Tesla Cybertruck will be built, only appropriately, in Texas. Tesla confirmed that Austin will be the location of the $1.1 billion factory, nestled along the Colorado River between downtown Austin and Austin’s Bergstrom airport. The factory is expected to employ 5000 people on 2,100 acres, with an average starting wage of $35,000, including benefits. Austin American Statesman

dis-rup-shun: Austin has long been a winner of innovative projects, continuing to host significant outposts for tech companies including Apple, Google, Dell’s headquarters and IBM — the company that arguably started tech in Austin. Other than several semiconductor fabs, Austin is not a manufacturing center, so the Tesla plant diversifies the type of tech in the Lone Star capital, and will also serve as a strong market for the new electric pickup truck.

Xbox debut event starts now

Microsoft will follow Sony’s big online event that occurred last month with a big reveal today at 9 am PT. The event will offer a sneak peak at new games to be offered on the Xbox Series X, in hopes that Playstation’s slick reveal won’t sway any of the console faithful to the dark side. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Now, more than ever, Sony and Microsoft have to make the console experience really special as cloud gaming services enable the convenience of all-you-can-eat plans, as well as cross-platform gaming. “Premium experience” is the driver for console gamers and both of these platforms look like they will deliver.

Facebook enables Zoom-like features

Facebook has announced a feature for its Messenger Rooms app that enables users to stream video calls to up to 50 people. The move is to counter the ability of paid Zoom users to livestream to Twitch, YouTube and Facebook.  CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The race to own the video conference is becoming fierce, and the big winner is the corporation and organization, as conducting virtual business could not be much easier. The big losers, of course, may be real estate owners, airlines and hotels, as virtual meetings seem to work really well.

Slack sues Microsoft for bundling Teams

Slack has filed suit against Microsoft for its virtual work app, Teams, which is bundled as a part of the Office suite (no additional cost). Slack’s complaint is not about the similarities of the product (there aren’t many), but about Microsoft’s practice of bundling the app with its Office suite, just as it did years ago with Internet Explorer — the move that buried Netscape’s Navigator (and Netscape– RIP). Onmsft.com

dis-rup-shun: A virtual workplace app such as Teams should be a part of every suite of products, and we can expect Google to add something to their office suite at some point. Perhaps Slack should be selling to Google right about now.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Spotify continues march to dominate streaming audio entertainment

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Spotify continues dominance with Joe Rogan acquisition

Spotify is the dominant player in streaming music and is doubling down to be the streaming audio entertainment leader. The company has 130 million paid subscribers worldwide, well ahead of Apple, Amazon, and Google. Streaming music makes up 47% of global music revenues. Adding Joe Rogan’s podcasts, along with DC Comics and Kim Kardashian further differentiates the service with hot names. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: As the streaming video players have taught, offering original content is the key to keeping ahead of competitors. Spotify has taken a play from the video streamers and is widening the gap between it and its nearest competition. The company will be the dominant radio station, not just music station. Expect other popular audio entertainment, including sports and news, to be added to the platform.

Uber drivers sue for access to proprietary data

A group of Uber drivers in the UK who seek driver data to help unionize drivers in their nation are suing Uber for access to driver information. Uber says that statistics on drivers, including their speed, locations, acceleration, etc., are part of the company’s secret algorithms that bring it competitive advantage, and cannot be disclosed. Gizmodo

dis-rup-shun: The need for competent regulation of Big Tech firms, and difficult decision making about ownership of data is becoming more important, and more difficult every day. These data ownership questions are very significant, and precedent setting, and the creation of better government regulation is not only justifiable, but critical.

Coming soon: balloon rides to space

Space Perspective, a Florida based company, wants to take passengers to the highest levels of the Earth’s atmosphere, where the sky is black and one can see the curvature of the Earth. The pressurized capsule seats eight and includes a bar and bathroom. The company hopes to begin operations as early as next year. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Coming soon — kiddie birthday parties at 100,000 feet. The experience sounds exciting, but what government body regulates and inspects Space Perspective, ensuring that craft are well maintained, adequately equipped with safety gear, and is willing to send out a rescue party should something go wrong? Is this the purview of NASA or the FAA, or the FTC?

Instagram adds fund raising feature

Instragram, in response to a rise in activities to respond to social justice causes, has enabled a fund raising feature within the app. The fundraiser lasts for 30 days, but can be renewed. Fundraisers will be reviewed by Instagram before they can be posted. Does fundraising on social media work? Since 2015, 45 million people have raised over $3 billion on Facebook and Instagram according to CNET.

dis-rup-shun: Instragram is taking on GoFundMe, the best known fundraising platform, finding yet another important use case to incorporate into its platform. Despite criticism to the contrary, Facebook and its entities have a finger on the pulse of the population, and seek to ride the wave of people’s growing passion about causes.

 

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Microsoft’s xCloud keeps gamers in the family

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Microsoft straddles gaming platforms with xCloud 

Microsoft will offer xCloud cloud-based games to subscribers of its Xbox Game Pass subscription service. The free offering will extend cloud titles to subscribers, allowing them to play titles across mobile devices and computers. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It’s a smart move — keeping Xbox enthusiasts within the brand even as cloud gaming offerings attempt to lure players from consoles. Microsoft must fight a two-front battle: keeping core gamers enthralled with its next generation Xbox platform, Xbox SeriesX, while also taking on cloud game offerings from companies such as Nvidia and Amazon.

Covid crushes Indian smartphone market

India is the second largest smartphone market and has experienced more than one million cases of Covid-19. When the nation ordered a lockdown in March, even online retailers Flipkart and Amazon were prohibited from selling. Smartphone sales for Q2 are down 48%. Xiaomi is the market leading seller of smartphones in India. TechCrunch.

dis-rup-shun: Does a setback of this magnitude offer an opportunity for rivals to unseat Xiaomi’s leadership in the Indian market, or will the company emerge from the quarantine with even more market force? At this stage in the game, buying market share is an even more long-term strategy, as economies of scale are more difficult when revenues are half of expectations, but Xioami has much to lose if rivals such as Vivo and Samsung gain on the company during difficult times.

Netflix — tech company or media company?

As Netflix has been, for a number of years, the face of the future of home video entertainment, a debate has ensued if this is a media or tech company. Wall Street has treated the company like a tech company, with a market value comparable to giant AT&T, even with revenue less than 10% of the latter. With the promotion of co-CEO Ted Sarandon, a content mastermind, the company’s emphasis on media content is clear. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Properly valuing Netflix is a challenge, as the company must spend vast sums to keep ahead of catalog-rich rivals such as Disney +, Peacock and AT&T (HBO) TV. This investment keeps profits out in the far distance as well, yet being first and the king of market share continues to provide the company with an out sized valuation.

UAE Mars probe launches successfully

The UAE’s space program, with a probe heading to explore Mars, launched from Japan early Sunday morning, Pacific U.S. time. The probe, launched from a Mitsubishi made rocket, is the first of three Mars explorations to launch this month as NASA and China also expect to launch Mars missions. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The space race, between sending probes to Mars, re-exploring the Moon, and sending satellites into space has become a very active business. With problems seemingly escalating here on terra firma, will governments and corporations continue to focus vast investments on things in outer space? How are the benefits of exploration and science quantified beyond the ability of companies such as SpaceX to build a commercial, low-orbit internet facilities?

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

China and Europe driving home-grown internet infrastructure

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China’s plan for a new internet, called New IP

The Chinese government has ambitions to build a new, faster internet. This version, called New IP, will be controlled and operated by governments, giving governments access and insight into users, activities, and, presumably, control over all of the above. CNET

dis-rup-shun: To say that users will not be in favor of governments controlling the internet, and access to apps and content, is, well, a gross understatement. China’s proposal will undoubtedly be vehemently opposed by people everywhere, including  China. Those that stand to lose the most, of course, are Chinese citizens who may find that alternatives to New IP are one day closed,creating isolation not experienced since before the internet.

Europeans seek alternatives to cloud giants

German and French policy makers have formed an alliance called Gaia X as an alternative to U.S. and Chinese cloud giants, Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Alibaba. Orange, Deutsche Telekom and SAP are the foundation members of the alliance, which will undoubtedly involve other Europe-based companies. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The fear of concentration of power, in this case information, into the hands of a few very strong players, has, for several centuries, led to rebellions, revolutions, resistance and new legislation (anti-trust). Once again, the European Union is far more active at working to curb Big Tech’s market dominance than the U.S. Congress.

Boeing 747: another Coronavirus victim

British Airways announced that it will ground its entire fleet of 31 747s and rely on more efficient aircraft during this time of anemic international travel. The company has been operating the iconic aircraft for nearly fifty years.  CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Like a hurricane, Coronavirus is reshaping the landscape and accelerating the evolution of many technologies, including aircraft. The world’s largest production airplane, the A380, was shuttered a few months ago after only fifteen years of production. The travel industry has been, arguably, one of the most impacted by new technologies over the past decades (Sabre, Expedia, AirBnB, Hotels.com, Uber, to name a few) and now the industry must quickly adapt to a much different and much smaller market.

Time for an e-Bike?

e-Bikes, bicycles with electric assist motors to help with hills, acceleration and long hauls, are popping up all around us, helping to replace public transportation. CNET offers a look at several top models, from a compact by Swagtron, to a premium model from Trek.

dis-rup-shun: Expect the standard bicycle that most every boy and girl receives between ages 8 and 12 to be an e-bike, as the electric-assisted versions become more affordable and eventually only a little pricier than non-electric versions. In a handful of years, the only non-electrified bikes will be built for avid road racers and those seeking super-cheap basic transportation.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

5G to transform healthcare – eventually

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5G to be a life saver for emergency health

Imagine a call to 911, where the health statistics and full history of the patient’s pre-existing conditions are sent to the paramedics for review en-route to the patient. Care choices they make, and preparations made in the ER will be patient specific and could make the difference in the patient’s recovery or death. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The implications for 5G to transform healthcare are many, including remote patient visits (telehealth) and emergency response. While that is exciting, such a scenario also depends on easy and fast access to a database that stores patient records. Whose database, and how can we ensure that the important privacy afforded by HIPPA laws don’t prevent emergency technicians from gaining immediate access? Better network technology is a great start, but access to patient records remains an industry challenge.

Wattbike is a different connected stationary bike experience

Wattbike offers a indoor cycling experience for “real” bikers. The Wattbike, available for $2,599, has 22 gears and uses magnetic resistance to simulate a real bike. It does not have an integrated monitor, but features a holder for a smartphone or tablet, which can be used with a number of third party riding apps for those that are not into Peloton’s virtual studio experience. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The Wattbike experience will likely appeal, much moreso than Peloton, to the true biker — not only given the bike itself, but because of the “solo” approach without scheduled classes, and the freedom to choose apps. Of course true bikers may also prefer to bring their bike inside, put it on rollers, and choose a favorite app. Expect to see more variants of connected fitness experiences in the coming months.

California registration of Tesla’s halved during Q2

The number of Tesla’s registered in the company’s best buying state, California, halved during Q2, the initial quarter of the quarantine. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: No, the citizens of California are not falling out of love with electric vehicles, nor of Tesla, but of driving itself — and therefore of purchasing the next car.

Espresso portable display is an elegant solution for Mac or PC

Many knowledge workers now insist that having external monitors are critical for work, and Espresso has developed a slim, easy-to-use and easy-to-connect model with a compact stand. The device sells for $320 to $350. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: The quarantine has required home offices to be setup in interesting places, and places that often change. Piling monitors into a car or plane to relocate to the office/retreat at the beach or the mountains often results in some beat up monitors, if they can come along at all. Portable monitors are the answer, and you can use them long after the quarantine is over.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Grocery carts obsolete cash registers

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The cart is the cash register, declares Amazon

Amazon’s Dash carts — grocery carts that watch what you put in them and scan as you go — are replacing cash registers and cashiers at a pilot store in Woodland Hills, California (near Los Angeles). CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Skipping the check out line at the grocery store — good news! Eliminating more employees from the economy — ouch! If this is the new face of shopping, then Amazon will have a lead — perhaps by not sharing the cart technology with non-Amazon stores, or perhaps by dominating point of sale technology as a technology provider, or  by creating so many Prime membership benefits that Prime will be the biggest buying club ever — leading to preferred video, shipping, shopping, delivery, doctor visits, theater seats, airline tickets, hotel rooms, and the list goes on.

Google fined for not erasing personal data

A high ranking European official put Google to the test, citing a European Union law, enforced in 2014, that gives a citizen the right to request removal of data from a search engine. When Google failed to comply, the company as fined 600,000 Euros. CNET

dis-rup-shun: More power to the EU for keeping Big Tech inline. Using my personal data in exchange for free services is fine, until it isn’t, and then people should have a way to turn back and become anonymous. In some cases those rights are granted by law, but how can they be enforced? Call in the data privacy police. This is an emerging problem that will become a political hot potato in coming elections across the globe.

It’s happening: companies are cancelling office space

Companies, particularly start-ups that are always looking for ways to reduce cash burn, are not renewing office space. CBRE predicted, in May, a 7% drop in office rental rates and vacancies to rise as high as 15%, up from 12% in Q1. Many companies in Silicon Valley have already started to beef up staff outside of the Bay Area.

dis-rup-shun: There are great reasons to have an office, but the pandemic has proved that many businesses can run quite well without them. After a drought, leasing will increase, but space planning and use will be different, with many more “hotelling” configurations for workers that may spend only a day or two per week in an office.

Microsoft is ready to take back schools, with Kano

Kano, a maker of inexpensive computer kits that kids can build and use, has partnered with Microsoft to build an inexpensive computer kit that runs Windows and can help cash-poor school districts purchase computers for kids. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Between iPads and Chromebooks, Microsoft was being forced out of the public education marketplace. In another sign of Microsoft’s return to a great run company, this partnership should help more kids grow up on Microsoft products. The problem, of course, is that the future of schools is in question as the shelter-in-place continues and the return to classrooms is very questionable one month before many school districts normally open.

 

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

The new world order of entertainment

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Understanding the new world order of home video services

CNBC lays out the new taxonomy of home video distribution: the first tier is the pipe into the home — which has changed the least. It is still mostly Comcast and AT&T, but 5G players such as Verizon are shaking up this tier with mobile broadband (no wires to the home). Tier 2 is messy. New players such as Roku and Amazon with Fire TV control 70% of connected TVs in the US (about 400 million). Other streaming device players include Apple, Google, Samsung, Comcast, Xbox, Sony PlayStation. The third and top tier consists of companies such as Netflix and Disney + that aggregate their own content with other content to create a comprehensive streaming platform, designed to keep you in their “home” as long as possible. The big players have sought to be the new network, offering a mix of genres and formats. Others, like ESPN+, continue to be specialists in a particular category.

dis-rup-shun: In the midst of the market’s creative destruction, it is helpful to have a map of the new world. Thanks CNBC. If the market can support only two or three major providers, then will other streaming offerings continue to pop-up for special interest segments — replacing today’s myriad of special interest channels that garner very few hours of the total market’s viewership? It is possible that the new world will feel a lot like the old world, just with different players in the middle.

The UAE is going to Mars

The United Arab Emirates is ready to send Hope, its Mars orbiter into space this summer, as the result of six years of preparation. The launch is scheduled for July 14th, U.S. time. The project has been in cooperation with University of Colorado Boulder, UC Berkeley, and Arizona State University. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: The renewed space race — with multiple entities quickly sending new crafts to the Moon and Mars — is a curious mix of private enterprise and government agencies. Will China, the U.S., or Amazon be the first to establish meaningful activities on Mars, and what constitutes meaningful?

Sirius buys podcaster Scripps

SiriusXM has announced that it will follow a prior move of Spotify, and beef up its podcast offerings. The company will purchase E.W. Scripps for $325 million. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Just as stated in the first story above, the new landscape players are continuing to evolve, reinvent themselves, and blur the lines. The new consumer, thanks to the Internet and the proliferation of podcasts, has quite an appetite for specialized content. Podcasts are the new talk radio and to be a full content platform you have to offer all content. SiriusXM started with cars and is creeping onto computers and other devices. Spotify started on computers and smartphones and is creeping into cars.

 

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Mmhmm and Teams transform video conferencing

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Mmhmm app turns video calls into interactive show

Former Evernote CEO Phil Libin has developed the future of video teleconferencing. The Mmhmm app works with any video conferencing system and transforms the experience by enabling the presenter to become large, small, semi-transparent, “stand” in front of the presentation content just like in a conference room, choose any background, and place presentations in a picture in picture window. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: Innovation — it never stops amazing. This is a simple idea yet so innovative and potentially transforming. If virtual presentations are as compelling and attention grabbing — perhaps even more so — than live presentations, then the future of work really is changed forever. Mmhmm’s functionality will be integrated with video conferencing apps, and the real losers will be airlines, hotels and Uber drivers, as the benefits of being live and in-person become smaller and smaller.

Microsoft Team’s Together mode, like Mmhmm, will transform virtual meetings

The timing of this Microsoft news flash is surely no coincidence, following the unveiling of Mmhmm. A new Teams feature, called Together Mode, puts all virtual conference attendees in the same background setting, so they look like they are in the same room. It is a way to neutralize the distraction of individual settings and create a virtual institution. CNET

dis-rup-shun: This is a pretty intriguing development. Suddenly the fun of exploring someone’s home office or bedroom over their shoulder is removed and we are back in a classroom or auditorium, focusing on the speaker, the content, or on the faces in the crowd. Universities and colleges, especially those that are really expensive — you need to be very, very swift to re-purpose your dorms, your lecture halls and labs. You won’t be needing many of them starting last semester.

Next generation Google Home Nest speaker

The original Google Home speaker was released in 2016 and has not had a major refresh. As part of a regulatory filing in Japan, watchers have identified the next generation product. It is tall, flat and fabric covered. What will be more interesting is to see if the product’s skills, or software functions and sound quality are drastically different from the generation one product or if this is mostly an update of the form factor. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: Google has some branding work to do, as just describing this new product as the Google Home Nest smart speaker is a mouthful. As the sound quality of the flagship product improves, Google takes on the traditional speaker makers such as JBL, Sonos, Sony and Bose. As Amazon rapidly adds thousands of “works with Alexa” partners, Google continues to figure out what it does better than Amazon, and so far, that is search. The company’s marketing, however, is yet to position it as the best “_______,” and so consumers continue to struggle with the decision of which ecosystem to invest in, and the product continues to be a distance second to Amazon’s Echo line, but well ahead of Apple’s HomePod.

Facebook’s civil rights audit reveals setbacks and missteps

Facebook performed its own internal audit of decisions around civil rights-related posts and censorship. Civil rights organizations that reviewed the report criticized the company for some missteps which were “significant setbacks” for civil rights. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Where is today’s equivalent of the Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, who made tough and unpopular decisions about the identity of that publication? Facebook can no longer be the world’s bulletin board — that position has led to unending acrimony. Facebook is the new Washington Post, New York Times, or Asahi Shimbun. It must change its position to a curated, biased source of information with stated editorial guidelines that not all will like, but that are clearly stated. Trying to define the narrow path between free speech and dangerous rhetoric is losing battle.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Streamed Hamilton exceeds hype

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Disney Plus’ Hamilton delivery exceeds hype

According to the staff at CNET, the Hamilton on-screen experience exceeded hype and delivered an exceptional at-home experience – even better than expected. Mobile downloads of the Disney + app jumped 72% over the Hamilton debut weekend.

dis-rup-shun: Disney remains the king of entertainment, following the debut of Star Wars spin-off The Mandalorian with Hamilton. Impressively, the company has made its late-to-the-streaming-party service a “must have.” One can only imagine what will be the next must see small screen event?

The first 5G PC

Lenovo’s Flex is the first laptop with onboard 5G, making it capable of connecting in most any urban setting without finding the nearest Starbucks hotspot. No need for WiFi and no need for tethering to the smartphone, as the computer is, essentially, a built in smartphone. Tested in NYC, download speeds ranged from 170Mbps and 200Mbps compared to home broadband speeds around 115Mbps to 140Mbps, while AT&T iPhones show speeds of 49Mbps. CNET

dis-rup-shun: A 5G laptop is great for the mobile worker but just like the 4G iPad, having a mobile device with a dedicated connection requires a monthly wireless data fee, adding to the cost. It is more likely that we will own 5G smartphones that will offer super fast hot spots to our mobile devices — computers and tablets. For those with a fat budget, a 5G laptop will be a dream in airports, hotels, coffee shops and while accessing the internet from a client’s secure premise. This, of course, assumes we will again be traveling in the near future.

Uber swallows Postmates in scramble to keep business growing

Uber’s ride sharing business (unprofitable before Covid-19) is down 80%. The company’s attempt to purchase Grubhub was thwarted for antitrust concerns, but smaller food delivery company Postmates is expected to gain SEC approval. The food delivery business is up sharply during shelter-in-place, and Uber Eats needs to beef up its market share to compete with Grubhub and DoorDash, and to stem the losses from its ride sharing business. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: Winston Churchill said, “Don’t waste a good crisis.” Uber has an opportunity to right-size its ride sharing business, lowering overhead and waiting for post-Covid-19 ride sharing to rebound, potentially making this line of business profitable. In the meantime, Uber needs to run fast to scale up its food delivery business to make up losses in the core ride sharing business. The next year will be pivotal for Uber.

Magic Leap taps top Microsoft exec to lead it out of woods

Peggy Johnson, one of Nadella’s top stars at Microsoft, has agreed to become CEO of troubled augmented reality company, Magic Leap. The well-funded (Alphabet and others invested $3 billion) start-up launched an impressive but expensive product in 2018, and quickly found that appeal for the $2000 system was low. The company has laid out a significant portion of its team and its founding CEO has resigned. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Can lots of investment and one of the best corporate leaders in the country create an AR product that delights its target market (be it commercial or consumer buyers)? AR is cool, but so far it is a nice-to-have technology unless you are a fighter pilot. Stay tuned for an interesting challenge and hopefully a successful outcome.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Picture the pandemic through consumer data maps

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How consumer data paints a picture of the pandemic

Five data points from everyday consumer activities, collected by the companies that we trust each day to provide services, shows a profile of the impacts of Coronavirus on activities and the economy. A chart of requests for directions, for walking, driving and mass transit, on Apple Maps, indicates a lull and subsequent recovery in people going places. Restaurant bookings on OpenTable signals a partial recovery, then faltering, of dining out activities. Hotel occupancy data reveals that hotel bookings rates remain at or below 50%. Air travel shows very little recovery from all time lows, and American Airlines announced that it is overstaffed by 20,000 employees. Home purchase data shows that real estate transactions are approaching a pre-COVID-19 level. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Data maps of our daily habits provide fascinating views of the state of our economy. While these maps show what is down, the activities that are skyrocketing are home entertainment, including movies, games, music, and purchases of food and alcohol. The question then is one of shifting spending — and determining the net reduction in overall spending as a measurement of economic recession resulting from the loss of jobs.

Lemonade IPO shares soar as insurance disruptor goes public

Lemonade is an online insurance provider that was launched in 2016. It provides homeowners and renters insurance using a monthly subscription model, and using AI and chatbots to speed the application and claims process. Opening shares soared 138% to $50 on day one. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Clearly the market is recognizing the company not for its size against the giants Allstate, Geico, Farmers, State Farm and others, but in its ability to successfully deliver a new pricing and operations model, using AI and chat bots, rather than human agents and actuaries.

IKEA makes smart shades affordable

Who hasn’t marveled at the coolness of smart shades and smart blinds at a friend’s very expensive custom automated home. Those custom shades were likely from Somfy or Lutron. IKEA continues its march into the smart home for every man and woman. Its Fyrtur line of automated (Zigbee-powered) shades work with Apple Homekit, with Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri, and cost from $129 to $179 before the $35 Zigbee hub. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Home automation, despite a myriad of great products, has barely entered the mass market. According to research firm Interpret, smart speakers, the most diffuse smart home product, is in about 30% of U.S. households. IKEA is bridging the gap between expensive custom automation, and extremely affordable smart home accessories that are attractive, easy to install and high tech.

Guide to drone purchases

Is it time to get your own drone? Wired reviews a list of seven popular models for a range of budgets and applications. From photo enthusiasts to Star Wars fans, a number of options are available from $33 to $1,600.

dis-rup-shun: Just like the GoPro made adventure photography easy for everyone, drones make aerial photography accessible to all. Many real estate and vacation destination advertisements feature, as a standard, aerial photos, and expect construction and insurance professionals to employ the devices in their everyday work. Imagine the savings in insurance and hospitalization costs from reductions in people climbing towers, building and houses to perform inspections.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

YouTube TV jacks up price

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Cutting the cord is looking less attractive

Cutting the pay TV cord from cable or telco TV provides significant savings, until it doesn’t. YouTube TV, originally offered at $35 per month, is now $65 per month. When compared to cable bundles starting at $67 per month before set top box and HD fees, the motivation for cord cutting is diminished. Forbes

dis-rup-shun: It is inevitable that content providers seek to earn a profit, and it is inevitable that the costs of content increase as NFL owners expect to earn more, and customers expect to binge more. More streaming competition from the likes of NBC (Peacock) and AT&T (AT&T TV) will keep the pressure on the incumbents (DirecTV and Netflix) to keep prices competitive, but the rising costs of content will maintain pressure to charge more. In the end, cutting the cord may result in temporary savings that are not sustainable.

Google acquires smart glasses maker North

North, the smart glasses maker that has been quietly chugging along, creating smart glasses that look like ordinary glasses, has been acquired by Google for an undisclosed sum. Speculation puts the acquisition at $180 million, but that is less than the funds raised from investors. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It is not like Google to wildly overpay for a strategic acquisition, so one would expect that the number is higher than capital raised, but this is a tricky space. No vendor has yet proven that there is real demand for smart glasses, and Apple, for years, has been rumored to be working on glasses. If any brand can make smart glasses mainstream, it is surely Apple, and Google needed to make additional acquisitions in order to maintain its position of “fast follower” behind Apple innovation.

Sound detection part of new IOS 14

As the media unpacks all the new stuff in the next Apple iPhone operating system, one interesting feature is the ability to identify sounds that your phone will warn you about: smoke alarms, car alarms, leaky faucets, coyotes, cookie jar rattle… CNET

dis-rup-shun: Audio detection is an entire industry, possibly the size of the video camera industry. Imagine if all of your devices (phones, tablets, computers, smart speakers, smart appliances) are listening for suspicious sounds. They could detect a fall of a senior, a burglar, or a malfunctioning AC unit, and they could also detect and transmit words or sounds that you want to keep private. The conflicts and debates will be ever present as listening technology goes mainstream.

How to capture fireworks with your phone

Capturing the glory of annual 4th of July fireworks will be, more than ever, attempted with phones rather than standalone cameras. Certain settings, like no zoom and no flash, will result in better photos. Steadying the camera on something is a first step. Wired

dis-rup-shun: The constant upgrade of camera phones means that most people aren’t very skilled at the new art of smartphone photography. The only way to learn is to try, and this holiday is a great opportunity to relearn the lost art of photography. Happy 4th of July!

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Lululemon acquires mirror

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Lululemon acquires Mirror fitness

Workout clothing maker Lululemon makes its first acquisition, agreeing to purchase at home personal fitness provider, Mirror for $500 million. Mirror, a competitor to Peloton, provides a $1,495 connected mirror camera device that offers online group fitness, or one-on-one personal training sessions. The company’s primary competitor, Peloton, has 886,000 subscribers, up 94% in a year. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The clothing company is making some very strategic moves here. It is cashing in on the “connected community” movement that has resulted from Coronavirus, ensuring that its core customers, the workout enthusiast who wants to impress those at the yoga studio, have a way to continue to spend time and money in leggings. It has an advantage that Peloton does not, and that is the ability to offer one-on-one personal training sessions. This is an opportunity for premium customer experiences which will offer more opportunities for Lululemon to demonstrate its clothing line to a well heeled buyer. The clothing company is following business icon Apple’s model of using content (classes) to increase the value of its hardware (clothing).

Despite Coronavirus, 5G rollout begins in 2020

Coronavirus, in late February, led to the cancellation of the mobile industry’s primary trade event, Mobile World Congress. That cancellation put the world on notice that the virus was a force to be reckoned with and blocked thousands of opportunities to promote the next mobile telecom standard, 5G. The same pandemic, however, has fueled demand for 5G, as people are spending more time online. China, in particular, has shown its interest in 5G as the bulk of the expected 190 million 5G subscribers in 2020 will be in China. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The pandemic has not slowed the development of 5G infrastructure, meaning that as soon as consumers are ready to upgrade their smartphones and networks, the carriers are ready. With the world sheltered in place, drops in Internet service have become more common than ever (I bet there is data on that). Consumers are ripe for a migration to an all 5G home and mobile network, if carriers wish to offer fixed mobile broadband solutions. Let’s see if AT&T, distracted by its absorption of Time Warner and its change of CEOs will seize the moment, and if T-Mobile/Sprint, mid-merger, can make 5G a marketing priority.

An iPhone without charger or headphones?

An Apple expert, TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, speculates that in order to keep the next iPhone (iPhone 12) at the same price as its predecessor, Apple will ship the device without a charging cable or earbuds. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: If the speculation is true, Apple will change the industry standard such that other makers will also stop shipping accessories in the box. But is a charging cable to power the very device in the box really an accessory? It is in Apple’s best interest to not include earbuds, thus compelling buyers to gravitate to their premium priced Airbuds. Can Apple provide less for their flagship device and still delight its loyal customers? Probably.

The future console is in the cloud

The future of gaming is in the cloud. With every major gaming platform offering a cloud service and more rumored on the way, the role of the cloud is at the center of gaming. Gaming, like video, drives enormous revenues, and other than bandwidth, the responsiveness of data centers will be the biggest factors in good game experiences. Data centers are in a race to create the best gaming infrastructure, not only by having high capacity, but by placing data centers on the right parts of the globe to minimize latency. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Like Netflix for video, cloud gaming services will become the new standards for gaming, and consoles will remain to serve only the enthusiasts who want the experience that only hardware in the home can provide. But the middle of the road gamer, who has traditionally been on the edge of the console customer base, will be content with cloud games, meaning Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo will have to work harder to serve the core gamer, or will have to create an experience so unique that it simply can’t be replicated in the cloud. And at least one of them will.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Apple Watch goes medical

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Apple watch adds medical insights

Apple continues its pursuit of healthcare through it primary wellness device, the Apple Watch. The company announced a number of wellness feature enhancements this week, but one, in particular, seems designed to serve the medical, not consumer, community.  The device’s abilities to measure gait, heart rate and mobility enable it to form an activity index that could help doctors measure overall health or decline over a period of time. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The fact that these features are designed to appeal to medical professionals, not just consumers, is likely a sign that the company’s tight partnership with care professionals is resulting in marketing to the medical community. Of course, equipping the medical community with unique tools leads to doctors, therapists and clinicians urging seniors, in particular, to purchase these devices to track long-term health, promoting the device as a leader in wellness tracking and driving it to become a standard among the growing senior population.

Omnicom division joins boycott of Facebook ads

Facebook continues to be embroiled in controversy, this time due to its unwillingness to curtail what the group calls “irresponsible propagation of hate speech, racism, and misleading voter information,” according to Omnicom ad adency Goodby Silverstein. The agency represents brands including BMW, PayPal and Pepsi. CNBC.

dis-rup-shun: Facebook, the platform that people love to hate, along with other social media platforms, faces increased pressure to draw a tighter line on what it allows to be posted. Is this censure-ship, or just the right thing to do? Should social media platforms be a platform for freedom of speech — all speech, right or wrong, or should they be the new newspapers, all known for their editorial decisions and inherent bias? The social networks are at a junction, and the public has essentially dictated that they will be the new newspapers, requiring them to choose their editorial bias, which will guarantee that whatever position they choose will enrage some segment of the public that believes use of social networks is a “right,” not a privilege.

Wyze continues to rock the camera world

Wyze has introduced a $50 no-wires outdoor camera. The camera communicates wirelessly to a  base station which connects to your router via ethernet or WiFi. Cloud storage of video is free. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Remember Datsun or the first Hondas? These were very inexpensive newcomers to the auto world that were initially mocked, but, a decade or two later, taken very seriously, especially as they later built premium brands such as Infinity and Acura. Wyze feels similar in that they have rocked the smart home gadget market with high quality products at ridiculous prices, and have continued to introduce quality products at gradually higher prices. Expect Wyze to be swallowed by a Big Tech player. I will cast my vote for Google Nest.

8 best smart speakers for Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant

Wired provides another look at smart speakers. This review assumes that the reader can choose a preferred smart assistant technology — Wired prefers Alexa or Google Assistant. The review then crowns winners by category: Best Overall – Sonos, Best for Alexa — Echo, Best Portable — JBL Link, Best Soundbar — Yamaha, and so forth.

dis-rup-shun: In the past few years, several product categories have collided into one: bookshelf speakers, portable speakers, and smart assistants. It is increasingly difficult to separate these products into those categories, but rather call them one and designate, as Wired has done, the best for a particular application. Whatever you call them, chances are that several of these devices exist in each home and that one of them is your primary source of music.

Consumer Electronics

The Apple show — dazzling software enhancements

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A summary of Apple’s Monday product announcements

Apple’s announcements are well covered in the press, but here is a quick read:

  • Future laptops and desktops will run on Apple’s processor, not on Intel’s. Apple says this will enable better performance.
  • iOS14 (iPhone) software enables a person to customize their home screen and choose other email and browser apps as defaults (instead of Apple Mail and Safari). AI automation helps determine when a user wants to see which data and widgets, perhaps making the experience less “cluttered.” Message interfaces and features are enhanced, and a video window can float on top of other apps while multitasking. Siri has a new interface, and maps are enhanced by tips from partners such as Zagat.
  • Apple Translate is a new language translation app that, running on an iPhone, can be placed between two different language speakers and can translate in real time.
  • CarPlay updates include the ability to send an electronic car key through text messaging, enabling your friend to borrow your car when you text the key. Currently this feature only works on BMW 5-series, but will expand soon.
  • AppClips are small, lightweight apps that can be downloaded via QR code or textx message. These clips take the place of a store’s promotional app — increasing the chance that people will use them on impulse since one no longer has to go to the App Store.
  • iOS14 (iPad) is designed to look and feel more like a MacBook, with improved search and with a new stylus (Pencil) that can enter text by handwriting anywhere there is an input field.
  • AirPods will automatically switch between iPhone and computer — without requiring a manual Bluetooth switchover.
  • Apple Watch has enhanced sleep tracking features that will help nudge people out of bed in the morning. A new app includes a hand washing timer to make sure you are practicing healthy living habits.
  • Home App, the app designed to control smart home devices that comply with Apple’s standard, uses the iPhone camera’s facial recognition technology with external security cameras.
  • Apple TV now supports picture-in-picture, and allows multiple accounts per device.
  • MacOS Big Sur — the computer operating system, includes bigger, better interfaces, a messaging app that mimics the iPhone, and enhanced Safari that automatically reveals the security features of websites and automatically translates websites.

dis-rup-shun: Apple continues to enhance its customers’ experiences across the product line and continues its march into more proprietary avenues, eschewing the chipset made by the world’s largest silicon vendor, Intel. But the company is clearly capable of delivering on its promises, and seems now stronger than ever. Of some concern is that most enhancements are software based, suggesting that it is now extremely difficult to conceive, invent, build, launch and market new devices — the very thing that Apple is so good at doing. Hopefully Apple will invent a few new cool devices, along with its outstanding software.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Can Apple truly transform healthcare?

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Apple’s progress report on revolutionizing health care

Apple has stated that health is a target market for the company, and its Apple watch is arguably the most sophisticated all-purpose wearable that is also packed with heart monitoring and fall detection features. But what are the next big chasms for Apple to cross to transform healthcare? The data generated by Apple devices is not being easily integrated into care provider routines as doctors are already overwhelmed. Integration and access to consumers’ electronic health records remains a complex challenge. Many opportunities for Apple exist, and perhaps more direction will be revealed at the company’s worldwide developers’ conference this week. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Apple has equipped consumers with data about sleep, body motion and heart activity, giving us all more data than ever before. The healthcare industry, however, has not been screaming for more consumer data. The industry is being roiled by falling prices and new reimbursement models, so 180 days of your cardiac data may not be your doctor’s first priority. The question Apple must answer is if it wishes to continue its focus on equipping individuals with new insights into their own health, or if it seeks to transform clinician practices through providing remote care tools. There is plenty of room down both paths, but likely not enough time and resources to effectively pursue both.

Moneyball comes to European football via AI

Moneyball — the practice of analyzing large amounts of sports performance data to improve the results of a team and maximize return on investments, is finally coming to European football thanks to the AI analytics company, Acronis. Acronis has partnered with clubs including Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Inter Milan to help the organizations collect, analyze and eventually monetize data. Wired

dis-rup-shun: While data analytics has long been a critical part of sports management for baseball and other sports, it is new to European football. Whether data is used to improve player recruiting, play calling or advertising effectiveness, expect some very noticeable changes to occur as teams use numbers to improve both on-field and overall financial performance.

Drone deployed mosquitoes help control illnesses

Sterile male mosquitoes injected into infested areas reduce the insect’s populations by reducing the next generation, lowering the overall count of the malaria spreaders. This sophisticated treatment method eliminates spraying but requires people to introduce the sterile mosquitoes into infested and/or hard to reach places (swamps, mountains, etc.). The use of drones to release cartridges of sterile mosquitoes in infested areas, then return to base to refill, has increased the effectiveness and reduced the time of deployment. Techcrunch

dis-rup-shun: Drones continue to find their niche applications outside of hobbyists, and global disease prevention is clearly an important and potentially lucrative opportunity. Hobby, military, medical, real estate, film making and photography are all areas in which drones seem to have found adoption beyond trials. Expect to see the work of drones become a staple in these industries.

Camera wars: Arlo joins the floodlight camera race

The smart home category continues to gain heft, and Arlo has been a quality provider since Netgear purchased the brand (then spun it off in 2018). Ring gets the credit for inventing the flood light camera category, or at least for making it popular. According to CNET  Arlo has taken the lead with this high quality, $250 very bright light/camera combo which can be powered via battery, solar or AC power. Quality, as always, may be dependent on the device’s WiFi connection.

dis-rup-shun: For people seeking home security without committing to a long, large contract from a traditional provider, these new devices continue to offer strong alternatives. Device makers such as Arlo, and integrated-monitored systems providers such as ADT need to quickly partner to make these devices common for both DIY and pro-installed customers, and benefit from customer interest in this new product category.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

Spotify joins with DC Comics and Kim K

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Spotify stock climbs with addition of DC Comics and Kardashian content

Spotify, the major player in streaming music, has found its next growth spurt in podcasts, which the company has been adding over the past year and a half. The company has inked deals to bring podcasts from DC Comics and Kim Kardashian — bolstering company value. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Podcasts continue to be an increasing form of entertainment, replacing time reading books, newspapers and even listening to music. Spotify is an example of a disruptor that is staying ahead of its own disruption, by carefully watching consumer habits and shifting to capture the consumer where he or she is moving. It’s a smart move that is being rewarded by the market.

California initiative to create an electric highway

West Coast Clean Transit Corridor Initiative, led by West Coast state governments, is an initiative to lower emissions by encouraging the switch to electric powered trucks to carry freight up and down the West Coast. The initiative will begin by placing charging stations every fifty miles along Interstate 5. Initially the stations will be for mid-sized trucks, and then for long haul trucks. Gizmodo

dis-rup-shun: California’s leadership is impressive, as it is ready to provide infrastructure support for vehicles that are just now appearing at scale. Many other states will wait until their roads are crowded with large electric trucks and will expect private truck stop operators to provide electric charging. Pacific States’ initiatives will be a model to watch — will providing electric infrastructure actually accelerate adoption of electric over the road freight carriers?

Siri command to remember if you get pulled over

An outside developer has created a Siri command to remember if you get pulled over. The command automatically turns on your iPhone camera, mutes your phone, and sends a text with your location to an emergency contact. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Bad cops are making life hard for the majority of well-trained and cool-headed officers that protect us and keep our communities running smoothly. It would be important, however, for loved ones to know where you are if you are pulled over and possibly removed from the scene. This utility could be critical if legal proceedings were to follow a traffic stop.

Amazon bundles Blink camera with Echo Show for $5

Amazon owns connected WiFi camera maker Blink, and is now bundling the product with its Echo Show smart display product for a mere $5 extra. It is a no-brainer if you have someone or something around the house that you want to keep an eye on (baby, pet, teenager’s room, driveway, etc. CNET

dis-rup-shun: As Amazon dominates the smart speaker space with Alexa, it is important to watch where Alexa’s influence will expand. In the music space, Amazon has not swallowed up other music device makers, and has struggled to make its own music service, Amazon Music, the top contender. On the search side, Alexa is a distant second to Google Assistant, and the company appears to not be working to close that gap. On the smart home side, Alexa is dominant, controlling hundreds of connecting devices. Amazon’s ownership of Ring and Blink provide a strong foundation for creating a bigger, connected, smart home ecosystem, and expect to see more complete, fully integrated home security offerings from the Blink/Ring/Alexa coalition in the near future.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

Will private colleges recover from Covid-19?

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Private colleges: terminally infected by Covid-19?

Online educational provider, Coursera, reports that enrollment in its online classes us up 520%. This follows the closing of 91% of schools worldwide during the pandemic. Many colleges are now facing class-action lawsuits from parents and students who are demanding a refund for expenses paid and services not received. Coursera founders expect online learning to be the new normal. Many universities, such as Georgia Tech, have already invested in online alternatives, however many colleges are unprepared to face a changing customer base. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Covid-19 is the tsunami that has reshaped value perceptions for colleges and universities, whose pool of applicants will be reduced by parents whose finances have changed, and by students who reexamine the value of a $50K to $400K investment in a four-year degree. Competitive mid- and top-tier colleges that offer online alternatives will hobble those that do not. The fact that few foreign students will apply to colleges abroad during Covid will greatly reduce the applicant pool.

Robinhood fintech app spurs millennial participation in stocks

The mobile trading app, Robinhood, is designed to help consumers make small investments easily from mobile devices, with no fees. The platform has grown to 10 million users since its inception in 2016. Its convenience and free model is spurring interest and participation in the stock market, and many are taking government stimulus checks and investing extra funds in the beleaguered stocks, such as airlines. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: In a matter of a few short years, one of the most established industries on the planet — retail stock trading — is turned upside down by a small upstart in Silicon Valley that decides to offer stock trades for free, causing huge established players to follow and shift their business models. Retail brokerage houses now must make money off of other financial services, including credit cards, and banks need to have their innovation teams on the ready as Google, Samsung, Apple and others have entered the financial arena.

Movie theaters post-Covid

CNET considers the fate of movie theaters — an industry rocked by Covid and, in many cases, racked by debt. Some potential outcomes of theaters include: returning to normal and full capacity sometime in 2021, offering subscriptions similar to the failed Moviepass app, ensuring steady revenues for theaters who cater to a loyal core customer. Another outcome, already occurring, is the acquisition of theater chains by Big Tech such as Amazon, Apple and Netflix. As Big Tech deepens investments into creation of original content, securing theatrical distribution for expensive products will bolster the top line. Amazon has reportedly initiated plans to purchase some theaters, which will undoubtedly drastically disrupt the movie theater business.

dis-rup-shun: Imagine the various services that could be offered from an Amazon-owned movie theater.  First of all, kiosks in the lobby could be used to order almost any product, which would be waiting in the lobby to take home after the show. Or one could walk through the concession area and select any refreshments — no lines and no cashier — and the charges would magically appear on one’s Amazon account. Prime members would likely get the best seats in the house, and possibly a free drink, and those that aren’t Amazon members could buy their tickets with the assistance of an Alexa-powered ticket booth. The Amazon movie theater would offer a dramatically different experience from competitors.

Baidu withdraws from U.S. led AI coalition

Baidu, the Chinese online giant, has withdrawn from the Partnership on AI, a US-led consortium developed to address the ethical dilemmas inherent in artificial intelligence  applications. The company was the only Chinese participant, and its withdrawal further pits China vs. U.S. in next generation technology development. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Public opinion seems well divided regarding partnerships with China, with many citing unfair practices as reasons for withdrawal, and others calculating the loss of access to inexpensive and fast production, as well as the vast Chinese market. It is clear that U.S.- China relations will be one of the top political issues in coming elections.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

Apple’s app ecosystem the size of Sweden

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Apple’s App Store ecosystem generated $500 billion in 2019

The staggering sum is an estimate of the amount of revenues that flow through Apple’s app and commerce ecosystem, not direct revenues to Apple. The total includes merchandise, travel products, entertainment products, app sales, and content. The figure puts Apple’s app store the size of the GDP of Sweden. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The economic power of U.S. based BigTech companies continues to amaze, as these engines are big drivers of economic growth, even during this pandemic. As one considers the amazing contributions that Steve Jobs made to the world, one of them was placing Tim Cook at the helm, as Cook has not only continued Apple’s innovations (arguable at a slower pace than Jobs) but has provided even handed leadership in place of Jobs’ firebrand personality.

Walmart acquires technology from CareZone

Walmart’s acquisition of CareZone’s technologies helps the company compete more effectively with Amazon as it continues to ramp up its healthcare strategy. CareZone’s technologies helps people manage their drug prescription dosages and better understand insurance coverage. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The consumerism of healthcare has been slow in coming, and with Amazon and Walmart racing to innovate the pharmacy industry, the rest of the healthcare industry won’t be far behind. Expect apps that demystify the pharmaceutical lingo, explain the pricing and offer multiple options on the app, provide dosage- based packaging, and that change the way we order and receive prescriptions from the corner pharmacy. Look out doctors and care organizations, you’re next.

FCC casts doubts on the viability of SpaceX’s broadband satellite service

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been hurtling chains of satellites into low orbit for the past year. So far, 500 are orbiting the earth. The Starlink “train” is designed to provide broadband services to all corners of our planet — especially beneficial to rural locations. The FCC has stated that it does not believe that Starlink can meet its latency thresholds, and therefore won’t be eligible for the FCC’s $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund investment. SpaceX has one month to convince the FCC otherwise, or else it will lose a shot at the first awards of the government program. CNET

dis-rup-shun: SpaceX is coming off of a big win after its successful launch of astronauts Bob and Doug two weeks ago, and it is hard to imagine that SpaceX would have launched the Starlink without being certain that its performance will be a game changer. This leads one to wonder if politics have crept into the performance evaluation of the satellite program — but of course that would never happen.

2020 as predicted in April 1975

University of Pennsylvania professor, Lewis Shayon, predicted in 1975 that the world in 2020 would be very different. That world, according to Shayon, would include newspapers that would flash on a computer screen, and could be shared with many people. He went on to predict:

“TV will be the ‘ask-for-it-and-get-it medium. Information, games, education will be created in electronic packages, stored in vast computers and retrieved by individuals to suit their special tastes at their own time preference.”

“Every room will have a TV screen and a finger keyboard. In the kitchen you’ll punch up a film and follow a recipe. Kids will do their homework by checking in with two-way television instruction programs. They will solve math problems with the help of distant computers via the homecom center screen.” Forbes

dis-rup-shun: When one stops to ponder the world we live in, especially through the lens of this 1970s author and professor, it is hard to conceive what our world will look like in 50 more years. Certainly flying taxis, self-driving cars, and medical scanners that diagnose us from home or office (if those still exist) and teleportation will be one of the few technology fantasies yet to turn reality.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

Want to Zoom with your favorite celebrity?

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Cameo service enables Zoom calls with celebrities

If you would pay anything to chat with Brett Favre or skateboarder Tony Hawk, you have an opportunity to book a call through the Cameo celebrity site. For fees ranging from $1000 to $15,000 for up to 10 minutes, you can gawk in person (virtually) or have a celebrity drop in to a loved one’s birthday celebration. Cameo is reporting a significant uptick on participation by both paying customers and interested celebrities. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: The Internet enables the economic theory of supply and demand, first set to print by Alfred Marshall in 1776. If Marshall could see us today, paying celebrities to further monetize their “down” time, and bidding up the prices for access, he would be proud of his theories. People or Vanity Fair will do well to develop a pricing tracker of celebrity chat time and publish rankings of whose time is worth the most.

AT&T considers selling Warner gaming assets

What do you do when you are $200 billion in debt? You sell whatever is not absolutely essential to your business, and AT&T, having acquired Warner Brothers for content to fuel its various video distribution platforms, is rumored to be selling Warner Games which includes assets such as “Harry Potter,” “Game of Thrones,” “Mortal Kombat.” The sale could raise $4 billion. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The old leaders of video distribution are in a life or death battle for a place in the new world of video distribution, and AT&T can certainly be credited with going big. While the world still questions the company’s purchase of DirecTV for $49 billion, AT&T’s grab of Time Warner for content makes perfect sense.

WiFi 6E is coming soon

On the heels of WiFi 6 that debuted in 2019 comes WiFi 6E. The new standard is the result of the FCC releasing additional spectrum. The 6 Gigahertz spectrum enables the transmission of very large amounts of data at very close distances, but requires new routers and new chipsets for client devices. In other words, until you buy a new phone, computer or tablet with the new chipsets, you won’t enjoy the new benefits. CNET

dis-rup-shun: WiFi seems to be the invisible commodity that no one can get enough of, despite paying handsomely for it on a monthly basis. Perhaps it is time for service providers to offer an 18 month technology (router and speed setting) refresh as a part of ongoing subscriptions, keeping customers on the latest and fastest technologies, rather than risking customer ire. 

How to clean up your act online

If you have awakened and decided that you are not the person you used to be, you will be pleased to learn that social network giants Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have provided utilities to make it easier to delete old posts and photos.  Wired

dis-rup-shun: Social network operators are getting thrashed just as often as their members for allowing or not allowing a certain post, and as a result, are helping their members clean up their old posts and living less incendiary online lives. While “The Facebook” was started in a Harvard dorm as a way to have some online fun, a lot of people are not having much fun answering to Facebook posts.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

EU to file antitrust charges against Amazon

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EU to file antitrust charges against Amazon

While the US government (FTC, DOJ) continues its months long investigation of antitrust practices of Big Tech, including Amazon, the European Union moves to file charges against Amazon.com. The charges stem from Amazon’s use of third party seller information to develop its own private label brands. The charges may provide guidance to the U.S. commissions investigating Amazon. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Once again, the European Union regulators act decisively and (relatively) swiftly against U.S. based tech companies. While U.S. regulators continue threats against the same companies that are increasingly driving the tech economy, E.U. regulators are on the offensive, setting precedents for online commerce. Recall that the E.U. acted decisively more than two years ago in implementing the sweeping GDPR standard to protect and enforce data privacy — a move that U.S. regulators are yet to emulate.

GrubHub to merge with European Just Eat Takeway.com

GrubHub’s merger talks with Uber broke down amidst concerns of regulatory resistance, given that two of the three largest food delivery networks were planning to combine. The merger with Europe’s Just Eat Takeaway.com will provide scale, but will be less likely to be perceived as anti-competitive. Just Eat Takeaway.com’s merger with GrubHub will offer a premium over proposed terms of the Uber deal. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Food delivery, like ridesharing, offer significant benefits in convenience to customers, but are built on business models with thin margins. Scale is the only answer to long-term viability, and GrubHub has found a partner to provide the bulk it needs in order to compete in a cutthroat competitive environment. The company hopes it has found the thin line between sufficient scale and anti-competitive size.

Google, Facebook and Microsoft cooperate to end online child sex abuse

There are more than 4.5 billion people online, and content for every possible age and interest. Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter have formed a coalition called the Technology Coalition to provide more resources to detect and prevent the sexual exploitation of children on the internet. Predators have been detected on child-specific sites such as Roblox, and the Technology Coalition wants to make it easier to identify and block bad actors. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Despite the world wide web being around for thirty years or more, it still feels like the early days, in many ways. With ever more innovative devices providing households and all ages with access to content, protecting children is extremely difficult. With children receiving smartphones at young ages, the barriers to adult content and the sharks that swim with it are nearly non-existent. The Technology Coalition has much room to work here, as the parental controls industry seems to have failed to develop effective solutions that offer safety without making managed surfing highly frustrating. Perhaps this is the place for AI to help find that gray area between dangerous and edgy.

Oculus Quest: still the best VR headset

Virtual reality (VR) has come a long way, and Facebook’s Oculus provides the best experience, according to CNET. The experience is simple, requiring few cables, connectors and software drivers. For gaming, new concepts, and alternate worlds, the company is on the leading edge. The dilemma, however, is that the technology does not fit into current reality as a tool or extension of our current daily routines.

dis-rup-shun: What will it take for VR headsets to become a mainstream consumer technology? If VR provided an alternative, and more enjoyable way to perform ordinary tasks, like participate in social media or even check and answer emails, then the technology would become mainstream. For now, VR is the tool for specialists, be it for intense gaming or learning. It will likely be another year or two until VR makers learn how to appeal to the mass tech market.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Apple splits with Intel

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Apple is leaving Intel

A number of years ago, Apple announced that it would begin using its own processors for some of its Mac models. Today the company has announced that it will be making the transition in 2021. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: This move is significant in that it represents the beginning of the end of Intel’s relationship with a very large customer and it also signals the opportunity for Apple to further differentiate its computer line from the PC world by changing the microprocessor foundation on which the product line is built. By using chips that specialize in graphics, or computations, or in power savings, Apple can differentiate its product line beyond the software which today makes the experience different. Apple, unlike the rest of the computing industry, is becoming more, not less, proprietary. The strategy seems to be working so far!

The new rental economy adjusts to pandemic business

Rental companies, offering furniture, cars and rooms are adjusting to new models and finding success. While Hertz filed for bankruptcy, Turo, the site for car owners to rent out their cars, has found demand from people who are avoiding public transportation. Room renters are finding that many people need some privacy and away time after many months of quarantine-ing. Furniture rental businesses are finding success renting home office furniture and equipment. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Our global economies are clearly reeling from an unprecedented shut down, unlike anything seen before, but the resiliency of creative, enterprising people who have never-before-seen-tools of the Internet and social media, are rising from the ashes. Re-purposing assets and transaction platforms to meet the latest demands, whether they are masks or medicines, is the definition of entrepreneurship and it is rescuing our economies with unexpected haste.

IBM exits the facial recognition business citing racial injustices

IBM’s new CEO, the man who will be responsible for saving the company from gradual irrelevance, has already initiated some changes. Arvind Krishna has called on Congress to take bold action on racial injustice, and has stated that facial recognition technology, with its inherent bias against minorities, is not a technology that IBM can build a business on. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Aligning social responsibility with growth opportunities can be challenging, as the heads of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and now IBM are finding on a regular basis. BigTech, despite its threats to competitiveness, is using its market strength to set new agendas — and more quickly than lawmakers can do. Consider that the new attitudes of corporate America are being set by a new tranche of leaders, many of whom are minorities themselves.

Microsoft rethinks gaming and XBox

Microsoft’s gaming leader, Phil Spencer, makes the point that the most popular forms of media, including Netflix, Kindle books, and Spotify music aren’t confined to a single platform. Games, and the ability to play with anyone on any platform, shouldn’t be locked into a single platform. With cloud gaming playing a larger role in the gaming space, the future of consoles is uncertain, but most likely more open and part of a bigger, cross-device ecosystem. Wired

dis-rup-shun: The examples Spencer uses underscore that successful media properties are rarely, in this time, locked into particular devices. With the intense competition between Apple and Android worlds, app makers have to create great experiences for both ecosystems, but only for two –making apps success across two platforms much easier. In the age of community created online, walls and barriers will be less popular, and cross platform experiences will continue to edge out walled gardens.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

States consider break up of Google’s ad business

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Attorney’s general consider breakup of Google’s ad business

Google’s ad business makes up the majority of its $161 billion in revenues. 50 state attorneys general are concluding that Google’s practice of bundling ad tools, along with its ownership of YouTube and Gmail, are anti-competitive. The Department of Justice is separately investigating Google and may combine its investigation with that of the states. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Like AT&T of old, great efficiencies have been created by the dominant service provider, and only government intervention can disrupt the ad machine created by Google. The U.S. government’s line in the sand is heavily influenced by political winds, and with the large issues of a pandemic, racial injustices and a sputtering economy, will Google escape the dismantling that some have predicted?

Apple adds features that make iPad a PC

Apple has quietly added a number of useful features into the latest iPhones and iPads. Features include better iMessage search, voice search, volume control, optimized battery charging, and more. One significant feature is the ability to pair a Bluetooth mouse to an iPad. CNET

dis-rup-shun: An interesting change has been occurring, with many people abandoning a laptop PC or MacBook as their primary personal computer, and using the ever more powerful iPad as their primary personal computing device. With the addition of a keyboard, this has made basic computer usage pleasant for many, however using spreadsheets and other mouse intensive applications (CAD hobby programs) has remained frustrating. Now, with the ability to use a mouse with an iPad, a full laptop is even less necessary.

Ready for an e-bike?

Cowboy is an e-bike maker that has released its second generation bike that has better gear ratios (making stop start riding in traffic even easier), has a removable battery, and updated software. The control app enables you to unlock the bike as you approach (for quick getaways), provides theft detection technology, and crash detection technology that calls for help if you wreck. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Electric assisted bikes currently cost over $2000 and are made by only a handful of companies, but expect the technology to become standard across most brands in the their mid- and upper- level models. Prices will fall as the technology becomes widespread, and selection of the bikes will depend, in large part, on the quality of their app in addition to features and craftsmanship.

A guide to the best monitors under $200

CNETreviews a number of leading monitors for under $200. Suggested brands include BenQ, LG, Dell, and the Auzai portable. Except for hard core gaming applications, these models will provide strong additions to a home office and, in some cases, decent built-in speakers. The Auzai portable works well for people in small spaces or who need to move their monitor frequently.

dis-rup-shun: If you haven’t been working with an external monitor, you don’t know what you are missing, as the extra screen space seems to increase productivity and simplify multi-tasking.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Zoominfo “Covid IPO” a smash

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Zoominfo (not Zoom) skyrockets in IPO

The first tech IPO since the beginning of the coranavirus lockdown soared on Thursday, with an 80% price increase over the opening on day one. The tool uses AI to help companies find contact information for their target markets – an essential tool for sales. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It was a bold move to test the public markets during times of uncertainty, and especially during a week of tremendous unrest over racial injustices — when many businesses are closed or closing early. The IPO’s success shows, aside from the fact that quality companies are rewarded, that our online/virtual economy is functioning quite well. Businesses that rely on in-person transactions and physical locations are clearly suffering, but our virtual business transactions are carrying on.

Slack and Amazon form alliance

It’s all about scale, and the new alliance increases Slack’s footprint across the entirety of Amazon, while ensuring more business from Slack for Amazon’s Web Services, the cloud engine powering Slack. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Remember Microsoft Azure cloud’s alliance with Fedex to help counter the dominance of Amazon Web Services and growing delivery network? The Amazon empire strikes back as it allies with friend Slack in an effort to beat down Microsoft — both its cloud services (Slack runs on AWS) and its Teams shareware — an existential threat to Slack. There is no earthly power that can beat Microsoft’s advantage of bundling Teams for free into its still very dominant Office suite, but this buys Slack more runway to differentiate and find new business models.

WiFi: the standard that enabled the smart home generation

CNET offers a look back over the past 25 years of tech, and discusses that the barrier to growth of the smart home was a lack of a home wiring standard. That standard arrived in the form of no-wires, with the advent of WiFi and eventual deployment of the standard first by tech savvy consumers buying WiFi antennas, then by telcos building WiFi into home routers.

dis-rup-shun: It is hard to imagine life without WiFi. It has become a commodity only slightly less-important than electricity, and just as expected. Streaming video and cord cutting is causing the de-coupling of Internet services (and WiFi) from the cable and telco, which will only accelerate with 5G providers who will offer fixed-mobile 5G alternatives to wires-to-the-home WiFi. We will all benefit greatly from this new competition.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Teleportation, time travel and the list of things to come

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CNET’s list of technology visions that haven’t happened

We are awash with utterly amazing technology that we use every day. But what about the ones promised that have yet to occur? CNET’s list includes: hoverboards, Microsoft’s original Surface (a computer that was a table), flying cars, housekeeper robots, food pills, time travel and teleportation are a few of the favorites.

dis-rup-shun: There are generally three reasons that these technologies are not mainstream, and the least of them is technology. Bigger hurdles are competition in a time when the tech giants are so big that reaching scale for, especially, hardware devices is extraordinarily difficult. The lack of good use cases is another hurdle that has caused many advanced products to simply not find their place in our culture. As technology advances allow, many more impractical solutions without a problem will be trotted out in hopes of commercial success and a few will stick.

Ring updates its home security system

The second generation of Ring’s security system is a lot like the first, according to CNET, and according to the same review, it is the best of the inexpensive, DIY security systems on the market. Professional monitoring is $10, and the system can be had for less than $200.

dis-rup-shun: As Amazon owns Ring, we now have a convergence of hit products in an integrated smart home system: Ring’s well-known doorbell plus Amazon’s Alexa come together. Look out SimpliSafe, that’s a lot of brand power to outsell. The vulnerability of Ring’s products has been the unreliability of WiFi in certain parts of many homes, and potentially the WiFi booster in the kit removes that barrier.

SpaceX’s next launch: more satellites

On the heels of the successful Dragon launch of astronauts to the International Space Station on Saturday, SpaceX will launch its next batch of the eventual 12,000 it plans as its Starlink low orbit Internet provider. This batch of 480 satellites includes one with a visor to block the rays of the sun at certain times in orbit in order to prevent reflecting light back to earth, as the shiny train of satellites has forever altered the earthly view of the heavens. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Scenic views, be they vistas of historic and important capitol buildings, or beautiful vantage points of nature, have almost always succumbed to commercial development, and Starlink is one more example. This obstacle, however, is hard to alter once it is airborne as a chain of 12,000 spacecraft, so let’s hope this blackout works so our grandchildren won’t ask what the night sky was really like when filled only with real stars.

A guide to buying a gaming PC

What’s a gaming PC? It is a super-powerful PC (not Mac) with the latest add-on GPU (graphics processor) that will likely cost well over $3000 and can, of course, make a great office PC. It has a number of important gaming peripherals and is often assembled from components, but increasingly can be purchased off the shelf and ready to compete. Wired

dis-rup-shun: With time spent on gaming up at least 10% during quarantine, serious gamers have reason to take another look at their home horsepower. The world has likely changed and some changes, like socializing with your gamer community from inside your home, are unlikely to change post-quarantine. Expect the sales of gaming peripherals, licenses, and accessories to remain robust through this calendar year.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

The internet of bees is saving crops

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BeeHero is providing the Internet of hives

Bees are critical to the pollination of crops, and are dying at an alarming rate due to infestation of damaging mites. To prevent loss of crop production, farmers are calling on bee keepers to set up and tend important hives on and around fields. BeeHero, an Israeli tech firm, has developed an IOT sensor that resides inside the hive to monitor health, activity and stress levels, and transmit the information to bee keepers who can act quickly if problems are detected. Hive management has resulted in 30% to 100% increases in crop yield. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: IOT and agriculture are a good fit. IOT technologies, at least for consumers, have been hampered by difficulties to demonstrate adequate ROIs. Agricultural yields are directly measurable and a great showcase for IOT. More successful demonstrations will inspire new developments and greater contributions to better living through technology.

Google Pixel phones include personal safety features

Google continues to differentiate its phones through personal safety features. Last year it shipped car crash detection features and this year it is providing features that enable a user to have the phone confirm their safety if they are on a run or walk alone. The phone pings the owner on set intervals and requires an “all okay” response and, if none is received, informed one’s contacts of potential danger. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: Differentiation through software is more important than ever, as smartphone makers struggle to find new hardware features. Keeping people safer and healthier is a strong selling feature, and while Google is going deep into safety, Apple continues to go deep in  healthcare.

U.S. Army considers using SpaceX’s Starlink network

Starlink is the chain of, ultimately, 42,000 satellites that SpaceX is launching into low orbit around the earth. The U.S. Army is testing the system as a way to deliver Internet services to hard-to-reach places around the globe. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Truly global Internet service will be a game changer to communities, to first responders, and to the military. The disastrous situation seen in Lone Survivor is but one example of fatalities that could have been avoided with truly global, high-quality data connectivity.

AirBnB landlords face shakeout as small players sell at losses

Coronavirus quarantine, ending most travel for at least two months, has caused a fire sale among small, independent landlords who are selling properties to big operators. Mom and pop investors and real estate owners, often leveraging debt to purchase rental properties, are shedding debt payment and selling at discounted prices while large investors are consolidating their holdings, picking up bargains. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Technology has not caused this industry shake-out, but has enabled far more people to participate in the modern hotel-ing business — one that appeared low-risk until the pandemic. Real estate is an industry that has traditionally been wrung out every decade or two, so this is just the latest in what is a highly cyclical industry. The individual traveler, however, loses when the diversity of housing options and prices is consolidated into the hands of large operators who control supply and pricing.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

SpaceX crushes it for NASA

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Launch America a multimedia event

The successful launch of NASA’s contracted-to-SpaceX return of astronauts to space from U.S. soil proved a celebratory event. One of the best YouTube compilations is, ironically, from BBC.

dis-rup-shun: Bob and Doug’s excellent adventure is amazing in many ways, including the fact that mankind has the technology to safely deliver humans to a space station that is moving at the speed of 4.76 miles per second (17,136 mph), that the company entrusted to complete this mission, SpaceX, did not exist until 18 years ago, and that the video footage of this event is crystal clear, from many camera angels and narrated as if it is a promotional film for both SpaceX and the U.S.A.

Software bot tracks security flaws for Pentagon

ForAllSecure is a company spun out of Carnegie Mellon University. Its software vulnerability bot, called Mayhem, rapidly analyzes code to spot vulnerabilities that then must be fixed by human coders.  The company is enjoying a $45 million contract to spot bugs in systems across the entirety of the U.S. military. Mayhem was born out of a Las Vegas hosted hacking competition sponsored by DARPA, with a $2 million prize. Wired

dis-rup-shun: A perfect application for artificial intelligence is to make AI more intelligent. With essentially all U.S. weapons systems having some software vulnerabilities, Mayhem’s value is, well certainly in the multi-millions of dollars.

Must read guide to 5G terms

5G is here and if you didn’t already know, it is the latest wireless transmission technology that is supposed to drastically increase data (and voice) transmission speeds over the air, create thousands of new jobs as people build new transmission facilities and develop software and service, and transform how we use mobile devices. CNET’s guide to understanding 5G lingo includes DSS, MIMO, small cell, and many others. CNET

dis-rup-shun: 5G is much hyped, and may be all of the things it is claimed to be, or simply may be an upgrade to our existing wireless infrastructure. What is certain, however, is that global governments are claiming that the country with the most 5G technology (providers and users), will gain technology superiority over its neighbors. So the 5G race, like the space race, will be intensely followed by the media.

Robots are replacing wheelchairs

Robotics continue to find important applications and one with great promise is for ambulatory impairments. Robot exoskeletons are providing relief and hope for people who can no longer walk. New examples are being developed by Caltech. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Commercialization of robots for impaired people will occur in only a handful of years, as enabling impaired persons to move around and exercise their bodies will provide any number of health and healthcare cost benefits, aside from the freedom and hope provided to those currently confined to wheelchairs.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

An app that powers the kitchen sink

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Finally an app for your kitchen sink

The Kohler Sensate smart kitchen faucet includes built in voice control — powered by your choice of Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant. And of course, there is an app to configure it, control it, and to view water consumption. Just tell Sensate that you want a two cups of water, and hold out the vessel. Power connection under the sink is required. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Smart home is here to stay and gaining traction fast. If you are worried about data security and privacy, you won’t like the fact that your kitchen sink is listening in on every conversation, but resistance is futile, as soon most every appliance and light switch in new homes and upscale hotels will be smart. For $895 to $1100 it should listen to your every command. Your grandchildren will be fascinated to learn that you once had to actually touch the handles on faucets around your home.

Cisco shells out $1 billion for Thousand Eyes

Thousand Eyes is a network health monitoring company providing diagnostic services to high-growth cloud businesses including Microsoft, PayPal, Slack and Lyft. Cisco, feeling left behind from slowing core network equipment growth has shelled out one billion dollars for the growth company, keeping things interesting. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The John Chambers-era Cisco seemed adept at going where the action was and remaining highly relevant as it powered the growth of the modern Internet. In past years, the company has been less visible, milking many of its cash cows but seemingly less on the front line of innovation. CEO Chuck Robinson is making a smart play that will keep Cisco enjoying the growth of cloud providers.

GE sells lighting brand to Savant

There are few brands as familiar as GE for lightbulbs, and time will tell if Savant, the smart home systems provider that seeks to address a mid-market, somewhere between Crestron on the high-end and Ring on the low-end, will continue to sell under the venerable brand. GE continues to shed assets in order to restore its former high performance, and the transaction allegedly fetched $250 million. CNET

dis-rup-shun: This acquisition is a product strategy head-scratcher. It is akin to Ruth Chris offering Krystal burgers, or Apple selling burner phones. Perhaps the high ticket Savant business wants a low-priced commodity to keep cash flowing faster, or perhaps it will use GE’s smart lighting line to move people up the food chain from a simple smart light bulb to a complete smart home system.

Time to get serious about home WiFi

Google Nest mesh router is a big step up from Google’s WiFi. If you have an unexpectedly larger number of people working from your home, you may be ready to look at upgrading WiFi. CNET discusses the major differences between the new generation Nest mesh router, and the first generation which can be summed up as easy controls through an app, each “pod” is also a Google Assistant smart speaker, with greater overall range and speed.

dis-rup-shun: WiFi is definitely spottier when three or four people are working from home, each hammering on Zoom on and off throughout the day. Now more than ever, a WiFi makeover is in order.  If we had only known, the $300 Google Nest WiFi investment would have been an easy investment on quarantine’s eve.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

HBO Max, yet another streaming service

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HBO’s new streaming service, HBO Max, enters the fray

HBO has entered a new option in the streaming wars, but their offering is more complicated. First, it costs $15 per month as opposed to Disney + for $7 and Netflix’s starting price of $9. Secondly, it doesn’t support 4K, nor is it available on the most common streaming devices — Roku and Amazon FireTV, and thirdly, if you already pay for HBO, you may have to pay for HBO Max separately. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The shape of TV continues to change quickly, and with more choices comes confusion. HBO’s entry into the fray will continue to up the ante for great original content, and consumers are the big winners in that battle. Currently, a great deal of cross-over exists among the streamers, with Amazon Prime offering access to HBO programs and STARZ select content for additional fees. The big question is, can the average household cut the cord, consume all it wishes, and still spend less than a pay TV service? For now the answer is yes, but the complicated future may put us on track to spend like we were still on DirecTV or Comcast.

Drones permitted to deliver protective equipment in North Carolina

Commercial drone flights remain heavily regulated by the FAA, but a special project of Zipline and Novant Health permits delivery of masks and front line health worker supplies during the pandemic. Drones are flying as far as 20 miles round trip to deliver packages of masks to health workers in Charlotte, NC. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Drones continue to face challenges of regulations, as interference with aircraft, with utility lines, and with neighborhood associations whose residents don’t want drones buzzing overhead and recording videos through their windows remains formidable.  Drone companies are using Covid-19 to gain footholds in industries, and these opportunities will, no doubt, accelerate adoption into commercial activities, and will also likely lead to designated flight lanes and landing platforms.

Tesla cuts EV prices

In the U.S. and China, Tesla will cut prices for its production vehicles as it attempts to jump start both factories as well as demand for its electric vehicles. Production has resumed in its Fremont factory. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Much talk abounds about how the post COVID-19 world will look, and we can be assured that demand for cars will be reduced for at least three years, if not longer. More people have learned that they can work from home, reducing the wear and tear on autos, which should last quite a bit longer if commuting frequencies are reduced. We are likely already in a recession, and most people will defer auto purchases in these uncertain times. This leaves Tesla, and every other car maker, with no other choice than to start a fire sale that will likely last the rest of this year and into next until inventories can be reduced.

Boeing resumes production of its 737 Max

Despite Coronavirus induced airline slowdowns and layoffs of over 700 workers, Boeing is restarting manufacturing of its beleaguered airliner.  The company is yet to receive clearance from the FAA to resume flying the aircraft. The Verge

dis-rup-shun: The company must see light at the end of the FAA testing tunnel, else deploying more capital into the program doesn’t make sense. The aircraft, assuming it becomes safe when revamped, is still an ideal configuration for the expected post-pandemic travel world, providing an efficient vehicle to optimize shorter-haul loads with a larger passenger capacity. If the aircraft is approved to resume flying, airlines may rely on it to play a bigger role in post-pandemic schedule restarts.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

NYC sets guidelines for sex and dating

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NYC sets policies for sex and dating during coronavirus

NYC’s Department of Health has issued guidelines for sex during coranavirus that states “You are your safest sex partner.” Online dating through dating websites has skyrocketed, and Zoom and FaceTime dates have become a common practice. With no messy logistics and complications of finding a place to meet and splitting the bill, some daters are booking up to four dates per evening. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: With the expense of an evening out and the uncertainties of what physical interaction will occur, using online apps to vet a potential partner will likely become a permanent part of the matchmaking process. In-person meetings may occur only after multiple online meetings, potentially changing the revenue model for online dating services.

Privatized U.S. space travel starts tomorrow

If the weather holds tomorrow, NASA will send the first astronaut from U.S. soil in nine years to space, in preparation for a trip to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX rocket, contracted by NASA. The event will be broadcast live via NASA’s and SpaceX’s websites. SpaceX

dis-rup-shun: NASA 2.0 is completely dependent on contractors who have essentially taken over all of the aspects of launch, mission control, and recovery. The U.S. government is putting its complete trust in private enterprise, demonstrating capitalism and semi-open competition at the very heart of national security and innovation. Let’s hope this experiment goes well.

Now, are you interested in VR to be more social?

Virtual Reality, or VR, has had many fits and starts, but limited consumer enthusiasm beyond gamers. XRSpace, a VR company from a founder of HTC, has announced its VR headset platform, available for $599 in a WiFi version. XRSpace is making the VR experience more social, so that users can meet up with avatars of their friends, and together attend events such as basketball games. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Has our societal structure really changed such that we will spend more time socializing from home? We now have the tools to engage far more with others without leaving home, and this may well have a permanent impact on sports, concerts, bars, and airlines, as we find from home engagement to be far more fulfilling, thanks to network-based technologies.

The new, remote Silicon Valley

Facebook expects that 50% of its employees will work remotely over the next decade. Accordingly, salaries will be adjusted based upon one’s home work location. Companies like Facebook that are creating remote work and chat tools will increasingly build upon distributed work forces. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Those who live and visit Silicon Valley frequently will be relieved that the area could receive relief from overcrowding, shortage of affordable housing, and a very tight workforce supply. Remote working could enable some normalcy as well as relieve the mounting demand for higher wages to area workers — potentially boosting productivity while lowering average wages paid.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

TV for the great outdoors

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Finally, a TV for the great outdoors

Samsung has introduced The Terrace, a high-end TV that is weather proof, and features a wireless connection to the set top box(es) that can be located indoors. This QLED TV starts at 55 inches and is available in 65 and 75 inch models. The TV is water and dust resistant, and priced accordingly — up to $6,500 for the biggest model. CNET

dis-rup-shun: As shelter-in-place continues, enhancing the back yard setup is even more attractive, but will Samsung, at premium prices, convince people to pay 3x the cost of a cheap TV that can be replaced every 18 months? Like its Frame flat mounted models, Samsung is drilling deeply into its most premium buyer segments, displacing high-end competitors such as LG.

Microsoft Build — the king of software thrives

Microsoft held its annual Build developer conference virtually this week. 200 thousand people register for the online event. The agenda focused largely on the Azure cloud platform. Microsoft is enhancing Azure’s AI capabilities, and providing a free package to healthcare companies, further investing in vertical cloud infrastructure to help open up the previously closed and proprietary data structure of healthcare companies. In addition, Microsoft is enhancing its popular Teams app with Lists, a task management application. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Microsoft 3.0 under Nadella is a breath of fresh air, with the company being less of the evil empire it was under Ballmer, but instead making very targeted and strategic enhancements for both consumers and industries, such as healthcare. The company seems more customer driven than in prior decades which is mostly thanks to much tougher competition in today’s marketplace. And to attract 200 thousand people for an online conference — this is a warning shot to the event planning industry. We may not be willing to give up three days to travel to crowded convention centers and overpriced hotels for conferences when virtual works.

Nvidia thrives on coronavirus

This semiconductor company made its name on graphics processors for gamers, which is partially responsible for it outperforming projections for the quarter. Jensen Huang, the founder and CEO, has kept this company nimble, and now it is thriving on a chipset designed for complex computations in data centers — following business to the cloud  and powering customers in a more virtual world. The stock is up 50% for the year. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Nvidia has continued to live on the fringes of giants Intel and Qualcomm, by focusing on niche applications and becoming the premium provider for those applications. Specialization and focus pay off again.

How well did you wash your hands?

Now there is a device, particularly for commercial establishments, that scans hands after washing to determine if any bad stuff remains on them. The PathSpot scanner can be mounted on the bathroom wall above the sink, and uses fluorescent light imaging and algorithms to detect bad things like e. coli. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: What is the economic cost of not washing your hands well? It could be zero, or it could be a week of work missed, or a week of work missed for ten infected people, or closure of a restaurant for several weeks, or spreading of a pandemic. The cost of a device seems trivial in light of these possibilities.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Apple accelerates the demise of college life

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The death of college as we know it: Apple’s Schoolwork 2.0

Now, like never before, opportunities abound to participate in the radical and sudden transformation of the educational process. Apple had started the process with its Schoolwork app, but has accelerated the release of version 2.0 to make sure the company secures a strong foundation in the educational market. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Classroom apps are not new, nor are virtual classes. Millions of students and tens of thousands of teachers around the world, however, are now expert on the challenges and triumphs of online teaching and it is here to stay. As companies such as Apple redefine the learning experience to be Internet-centric and generally more convenient online, classrooms become unnecessary nice-to-haves. Colleges — meet your competition — it is headquartered in Cupertino, California and doesn’t lose.

Apple glasses — can they succeed?

Apple has been rumored for a handful of years to be producing smart glasses that combine AR into a new form factor. The latest rumor is the Apple Glass will cost $499 before prescription lenses. As CNET rightly points out, for Apple Glass to catch on and not befall the fate of Google Glass, the glasses must be comfortable, everyday accessories that replace our current glasses.

dis-rup-shun: Recall when you learned that Apple was going into the watch business. First reactions may have been doubt that Apple could pack sufficient technology onto a wrist and that the category was dying with younger people using smartphones to track time. Now Apple enjoys the largest share of smartwatches and the category is the highest growth segment of its product line. Let’s hope Apple can make glasses smart, and bring augmented reality to the everyday, not to mention making eyeware more exciting than even Warby Parker has done.

Clubhouse app, highly exclusive and highly valued

How does an app with only 1,500 users and no website get valued at $100 million? The answer is exclusivity. You have to know someone special to get access to this rarefied social network that hosts video discussions between such as MC Hammer, and venture capital titans Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. Users can browse and enter virtual rooms where there may one or more celebrities available for chat. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It’s all about access, and people are willing to pay handsomely to get access to influential people. This raises the question, if this app is successful at drawing a bigger audience, will the audience be getting the access they crave? Unlike essentially every other app, perhaps Clubhouse is not about scale, but is about paying high prices for access to inaccessible people.

Apple acknowledges the facial recognition problem

If you have been fighting your iPhone for facial recognition while you are wearing a mask, Apple understands, and has reduced the time between facial recognition failure and pop up of the keypad for code entry. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: While this is helpful, Apple users still have to struggle to attempt to unlock their phones to make a mobile payment while holding their groceries while masked. Using location tracking and AI, Apple should enable your phone to understand your behavior and remain unlocked as you navigate your regular grocery store or pharmacy — struggling to read your on-phone grocery list and make an electronic payment at checkout.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Fedex and Microsoft unite to conquer Amazon

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Fedex and Microsoft unite against rival Amazon

Today Microsoft and FedEx announced details of their partnership to best Amazon by combining Microsoft’s cloud services with FedEx’s logistics network to create a better shipping experience for customers. Amazon, the kingpin in cloud services, is rapidly growing its own logistics business, adding both trucks and planes to rival FedEx and UPS. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The smart people at Microsoft continue to amaze, and perhaps they have some impressive strategies to beat Amazon at their game of total world domination. But Amazon has been fueled by the quarantine, with growth well in advance of projections. Stopping Amazon will be difficult without assistance from the Department of Justice, and that looks unlikely at the current time.

A robot that guesses your emotions from your walk

Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed ProxEmo, a robot powered by software that reads people’s gait and body language to determine their emotional state. By observing people’s facial expression and mapping their walking gait onto a model, the technology determines if the person should be given more space, or if they are potentially in need of support. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Technology to improve health and wellness is on the rise, but few applications are designed to monitor and manage mental health and wellness. Public school systems around the country have spent significant dollars for cameras with facial recognition technology that is designed to identify hostile visitors who may intend harm.  Mental wellness is an under-served need that will benefit greatly from artificial intelligence.

An app for NYC subway sounds

For the hundreds of thousands of people who used to spend a part of their day on a subway, and are missing the familiar sounds, there’s an app for that. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: Thanks to the Internet for bringing really long-tail content to the general public.

Best smart locks

Digital Trends reviews the growing smart lock category and chooses August Smart Lock Third Generation as the best, most secure, and easiest to install. The review also categorizes the best lock for your chosen smart home platform (Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Home). The review also includes Level Lock, a unique option that fits all of the electronics inside the door, concealing the fact that you even have a smart lock.

dis-rup-shun: This review implies that consumers are choosing their smart home products based on their preferred control interface (Alexa, Google, iPhone, Android phone). But most smart home products work with all of these interfaces, so this approach does not help a confused consumer. It will take apartment communities and builders to make smart locks a standard offering for this product to reach a mass market, but the Gen Z consumers who are never without their smartphones will prefer buildings and homes that offer smart home technologies.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

CES in the time of Covid-19

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Is CES 2021 viable in the age of Covid?

Forbes takes a look at the chances of the world’s largest consumer electronics event, CES, produced by the Consumer Electronic Association, taking place as planned. Despite the event being seven months away, assembling 160,000 people in a crowded venue is likely to be seen risky by many of the event’s sponsors and participants. Forbes

dis-rup-shun: It is hard to imagine a year without the bittersweet meeting of the entire tech industry for three brutal days of shuffling across miles of concrete and standing in dozens of cab lines. To be clear, there are few events anywhere that can yield as many meetings, discoveries and news headlines as CES, not to mention pumping billions into the Las Vegas economy. A virtual CES just wouldn’t do much for anyone.

MIT uses appliance data to measure health

MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab is developing a system that uses a single motion sensor in the main room of a home, combined with a sensor that measures electricity used by appliances, to determine one’s household patterns, and anomalies. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Remote monitoring of seniors has become a higher priority with many residential facilities closed to visitors. AI becomes smarter with more data, making better assessments between actual emergency and simple deviation in routine. Commercially available remote senior monitoring systems are currently in market from innovators such as People Power, Alarm.com, GreatCall, and should become commonplace offerings of retailers, telcos and insurance companies in the next few years.

How gamers made Romania and Singapore fastest Internet countries

Today Romania and Singapore enjoy some of the fastest constant broadband internet speeds in the world. Their broadband infrastructure was created to whet the appetites of gamers who were willing to pay for steady, fast services and, in the early days of the Internet, frequently connected physical cables from apartment to apartment to great LANs for gaming. As cable providers entered the market, gamers would share the fastest cable service across their LAN. That grass roots competition led to high speed and low latency services nationwide. Wired

dis-rup-shun: This is a great story of supply and demand, and human innovation. The article also discusses how Google’s Stadia cloud gaming platform, despite having good content, is limited by inconsistent Internet services throughout the world, making the gaming experience inconsistent and less appealing. Apple’s Arcade, on the other hand, focuses on casual games in which latency is less of a factor.

August smart lock gets smarter

A new, smaller, better smart lock is available from August. The new model, called Wi-Fi Smart Lock, uses built in Wi-Fi, no longer requiring a separate hub device. For $249, you can unlock or lock your home from anywhere in the world that you can access the Internet — perfect for AirBnB, assuming that will come back. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: August, like Nest was to thermostats, is the lead innovator of the smart lock business, but the real mass market upgrades of locks to smart locks will be driven by the giants in the industry such as Schlage, Kwikset and Yale by Assa Abloy – the company that has recently purchased August Home. As Assa and its big competitors roll the August technology into brands that locksmiths and builders know well, then we will see a proliferation of smart locking homes. I’m guessing this transition will happen in three to five years.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Spotify DJ feature enables group experience

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Spotify enables group therapy

Spotify’s premium subscribers may now enjoy and group listening feature. By offering others a temporary code, the subscriber can quickly create a group listening session in which all members can control the queue and be the DJ. The Verge

dis-rup-shun: For music lovers, the fun of Spotify has long been to sit with friends and ask questions about favorite bands — then play favorite songs. Now a group of people can share control and set new rules for the session, enriching the Spotify experience over its rival music streaming providers.

TiVo Stream 4K cord cutter

If you are familiar with TiVo and want to cut the cord, the company has released a dongle/remote combination device, similar to Chromecast, Roku and Amazon Fire Stick. The $49 device uses Google Assistant for voice search, and provides top notch sound and video quality. The device provides an intelligent user interface that learns based on what you like to watch. Forbes

dis-rup-shun: With live sports on hiatus, there just aren’t many compelling reasons to pay a fat cable TV bill anymore. And those DVRs that we have learned to love? They are playing a smaller and smaller role in our lives as we are more inclined to stream, except of course, for Grey’s Anatomy and non-existent sports.

Quibi is not essential entertainment, say consumers

Despite initial signs that this video-only subscription video service was an early hit, things are not going well. Slow subscriber uptake is being blamed on Corona virus and on the app’s inability (by design) to not share screen shots with other apps or on social media. The Verge

dis-rup-shun: It seemed like this novel concept was off to a great start, serving 1.7 million downloads in its first week. It seemed that Corona virus and a captive audience’s need for entertainment would provide the launch with unprecedented advantages, but alas, it seems that people are not craving another subscription entertainment service. With an all-star cast of executives (Jeffery Katzenberg, Meg Whitman and others) behind the venture, creative ideas may improve uptake. With T-Mobile offering a free year of Quibi, word of mouth may create demand among people who will pay.

Tesla will support in-car video conferencing

Musk recently commented that Tesla models will soon support video conferencing, using the tiny built-in camera and the 15 inch displays on the dashboard. The features are ideal for future, self-driving models, but will be available in limited situations before then. Forbes

dis-rup-shun: Tesla is working hard to show the auto industry a lot of things, but one of those is that a long lag time for new technologies to be built-in to cars should not exist. Technology accessories have long been important product differentiators, and by incorporating important features, like a 15 inch tablet on the dash, Tesla is engaging tech lovers and digital natives.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Work from home is here to stay

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Work from home is a permanent shift

Given the uncertainty of the future of the pandemic growth curve, employers will be very slow to invite workers back to offices. The staggered reopening of offices, combined with the effectiveness of tools provided to workers to work at home, will make working at home a permanent option for many employees. Global Workplace Analytics pegs the per employee savings at $11,000 per year. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Many companies, for a number of years, have been coordinating geographically dispersed workforces using Internet-based tools. Now that the rest of the economy has been forced to test virtual work forces, the results are positive, and the demand for face to face or shoulder to shoulder teams is greatly reduced. The industries impacted, to name a few, are public transit, real estate developers, office furniture makers, and certainly airlines.

Minecraft hosts virtual graduation ceremony

A number of college seniors and Minecraft players, frustrated by cancellation of their graduation ceremonies, developed the concept of Quarantine University. The virtual university will host a ceremony featuring the avatars of graduates of multiple universities — 1,338 from 439 universities. Wired

dis-rup-shun: While it is unlikely that post-Covid graduation ceremonies will be virtual, expect to see more events taking place on multiple digital platforms. In-game experiences already include live concerts, and will increasingly become a platform for live events other than gaming. In-game wedding anyone?

5G critical to telehealth, says Qualcomm

Qualcomm’s CEO explained that the data speeds afforded by 5G are critical to telehealth, particular regarding the use or portable ultrasound machines and stroke detection devices. Today over 200 million telemedicine networks exist in the U.S. alone. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Network providers and their vendors, such as Qualcomm, are working hard to justify the expense, and migration to, 5G networks. Carriers have no choice but upgrade networks, and finding high bandwidth applications that justify premium pricing is a priority. Telehealth is a niche application that has become far more important during this pandemic, and will increasingly be an important component to future healthcare plans.

Withings sleep pad helps diagnose sleep problems

For those that find sleep difficult, and don’t wish to wear a watch to bed, Withings Sleep actually tucks under your mattress and provides a plethora of sleep data to your smartphone. The data is then used to analyze your sleep difficulties, and suggest ways to enhance your rest. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Quantified self — the movement to quantify personal performance for a number of tasks, is the companion to telehealth. Healthcare professionals in the future will increasingly rely on data in order to both diagnose maladies as well as ensure adherence to treatment regimens. Expect healthcare professionals to increasingly recommend or even prescribe the use of data collection devices.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Tinder’s online dating usage is up

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Match’s Tinder sees increase in online dating

Led by the company’s Tinder division, Match is seeing an uptick of 17% from last year. The increase is fueled by women under 30 who have increased messaging traffic on the platform. Dallas Morning News

dis-rup-shun: Being alone at home provides a great deal more time to explore interests, including finding someone to see once you can see people. Pre-Coronavirus statistics showed that the online generation was not dating or having sex as much as older generations — satisfying their interests with other online adventures. Statistics in one to three years will reveal if the current generation of young and single people are in general, more satisfied with dating online than in person.

Smartwatch shipments up 20% in Q1

Consumers wanted more smartwatches in the first quarter, and Apple’s share is 55%, followed by Samsung at 15% and Garmin in third place. The increase is thought to be driven by people wanting to monitor their health during the lockdown. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Fitness is one preoccupation of people with time on their hands, and walkers are jamming the streets all over the world. Given the lockdown did not impact most consumers until late in Q1, the sales statistics cause one to contemplate if buying a smartwatch was a pent up demand that was satisfied as people increased fitness activities in lieu of social activities in the second half of March.

Mobile handset manufacturing resumes in India

The world’s second largest smartphone market, India, will allow handset manufacturers to gradually resume manufacturing this month. China’s Xiaomi is India’s largest phone supplier. The supply chain had completely shut down, leading to zero phone production last month. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: The global supply chain for smartphones has sputtered, stopped, and now has resumed in China and India. Will consumers, later this year, be faced with shortages as a result of certain components not meeting demand, or will the current trend to hold on to handsets longer lead to a more permanent, general slowdown in smartphone consumption — a factor critical to the health of the tech sector?

Robot deployed in Singapore parks to encourage social distancing

Spot, the cheetah-looking robot designed by Boston Dynamics, is roaming Singapore’s principal park this weekend to remind visitors to keep their distance from their neighbors, playing pre-recorded messages. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: A pandemic is a perfect time to test robots and drones, as the public’s acceptance of both is much higher than normal. Safe delivery of products is a logical application. But what about replacing much of urban police forces with robots with cameras that roam public areas to enforce ordinances? Will consumers, who can’t be identified with anything other than facial recognition, heed the commands of a machine? We are about to find out as robots are increasingly deployed in public places. Expect the presence of a machine with cameras to lower the crime rate in certain public areas.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Peloton revenues surge 66%

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Peloton revenues up 66% as online fitness booms

The online biking and fitness company has expanded from spin classes to treadmill classes to bootcamp, crossfit, running and many other fitness activities. Last month it hosted a class with 23,000 participants. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: If you haven’t tried this COVID winner, you will find that the quality of the workouts is as good as any expensive exercise studio in town, save for the camaraderie. Peloton’s short-term success will put a long-term dent in fitness clubs. Fitness clubs will need to emphasize and promote personal training, as classes at home are as good as at the club.

Microsoft unveils more Surface options including earbuds

Microsoft continues to refine its Surface line, with additional units and accessories, including a docking station, upgraded headphones and new earbuds. Microsoft’s high quality hardware line gets stronger in the midst of slumping PC sales. Wired

dis-rup-shun: While the economy is in shambles, higher-end technology companies are seeing strong demand for quality products among those that are spending an extraordinary amount of time on screens at home. Microsoft continues to compete well with its biggest customers, such as Dell, Lenovo, HP, Acer and others. The big PC makers will need to continue to find ways to expand into consumer electronics — something they have failed to do many times, as the PC business continues to mature and as Microsoft and Apple continue to carve out strong shares.

Best online games to play with friends during lockdown

CNET reviews the top online games to keep us entertained during lock down. Some favorites include Jackbox Games — easy online games, the Escape Game — the best virtual escape room, Tabletopia — the best online board games, Houseparty — best mobile games, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons for a hang-out activity.

dis-rup-shun: Two ironic truths of the lockdown are that, one, technology is bringing us community, and two, our sense of community has strengthened. These are generalizations, but it is safe to say that our pre-COVID fears that out culture was unraveling in part due to people’s immersions into their small screen has reversed. Screens are now the conduit for maintaining and even deepening our communities, and casual gaming together is a new way to have fun together.

Smart home platform Wink abruptly shifts to subscription model

Wink, the smart home hub with much promise, purchased by will.i.am in 2017, has stated that due to economic conditions, the company will now charge a monthly fee of $4.99 to subscribers who wish for their hub to continue operating.

dis-rup-shun: The smart home business is a tough one — requiring players to have deep pockets in order to make complicated business models pay off over time. The upside to the category has always been the ability to charge a monthly fee in exchange for a valued service, as just selling hardware works only for a few very efficient companies. will.i.am will be better served at less complicated ventures.

 

 

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Telehealth surges paving the way for change

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Telehealth surges – possibly reshaping care delivery

Just how much has COVID boosted the telemedicine industry? The incumbent players in the space include Teladoc, MDLIVE and American Well, as well as international companies including Britain’s Babylon, Sweden’s Kry and France’s Doctolib. Babylon signed on 140,000 new users in the UK since the onset of COVID. Companies have been providing telehealth for more than half a dozen years, but the healthcare industry has been slow to embrace remote care. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Healthcare providers in the U.S. have been on a building tear, throwing neighborhood clinics into many neighborhoods, creating, in many places, a glut of walk-in clinics. For this reason, along with resistance to change, telecare has not been attractive to providers. Consumers, however, have experience the convenience of remote care, and will likely, for many years, hold on to a fear of being in places with sick people. Expect care providers to embrace telehealth and blend remote services into traditional offerings.

Britian’s NHS creates its own national contact tracking app, shunning Google and Apple collaboration

Britain’s National Health Service has developed a Bluetooth-based contact tracking app which stores contact data between all users of the app in a database. If individuals choose to self-identify as infected, the app can notify all of those people who were in contact with the infected person. The NHS app stores data on a central server, whereas the Google Apple contact tracking app stores info on smartphones in a decentralized architecture. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: So, to whom do you wish to provide your location data: Big Tech, federal government, or no one? In the spirit of helping our communities track and address pandemics, do we offer data and participate, or, as CNBC states, is mission creep too tempting by any party? Big Tech already has the majority of our personal data if we own a smartphone, so perhaps trusting BigTech to use the data not only for profit but also for good is enough. Separation of tech and state will have to remain strong for all but those who wish to entrust all personal info to their governments.

Tom Cruise and Elon Musk collaborate on movie filmed in space

Cruise and Musk are apparently partnering on a project to film a movie, or some of a movie, aboard one of Musk’s SpaceX crafts. No details were offered on schedule, plot or names. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Musk has often been guilty of blurring the lines between space business and show business, and Cruise has often been guilty of considering himself out of this world, so the collaboration may be a match made in heaven. Before launching Hollywood into outer space, SpaceX must successfully send a NASA astronaut to the International Space Station on May 27th. If that goes well, perhaps movie talk is in order.

A rare event — Apple products on sale

A number of hot products from Apple, including the generation 5 watch, iPad, iPod and AirPods are among the items being cleared from Best Buy stock — an event that rarely occurs. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Strange times make for strange sales, and Best Buy, despite having a steady online business, is suffering mightily, like most all other retailers, from stores shuttered for nearly two months. Expect quite a few surprising sales as companies across the globe from Neiman Marcus to Best Buy fight for survival and liquidate inventory.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Covid Coach is the mental health app to keep you coping

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Covid Coach mental health app helps people cope

Covid Coach offers people in isolation a number of tools to deal with anxiety, loneliness and depression, by offering tips on applying for unemployment, meditation guidance, and a way to measure stress and anxiety in an effort to manage it. Wired

dis-rup-shun: The app, from the National Center for PTSD is yet another way to engage technology for health. As mental health treatments are rarely discussed, providing a confidential, easy to access tool for everyone, the National Center for PTSD is proving the value of public health programs.

NVidia scientist creates $400 ventilator

The innovators at Nvidia, the chip company that has powered game consoles, auto dashboards, and millions of PC graphics processors has developed a simple, power efficient ventilator using a small number of components. It’s $400 price tag stands in contrast to the $20,000 charged by traditional ventilator manufacturers. The system is now being submitted to the FDA for emergency certification. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Competition is good, and the pandemic is tearing down many walls that were erected by companies that don’t want competition. One barrier that justifies the inflated price for medical equipment is FDA certification. With an emergency certification process in place, the FDA will be hard-pressed, after the end of the pandemic, to prove why nimble companies cannot compete, in perpetuity, with the healthcare equipment incumbents.

Use your phone as video camera for video calls

It’s easy to join video calls with your phone, but if you need to share your desktop and your office computer does not have a working camera, several apps enable your phone to serve as video camera for your desktop video calls. For Android to PC, there’s DroidCam. For iPhone to PC, there is iVCam, and for Android to Mac, try EpocCam. Wired

dis-rup-shun: In the age of work from home, image matters, and having a crisp, steady image and great audio are the new “dress for success.” If your built-in camera is crummy and you have an older smartphone that is not in use, this may be the answer.

Airbus app helps airlines find parking places for aircraft

The airline industry is operating at 5% of last year’s numbers. More than 16,000 aircraft are parked. Finding enough space at airports around the globe to stack giant planes is an unprecedented logistics challenge. Airbus has developed an app that helps airlines find new places to park jets. Watch the video here CNBC.

dis-rup-shun:  The drop in demand for aircraft will take months to years to ripple through the economy, forcing aircraft manufacturers to turn to new revenue sources, like on-the-ground maintenance. Maintaining jets in remote locations that are not in service will be a big business for the next year. Now is a time to see how innovative Boeing and Airbus can be at not building new planes.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

A smart vaping device?

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Smart vaping — tracking (bad) habits

IO(S)T — the Internet of smoking things is here. The PuffPacket, developed with the help of researchers at Cornell, connects your vaping device to your smartphone via Bluetooth, at which point vapers can view their vaping activity on an app, and can opt to send it to the cloud where various other parties may use the data for various purposes. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: What is the value of your vaping data? To vaping device and cartridge manufacturers, knowing when and how you use their products will help them improve both their products and their advertising. For you, knowing when you most enjoy the experience will help you purchase the right supplies for the right times, or will help you know when you need substitute products if you desire to quit. For regulators, the data will help them understand trends and policies needed to protect minors.

Coronavirus damage report: advertising

This week, a number of advertising-fueled businesses reported earnings. The good news is that a slow March did not hurt the top line drastically. The bad news is that the damage will come in the second quarter. Some executives expect the pullback in advertising to come in waves over the coming quarter, but expect sector performance to vary. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Two factors are working for the advertising industry’s favor: one is a very strong January and February, which kept the quarter somewhat healthy, and the diversification of Big Tech companies that are not only major advertising engines, but also purveyors of entertainment, logistics and video conferencing — all of which thrived in usage during shelter in place.

Studio quality microphone to enhance video calling and video making

The Rode GO lavalier microphone is the $199 device that is next in the transformation of your home into a top notch conference center or video production studio. During the time of quarantine, many have purchased new monitors, special behind computer lighting and created special backgrounds. Adding a wireless mic brings high quality audio to the home studio/office.TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Remember the book Wikinomics? The book, published in 2006,  stated that the new Internet economy was all about decentralizing (formerly) specialized functions, such as journalism and yes, movie making. Pro-grade tools available for a few hundred dollars or less will continue to blur the lines between amateur and professional content and provide massive amounts of long-tail content for the world to enjoy.

Amazon smart oven: IOT gone awry

Wired’s Joe Ray chronicles the frustration of trying to find conveniences provided by a smart oven. Amazon’s offering, leaning heavily on Alexa, the smartphone app, and cross-selling packaged food from Amazon, proves complicated and, ultimately, not helpful. Wired

dis-rup-shun: In defense of Amazon (not that they need defending), much of the problem is that the microwave was intended to make something complicated (cooking) very simple. The truth is, using IOT technology to make something that is already simple more simple results in complications. It is safe to say that very few people actually cook in their microwave — it is for quick heating or thawing — and therefore trying to turn the device into something more is a task in itself. IOT is valuable to consumers when it solves a problem. When IOT goes looking for a problem, it usually fails.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Moxie robot teaches kids what parents don’t

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Moxie robot builds children’s social and emotional skills

Moxie is a small robot for children. It is designed by the founder of iRobot, makers of Roomba whose current company, Embodied, has identified the need to help children with deficiencies in social and emotional development. Moxie becomes a new friend and mentor for children, helping them learn to make eye contact when speaking, remember to thank people, and complete a number of human tasks. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Sad. Parents aren’t modeling social and emotional skills for their children and need to outsource parenting to a little robot. On the other hand, we all know people whose parents clearly skipped those lessons when raising them, and would have benefited from a robot step-parent. Expect teaching robots to be common household appliances in three to five years.

Zoom chooses Oracle in chess match with Google and Microsoft

Zoom announced that it has chosen Oracle, a distant “also ran” cloud infrastructure provider to handle the exploding demand for Zoom’s video conferencing services. The choice became clear as cloud leaders Microsoft with Teams video conferencing software and Google with its Meet video software announced plans to provide the software for free (Teams is a no-cost add-on to users of Office). Zoom stated that it was not interested in funding its rival’s free offerings. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The diversity of the organizations under Big Tech’s umbrellas make it hard for smaller technology players to determine who is friend or foe. Is Google’s massive ad platform, the leading online marketplace, also a threat as it collects shopping and traffic data of all of its customers’ customers? Is Amazon’s leading cloud platform — a significant infrastructure provider — providing competitive data to Amazon.com? Scale obviously has advantages, but creates many conflicts that are the source of much of the Justice Department’s concerns about Big Tech, which have been muffled by the COVID crisis.

Electric Harley Davidson is the company’s latest reinvention

Harley’s LiveWire is an exciting offering in the growing electric motorcycle market. Harley has broken its tradition of using mostly its own components and has sourced best of breed components from other vendors to create a state of the art device. For $30,000, one can have an efficient, renewable energy work of art. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Harley has taken a play out of Tesla’s playbook. That is, the company is first launching a state-of-the-art, top-of- the-line product that redefines the company’s image as leading innovator. GM’s approach to electric vehicles — starting with the economy-minded Volt, proved unexciting. Harley, like Tesla, can later target a larger, more mainstream motorcycle buyer with a less expensive electric model, but first it will tantalize the market with a product many people, including non-cycle enthusiasts, would like to own.

Indoor security camera round up: Wyse wins

CNET offers a quick review of the top indoor Wi-Fi connected cameras, from the best value to the most sophisticated. The Wyze camera costs $20 with 2 weeks of free video storage. Netatmo works with HomeKit, the iPhone native home control app. Nest Cam IQ recognizes faces and tells you who is coming and going.

dis-rup-shun: These amazing cameras at amazing prices will continue to make homes smart. My employer’s latest survey, research firm Interpret, determines that 11% of U.S. broadband users have a smart security camera installed. With the Nest Cam, how could you teenager ever deny coming home after curfew? Expect that 11% to grow steadily as people solve “home problems” with video.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Drones deliver meds to retirement community

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UPS and CVS use drones to deliver meds to retirement homes

Residents at Florida’s The Villages retirement community will receive medications via drone, starting next month. The companies have been testing the service since last year and are now addressing the challenges of the current conditions by delivering medications to a facility that is particularly vulnerable to visits from non-residents. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The current shelter in place environment is a text book application for medicines delivered by drones — especially since most drones cannot carry a heavy payload. Light loads such as medications, in emergency situations, are an ideal application of the aircraft. Regular specialty delivery applications will advance the role of drones as everyday link in the logistics chain.

Airbus 380, the largest passenger jet, is 15 years old and retired

The massive A380 is the largest production passenger plane ever built and is Airbus’ answer to the Boeing 747 — provided to a market that was clamoring for large, efficient craft to optimize hub and spoke airline operations models. The A380, however, turned out to be more fixed asset than most airlines wanted — requiring terminal and tarmac re-configurations and oceans of fuel to operate. Airbus expected to sell over 1200 models over its product life, but pulled the plug on the program after selling only 251. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The Corona Virus pandemic did not kill the A380, but it put the last nail in the coffin as all A380s are currently grounded. Attacking business problems with scale is difficult, and risky. While scale often looks like the proper strategy on paper, the inflexibility created by commitments large enough to keep a fleet of A380s flying has proved to be a hindrance. The A380 will be honored as both an engineering feat as well as case study in business planning.

WFH is working well for a large number of displaced workers

In a multi-state survey, 42% of respondents reported to be working from home, up from 9% who were working from home pre-COVID. Among respondents working from home, 24% indicate a desire to remain at home or working at home more frequently after the shelter in place order is over. 60% of workers stated that they are equally or more productive at home than in office, and 28% said time saved on commuting was spent working longer. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Even a 5% shift in work habits will send ripples through the office economy — lowering demand for office space, office supplies, lunch counters, commuter trains, bus seats, tolls, gas consumed and dry cleaning, to name a few items. The productivity gains proven from web conferencing and remote work platforms such as Teams and Slack will result in permanent structural changes to many organizations — and potentially better performance and lifestyles for workers.

Books sales are booming – not just at Amazon

Online booksellers are pandemic winners. Independent bookseller upstart Bookshop expects to complete $6 million in sales in year one, and hot topics are gardening, sustainability and eco-friendly activities, while guide books, travel and foreign language topics are duds. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Not just Bezos, but everyone in the online book business is enjoying the spoils of a captive audience. At home online entertainment companies are thriving, including those that support cooking, streaming video, music services, games, sexual health, exercise and home delivery, to name a few.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Your personal data could prevent future pandemics

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Social networks may be the future of epidemic tracking

Carnegie Melon University is working to use self-reported personal data to Facebook and Google, about COVID and statistics on doctor visits to build a data map of the pandemic, which may be a powerful predictive tool for future outbreaks.  Wired

dis-rup-shun: This is a great example of how using your data and mine can help scientists identify movement of diseases from region to region, perhaps better preparing communities for what is coming, and understanding what actions may be taken to curtail outbreaks. This data is provided by willing volunteers, so if it seems creepy or “overstepping” consider that individuals have decided to make a contribution, using the new currency of personal information. After all, you are already contributing every day, thanks to your smartphone.

Facebook adds video calling for 50 to Messenger

Facebook won’t get left out of the video conferencing boom. The company will begin, this Friday, enabling free video calling for up to 50 through Messenger rooms over which the host can control access and invite people without having Facebook accounts. Video call traffic in WhatsApp and Messenger has more than doubled since the beginning of the global pandemic. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: First there was the telegraph, and a company called ITT dominated. Eventually the telephone replaced the telegraph, and calling was dominated by AT&T. Then, of course, there were mobile phones dominated by a company called Cingular Wireless, and then there was the Internet, dominated by Google for search and Facebook for social networking. Will Zoom become the dominant video conferencing provider of the next era, controlling the majority of video conference calls? Not if Facebook can stop them with WhatsApp and Messenger. Leadership is changing quickly with the world turning to virtual communities and Facebook knows that an opportunity lost may not ever be regained.

Fortnite in-game concert event attracts 12.3 million players

Epic Games’ Fortnite property hosted a live, in-game concert by rapper Travis Scott. The psychedelic event was a debut for new music from the rapper. The event follows prior events featuring a never before seen clip from Star Wars, and Chance the Rapper’s Quibi debut. Event attendees received special Fortnite loot. CNET

dis-rup-shun: An alternative reality is not complete without an alternative economy, and attracting players with big name live events does a good job of pumping up the latter. Epic is creating buzz for Fortnite and, just like a live concert, gets a bump from selling special items within the event. And you thought there was nothing to do during quarantine?

Airtime app creates a YouTube viewing party

The new Airtime app from YouTube enables a group of friends, families, or associates to experience a curated set of video together, in a private viewing room on YouTube. Once friends are alerted and invited, then sign in to a private room where they can, together, watch a movie of show, watch and video chat with one-another, and pause the video as desired. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Forget homework — every night is now a Friday night sleepover with this app. This blend of YouTube and Zoom takes virtual community building to a new level. Expect group activities such as going to a mall, a movie theater or a frozen yogurt shop to be permanently impacted by increasingly better ways to hang out without every leaving home.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Google changes the ad game, again

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Google requires all advertisers to provide identity to consumers

Google is making a major change to online advertising, requiring all advertisers to provide their identity and country of origin for any consumer that clicks “Why this ad?” button. All advertisers will be given 30 days to comply with the same disclosure that Google has required of political candidates since 2018. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It is very gratifying to see new CEOs such as Google’s Sundar Pichai join Microsoft’s not-so-new CEO, Satya Nadella, do logical and smart things to make their companies better industry leaders. Maybe Zuckerberg will get inspired to polish up his company’s tarnished reputation, and take a leadership position in the right direction.

Apple releases cheap but powerful iPhone

Apple’s iPhone SE is out this Friday, and while Apple has not made much noise about it, it is a powerful offering at $399. For less than half of the flagship iPhone 11, one can get the same processor, much of the same camera technology (no zoom or wide angle) in what is an iPhone 8 case. Battery life is shorter, but if you charge daily, no big deal. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Why is this a big deal? Apple needed to beef up its low end to ward off growing rivals from Korea and China that are offering amazing functionality for less. Also, in the post-COVID-19, yet-to-be-named recession we are now in, plopping down a grand for a new device will be a low priority. As long as you are not ashamed by your smaller screen, you can replace your old or broken phone without breaking the bank.

WAH desk injuries? Get a massage gun

One side effect of sitting at your desk for inordinate hours is aches and pains in the back and butt. Percussive massage guns are an increasingly important work at home tool, along with large monitors, standing desks, and back lighting for web conferences. There are a variety of massage gun models for different conditions. Jen Reviews

dis-rup-shun: Working at home, if you are not home schooling, raises efficiency and output for most knowledge workers. It also required that people learn when to leave the office. For many, the result is 14 or more hours in the desk chair, especially since our social lives often take place from the same seat. Post sheltering massage businesses should see a surge in demand, but until then, massage guns and Peloton workouts will sustain us.

Smart homes learn by listening

Carnegie Melon University and Apple are partnering to develop Listen Learner AI technology. Listen Learner is an AI based technology that enables smart devices in the home to identify sounds and attach them to an action. For instance, jingling of car keys might signal to your home that you are leaving and you want to put your home into an away mode, with lights off, temperature in save mode, and the alarm system activated. To train smart systems to recognize those sounds is a tedious process, but Listen Learner technology tries to guess and asks you, verbally, to confirm. This process is much more convenient for home owners and more likely to succeed. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Despite people’s fears of big brother listening, audible AI technologies are pushing ahead. Expect home security systems to depend less on your arming them as they learn to recognize motion and sound patterns and decide, mostly correctly, when it is time to arm. The applications for seniors are very promising. If your home recognizes the sound of the front door opening and doesn’t “hear” a return, it could notify caretakers. Or if it senses the sound of a fall, it could take immediate action, perhaps saving a life.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Google opens healthcare API to connect providers

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Google opening healthcare API

Google’s Cloud unit continues to pursue the connected health industry by opening its health information interface, called Google Healthcare API. This action enables different healthcare information providers, regardless of if they are using Google’s cloud, to connect to a common data interface intended to integrate disparate health information sources. The Department of Health and Human Services previously issued a mandate restricting vendors from a common practice of blocking information exchange between systems. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Microsoft’s Azure cloud service has pursued a similar path to encourage standardization and information exchange. The healthcare industry, quite simply, has used data as a competitive advantage, making it difficult for consumers and doctors to shop for competitive services. Creating an open data exchange will enable willing healthcare providers to de-mystify the healthcare pricing and payment system, and empower consumers to choose what they pay to whom. Fear of sharing personal information with BigTech will hinder some, but when shopping for care becomes as easy as ordering an Uber ride, consumers will overcome their privacy concerns.

The rise of the Apple watch

The Apple Watch is now five years old, and last year, according to Strategy Analytics, the company shipped an estimated 31 million units while all Swiss watch brands combined shipped about 21 million units. Today the Apple Watch offers about 20,000 apps, most that require the use of the iPhone (which offers 2 million apps), and include many health and fitness apps, including an FDA approved EKG sensor. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Apple is, in fact, redefining the definition of the watch, much like it did a phone. Calling an iPhone a phone is almost a misnomer, given that voice communication is such a small part of the utility it offers. Soon an Apple Watch will provide so many seemingly-essential functions that comparing the device to a wrist watch will be for the purposes of nostalgia only. As CNET says, watch makers that have not joined the smart watch race have essentially missed the window to do so.

Facebook’s Portal is a Coronavirus winner

As often covered, Facebook’s smart display offering, the Portal family, was received tepidly when introduced, mostly due to people’s lack of trust for Facebook’s privacy policies. Now the devices are out of stock on most online stores. Strategy Analytics estimates that Facebook has sold about one million units in 2019 and 200,000 units so far this year. This success, however, represents only 2% of the market, of which Amazon has 45%. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The pandemic may have saved this product line from extinction, and it seems that many people believe that Portal is a better solutions for seniors than its competitors. Will Facebook seize this opportunity and seek to carve out its place in the aging-in-place market, or will it continue to throw small stones at Goliath? Facebook has an opportunity to double down on attempts to prove that the company is trustworthy, and winning over seniors would be a smart way to build a beachhead of consumer support.

Battling slow Wi-Fi?

If sheltering in place has made you more aware of the ups and downs of your home Internet service, then read CNET‘s explanations and suggesting course of correction. First, the review suggests that inconsistent Internet speeds are the result of your provider throttling your speeds to better share bandwidth across customers. They can do so given legislation that gave them that right (net neutrality). Step 1 in the diagnosis is to run some speed tests through M-Lab. If this test verifies inconsistencies, then you may wish to install a virtual private network (VPN) through software, to conceal your streaming volume and schedule from your provider. In theory, this will reduce fluctuations they impose.

dis-rup-shun: The article also suggests that you call your provider and threaten to switch if they won’t stop jacking with your speeds. It seems that we are as dependent on Wi-Fi for living as we were with dial tone and maybe even moreso, but the mysteries of getting constant, stable coverage are battles faced my most households. Is it poor infrastructure to the home, or is an old router, or inadequate signal to cover the home? It seems that there is a real opportunity for an Internet Doctor service to replace the dying Cable Guy.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

BigTech increasing presence in wallets

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BigTech gaining increasing share of wallets

Tech firms have been seeking to replace our wallets with electronic payment methods which are very popular in many countries, but slow to catch on in the U.S. Apple’s credit card, along with payment services from Google and Samsung are increasingly accepted and 15% of Starbucks orders are now mobile.  McKinsey found, in a 2019 survey, that only 35% of people trust Facebook to handle their finances, compared with more than 50% who trust Apple and 65% trust Amazon. BigTech firms know that direct access to consumer spending data is a treasure trove of marketable information. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Banks are sitting ducks. While BigTech cannot take over all capabilities of banks, and while banks exist under charters issued, in the U.S., by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), many of their services will disappear. BigTech will take more transaction fees, annual membership fees, small loans, and yet to be created financial services. Currently big banks are forming close relationships with BigTech, which is a competitive strategy, but will also accelerate the displacement of traditional banking as tech firms acquire both ownership and knowledge of the industry.

Facebook accelerates gaming with dedicated app

Facebook is launching a dedicated app, Facebook Gaming, that allows users to watch live game play or to share live their own game playing. This release is timely, given the uptick in gaming as a result of the global pandemic. The app positions Facebook against live game playing platforms of YouTube, Amazon’s Twitch, and Microsoft’s Mixer. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Game playing is up by more than 20%, according to some sources, and Facebook is simply accelerating a plan that was already in testing in Asia. Facebook continues its wise moves to diversify and enrich its platform, as the core service is mature and losing many of its followers to alternative social media platforms that are seen as more trendy and relevant, as Facebook becomes, for millennials, like the phone book of their parents’ generation.

Apple Music now available without iTunes

Apple Music is now competing with Spotify, allowing streaming directly from a web browser for those with a paid subscription. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: We can thank Apple for reinventing the music business and igniting a round of innovation with the coupling of iTunes and the iPod. Apple, however, botched iTunes and the Apple experience when it made moving and authorizing owned music from device to device, complex. Apple’s failure to keep iTunes as the most friendly music experience pushed consumers to streaming platforms such as Real Audio, Pandora, Spotify and many other competitors. Now Apple is doubling down on services and trying to capture more of the market it gave away a decade ago.

Mendel air sensor critical for indoor growers

Mendel has manufactured a $99 air sensor that tracks temperature, humidity, VPD, and Lux (lumens). Data is refreshed every 15 minutes and displayed on an app. Mendel, reportedly, was encouraged to develop this technology by cannabis growers whose margins are thin and investments high. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Self-sustainability is more interesting than ever, with trips to the grocery store being dangerous and disappointing as a number of products, including produce, in short supply. Growing things indoors is challenging and the air sensor critical. With large numbers of people entering the cannabis business, demand for “smart gardening” products will remain strong.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

NBA and Microsoft take basketball to the cloud

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NBA moves to the (Microsoft) cloud

Remember sports? The NBA and Microsoft announced a sweeping contract which employs Microsoft’s Azure cloud to create an enhanced fan experience — enabling fans to access historical videos and select camera angles. The contract also includes the NBA’s widespread use of Microsoft’s Surface devices. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Question:  How do you beat the cloud giant, Amazon? Answer: You leverage assets (a line of PC/tablets) that your competitor does not have, and you position your services to invent a new way of watching sports to create new camera angles and special features for online users. Microsoft continues to execute beautifully under Nadella and beat dominant AWS in some very strategic accounts.

Apple to develop over-the-ear headphones

According to Bloomberg, Apple is readying a line of over the ear, noise cancelling headphones. The company owns Beats, which offers a number of over-the-ear models. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Over-the-ear headphones seem like a not very innovative product and it’s a bit of a surprise that Apple is pursuing this product now. What are some reasons? Firstly, the company has made so much money selling its premium priced AirPods that it can’t resist the urge to follow that act with another audio accessory. Secondly, given the fact that the future appears that it will be spent, in large part, on video conferencing applications, demand for audio accessories is greatly increased. Finally, since the company already owns Beats, it can repackage the technology and use existing supply partners quickly. In short, it is a low risk way to expand a profitable product line.

Website provides the office and workplace noises you miss

For those that are on the edge of insanity from the quiet or repetition of sheltering at home, the microsite Reichenbergerstr 121  offers a cacophony of office/coffee shop noises, taking you back to the time when you worked around people. Sounds effects supplied include:

  • Clandestine whispers of two people trying to gossip in an open office
  • Opening of a La Croix can
  • The retro summer jam everyone at the office agrees is a bop
  • Mediocre but hard-working Keurig machine gurgles
  • The marketing manager who worked with someone named Felicia and smugly shouted “bye Felicia!” 3 to 30 times daily
  • Two people apologizing for bumping into each other in the hall
  • C-SPAN broadcasting a Congressional hearing
  • Mysterious laughter from the one area where everyone is best friends
  • My editor trying to eat lunch the quietest that anyone has ever eaten Lifehacker

dis-rup-shun: This site does offer good amusement, especially if you start it and leave it, forgetting it is running until you hear distant giggles or an occasional whistle. Perhaps, once people return to public places, the sounds of crowds can be used to jump start traffic to empty shops and restaurants, and get the pump primed, so to speak. What would we do without the wonderful place called the World Wide Web?

Rokid glasses “see” COVID-19 from a distance

Chinese start-up Rokid has released infrared glasses that are able to see people with high body temperatures from three meters away. Outfitted on hospital workers or airport security agents, the technology could help remove infected people from crowds and public places. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: While this technology could be very useful, its use again seems like a violation of privacy, wherein the eye in the sky scans the crowd for people that will be escorted, by storm troopers, to an unidentified back room.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Ecobee joins home security race

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Ecobee offers home security system

Ecobee, known for their well-designed and high featured Wi-Fi smart thermostats that include Alexa voice support, has launched new home security products and a cloud monitoring service. With the addition of the company’s entry sensors, Wi-Fi connected camera, and cloud service, it is now able to offer a complete, integrated home security system to rival other DIY offerings from Nest, Ring, Simplisafe and Honeywell. The home security system market is getting more crowded, and more interesting. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Ecobee products are well designed, so this system may turn out to be a better experience than similar DIY offerings. What’s most interesting is to watch device makers, such as the Ecobee of five years ago, add more and more products and features to their ecosystem. The question is, will these systems continue to grow in functionality to rival more complex and complete systems such as those provided by ADT/Alarm.com and Vivint? Do Ecobee’s and rivals’ DIY systems compete with professionally installed security systems, or are these buyers as different as buyers of SUVs and Priuses?

Verizon to buy video conference platform BlueJeans

In what could be one of the first post-pandemic restructurings, Verizon will pay $400 million to acquire the internet video conferencing platform BlueJeans. BlueJeans boasts 15,000 current customers. Verizon sees the platform as a logical add-on to its 5G offerings, as more workers are expected to work remotely after the pandemic. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: This may be one piece of evidence that the corporate landscape will change as a result of COVID-19. Verizon is counting on the increased popularity of video conferencing tools to be more than a temporary uptick, and to become a permanent and important part of the core telecommunications offerings. Expect to see a large brand reach out to acquire the superstar Zoom in the next six months as the pandemic dust settles.

Peacock streaming service launches

NBCU Comcast has launched its own answer to the video streaming wars. The Peacock streaming service has multiple forms: a limited, free, ad-supported version, a $4.99 ad-supported version for non-subscribers to Comcast/Cox pay TV, and a premium ad-free version for $7.99. The service is now part of the pay TV bundle from Comcast and Cox — included in their pay TV offerings. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It feels as if NBCU is late to the streaming party, with Disney + having gained so many subscribers who may have decided to be three service households with Prime, Netflix and Disney +. To squeeze in a fourth service, or to prefer Peacock over other services seems unlikely at this point. NBCU was wise to use this service as a value-added sweetener for those who have not, and maybe will not, cut the cord. Investing in core customers is wise, and NBCU’s strategy seems to be to straddle the old and new worlds of TV services.

Fitbit adds features and no bulk in Charge 4

Fitbit has added a new, slim fitness tracker to its lineup. The Charge 4, for under $200, provides GPS and heart rate alerts. For core fitness fans who want a slim, attractive device and don’t want the bulk of a smartwatch, this is a new alternative.  CNET

dis-rup-shun: Fitbit is doing a good job of finding niche markets within the niche of wearables. Just emulating the Apple watch is a tough strategy, so creating more specialized devices for micro-segments is a good way to expand the market into spaces that are likely not on Apple’s road map. Fitbit is building highly specialized fitness trackers for fitness enthusiasts who have very particular size, weight and feature requirements. Stay tuned to watch the divergent paths of the swiss-army-knife Apple approach, versus the specialist approach of Fitbit.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Quibi thrives in first week

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Quibi one week later…

Last week Quibi, the short form mobile-only streaming content provider, launched. The service provided 1.7 million downloads in week 1. The company stated that it has sold out all of its advertising slots for the remainder of the year, and will accelerate its plans to enable casting of programs to a TV. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: As stated last week, this company got Corona-lucky. Never before (or again) will the target audience of people with disposable income have so much time on their hands to experiment with a new, unique form of content. Let’s not forget that Quibi has offered a free 90 day trial, but trials that require a credit card number are quite sticky.

Create a looping video to stand in for you during video calls

New tools make for new creativity, and it is easy to create a video of yourself sitting and listening attentively in a video call — unless, of course, you are called on to contribute your comments. By using Zoom to record a video of yourself sitting and listening, with an occasional gesture or nod, then editing to create a seamless loop, you can create a video virtual background. Lifehacker.com

dis-rup-shun: Having some fun and letting your personality show through is more important that ever. and this hack has been used to amuse. One of my colleagues uses this feature to create a background of himself walking by and waving into the camera — quite a shock while speaking to him, live. Another colleague replaced himself with a puppet, which sat in his chair as he manipulated its mouth and arms through a one hour company-wide status call. Humor is helpful.

Amazon hires yet more workers

Amazon is hiring another 75,000 workers, on the heels of the 100,000 it hired last month. Most workers are in logistics — helping to fulfill orders in warehouses and packing delivery trucks for daily runs. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Talk about a windfall! Amazon cannot keep up with the inundation of orders from people sheltering in place. Fortunately, the company is making a dent in the massive joblessness caused by the pandemic. The interesting question again is how will Amazon benefit long-term from the massive, likely temporary, uptick in business? Can it retain many of the at least 175,000 new employees it has hired, and will it keep a much larger share of the market for regular household supplies than it enjoyed pre-COVID-19?

Pandemic brings cities an opportunity to reconfigure

Among the many impacts of the pandemic is less crowded streets, but overcrowding of sidewalks and public parks in large cities such as New York, Bogota, Calgary, and Denver. Many cities have closed off streets, creating pedestrian-only centers. Low levels of air and noise pollution, combined with more pedestrian friendly atmospheres promise to create a better experience for urban dwellers. Wired

dis-rup-shun: The world will be a better place after it (we) recovers from the current crisis, and making cities more livable will help us restore our need for community and connected-ness. City planners should make the changes permanent. Expect large cities to be less car friendly as they transform dense areas to favor walkers and large gatherings.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Nintendo: case study in resilience

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Nintendo: a top player for 130 years

Filmmaker Adam Isaac has produced a 20 minute online documentary of Nintendo – the company that entered and dominated the game console market in the 1980s and has survived fierce competition from Sony, Microsoft, Google and a plethora of smartphones. Its latest offering, the Switch, is sold out across the U.S. CNBC offers a look at what has kept the former game card, ramen noodle and taxi company at the top through so many successes and failures. Donkey Kong was the first big hit in the days of video arcades, a $27 billion industry in 1982. A string of hits included NES in 1985, GameBoy in 1989, N64, DS2, GameCube, Wii and Switch, when released in 2017 caused caused company revenue to jump by 116%.

dis-rup-shun: A great example of company reinvention, the head of the company saw the playing card business drop and applied the company’s gaming DNA to electronics. Like Steve Jobs, Nintendo leader Miyamoto has kept the company focused on two key elements: making games fun (over realism) and keeping game content and hardware tightly coupled. Facing the new world of gaming on smartphones and inexpensive cloud services, most notably Apple’s casual game service, Arcade, Nintendo must either compete on the cloud or remain entrenched in specialized devices. This crossroads is just one of many make-or-break decision points that the company has faced over its 130 year history.

Broadband speeds fall in major cities during COVID-19

Speeds have decreased in many large cities as a result of increased Internet traffic, according to network monitoring company, Thousand Eyes. Despite the reduction, the speeds have remained adequate for entertainment, video calls, and most online activities. Speeds in New York City dropped by 20%, whereas the decrease in Austin, Winston-Salem, and Oxnard was up to 40%.  ArsTechnica

dis-rup-shun: Our global economy, as damaged as it is, is in large part intact thanks to the Internet. As one looks at all prior recessions, depressions and setbacks, none has occurred during a time when so much of life and business are online. Even the Great Recession of 2008 occurred in the early days of streaming video entertainment and before video conferencing was as easy and as accepted as “business as usual.” When the dust settles and we survey the damage of the coronavirus pandemic, we will find that many industries remained intact and even benefited as a result of the crisis. The facts don’t lessen the damage to many, but will certainly prove that an online economy is a far more resilient economy.

SpaceX rapidly builds another Starship prototype

Multiple corporations are vying for NASA’s renewed budget for space travel, and SpaceX and Boeing will begin trips to the International Space Station this year. SpaceX’s heavier craft, the Starship, will not be used for the scheduled ISS trips, but is critical to the company’s delivery of heavy cargo into space. The new prototype replaces two others that imploded during pressure testing. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The space race is just that, with a dizzying pace of launches, experiments and new prototypes built. Competition is good for the industry, but some of the space racers are extremely competitive, pushing hard on the limits of technology and engineering for companies that theoretically will earn a profit. Expect to see more fiery crashes as competitors race for big contracts, and hope that safety measures will more than adequately protect human lives from aggressive new space travel projects.

Professional lighting for video calls is a career booster

A $50 investment in a desktop ring shaped lamp from UBeesize placed behind your laptop provides lighting on your face that transforms your image on web conferences. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The new “dress for success” involves looking healthy and confident on numerous daily video conferences. Even though you have your gym shorts and flip flops on down under, having a healthy and attractive glow proves that sheltering-in-place has not dulled your edge.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

The best video conferencing software is…

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The best videoconferencing software

The world is abuzz about videoconferencing which, along with Internet connectivity, has essentially saved the world from self destruction in the time of sheltering. By now everyone has experimented with a number of video conferencing apps. Wired provides a summary of the top contenders. It reviews Apple FaceTime, Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Houseparty and Google Hangouts.

dis-rup-shun: Funny how different each of these apps, which all bring people together virtually, really are. Houseparty brings people together to waste time together. Teams brings people together to manage many computer-based tasks, FaceTime is perfect for showing people what you are doing in the moment (action), and Skype is really not good for anything. Zoom remains one of the easiest and best tools. Hopefully all of these providers will enjoy great success in return for the incredible utility they have provided, mostly free, to the world in quarantine.

How to influence millennials

Success of flattening the coronavirus curve, it has been said many times, depends on the millennials. This cohort of young and mostly healthy people can make or break global efforts to slow the virus. A marketing company called Xomad, with the help of the government of Bangladesh, created a Social Leader Council, consisting of 200 social media influencers. The company successfully persuaded the influencers to user their platforms (many on Instragram) to encourage people to stay home. The company has also worked with influencers in Los Angeles, paying them a fee to join the campaign, which, in terms of delivering the message, is proving effective. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The new rules of marketing are far less decentralized, requiring brands, or causes, to work through dozens of fragmented channels in addition to traditional channels of TV, radio, and even search. The power of influencers is significant, with people viewing dozens of different posts depending on tastes, making the task of messaging more challenging than ever. Xomad will have many important lessons to teach as a result of their public service work.

Palantir a coronavirus winner

Another company making lemonade in this time of lemons is data analytics software company Palantir, a privately held company backed by the controversial billionaire, Peter Thiel. The company’s contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services enables the CDC to amass large amounts of data on COVID-19 cases, uses of ventilators, locations of infections, and much more. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Data analytics is the new plastics (Google The Graduate if you are too young to understand this phrase). The Internet of Things and the future of computing is about connecting end devices such as sensors, smart phones, cars, thermostats to the cloud, where vast amounts of data are collected every second. That’s impressive, but more impressive are the companies that can figure out how to make actionable insights from vast oceans of data.

Happy Easter and Passover

Blessings to you and your family as we celebrate that which is greater than us during the Global Reboot. Let’s take this time to be in touch with what is most important and what we wish to retain on the other side.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Last Russian rocket ride

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The last ride on a Russian rocket

The U.S. ended the Space Shuttle program in 2011 and since then has depended on Russia to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. The price of a seat on a Soyuz rocket is $86 million. Today’s launch of Chris Cassidy is the last scheduled trip with the Russians, as the U.S. will turn to both SpaceX and Boeing to launch U.S. astronauts from U.S. soil later this year. Wired

dis-rup-shun: What would JFK say if we asked him how he felt about his space dream being outsourced to Russia? In the age of Trump and renewed nationalism, NASA is relying on the free market to renew the space program and again compete in the space race. While both Boeing and SpaceX have had their share of challenged test flights, the plan to send an astronaut to the ISS this year remains intact, with the Russians on standby to sell a seat “as needed.”

The Animal Crossing phenomena

Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a new version of a beloved Nintendo Switch game, was released on Friday, March 20. It sold an amazing 1.88 million physical copies in Japan in its first weekend, setting a record for Nintendo Switch content. In the rest of the world, the game has created so much social media buzz that many celebrities are joining in the discussion, fueling the excitement for the life sim game. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Now is clearly an exceptional time to immerse oneself in a game. What makes this game so intriguing? Perhaps it is because it gives players a new opportunity to live a sim life as they expect that real life should be — providing new opportunities to build skills, trade, interact and even recreate with others with outcomes following expectations.  Life is difficult when it doesn’t follow expectations, and retreating into a fantasy world where things are the way they should be is comforting  — until you stop playing.

How to help your car shelter in place

Your car was built to drive. It was not designed to sit in the garage or driveway for weeks. Keeping the battery charged is the primary concern, and running the car for 20 minutes per week keeps up the charge and keeps lubricants circulating throughout engine, steering and brake systems.  Cleaning all interior surfaces with a mixture of water and rubbing alcohol will make the vehicle ready for post pandemic use. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Sheltering in place has temporarily decreased air pollution in major cities, and given Mother Earth a little reprieve. It has also decreased the time spent and stress created by commuting in heavy traffic. Will our societies have a different outlook on daily routines post-pandemic, encouraging more work from home and less resource wasted on getting knowledge workers to an office location where they may sit, isolated in cubicles, working on a computer?

Drop a line to Asia

How do you keep the Internet infrastructure across the globe working, especially with a spike in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic? Answer, you run a new cable connecting the U.S. mainland to Taiwan. Google has gained approval by the U.S. Department of Justice to run a sub-sea fiber optic cable to Taiwan, citing increased demand. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: We are all extremely dependent on the Internet for work, for shopping, for entertainment and for communication. But just who owns the Internet, builds and maintains it? There are a number of articles that answer the question, but many companies own, operate and charge tolls for its use, and one of the big players, of course, is Google. While Google bashing has become en vogue due to aggressive use of personal information, it is important to remember that Google’s sale of your personal shopping and political preferences generates the revenue that pays for the cables on the sea floor that enable you to WeChat or Facebook across the globe for “free.”

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Nintendo Switch nearly unobtainable

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Nintendo Switch hotter than toilet paper

And that is a compliment. The wildly popular game Animal Crossing has added to the frenzy to find the hand held game device which is in short supply. Buyers have gone online to Craigslist and eBay to find devices. “I found someone selling a Switch with a roll of toilet paper and a mini bottle of hand sanitizer for like 720 dollars,” Jennifer Baik, 24, said. “I was like what’s more valuable here, the Switch or the toilet paper?” Charlotte Observer

dis-rup-shun: Online games and gaming devices are COVID winners. While game research Interpret doesn’t have the data, one can expect that many old XBoxes, Nintendos and PlayStations have been dusted off and once again have become part of the daily experience. One could track pricing of second hand games to see if their prices have increased in the past two weeks.

Solve TP shortage — don’t use it

Bidet manufacturer Tushy is facing a 10x increase in demand for its product , a simple, DIY bidet attachment to the toilet. The attachments are about $100 and eliminate the need for toilet paper. The CEO says that given Americans’ reluctance to embrace, like other parts of the world, the bidet, our society flushed 15 million trees down the toilet each year.

dis-rup-shun: Another COVID winner — the bidet. From an environmental perspective, adding a bidet seems like the responsible thing to do, even without a global pandemic, unless, of course, you are in a region where the value of water is greater than the value of paper. Again the question is, how well will these COVID winners due when this is over? Expect long-term gains from higher awareness of companies such as Tushy.

Sex toy and condom sales skyrocket

Sex toy manufacturer Lelo is reporting a 40% increase in sales and online pharmacies are reporting a doubling of condom sales. Experts are mixed on if the pandemic will lead to a large number of conceptions as past crises have. WiredUK

dis-rup-shun: Let’s just hope that the increase in sexual activity does not get mixed up with the spike in use of Internet video conferencing, or a new online amateur industry will be born.

Best work at home laptop games

For people who are living on their laptops and looking for a little diversion between conference calls, CNET offers a lineup of the best games that can be “snacked” — that is, enjoyed in short sessions without requiring hours of indulgence. Top suggestions are: Deep Sky Derelicts, Disco Elysium, Fortnite, Blade Runner, Thimbleweed Park.

dis-rup-shun: Games that help us interact with people are probably the best diversion, especially for those sitting alone in their own home or apartment — isolated from coworkers and loved ones. On the other hand, perhaps games that connect us with other people are even more important for those trapped at home with loved ones!

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

T-Mobile CEO: industry game changer

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How John Legere changed the mobile phone industry

John Legere took over the unimpressive carrier T-Mobile in 2012 and transformed not only T-Mobile, but the U.S. wireless industry in a few short years. Here are the biggest innovations to his credit:

  • He created the “un-carrier” by eliminating contracts for post-paid accounts (no contract pre-paid offerings were already in market).
  • He eliminated handset subsidies, shifting the industry to pay the full price of the phone over installments.
  • He enabled rapid upgrade options, giving people the option of switching to the latest equipment and valuing trade-ins higher.
  • He made international data cheap or free, in some cases, making international traveler much friendlier from a communications perspective.
  • He is a self-made social media star.
  • He made bashing the competition a standard practice within wireless marketing
  • He opened up earnings calls to everyone

Leger has stepped down as CEO of T-Mobile upon the completion of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Legere is yet another example of David vs. Goliath.  Legere decided to rewrite the rules of an established industry that put T-Mobile in a distant fourth place. He shunned the corporate image and appeared always in Magenta T-shirt and long hair. Last week, by completing the merger with Sprint, he took the irrelevant T-Mobile and turned it into a very solid third-place contender that will challenge AT&T and Verizon in deployment of 5G services.

Meal kit roundup — Blue Apron wins

Wired has assessed fourteen on-line meal-in-a-box delivery services, and has evaluated them on price, food quality, variety and recycle-ability. A complaint across all services is that they generate a lot of waste, so packaging was a consideration. The winner, Blue Apron, was lauded for reasonable price ($7 per meal per person per day), its efficient packaging, and its Mediterranean-style food offerings.

dis-rup-shun: With at least fourteen offerings, it is likely that a competitive shake out will eliminate some of the variety of this segment, but that could lead to the winners offering more variety of choices. Meals-in-a-box could eventually improve the poor eating habits of low income households and middle income food-lazy households, but still require the patience to follow some simple directions and do some prep. For those who don’t feel empowered in the kitchen or don’t live with a master cook (I’m sorry for you), there are no more excuses for eating less then great food all of the time.

U.K. phone towers attacked by those linking coronavirus to 5G

Attacks on four of Vodaphone’s cell phone towers followed social media posts linking coronavirus to 5G technology. British ministers are taking to social media to clear the record on 5G and dismiss any linkage to the pandemic. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Where there are people, there are conspiracy theories. If you find it shocking that so many ordinary people could have such wild ideas, then you haven’t yet watched Netflix’ Tiger King — a reminder that ordinary people are, well, not very ordinary.

Smart home technology predicted to be in one-half of homes

ProBuilder features an article by smart home platform company Ezlo’s Roger Gregory. Gregory cites research firm Berg Insight’s prediction that 63 million U.S. households will be “smart” in the next three years. Gregory addresses builders by reminding them that smart home technology is no longer a luxury, but a standard offering that actually increases the sale-ability of new homes and increases revenue.

dis-rup-shun: Smart home adoption will follow behind awareness, which is growing, but still low. Gregory does not address one problem of smart home technology, and that is the concerns of a substantial share of the population that smart home are not secure or are offering a big brother the opportunity to eaves drop. Better provisions and better education by the smart home technology industry is needed to minimize conspiracy theories and maximize privacy.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

IKEA to use AI to remodel your home

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IKEA nabs augmented reality provider

Ikea’s store division, Ingka Group, has purchased U.S. startup GeoMagical Labs — a company that enables AI-based renderings through a smart phone. The technology will enable users to take a smartphone photo of rooms they wish to decorate, and then fill an image with virtual IKEA furniture, becoming their own interior decorators. Reuters

dis-rup-shun: One can assume that this will become the new standard for furniture, paint, floor covering and clothing shopping… take a snap of that which you wish to change, try out virtual samples, then press a button and Amazon, UPS or FedEx will deliver within the same or (godforbid) three days.

Exactly how much have our online habits changed?

App Annie is a research firm that captures actual app usage for IoS and Android. In short, due to the pandemic, app usage has increased between 10% and 30% during the most intense times of shelter-in-place. Gaming usage has soared, and non-games app usage is also substantially higher. Time on apps is up as is spending through apps, as people buy more games, books, music and supplies.

dis-rup-shun: Mapping our pandemic behavior will provide great data for anthropologists, policy makers, doctors and marketers for years to come. Suffice it to say that consumer technology, in general, has been a big winner of the Coronapocalypse. The real question now is how much of the surge in digital services usage will remain when we find a new normal? It is safe to guess that most all of the services that we are using heavily will experience a significant fall back when the crisis is over, but will level off higher then pre-pandemic levels. 

Apple accidentally unveils new tracker product

It seems that there are so many Apple watchers, that whenever the company posts something out of the ordinary, people notice. Such a posting was caught by a blogger who reveals that Apple appears to be about to release an object tracking service — similar to Tile. AirTags, as the product is called, will feature some sort of battery operated tracking device that one can affix to wallets, keys, bicycles and other objects that could get misplaced. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: For Tile, the news is not so good, though the company may benefit from Apple’s advertising and marketing power, generating more awareness and demand for the product category. Tile may have to price below Apple to find its niche within the object tracker market, and there are plenty of similar case studies of Apple absorbing a technology that is already in market. A few to study are smart watches, sleep monitors, and even ear buds.

New product from Ring — Doorbox

In another inadvertent product leak, it appears that Ring is about to release the Doorbox. A picture is captured by CNET fuels guessing on what the device will do. It could be a mailbox that detects motion and affixes to a door or gate. The picture suggests that the device does not have a camera.

dis-rup-shun: Ring is working quickly to move from provider of niche connected smart home products, to provider of do-it-yourself integrated systems. The fact that the company is owned by Amazon makes for an interesting future, with tighter integration between the devices and Echo-powered devices. Other than SimpliSafe, there aren’t many complete DIY smart home system offerings in market. Nest comes and goes leaving Ring an opening to be the most complete provider of low-priced smart home products at retail.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Toilet paper, monitors and laptops: in high demand

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Monitors, laptops and toilet paper

Sales of monitors and laptops have surged since we sheltered in place. NPD, the market research firm that counts sales receipts, shows computer monitor sales doubled in the first week of March while laptop sales were up 10% CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Setting up home offices and getting screens just right for all of those Zoom calls has been critical to WFH. As stated before, many sectors of the tech market will thrive as the result of the pandemic: video conferencing, Internet infrastructure, cloud services, computing devices, streaming gaming and entertainment.

Apple purchases weather app Dark Sky

The popular weather app, Dark Sky, has won multiple awards for its IOS version. Apple confirmed that it has purchased the company and will shut down the Android version. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Why does Apple want another weather app? The company has, in the past, purchased technologies that it views as best-in-class. But what’s more is that a number of apps, and weather apps in particular, feed data to a number of other apps and get paid per transaction. It is likely that Dark Sky offers a strong data source to multiple apps and can feed data to a number of Apple products and services. Owler.com lists Dark Sky’s revenues at only $2.5 million. We know Apple is working hard to build out its services business and maybe Dark Sky will be the foundation for a premium weather service.

Microsoft purchases Affirmed Networks

Affirmed is a company that provides software that enables wireless carriers to expand their networks by using cloud services. While terms of the transaction were not disclosed, it is speculated that the transaction is valued at over $1 billion. Affirmed Networks is in a strong position to capitalize on the 5G network build out, currently underway. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Another victory lap for a tech company despite the pandemic. Microsoft Azure is working hard to catch up to Amazon Web Service, which is way ahead. But Microsoft has shown several times that there are advantages to being a tech company with a cloud service. Cloud services can be leveraged into existing tech tools and infrastructure, creating a seamless platform. Amazon, on the other hand, has done a good job building new tech tools that extend the cloud into the premise, but the online retailer has to convince companies that it know tech down deep. Everyone has their strengths and has to work twice as hard to build strengths where they don’t already exist.

Beta Technologies builds recharging platform for electric flying taxis

Beta Technologies is building a flying taxi and, fittingly, needs a place for the craft to land and quickly recharge. The facility also offers comfortable quarters for pilots (or are they called taxi flyers?) to recharge while their craft is getting juiced up. The test facility is located in Burlington, Vermont. Wired

dis-rup-shun: If taxis will become electric and will fly, then they have to go somewhere to recharge. Some very forward looking business people at Beta Technologies want to be ready when the time comes. This combination of a futuristic service station, helipad and sky diner is certainly way ahead of its time, but when the time comes, Beta will have a well-researched offering.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Quibi arrives next week

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Are you ready for Quibi?

What’s a Quibi? It is a new streaming video service for $5 per month (or $7 for no ads). But it’s not just another streaming service. This one is available only for your smartphone, enables you to choose the camera angle you wish to watch, and is owned and produced by celebrities, and offers programming that is no longer than 10 minutes, and packed with screen stars. The service has already produced a healthy number of episodes and will have 175 original shows in year one. Despite the pandemic, the service will launch next week.  CNET

dis-rup-shun: I was on the fence about Quibi, but given the current appetite for entertainment, I think that Quibi is the luckiest company on the planet. There is no better time or circumstance than now to launch a very specialized video service that will give people a lot to talk about. Those that don’t understand the talk will be forced to subscribe to be a part of the new normal. Just look at the impact on our online lives that Netflix’ Tiger King is having, then imagine all the talk is about something that only costs another $5 per month. Quibi will be thanking the coronavirus.

Air pollution is down – way down

The European Space Agency satellites have noted a significant decrease in air pollution. Significant visual changes are seen over Wuhan, a factory city, and Italy’s Po Valley, where the Alps block smog from industrial centers around Milan. The pandemic shutdown is providing scientists with a glimpse of what a reduced pollution future will look like and where it will change the atmosphere most. Wired

dis-rup-shun: If we are tallying up wins from coronavirus, we can credit the atmosphere as a winner.

Microsoft is a coronavirus winner

Use of Microsoft’s cloud services, including Teams and Skype video conferencing applications has skyrocketed. Teams use in Italy for a one month period was up 775%. On the news of the company’s strong performance, the stock was up 7%. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Let’s face it, the Internet is what is keeping our economy open during the pandemic. If our internet infrastructure collapsed, then we would devolve into a 1980s-like experience, with a bunch of smart devices that are computing islands. The companies that are keeping our lives together are the companies that make the devices, software, services and telecom infrastructure. Unless the company is involved in point of sale computing, the IT sector should be thriving in this time, and thank goodness for companies that make great, reliable products.

Free Zoom backgrounds

Need a less messy home office for your constant Zoom calls? A number of graphics providers have made backgrounds available for free — some animated. Sites are Unsplash, Canva, Modsy, and choices include PeeWee’s Playhouse, a confused John Travolta, and many others. The Verge

dis-rup-shun: It is nice to see that ingenuity is alive and well, jumping on the meteoric rise of Zoom and providing razors to go along with the free blade of Zoom conferences. Expect to see a list of video conferencing accessories, including software, devices, stands and microphones. We are an adaptive people.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Fitness trackers show activity crisis

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Fitness tracker data shows less movement, more sleep, with telehealth intentions

Evidation Health conducted a study of 160,000 U.S. citizens including 68,000 with fitness trackers and watches from Apple, Fitbit and Garmin. The data reveals that quarantined people are 39% to 50% less active than prior to quarantine, and time asleep has increased by 10% to 20%. Most notable, however, is that people’s willingness and future plans to visit doctors via telehealth has risen to 30% from 19% pre-pandemic. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The pandemic will accelerate the telemedicine industry (as it has the video conferencing industry) by three to five years, as the crisis is proving the efficacy of remote care to doctors, payers and patients. This sea change would have taken years in ordinary times, but when the crisis abates, telehealth will be a standard tool in care portfolios and will serve to trim escalating care costs.

14 apps to combat cabin fever

Wired offers some great alternatives to madness, as people strive to pass the long days of living mostly indoors:

Calm — a meditation and relaxation coach.

Headspace — another meditation and relaxation coach.

Libby — an electronic library card enables check out of books and videos.

Noisli — emulates a multitude of ordinary sounds.

Brain.fm — musical accompaniments to accelerate a desired state of mind.

JustWatch — a guide to finding and starting whatever programs are online on a streaming service.

Google Duo — another video chat app.

House Party — a party-like video chat app.

Peloton — a fitness app for people without the bike.

Aaptiv — a fitness training app with online coaches.

Design Home — an interior design app.

Minecraft — a virtual world app that can include others.

Nuzzel — an app for curating news based on what your contacts are reading.

YouTube — a good place to get lost watching things you never imagined.

dis-rup-shun:  I recommend Simone Giertz, aka Queen of Shitty Robots, on YouTube. This is fascinating entertainment, especially considering that Simone does this for a living.

UAE citizens appeal to government to allow use of WhatsApp and Skype

The UAE prohibits use of free communications apps, requiring its citizens to use government telecommunications infrastructure. Last week the government allowed temporary use of Zoom, Skype for Business and Google Hangouts, but has not allowed WhatsApp, Facetime or regular Skype. Citizens are calling for support of all major communications apps as they seek to connect with relatives around the world. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Just as the Berlin Wall was torn down after a few crosstown communications were allowed in 1989, the UAE’s stranglehold on communications policies could quickly slip away with frequent use of internet conferencing. If it happens, the good people of UAE can thank a global crisis for gaining what most of the rest of world considers to be innate internet freedoms. Another potential Coronavirus winner.

Polaroid instant film camera reborn

In a long and strange trip, the functionality that made the Polaroid camera a hot item in the 60s and 70s has been reunited with the brand name, and the instant film camera is re-born. The Polaroid Now camera costs about $100 and, based on film costs, each picture costs about $2. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: What is the demand for a bulky but fun camera which provides instant printed, color photos in the online age? Perhaps this throwback to the time when processing ordinary film took a week and Polaroid owners whipped out pictures in minutes will strike nostalgic chords. It is hard to imagine, however, that this technology will go beyond a very small niche. Polaroid marketers should work to make these instant photos unusually artsy in an effort to create a fad and hope it has legs.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Shared innovations fighting medical supply shortages

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Public private cooperation yield 3D printed ventilator extender

Prisma Health is a company that, based on an idea from an ER doctor, created a simple three way valve that enables one ventilator to serve four patients. The device can be quickly created with a 3D printer and was approved for use under an FDA Emergency Use Authorization rule. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: It is exciting to see innovation, flexibility and generosity abound, as great ideas are being rushed to the field while, at the same time, acts of generosity are always growing. The pandemic will ultimately good for healthcare as new innovations including telehealth and telecare, technology concepts that have been ready for prime time for several years, but blocked by the healthcare establishment, are now being implemented.

British vacuum makers Dyson and GTech to the rescue

Two well-known British vacuum cleaner companies, Dyson and GTech have quickly switched production from household appliances to ventilators, using inexpensive and quick to produce parts. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: If you have seen the movie Apollo 13, you will recall when a group of engineers were placed in a conference room with a bag full of objects that the astronauts had available in their capsule. They were given about 24 hours to construct a lifesaving solution. The good people at the vacuum companies have tackled a similar challenge.

Ford manufacturing face shields based on open source design

Lennon Rodgers, director of the Engineering Design Innovation Lab at University of Wisconsin-Madison, answered the call from a local hospital, requesting that the lab create face shields, as the hospital could not get adequate supply. Rodgers, with the help of local designers and his M.D. wife, developed a prototype and posted it on the web as an open source design. Ford, along with other companies, used the design to fabricate what it expects will be 75,000 units this week. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Speed and agility. Two things critical to slow the global pandemic. Thanks to the instantaneous and global availability of information via the Internet, many parties can react quickly and take action. As soon as a Coronavirus vaccine is developed, it must be an open source solution that drug manufacturers worldwide can produce rapidly.

Slack announces integration with Teams

In an interesting move, Slack has announced interoperability with Microsoft Teams. In the wake of coronavirus, Microsoft has revealed that some 44 million people are using the product daily. Microsoft is bundling the product in its Office suite, making it a tough competitor for Slack. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Slack was there first, but just like Netscape, will discover that Microsoft’s installed base receiving Teams will likely bury a standalone utility product. Slack’s move to inter connect with Teams is a good one, and may keep Slack fans from having to follow IT departments that mandate corporate use of Teams in the future, but the execs at Slack won’t be sleeping well for the foreseeable future.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Amazon gives and takes away

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Amazon essential items policy is killing retailers

Many small retailers have built their businesses using Amazon as their only channel to market. Thousands now find that Amazon will not accept or ship their products for weeks, given its “essentials only” policy to deal with the pandemic. While retailers understand the need for the policy, they must quickly find alternative channels such as Walmart.com through which to sell products. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Amazon, for many small businesses, does all the heavy lifting in terms of sales and distribution. Their policies — be they the order that products appear on a web page, or when shipments are de-prioritized — are a reminder of the need for diversification in most all things: suppliers, customers, lenders, and investors.

Facebook Portal a pandemic winner

Facebook’s Portal is a web conferencing device built for families and friends to watch TV together and enjoy video chatting. The devices were discounted by journalists and serious tech fans when they were announced just prior to holiday season in 2019. Facebook’s privacy problems were seen as a barrier to acceptance of the device. Now, the simplicity of the device is making it a favorite of consumers. Facebook Portal TV is now sold out. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: My how circumstances can change things. The simplicity of Portal TV and its fun features is well aligned with a literally captive market that is hungry for human connection. Call Facebook lucky or prophetic, but Portal is turning out to be a visionary product.

Amber smart circuit breaker a home electrical game changer

Amber Solutions, a Silicon Valley startup, has developed a semiconductor that manages electricity. The product, when placed in a circuit breaker, can sense and manage changes in current, power surges, shorts, and enables both remote control of circuits as well as reporting of energy usage. Amber Solutions

dis-rup-shun: The implications for smart circuits include the ability to control all devices in the home with a single app or single skill. The app could easily enable different scenarios such as conservation mode, vacation mode, security mode, and could detect problems with appliances, such as HVAC systems, long before they gave out. The question is how Amber will win over the circuit breaker giants such as Eaton, ABB, Leviton, Square D and others.

Apple releases new laptop like iPad

iPads continue to look and feel more like light, thin, touchscreen-capable laptops, and the latest release from Apple even claims to be a replacement for a laptop. The new iPad Pro is more powerful, supports a stylus, supports a mouse or trackpad, has new camera technology and LIDAR support. LIDAR technology enables augmented reality — the ability to superimpose dynamic images on top of photos. You need to watch the full Apple video to appreciate the potential. Apple.com

dis-rup-shun: It seems more and more people are using iPads as their daily computing device. The question Apple has to ask is if pushing the iPad as laptop cannibalizes more PC sales or MacBook sales. Given that there are more PC laptops in the world, the math would likely reveal that the new product wins over more PC users in volume. Nonetheless, Apple has, many times, shown that there is room for a new class of device, and getting more people to use iPads as their “travel computer” may not reduce sales of full strength MacBooks. Time will tell.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Is the Internet pandemic-proof?

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Will the pandemic crash the Internet?

Verizon reports that voice usage on its network was up 25% the week of March 12th, and total web traffic was up 22%. Usage of streaming media services was up 12%, VPN usage jumped 30% and online gaming spiked up 75% while social media remained stable. So far, the Internet appears sturdy and robust, despite the claims by a few analysts who believe the infrastructure will not be able to handle more traffic. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The internet has performed beautifully under the strain of WFH and School from Home (SFH), by informal accounts. The service providers, often bashed for a litany of issues, should be commended for building robust, stable, and scalable networks that are, quite frankly, the most important resource, other than food and water, for the continuous functioning of our shelter-in-place society. Perhaps we can look at all of those government mystery fees on our bills with a little less disdain.

covidnearyou.org site built in one week by volunteers

Covidnearyou.org created a website to help people map where the virus has been confirmed, helping close the gap of inadequate testing facilities and capabilities. The site was the idea of Rem Ramaswami, the head of product at Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs when he and his wife felt sick. Rem knew he could not build the site without help, so he gathered the support of friends who work for Apple, Amazon, MongoDB, CloudFlare, Alphabet and other tech firms. Together, working through the nights, they built the site in about seven days. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Community spirit, innovation and creativity will enable our culture to soar despite the current hurdles. Expect to see a number of impressive collaborative efforts bringing people together to do good. We learned from 9-11 that hard times bring out the best in people, and some great stories are already circulating.

Oura ring may help detect illness early

Our bodies send signals before we become ill, but we don’t often have ways of detecting the warning signs. Oura makes a ring that is a sensor that detects changes in temperature and sleep patterns and may be able to detect changes that signal illness, like coronavirus. Oura is working with UCSF to outfit 2,000 healthcare professionals to determine the effectiveness of the rings. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Collecting and building large sets of data is critical for applying data analytics and AI, and is difficult to do given HIPPA regulations that ensure privacy. Wise tech firms, like Google, have been able to collect data sets through partnerships with hospitals and academic institutions. Commercial and academic partnerships will build the empirical evidence required to lead healthcare providers and payers to adopt new technologies for the betterment of our care systems.

Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp enjoy surge

It’s not just Zoom and Microsoft Teams that are enjoying unprecedented volume. Facebook products Messenger and Instagram Live usage have doubled over last year in certain regions, especially Italy. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Socializing over the internet works. It is definitely not as good as being in someone’s presence, but it enables people to make eye contact and see each other’s faces and feel the warmth of their presence. Video chats will keep the fabric of our culture intact until it is safe to high five, shake hands, hug and kiss.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Race virtually against pro car drivers

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Pro race drivers competing against gamers

With the cancellation of Formula One, NASCAR and Indy Car races, professional drivers are competing against themselves and against gamers in online SIM races. Esports events are featuring virtual races with familiar professional drivers. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: Online gaming technology levels the playing field — driving skills and all athletic skills, for that matter, do not necessarily translate to dominance in video games — making the mixture of professionals and amateurs even more interesting. The NBA and MLB will benefit greatly by keeping fans engaged through Esports events, keeping the most enthusiastic well engaged. A number of pro sports owners also own Esports teams and facilities, and the current crisis will encourage further diversification into video franchises.

Car dropped from tower onto trampoline

Why? Because it was a challenge. A former NASA and Apple engineer and a band of video bloggers do what no one has done before — drop a car 121 feet onto a specially designed, industrial strength trampoline. This 15 minutes and 45 second video is well worth all the time you will waste watching it — not only because we are all fascinated by the immutable laws of physics acting on objects under severe distress, but because the reactions of the brilliant and well-funded pranksters strikes a cord of joy and adrenaline that takes us back. Wired

dis-rup-shun: In these times of utterly unbelievable and distressing news, this fifteen minutes will transport you back to the time when sheer amazement and joy can be found by doing totally crazy stuff. Watch it!

FluSense system detects public illness

Researchers at UMass Ahmerst are developing a system that measures the number of coughs detecting in public places. It uses thermal sensors to estimate the number of people in the room, then computes something along the lines of coughs per capita and frequency of coughs to measure relative changes of health in public areas. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Collecting health data from those who have not yet identified themselves as sick, by going to a doctor or hospital, could lead to insights about the onset of flu before healthcare resources are aware, or needed. As the system does not identify individuals, it does not compromise privacy, but could lead to better predictors of public health.

Bidet attachments ease the need to horde toilet paper

Europeans aren’t queuing up at the market for a run on toilet paper because in many European homes, the bidet has long been a permanent fixture. Bidet attachments can retrofit nearly any toilet for $20, $80 and up, providing a cleansing that nearly eliminates the need for paper. Running a supply line to a hot water source, however can be a bit complicated. CNET

dis-rup-shun: While the coronavirus may leave a permanent mark on traditional ways we educate our college students and how we use expensive office real estate, it is not likely to permanently change the way Americans go to the bathroom. Bidets, for reasons unknown, have not been popular in the U.S., but now there are even better reasons to try an inexpensive attachment which could lead to graduation to a Kohler bidet model that includes a light, a heater, and Bluetooth connectivity.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Improving your webcam look

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How to look good on a webcam

Life is now enjoyed via web conference, and looking good on a webcam requires a few tricks.

  1. Elevate the computer to be at eye level, else your audience is looking up your nose.
  2. Look into the camera, not the screen. The lack of eye contact is noticeable.
  3. Get a good microphone. The one on your laptop stinks.
  4. Create better lighting by changing the tone on your monitor. Go to settings and choose a warmer hue than monitor blue.
  5. Don’t sit in front of a window — you will be a silhouette.
  6. Choose a good background. This can be performed with software in some video conferencing apps, or by moving to a good spot.  CNET

dis-rup-shun: Face it, you aren’t going anywhere for at least a few weeks — especially if you live in California.  Your chance to make a first or second or nth impression is right here in your home office and you might as well amuse yourself and your coworkers by stepping up your web conferencing game.

Microsoft Teams reaches 44 million users 

As stated above, life is now about web conferencing. All the providers are seeing massive increases in usage, and Microsoft Teams, a very full featured remote work application that incorporates video chat, screen sharing, and instant messaging is enjoying more than double the usage over its 20 million figure last November. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The bulk of online humanity is now trying out a video conferencing platform, but most may not realize that Teams is both a video conference platform and a virtually work space. Microsoft took some lemons from the abysmal Skype product and made lemonade, and except for some hard to find control features, the product is delightful. Slack will have to step up given that Teams is bundled in Microsoft Office suites. Just ask the good people at Netscape what bundling means.

Pornhub does its part for Europeans

Adult content website Pornhub has extended premium memberships for free for a month to the good people of Italy, France and Spain. The company saw dramatic spikes in viewership after the offer. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Well, as we tell children at birthdays, it’s the spirit that counts.

PS5 versus XBox X Series

CNET tries to fill in the missing blanks to determine which new console will be better. Both will be well powered with AMD processors, will have faster memory units and offer backwards compatibility for existing games software. Sony is expected to offer a fairly different controller, and Microsoft is expected to reduce latency via software on its controller. Both are using different architectural approaches to accomplish better performance, but the question of what games will be available on the new devices lingers.

dis-rup-shun: It’s the content, of course, that makes the device! Both companies have kept game titles well concealed, with a few titles known for XBox. Even one totally awesome game on a new platform will sell many, many units.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Security owners want more smart home

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Smart home security systems owners want more

In a recent study conducted at Interpret Research, owners of smart home security systems indicated a significantly higher intention of purchasing smart home products than people without security systems, suggesting that systems dealers and manufacturers have an interested market, ready for upgrades and add-ons. Interpret

dis-rup-shun: The smart home industry is waiting to understand if smart home product purchasers are more or less inclined to purchase integrated systems, like smart home security systems, after they purchase one or two smart home products. The Interpret study suggests that security systems providers are fueling growth of more products. Next month the company will publish data indicating how important device interoperability is to smart product buyers.

Playstation 5 unveiled

Sony, in a live webinar, unveiled the latest Playstation — number 5. The high-powered console is based on an eight-core AMD CPU and GPU, with SSD storage, haptic feedback and adaptive triggers based on the games being played and what you are doing in the game. The device promises to offer a premium experience. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: These are interesting times for the console makers, and the pandemic and subsequent quarantine may help the console makers, as occasional players will be reminded of the hours of fun and community received by playing on the console. With mobile and cloud-based options eating away at the core of the consoles’ markets, the devices have to deliver an even better experience but still remain priced in the sweet spot of the mass market. It looks like both Sony and Microsoft will deliver on a powerful experience and will get the game content community engaged in another console generation. What happens beyond this generation is harder to predict, as console alternatives continue to get better and offer more titles.

The best video games to play in quarantine

Whatever your preferred genre, there is a multiplayer version of the game you choose which will enable you to meet new people and feel like you are not stuck at home. Some favorites covered by Wired include, Final Fantasy XIV, Don’t Starve Together, Jackbox, Overwatch, Divinity: Original Sin 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s Warzone, Stardew Valley, World of Warcraft Classic.

dis-rup-shun: Contact starved quarantine-ees will have to find solace in online communities. The volume of video conference calls must have increased 10 fold or more in the past week, teaching even the skeptics that video calling from home is almost as good as being in an office. Watch productivity spike for home workers (who don’t have children home schooling simultaneously).

Lots of work-from-home newbies are setting up big monitors

If you are perfecting your home office for a long WFH stint, here are some good guidelines to purchasing and connecting a larger monitor to your laptop. If you have a new laptop, you will find that you no longer have standard USB or HDMI ports, as new machines have all gone to the tiny USB-C connector, requiring an adapter or port replicator to be purchased with a new monitor. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Once home workers perfect their setup, it will be difficult to return to the office for more than an occasional team meeting. Will the demand on office space be less after the pandemic as workers want less from their office space and are more willing to be “hotelers” and share space?

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Amazon on hiring tear

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Amazon to hire 100,000 immediately

Amazon has been overwhelmed with orders, especially for consumer staples. Given the potentially long duration of the pandemic, door-to-door delivery may become vital for many who are unable or afraid to shop at stores. The company is beefing up its delivery system, including drivers and warehouse workers, and is encouraging people displaced from the restaurant industry to apply. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Amazon is another silver lining company, one that will prosper during the global pandemic. While the global supply chain is being disrupted and is affecting Amazon, its delivery business will continue to boom and its grocery delivery business may finally get the push it needed to become a household habit. The tech giants do appear to be going the extra mile, using their strong cash positions to assist displaced employees and contribute to the great good.

Bill Gates says good bye to Microsoft

Gates, founder of Microsoft in 1975 with Paul Allen (now deceased), has retired from Microsoft’s board of directors. He has also retired from the board of Berkshire Hathaway, in order to spend more time managing the philanthropies of the Gates Foundation. Gates stated that Microsoft has never been in better hands. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It is a heart-warming story to see Bill, who, along with a handful of visionaries including Steve Jobs, changed the world. Some of the greatest tech companies that helped change the world, including IBM, HP, EDS, Xerox, Sun Microsystems and even Cisco have lost their way and are either gone or struggling. Gates and Steve Jobs have both moved on, but the leaders that are now at the helm have found new markets and kept the market innovation at the forefront. Now that “Neutron” Jack Welch has passed away, Gates could be the next senior statesman-management sage, showing today’s leaders how to be great.

Remember movie theaters?

The theater industry just had its worst weekend at the box office in two decades. Several major releases were postponed, but theaters remained open, which may not be the case in subsequent weekends. The damage was total revenues of $55 million, an amount that is often earned by a single film in one weekend. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Not wanting to pile on the doom and gloom, we must consider that life after the pandemic will be different. Streaming movie experiences keep keeping better, with better content, better video quality, better user interfaces, and better pricing. Theaters will always be special places to go to get away, to have the one-of-a-kind popcorn buckets, and to take a date when its not yet appropriate to invite a date to your home. But will the pandemic finish off the several week exclusive window that new theaters enjoy before new releases are streamed to home TVs? If so, it will be hard to go back, and movie theaters will lose one big differentiating advantage.

Still don’t have AirPods?

If you are one of the few people who didn’t receive AirPods for the holidays, and if you are determined not to give Apple any more of your money, check out this review of the best wireless ear pods. Sennheiser, Jabra, Sony, Samsung, Anker, and others, all have a place in the top choices. CNET

dis-rup-shun: It is impressive that the consumer electronics industry keeps inventing new must have products. There are a few of us who haven’t yet decided that ear pods are “must haves,” but eventually even the laggards are buyers.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Working from home? Upgrade your Wi-Fi

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Upgrading home Wi-Fi now that you are WFH

Millions of people have been barred from the office and are not working from home. With home Wi-Fi now critical to both work and play, there are some easy ways to improve the reliability. Replace your cable or telco router, relocate your router, add a Wi-Fi signal booster, use power line networking to transmit data over through your  electrical outlets, or try using a wired network. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Networking equipment products should be enjoying a significant sales increase as the nation and world retreat to home offices and strive to maintain a semi-normal routine. Corporations will quickly learn that businesses, for the most part, will run quite smoothly with remote workers. The current pandemic may ultimately reduce demand for office space as corporations realize that the work force can be highly productive without the added costs of offices.

Xbox Live service goes down on Sunday

Xbox Live’s service was out for two hours on Sunday. The company has not yet reported if the outage was the result of heavy usage, but it was restored by Sunday evening. The Verge

dis-rup-shun: It’s Spring Break and the ski resorts are closed, air travel is discouraged and everyone is encouraged to stay home… and play games. The Internet providers will be tested in the next weeks as people connect virtually and play games, stream movies, and video conference while working from home. Computer peripherals and accessories, including printer cartridges and paper will be hot quarantine items.

Everbridge emergency management software surges with the pandemic

Everbridge, a public company based outside of Boston, was founded after 9/11 to help companies monitor, manage and communicate in a disaster. The company’s software has been important in tracking coronavirus outbreaks and enabling companies to communicate with employees and customers. The company recently signed a $25 million, 5 year contract with the state of California. The company’s shares are trading at 17 times earnings, well above its average of 11 times. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: As the world braces for economic crisis, finding the winners during bad times will be interesting. Everbridge has a good business model, as natural disasters are a given, and are predicted to be coming more frequently thanks to climate change.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Online game usage surges as schools close

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Fortnite, Call of Duty are winners of coronavirus debacle

It has been hard to find silver linings in light of this week’s decimation of life as we know it. Publishers of online games Fortnite and Call of Duty, Epic and Activision, are enjoying surging demand for the game titles. Telecom Italia has reported a surge in network traffic as people stay home from school and work and rely on internet connections for gaming, video consumption, and online classes. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Streaming video services, likewise, will be fully exercised as people stay home during the global sports and concert blackout. Virtual live concerts and sporting events will resemble pay-per-view boxing matches, and may create new entertainment formats that are less reliant on live audiences.

Visual One makes web cameras very smart

Web cameras have become very popular, but motion-based alerts can be some common that people begin to ignore them. Visual One is a company using machine learning and a low cost Wyse Camera to identify types of motion that may interest you — like someone taking a package off the front porch, or a dog jumping on the couch. Being able to select which of these events are worthy of an alert makes a web camera far more useful. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Today’s smart home is a misnomer when we realize how smart products are getting ready to become, and the boost in utility they will provide. Such intelligence, of course, will continue to sound ethics alarms when your webcam is able to send alerts like “Suzy’s boyfriend came through the back gate at 10:48.”

Shadow cloud gaming service comes to U.S.

Another cloud based gaming service is revising its offer for the U.S. market. Blade, a French company offers a monthly fee of $11.99 for a more powerful gaming experience. The service provides a full Windows 10 instance, meaning that for the monthly fee, you essentially have full use of a powerful Nvidia-charged PC, that will run any Windows app you choose — remotely. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: An objection to cloud gaming is latency. With a more powerful processor in the cloud, latencies will be reduced to those in the network, not the data center. Shadow’s offering may make Chromebooks or tablets more feasible, providing all the tools one needs to perform specialized tasks, but from a light weight, low-powered device. 5G will further improve this latest twist on cloud computing.

Foreign made drones to be banned from U.S. Defense purchases

Trump’s administration is preparing an executive order to ban the purchase and use of non-U.S. made drones in military and government applications. The order cites the potential for compromises of national security that could result from sensitive data being transferred to foreign nations. The drone market is expected to be worth $15 billion by the end of the current decade. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: On the heels of the release of detailed accounts of  the massive Equifax data breach, sensitivity toward cyber attacks is high. About 70% of the market is controlled by China-based DJI. The majority of the DoD’s fleet is made up of China-based manufacturers. Old films of East Berlin or Russia during the Cold War showed odd looking Trabant cars, made locally in East Germany. The perils of closed markets are very apparent.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

COVID enables tech to crush the college experience

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Virus-fighting technology likely to change college forever

Thousands of colleges and universities across the globe announced their closure — some for weeks, others for the duration of the semester. Most all closing institutions will rely on online learning to substitute for people gathering in classrooms, labs and lecture halls. USA Today

dis-rup-shun:  Will academic institutions ever go back to a classroom setting after their abrupt shifts to online education? The late Steve Jobs suggested that college classrooms would someday be replaced by computers and live gatherings would be only for the purpose of holding study groups and help sessions. Perhaps to justify large tuitions and preserve tradition, many high ranked private colleges have employed online learning only minimally. This is now changing in response to COVID-19, and institutions large and small will find that it is easier and less costly to operate a virtual college. Suspended extracurricular activities, sports teams and aging facilities may not be resumed and the collegiate college experience may forever change, especially if quarantines drag on beyond a few weeks.

Stop touching your face! There’s an app for that

If you are following hygiene instructions and washing your hands frequently and trying not to touch your face, you are now aware of how frequently you do it. Slightly Robot, a startup, has created the Immunotouch wristband that buzzes every time your hand approaches your face. And yes, there is an app that enables you to track your retraining progress. The device was originally designed to assist those who have developed the bad habit of pulling their own hair out, but has been opportunistically re-purposed to assist in the battle against coronavirus. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: While an interesting solution for those really determined to keep their hands off of their face, it seems likely that smartwatch makers may quickly respond with an app that takes advantage of the existing accelerometer in the device. China has deployed a number of apps to track one’s proximity to people who have tested positively for COVID-19. Leveraging technologies to assist in controlling pandemics makes perfect sense, and tech companies that do so will endear themselves to the public.

Chip Wars: The (Intel) Empire Strikes Back

After years of attempts, AMD’s 3rd generation Rizen CPUs, the Zen 2,  beat the performance of Intel’s Core i5 9500. A new Intel chipset, the Core i5 10400, will put Intel back on top, at least until AMD rolls out Rizen Gen 4. Forbes

dis-rup-shun: It is tough to stay on top, and after several decades of dominance, Intel is being attacked on many fronts. ARM processors won the mobile race, with Qualcomm a big winner. Nvidia bested Intel with its GPUs for superior graphics in in-car displays such as those in VW and Audi, and now AMD is edging Intel in its core market, the consumer PC. Competition is good for the consumer, and it is certainly giving Intel a thorough run.

Quibi launch mired by lawsuits and coronavirus

What is Quibi? It is a new video subscription service that displays only on smartphones, uses original content no longer than 10 minutes, and is backed by a number of high-level celebrities and business moguls, who are taking a BIG gamble that their exists an appetite for this unusual service. Another unique-ness is that you can rotate the phone and get a completely different camera view of the action — letting you, the viewer, determine the best angle for the action. The service is set to launch in a few weeks, but coronavirus fears prohibit public launch events, and a company called Eko has claimed that Quibi, and several of its executives who came from Snap, who discussed, under NDA, the possibility of using Eko’s technology, have stolen the screen flipping technology. Gizmodo

dis-rup-shun: Foretelling demand for Quibi is tough. On the one hand, it seems that we all have too many video sources to watch and too many monthly subscriptions to pay. On the other, it seems that if really compelling content is offered by Quibi, and everyone starts talking about it, the urge to spend just a few more dollars per month will be irresistible, just so we can join the conversation.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

The end of the cashier is near

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Amazon Just Walk Out technology about to transform retail

Amazon has been developing, through its cashier-less stores, technology that accurately charges a customer for what they have taken from a store using sensors and cameras. Shoppers enter the store and scan an app, then simply walk out with their purchases. Receipts are optional via email. Amazon is now selling this technology to other stores, and it is expected to appear not only in shops, but in movie theater and baseball concession stands. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Isn’t it ironic. The company that took shopping online and wrecked retailers is now in a position to transform retail shopping and eliminate check out altogether. Even shoplifting will be transformed, as thieves and the goods they remove will be well documented by sensors and cameras. This is not the first time Amazon has taken an internal technology and licensed it to the public. The company’s own remote data center technology became the foundation for Amazon Web Services and its Software as a Service tools that it sells to thousands of customers, generating over $25 billion in revenues in 2018.

Health records opened: big win for consumers and Big Tech

In a move that took a decade and a village of healthcare companies and legislators, the Department of Health and Human Services cracked Epic System’s stranglehold on personal health records. Epic Systems, a company protected by a slow-to-change industry that is careful to safeguard privacy, effectively controlled electronic health record access and resisted Big Tech’s efforts to interface with health records for use with smartphones and health apps. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The health care system and its incumbents are right to insist on the highest level of data privacy and compliance with HIPPA, but enabling tech companies easier access to consumers’ health records will accelerate the creation of a transparent market with open pricing and clearer choices. To be able to shop for your next MRI or even compare costs of surgeries from place to place will rock the care industry, but will ultimately lead to more competition between care providers, a higher focus on service, and a more cost effective care system. Bring it on.

Ready to carry a password key?

Passwords suck. Many are not secure and remembering multiple passwords requires uncommon genius. A new security technology, called FIDO, is working on replacing passwords. FIDO requires a combination of a physical USB key and a biometric reader (fingerprint or facial recognition). FIDO apps on your smartphone, when tethered to a PC via Bluetooth, can serve as the physical key. FIDO is reported to be far more secure than any prior security method and, even better, is able to block spammer and phishing schemes. CNET

dis-rup-shun: It is a rare person that sits at a computer without their smartphone nearby, so FIDO could transform security without much hassle. Eliminating passwords that need to be complex and always different to be secure will be a great day. Most people still seem to carry keys, so adding one more for data access sounds like a reasonable possibility.

The Internet lives in a hotel in NYC

Wired goes inside one of the large Internet hotels where servers, switches, miles of cable, power plants and backup generators live under very tight security. Multiple hotels house interconnection of networks such as AT&T, Google and Verizon, enabling them to exchange data across their separate networks. The hotels house hundreds of servers, some which are owned by the networks, and some by their large clients.

dis-rup-shun: You will enjoy the photos that show how a click of a mouse can connect us to millions of data sources from around the world. The resources required to create the Internet are clean, yet massive. Huge amounts of power, cable, plastic sheathing and diesel fuel (for backup) are required to enable the high reliability network. The rapid growth of data will require ever more resources, pushing against the resource reductions delivered by the now sputtering Moore’s Law. The distributed nature of Internet hotels, however, provides effective protection from potential disasters.

 

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Rocket rides sold for $55 million

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Space travel broker Axiom Space sells a seat for $55 million

The travel broker Axiom Space sold its first of three seats on a SpaceX rocket, and a 10 day stay on the international space station, for $55 million. CNET

dis-rup-shun: This is an interesting cluster of commercial, private and government interests. Which entities stand to gain from private citizens paying a commercial rocket company for time on a multi-national government funded space station, and what happens when space tourists get in the way of valuable scientific experiments and potentially endanger astronauts who have trained for decades to spend time in space?

Techlash — no more office space allowed in San Francisco

The city of San Francisco expects to pass Proposition E (pundits indicate that bill has 55% support). Proposition E limits construction of new office space based upon the amount of new housing stock created. Local residents are celebrating the proposal, while economists and venture capitalists are highly concerned. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Despite exceptionally high housing prices and shocking growth in homeless population, San Francisco’s tech boom continues to draw the best and brightest to the city. The city is looking more like a closed system — if you pour in thousands of prosperous jobs, you can’t force the low wage earners out of the city — they want and need to be there too, but are increasingly forced to live in the streets. With remote work tools getting better by the month, tech companies should find it easier than ever to tap into lower cost, distributed work forces outside of the Bay Area.

Apple App Store bans many COVID-19 apps

Apple joins other Big Tech companies on controlling the misinformation associated with coronavirus. Apps that help track the virus that are not submitted by health organizations are blocked. Gizmodo

dis-rup-shun: Amazon is working to take down price gougers who are selling masks and sanitizers at outlandish prices, and Facebook is working to eliminate misinformation posted on its network. Apple is doing its part to prevent misleading or overly opportunistic apps. It is encouraging to see that Big Tech is collectively focusing on protecting people and helping the global community steer its way through the current health and economic crisis.

Oppo watch is Apple Watch lookalike for Android

Chinese manufacturer Oppo has released a good looking Apple lookalike. The product runs the Android-based ColorOS, and will be released for sale first in China on March 24th. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The watch is not an exact knock-off of the Apple Watch, but very similar. Just as in phones, Apple set the look and feel for an armada of smartphones from many brands — none as successful as Samsung — sold to people who liked the technology but preferred not to join the Apple faithful. As the smart watch gains market share, expect Apple to dictate the design, feature set and pricing even while Android powered watches eventually overtake Apple’s share of the market.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Coronavirus spurs telehealth use

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Coronavirus may be catalyst for telehealth

Telehealth applications are proving effective to keep the worried well out of hospitals and clinics. Those who wish to confirm that they do not have the virus are turning to telehealth apps including Teledoc, Anthem’s LiveHealth Online, United Health Group, and Aetna’s CVS Minute Clinics. Remote physician visits, through an app, prevent overcrowding of the health care system, which can be better utilized to treat those with positive symptoms. Reimbursement for telehealth still has some obstacles to overcome, including paying doctors who treat people across state lines. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: There must be some silver linings from coronavirus, and a thorough test of telehealth systems, including reimbursement of healthcare professionals, should be one. Our healthcare systems must lean heavily on telemedicine to address the looming care crisis (that exists without coronavirus) and the burden is on health insurance companies to provide incentives for consumers as well as doctors to use telehealth before crowding doctors offices and clinics for basic care issues.

GM gets serious about beating Tesla

GM showed off a new modular chassis and battery platform designed to be the foundation for a large variety of models from GM, Cadillac, Chevy and Buick. The new battery technology uses less cobalt and more aluminum, and is expected to get ranges of 400 miles on faster charging time. In the mix are a new Cadillac EV as well as a Hummer electric pickup truck. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: Ever since Tesla’s market valuation ballooned to more than 3x that of GM, the big automakers have received the message. The message is that their side agenda of mixing a few electric cars into the fleet is a death wish, as the future is starting to look all electric. Now the question is if the service stations, lube franchises, and auto repair businesses are thinking long term. Certainly petrol burners will be on the road for a decade or two, but with the average family SUV being electric in a handful of years, the demand for combustion engine automobile services will fall like a rock. This will also put a big dent in auto dealership service revenues, as EVs simply require far less repairs and maintenance.

Apple Arcade becoming the Netflix of Games

Apple’s $5 per month game subscription targets the family gaming experience, providing a host of family-friendly game titles without any in-game purchases of weapons, tools or cheats. Designed for a different market from XBox services or Google’s Stadia console killer, the service, like Netflix, offers a variety of titles and genres under one simple subscription price model. TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: Apple executives at some point sat down to determine how they could be like Netflix, and one result was Arcade. In addition to creating a new source of revenues, the service further cements children’s’ affections for the Apple brand — catching consumers for life at an early age. Let’s see what future service models Apple has up its sleeve, and how its successful credit card venture can be woven into these services.

The future of tires: AI and self-healing

Goodyear has introduced a very different concept of tires for the future — tires that use AI to determine, based on your driving style, what your tread should be like, and then using cartridges of rubber-like material that a driver injects into the tire frame, an individualized tread is “grown.” The futuristic concept requires a narrow tire on a slim frame that makes flat tires and changing tire pressure a thing of the past. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Generating rubber for tires, either of natural or synthetic rubber, is a resource intensive process. Disposing of tires may be even worse. As our culture takes a hard look at environmental impact, the tire industry has a lot of cleaning up to do. With electric vehicles still requiring at least four tires per car, the future of the tire industry isn’t bleak like the gasoline engine-based industries, and innovations improving efficiency and reducing energy and waste will be well embraced by EV manufacturers.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Consumers love Microsoft, Amazon distrust Facebook, Twitter

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Verge consumer survey shows what tech companies are loved and disdained

The Verge completed a follow up survey to its 2016 survey on public perceptions of tech firms. Facebook lacked trust in 2016 and has fallen precipitously, while Amazon, adored in 2016, remains a public favorite. Microsoft is the must trusted tech company (75% trust it), followed by Amazon (73% trust it).

  • 56 percent said the government should break up tech companies if they control too much of the economy
  • 72 percent said that Facebook has too much power
  • 51 percent said Google and YouTube should be split into separate companies

dis-rup-shun: What is surprising about the survey is that Apple is in the bottom half of companies discussed. Has Apple’s premium product positioning and pricing made it an elitist brand that does not appeal to the masses as do Google, Netflix, and Amazon? Perhaps Apple has become the Nordstrom’s in a Target world, where technology is now a lifestyle necessity of all but the most impoverished, and highly accessible brands are seen as providing great utility to society. Facebook, however, remains a powerful but disliked brand — a precarious position for long-term success.

Walmart readies answer to Amazon Prime

Walmart will soon launch Walmart + which is a fee-based loyalty program aimed to combat Amazon Prime. Amazon now controls 40% of online retail, Walmart.com controls 5%. Walmart is exploring perks for which it has a unique advantage, such as 1,600 grocery stores in the U.S. that could provide free delivery. Aside from free grocery delivery, the retail giant may be hard pressed to find other advantages its chain can offer over Amazon. Vox

dis-rup-shun: Amazon has changed the rules of shopping, with Sunday deliveries so successful that FedEx trucks are rolling down neighborhood streets on Sunday. To beat Amazon at its game, Walmart must not only offer equivalent one to two-day delivery, but must provide a product that so delights customers, as Amazon Prime Video does, that consumers will, as with Amazon, feel as if they are receiving something for free. Grocery delivery is great, but more of a necessity than a pleasure. Free ice cream delivery, or make it dessert delivery, could be a game changer.

AT&T TV: meet the new face of cable TV

AT&T has exactly eight video service offerings, and the newest is simply AT&T TV. The new service looks like a skinny cable bundle (just the major channels), is delivered over the Internet, and costs only $50 per month. The catch, however, is that a two year contract is required, and year 2 costs $93 per month before a plethora of add-ons. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The masses are cutting the cord and there are many, many streaming TV package alternatives. Hulu and YouTube TV are the early leaders with bundles that look like cable, but cost a lot less, and provide whole-home (multiple device) solutions. AT&T TV is a clever offering, in that it will appeal to those that believe they should join the cord cutting revolution, yet just aren’t sure if non-traditional providers will give them what they want. Enter AT&T with a promise to deliver the new TV dream while also providing a familiar pricing package full of expensive add-ons and increasing prices over a contract period. Once again, the company will churn the same user base that it recently churned from U-Verse to DirecTV.

Another one (SpaceX rocket) bites the dust

Elon Musk’s SpaceX lost another Starship that apparently buckled under pressure as nitrogen filled its tanks. This follows a series of failures of different types and parts of rockets as the company remains hellbent on getting reusable space travel ready for prime time ahead of competitors. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Every rocket failure can be seen as a setback, but should be seen as great progress towards achieving safety in space. Every failure, let’s hope, is one less that will occur with precious cargo such as humans, aboard. The stakes for winning space are very high and commercial space travel is one area of technology that American entrepreneurs are leading the globe.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

U.S. Air Force ready to help the flying taxi industry

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U.S. Air Force offers to help test flying cars

The USAF has offered to assist the flying car and flying taxi makers test and certify their crafts in order to accelerate growth of the new category, for civilian and military use. The move is reported to be the result of the small drone business, vitally important to the U.S. military, having migrated to China, making it difficult for the U.S. military to find domestic drone partners. Wired

dis-rup-shun: The USAF’s dilemma is a new theme that will repeat many times: how to keep at least some core of new technologies from rapidly migrating to markets, such as China, that can produce faster, better and cheaper. With the majority of consumer electronics already being produced outside of the U.S., designating selected technologies to remain on-shore is an unlikely outcome. The Air Force’s move will likely create important military-emerging company partnerships earlier that may, if military funds follow, become long-term.

Sparta Science and the NFL use data to predict injuries

Sparta, a company founded by MD Phil Wagner, uses workout and movement data from NFL players, to create a player risk profile. By compiling thousands of data points from video scans of players, the technology determines points of stress in a player’s movements and predicts injuries that are likely to occur. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The idea of science predicting when we will get injured, sick or die is creepy, but with millions of dollars being invested in pro athletes, especially NFL and NBA players, it only makes sense. Consider the possibility, however, that to purchase a life insurance policy or even health insurance, we will report to a clinic that will run a series of tests and, consequently, assign us to a risk category, to which our insurance premiums will be set.

Internet Archive stores 20,000 VHS recordings

Did you know there is an organization which preserves historical media for posterity? The Internet Archive is a non-profit online library of media of our yesteryear. It is well known for its Wayback Machine, which is a tool that can be used to locate millions of web pages that have long disappeared from the world wide web. The Internet Archive has now stored the contents of over 20,000 VHS recordings, preserving a great deal of 90s videos, commercials and TV shows. Check out the VHS Vault for a black hole of campy entertainment. The Verge

dis-rup-shun: The ability to study history firsthand is invaluable, and thanks to the Internet Archive, future historians can do just that. The downside, of course, is that governments that might wish to control resources such as the Internet Archive can, literally, re-write history. Let’s hope that these resources remain independent, redundant and well preserved.

Unions call for investigation of Amazon for anti-competitive trade practices

Big Tech, facing increasing pressure from Congress, can now add unions to its list of detractors. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Communications Workers of America, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and the Service Employees International Union have petitioned the FTC to look into Amazon’s “immense and growing influence.” The unions call on the FTC to consider Amazon’s “exclusionary conduct to the detriment of workers, consumers, merchants, and competition itself.” Amazon’s reply: the company has created over 500,000 jobs and represents less than 4% of total retail. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It’s a slippery slope that giant, fast growing corporations walk, and history shows that giants are eventually toppled by regulators. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 toppled Standard Oil, and President Roosevelt sued 45 additional companies. Not quite a hundred years later Judge Green ordered the restructuring of AT&T. Amazon is, no doubt, reshaping our economy, but can it do so without being seen as a menace? Just this weekend on television, commercials for Amazon’s Pill Pack pharmacy were aired. Amazon’s push into healthcare may provide much needed disruption, but may also draw the ire of a new set of industry regulators.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Tempo perfects connected home weightlifting

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Tempo weightlifting provides live coaching online

Peloton has changed home workout equipment forever, and Tempo, with Series A funding of $17 million, is on its way to making home weight lifting state-of-the-art. The six foot tall station includes a flat panel equipped with a 3D camera, which monitors your reps and form and corrects improper form. Live classes not only offer you a just-like-the-gym experience, but the instructor on the other side of the screen can see if you are using poor form and can call you out to correct you across the wire. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Imagine a high end home with a collection of state-of-the-art exercise devices.  Because the owner wants only the best, each piece of equipment has its own programming, its own class subscription plan and pricing, and its own schedule for live classes. It would be like going to the gym and finding that every piece of equipment was made by a different company and worked a bit differently. The home fitness industry is entering a stage in which most devices are connected, offer an experience as good or better than from a live trainer, and demand a hefty monthly subscription fee. If the result is that more people get in better shape for the same or less money than going to the gym, then everybody wins. The question will be to see if gym memberships decline, or if the need for human fellowship keeps the gym buzzing.

After information, controls is next tier of smart speaker usage 

Smart speakers are now found in 35% of U.S. households, according to Interpret’s New Media Measure quarterly survey of 9,000 U.S. households. The screen-enabled version of smart speakers, called smart displays, were heavily promoted for the holidays, with commercials for Facebook’s Portal, Amazon’s Echo Show, and Google’s Nest Home Hub. Smart displays will likely be used more frequently than smart speakers for shopping, as only 8% of respondents claim to make purchases through smart speakers. The primary use case for the devices is asking about the weather (53% of respondents), searching the web to answer questions (34% of respondents), followed by keeping a to-do list and task reminders (27%). An impressive 26% of respondents reported that they control smart home devices through their smart speaker. Interpret Analysis

dis-rup-shun: If half of smart speaker owners are now controlling home systems through their smart speakers, the devices are paving the way for increasing adoption of smart home products that can communicate with Alexa or Google Home. Amazon now owns Ring and Google owns Nest, so both companies are poised to finish what they started — building a full array of smart home systems, from lighting to thermostats, cameras, doorbells and leak sensors. With the riches possessed by both companies, however, one wonders why the companies haven’t moved more quickly to acquire these missing pieces. Perhaps it is only a matter of time.

Disney’s new CEO leaves analysts questioning

On Tuesday, Bob Iger, Disney’s CEO, announced his resignation and appointment of Bob Chapek, head of amusement parks, as his replacement. The announcement puzzled analysts who have heard, for the past several years, that Disney’s future is all about streaming video, suggesting that head of Disney streaming, Kevin Mayer, would be tapped for the top job. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The selection was unexpected, but perhaps the toughest job in the room is keeping the magic that is Disney, continuing. The video business is critical to Disney’s future, but what makes the company special is imagination and imaginative content, and perhaps the way to keep imaginations blooming is through the man who kept the theme parks imaginative and fresh.

Home videoconferencing technologies are improving

Share prices for videoconferencing software companies are on the rise, thanks to coronavirus. But the increase in videoconferencing started way before the virus. Gartner Research says that more than 50 percent of global employees will work remotely, on occasion this year, compared to 20 percent in 2016. The result is more software choices, but also better features, such as shared whiteboards, the ability to choose from a variety of backdrops, and even technology from Microsoft that makes you appear to be looking into the camera even when you are surfing Instagram. Wired

dis-rup-shun: The efficiencies of remote work are proving effective, as forming specialized work groups seems to be ever more important in today’s global, connected economies. The industries clobbered are likely the relocation companies: moving vans, corporate apartments and the like, as the reasons for relocating for work are fewer, at least for specialized knowledge workers.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Work: Silicon Valley style

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Silicon Valley has ruined work

Wired claims that the new work culture of ping pong tables, nap pods, unassigned cubicles, free juice, paid lunches (and dinners) and unlimited vacation days is an export from Silicon Valley. Furthermore, the author claims that this new work culture has ruined work in that it has eliminated the distinctions between work and personal life as work now has no barriers. The days of leaving work after five or six pm and not resuming until the next work day are over, courtesy of Silicon Valley.

dis-rup-shun: For those of us who started our careers wearing a suit and tie, every day, for the sake of impressing mostly our co-workers, the changes in work culture have been astounding. We have watched offices reflect our status, with size and location, then disappear for all except for senior managers, and we have watched cubicles go from large and tall to non-existent. Work today, more than ever, is defined by the culture of its boss(es), and requires teamwork and collaboration, given the lack of barriers between the most senior and most junior of employees. Making work fulfilling, as it fills a larger space in people’s lives, will be the biggest cultural challenge facing business leaders forthwith.

XBox Series X will be fast

Microsoft has released initial information about the next XBox, coming to us near year’s end. The early information indicates that the device will be long on horsepower, enabling games to load quickly, switch quickly between games, and support high graphics frame rates. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Google has disrupted the console space by offering strong titles via the cloud, at very attractive prices. Some believe a similar service from Amazon is inevitable. To remain relevant, console makers will have to emphasize the unique experience provided by a really powerful machine that sits next to their favorite gaming spot. Expect consoles to become even more powerful and expensive, closing the distance between gaming PCs and mass market devices, as much of the mass market migrates to cloud gaming. Console makers will have to re-examine their business strategy and margins to determine how to profit from lower sales of more expensive devices.

Huawei, the Google of China, rolls on with a smart speaker

Huawei has just released a smart speaker for the EU that will take on Google Home and Amazon Echo variants. The Sound X device does not yet come with its own smart assistant software in Europe, but does offer Xiaoyi, its voice assistant in China. The product will not be offered in the U.S. and is a partnership with French high-end audio specialists Devialet. The partnership is a move to position the product for audiophiles who will pay a premium for sound quality. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Huawei, despite intense and ongoing political pressure from the U.S., continues to release new and diverse products, including telecom equipment, smartphones and now, smart speakers. Blocked from the U.S., Huawei is aggressively competing in all other markets, drawing strength from large markets such as India and Europe, a strategy that will pay many long-term dividends.

Rumors indicate a low cost iPhone in March

The next swath of iPhones, coming as early as March 2020, may include a new low cost unit, possibly called the iPhone SE2. The last low cost iPhone was the iPhone SE, sold for $399 is 2016.  CNET

dis-rup-shun: Apple stands to gain a new following by catering to those not willing to spend for an iPhone 11 or 11 Pro. For those that feel they cannot join in the buzz inside the packed (pre-coronavirus) Apple Store, a lower price point will open up the fun to a new clientele. Additionally, it seems that an increasing number of spendthrifts are operating on iPhones that are 3 and 4 generations old. Apple’s new offering may be what’s needed to refresh a significant number of “sleeper” Apple fans.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

New NFL rights could be the end of TV

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NFL TV rights are linchpin for the future of TV

NFL broadcasting rights are locked up through 2022, but awarding of future contracts will begin in the next months. Currently, NFL broadcasts are held by owners who distribute through traditional pay TV outlets (cable, satellite, over the air). To be seen is if an exclusive streaming video provider, such as Netflix, Amazon, or You Tube steps up to grab exclusive rights to NFL broadcasts — an act that would forever change and further devalue the traditional TV business. It is more likely, however, that the NFL will award the new contracts to companies such as CBSViacom, Comcast and Disney that own distribution both in traditional as well as streaming channels. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It is possible that our disruptor friends Amazon, or You Tube would do the unthinkable and pay unprecedented sums to lock up the NFL for streaming only. Such an act would rapidly accelerate the demise-in-progress of the traditional TV business and dislodge the remaining Luddites who are holding onto cable and satellite TV mostly for live sports. The big winners, of course, are the fabulously rich NFL owners.

Buffett trades flip phone for iPhone

Warren Buffet’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 245 million shares of Apple, worth $72 billion. Apple is the third largest component of Berkshire, following the company’s stake in insurance and railroads. Buffett calls Apple “probably the best business I know in the world.” CNBC

dis-rup-shun: This is high praise from the most successful investor of our time, who expresses regret for not owning the company sooner. Buffett has always been an investor in financially stable and traditional companies. Is Apple now the General Electric and General Motors of our time — a traditional, conservative investment? In the highly volatile and high risk world of technology, it is hard to consider any tech player as a low risk investment. Let’s hope Apple continues to lead technology innovation for at least another decade.

Pets go hungry for days as technology failure shocks owners

Petnet, an IOT company backed by a collaborative of investors including Petco, makes the SmartFeeders line of connected products that dispense food to pets on a pre-set schedule. The company experienced an unexplained system failure that took systems offline for a week. While the service is restored, pet owners are left wondering what went wrong and if it will happen again. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: We hope no pets were actually harmed during this outage, and that owners, after some period of time, realized their pets had not been fed. The incident, however, is a reminder that our society is entrusting more and more of the important things in life, including the safety and health of our loved ones, to technology companies. The reasons for the outage are unknown: was it a software glitch, a network outage, or financial turmoil that resulted in kitty not eating for several days? Whatever the cause, vendors will face increasing pressure from consumers to ensure redundancy of technology that is important to them, as consumers expect IOT systems to be as reliable as an electric, water or cellular utility company.

How are your resolutions? Weight Watchers or Noom?

CNET weighs the merits of weight loss mobile app programs from industry veteran Weight Watchers, now re-branded “WW” and newcomer Noom. Both apps include daily tracking of food intake, various levels of coaching, and healthy living advice. WW focuses on a points system, is more flexible, and has three tiers of service and price, whereas Noom is based on calorie counting, heavy on coaching, and has a single, higher price point. Both programs offer clinical evidence that they are effective — with 78% of Noom users losing weight when on the program for over a year.

dis-rup-shun: Weight loss programs such as Weight Watchers had to quickly change to an online program when the world went digital. These programs are examples of human-first services transforming to machine first, with human coaches being offered to support the machine based functions only as needed. While it appears that the digital programs remain effective for weight loss, it will be interesting to learn if the new WW operates at a lower cost, employing fewer humans, than in the days of operating physical Weight Watchers store fronts.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

EU threatens to block Fitbit sale

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EU to Google on Fitbit: “Not so fast”

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB), an entity of the European Union, has raised concerns about Google’s $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit and its 28 million users. The EU has concerns about the big U.S. based tech company acquiring private health data of many European citizens. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: News today is a constant cadence of analysts determining that apps that are not authorized are still transmitting customer location data, and other private data points, all the while with tech companies making constant, and genuine, progress towards device and data security. Data privacy is becoming such an issue in the public’s perception of tech providers that Big Tech must run faster and farther to get ahead of growing consumer unrest. Tech firms would be well served to fund and launch a trusted third-party data privacy and security certification and enforcement agency to create a Good Housekeeping or UL Certified endorsement for products. Google will win and the EU will acquiesce, but good for the Europeans for voicing concerns.

Google Maps receives an upgrade

The battle to be the mapping software for your autonomous future is on, and Google has just updated its maps to be more user friendly, providing a slightly refreshed look and more convenient menu buttons across the bottom of the screen, including Explore, Go, Saved, Contribute and Updates. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Google has to fight back Apple, whose second tier map application has just been improved and updated. The new menu buttons on Google Maps are a threat to some daily app staples that we all enjoy, including Waze, Yelp, TripAdvisor and Facebook. By adding similar functionality at your fingertips, it is likely that reliance on these other apps will decline. Upon further consideration, most of what we do on a smartphone could be integrated into mapping applications — including even text messages — making it harder and harder for other apps to find their place in our lives.

Best Alexa-enabled smart home devices

As Alexa enters its 7th year in our lives and homes, it (she?) continues to play a larger role in a growing number of devices — some not so helpful (microwave oven) and some quite useful. CNET provides a rundown of the ten most useful Alexa-enabled devices:

  • Echo Dot with Clock — the clock radio is reincarnated, but is it listening?
  • Arlo Pro 3 smart cam — view camera streams on Echo Show
  • Ring Peephole Cam — replaces the peephole in your door and provides a great solution for people in apartments or who don’t want to attach something to their door frame
  • Ecobee smart thermostat — if you can talk to your thermostat, you don’t need a separate, stand-alone smart speaker
  • Amazon Echo Show 8 — if you have an Amazon enabled doorbell cam, you have a great front door intercom system
  • August Smart Lock Pro — tell Alexa to unlock the door without getting off the couch
  • SimpliSafe home security system — arm and disarm the home with voice commands
  • Philips White Hue LED — these light bulbs include both Zigbee and Bluetooth radios, and are Alexa enabled. This means you can have smart lighting without an additional hub device — just let your phone and or your Alexa-enabled device talk to your lightbulbs. Simple.
  • TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini — outfitting lamps with a smart bulb or a smart plug is a great convenience if you haven’t tried it. For $30, it is worth a try.

What are people doing with smart speakers?

MarketWatch provides some interesting data on what, exactly, people are using their smart speakers to do. 

dis-rup-shun: With more devices including Alexa or Google Assistant, expect smart home commands, as a use case category, to increase. A home built with all switches voice-enabled is not far away — meaning you never have to flip a switch. But when baby is sleeping, you will want to still flip that switch. Stay tuned next week for more research from Interpret on the role of smart speakers in smart home product adoption.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Microsoft fixes voting

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Microsoft seeks to become the voting standard

Microsoft is out to fix broken voting technology through its new ElectionGuard product line that creates dual printed copies of each ballot, encryption, and a certificate validating the vote. If hackers break into the system and change votes, the discrepancy will be more noticeable and traceable. CNET

dis-rup-shun: It is hard for the average voter to fathom how antiquated the polling process is, and why the best minds have not developed as foolproof a system as can be created. If we now bank mostly from home and on our smartphones, why can’t voting be done the same way? And for a fraction of the cost of recruiting all of those volunteers to over-staff polling places.

Redbox offers free ad-supported streaming service

Redbox is feeling the pinch of the slow demise of DVD rentals, and is now launching Redbox Free Live TV. In a world of cord cutters, receiving content via the internet for the price of watching some commercials appeals to many. The free content is organized into channels by theme, and offers a viewing experience more like over the air TV, but with no subscription or per episode charges. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: In the new world of streaming video, there is something for everyone. Premium services, discount services, and free services will all coexist on you internet connected TV, as different services fill different niches. Expect the services that are pumping out original content to take a premium, hybrid price model similar to Amazon Prime Video today, in which one pays an annual subscription fee as well as per-event up-charges. For those that don’t want to pay at all, there is always Redbox over free over the air TV. After all, Redbox offers a better deal than paying a monthly subscription fee and watching commercials.

Can Google watches catch Apple Watch? 

Smartwatches are going after the turf served by the less functional but smaller fitness trackers, such as Fitbit, a company that is being acquired by Google. Apple is doing deals with large health club chains, that now offer discounts to owners and regular users of Apple Watches. Nearly 70% of fitness club members own a device, but only one-third of smartwatch owners belong to a fitness club, meaning incentives to smartwatch owners could be a great enticement to join up. After catering to fitness enthusiasts, the next logical segment for smartwatch makers to target is parents. Smartwatch owners with children under 18 show a high affinity to shop for pizza, jewelry and financial service products — and there is a (smartwatch) app for that. Interpret Research

dis-rup-shun: Digital natives claim they have little need for a watch, since their smartphones provide the time. But digital natives no doubt need an on-wrist communicator to keep them even closer to text messages, so the watch, in its new form as smartwatch, lives on. Once again, apps will define the utility of the device, and Google is running fast to catch Apple, acquiring Fitbit and, in theory some of its users. If Google opens the smartwatch OS, as it did with Android on the phone, then it stands a good chance to at least control the software on the majority of smartwatches after a number of manufacturers catch Apple’s long lead in this category.

Amazon Care now open for Seattle employees

Amazon Care is the company’s internal health care service for employees, providing them for an app for live, remote doctor visits, as well as for scheduling the appropriate Amazon Care health care professional to come visit the employee at home or office. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It is not unique for a large company to have its own health services for employees, but Amazon is different. It has built its own app, it owns an online pharmacy called PillPack, and it likes to rapidly scale projects that seem to work. This could very well be the test bed for a nationwide alternative care network which would likely change the way we consume health care services — turning the entire care industry on its head in a few short years. Time will tell, but healthcare is an industry very ripe for some Amazon-ization.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Musk: Gates is underwhelming

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Elon Musk calls Bill Gates “underwhelming”

Bill Gates just reported that he purchased an all electric Porsche Taycan. Musk took to Twitter to report that his past conversations with Gates were underwhelming. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The Taycan takes electric vehicle ownership to a new level — the ability to be environmentally responsible and drive one of the premier car brands. Gates, whose foundation focuses on climate change, along with many other issues, gives Musk full credit in an interview in Inc. for changing the automotive landscape. Gates, who has long been a Porsche fan and owns a very rare model 959, explains his decision by saying that the Porsche, while premium priced, is “very, very cool.”

Ring gets serious about data security

Ring, owned by Amazon, has been criticized both for its relationship with law enforcement, as well as for the ease that its system can be hacked.  Last month, the company announced a data privacy dashboard, enabling consumers to more easily see and control what data is shared with third parties. The company just announced that it is implementing two-factor authentication for its users, requiring them to input a code sent to a smartphone when they log in.  TheVerge

dis-rup-shun: Ring is doing the right things to make sure its smart home products are protected and that its products are transparent in terms of sharing user data. Ring is on the leading edge of a movement by most product makers to provide consumers with more visibility into data sharing. Consumer displeasure, mixed with the pressures of congressional inquiry, have caused Apple to take the position that it is the “privacy company,” distinguishing itself from rivals Google, Facebook and Amazon. Good news for consumers, other Big Tech firms are following suit. Expect to see data privacy dashboards and two-factor authentication become standard offerings for smart home and consumer electronics products.

Latest squeeze on Huawei – cut off access to chip making equipment

Only days after disclosure that the Equifax heist was conducted by operatives of the Chinese army, the U.S. Commerce Department is considering a new policy to require users of U.S. made semiconductor manufacturing equipment to obtain licenses. This registration effort would seek to prohibit, or at least keep track of machines sold or used for Huawei production. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The international Whack-a-Mole game continues, with the U.S. Commerce Department taking stock of what is left under U.S. control that it has not already used to limit Huawei. Huawei, a marvel in resistance, continues to respond to U.S. sanctions by building its own products, including a new smartphone operating system. The long-term effect of this latest chess move could well be the development of semiconductor manufacturing technology in China. Each obstacle may slow the technology giant, but not for long.

Use Alexa to find your lost phone in the house

If you aren’t yet using Alexa at home, this could be the best use. With a voice command, you can ask Alexa to call your phone and, assuming the phone is not on silent, you are in luck. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Alexa has many tricks to make life easier, but none that will win over those with Big Brother Syndrome. The fear of Jeff Bezos listening in to arguments about whose turn it is to walk the dog or other highly classified in-home discussions will keep the marvels of voice assistants out of the home for the foreseeable future. Amazon’s real technology feat will be to create a feature that convinces people their data is safe, and that they can take a chance on voice technology.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Sex tip app launches with $5M investment

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Lover – sex tip app funded by Tinder founder

Lover is an app funded by Tinder founder Sean Rad. Lover is founded by board-certified sexual medicine clinical psychologist Dr. Britney Blair, who shares that the site is built on decades of research. Blair claims that the site not only enables people to have better sex, but overcome sexual problems, including ED. Blair states that in pre-launch testing, 62% of people with ED reported improvements within three weeks of using the app. Lover is free for 7 days then charges $9.99 per month. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: TechCrunch points out that digital pharmacies such as Ro have reached a $500 million valuation in 18 months. Commercials for ED drugs from online pharmacy Roman and Hims are frequent, indicating that there is big money here. A non-pharmaceutical approach to sexual health, along with tips, tricks and “how-to’s” from a legitimate source will be a runaway hit.

Ditch the Disk group calls for new standards for medical imaging

“Ditch the Disk” is a group of tech execs leading a movement to get the medical industry to move beyond storing imaging files on CD-ROM physical disks. The industry’s reluctance to part with physical disks creates significant barriers to sharing images between doctors, causing some patients to carry a disk from provider to provider, hoping that all providers have computers with disk readers. The inaccessibility of images is a frequent cause for duplicate testing, increasing costs and unnecessarily exposing people to radiation. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: This is yet another example of pockets of resistance to new technology standards in the healthcare industry. The goal for healthcare should be to leverage the latest tech standards as quickly as possible in order to reduce costs and maximize transparency to the consumer. The consumer-ization of healthcare is happening much more slowly than it should, and the faster healthcare professionals and companies accept that Amazon or Google or others will turn the healthcare industry into a consumer-friendly marketplace, the better their chances will be at avoiding displacement.

A DIY bidet enables luxury living

Butt tech: for $599, one can transform their bathroom into a luxury experience with the Coway Bidetmega 400. The device dependably warms, washes and dries the butt, making this luxury product “the best thing you didn’t know you needed.” Wired

dis-rup-shun: The author suggests that given the problems with our society, including massive debt and out of reach housing prices, it is the little luxuries, such as a heated toilet seat and bidet, that make life wonderful. He also points out that the Bidetmega 400 is not internet connected, so no one has to fear that their toileting activities are being stored in the cloud.

Percussive massage guns are required for fitness enthusiasts

CNET reviews percussive massage guns — comparing a number of less expensive models to the gold standard, the Theragun. Percussive massage guns provide the same healthy recovery of strained muscles as massage therapy by a real person, but anytime.

dis-rup-shun: If you have never tried a massage gun on sore muscles, then you are missing out on instant relief. As our culture spends more on online workouts and health club memberships, expect to see more home appliances created for our obsessions with exercise.

 

 

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Equifax hack unveiled

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Equifax hackers traced to China’s People’s Liberation Army

The Department of Justice has alleged that four individuals who are part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army were behind one of the world’s largest data breaches, exposing names, passwords and credit information of 147 million people. The hackers exploited a vulnerability in Apache (web) software that was publicly announced, along with a fix. Equifax did not implement the fix for over a week, giving the bad actors time to break in and establish a foothold from which they collected Equifax employee’s credentials — giving them easy access without relying on the Apache vulnerability. From their software base camp, the hackers spent several months carefully studying the Equifax file structure and built a number of schemas to harvest data without detection. Equifax was found, by the DOJ, to have many security weaknesses that made the hacking much simpler. Wired

dis-rup-shun: If four well-trained people gained access to nearly half of all U.S. citizen’s credit information in a matter of months several years ago, chances are good that multiple parties have already quietly gained access to essentially every citizen’s data by now — they just haven’t been caught. Imagine if you will, warfare in which one nation essentially freezes its enemy population’s assets and wrecks their ability to conduct simple transactions, dissolving their net worth instantly. Gold bars buried in the back yard, anyone? Expect data security software and consulting companies to thrive in this dangerous new world.

What you need to know about the Internet of Things

If you have a strong command of the Internet of Things, then skip this article. If you would benefit from a concise explanation of what is IOT, how did it emerge, and where is it going, then read the article. To be really brief, the Internet of Things is the state by which any device with a processor is connected to the Internet so that it can be controlled by other devices (smartphone, for example), can collect data during its use, and can share that data with something else. The benefits are thousands of devices that know us and serve us like we like to be served, and the risks are that bad players misuse the information that things collect and use it against us. Wired

dis-rup-shun: According to Wired, an inflection point for consumer IOT was the birth of Amazon Alexa, in 2014, following Apple’s Siri, several years later. Alexa took the mystery out of smart home and IOT products for some, but solidified the distrust of “big brother” for others. When all of our devices are dependent upon Wi-Fi to run, what do we do when our service goes out?

Sony Pictures Exec hired to run Amazon Prime Video

Mike Hopkins, formerly chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, will run Amazon’s Prime Video and Amazon Pictures units. Hopkins will report directly to Bezos, being one of a few direct reports. CNBC

dis-rup-shun:  The lines between traditional TV services and the new world of streaming continue to blur. Streaming services must have their own studios, period, as content is the primary differentiator. In this way, the new face of video will look a lot like the early days of movies, when a handful of movie studios owned movie theaters around the country and controlled distribution of their content. Today, streaming distributors control the studios making the content, hence becoming more vertically integrated.

Microsoft’s first Android phone is spotted

Spy photos captured pictures of Microsoft’s self-branded Surface Duo, which runs Android. The photos demonstrate that the clam shell of thin glass can be oriented in multiple way to create multiple layouts — including several screens of different content, or content across multiple surfaces. The device, while open, appears to be smaller than an iPad mini, but larger than the largest Samsung Galaxy phone. Arstechnica

dis-rup-shun:  Is it too late for Microsoft to hew out a share of the mobile phone market? Missing the smartphone market was one of Steve Ballmer’s biggest blunders, and one that nearly cost the company its position as a tech giant. The company was too determined that its bloated WindowsCE operating system would eventually prevail, and dismissed Nokia’s and Motorola’s early designs until it was too late. Microsoft’s Surface line caters to premium buyers, so there is a chance that the surface can garner a slice of the premium and profitable end of phablet buyers, and perhaps the company will use its foothold to take a bigger share of the smartphone market.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Autonomous vehicle enthusiasm waning

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Money flow is moving from autonomous to electric vehicles

Investment funds for autonomous and ride sharing ventures are drying up as money turns toward electric car development. Autonomous vehicles are years away, have uncertain regulatory hurdles, and may not be profitable. Car makers want to make and sell cars, not invest in ride sharing alternatives to ownership. Tesla’s skyrocketing share price, combined with the lower cost of making EVs, has automakers anxious to hasten the transition to electric cars and is shifting the focus of investment to electric from autonomous. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Car makers have to be disrupted in order to shift their focus from the beaten path. Just as Henry Ford II demonstrated in Ford vs. Ferrari, it takes getting insulted to alter the status quo, and it is safe to say that Tesla’s valuation over $100 billion is an insult to makers of many times as many cars. Time to double down on electric cars and see how fast the world’s drivers will adopt the faster, lighter, cheaper, but shorter range vehicles. Expect to see better batteries double the range of EVs in the next 3 to 5 years, as new models will be increasingly electric. Despite innovations, that cross country marathon trip will still be a challenge if one has to charge every 5 to 7 hours.

What to do when your smart home is controlled by mobile apps

As the smart home slowly emerges, control of new internet connected devices is through mobile apps and smart speakers, but that becomes a challenge if a guest or house cleaner wants to control lights, locks and other connected appliances. Brilliant, a company that makes programmable controls for the walls, is addressing that problem. For $399 to $349 per room, you can retrofit light switches to programmable touch panels that control all of your connected home systems — without an app and without having to know what to tell Alexa, Google or other smart speaker what to do. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Brilliant’s solution is a bit ahead of the market in that most homes have not so fully converted to smart systems that they don’t have tactile controls, but most of us are experiencing app overload. Having a touch panel on the wall in key places in the home will enable us to actually leave our smartphones in another room and not have to scroll through multiple apps as we add more home systems.

Coronavirus could delay tech products for rest of year

Manufacturing plants in China are set to open today, a delay of one week after being closed down for the Chinese Lunar New Year festivities. Due to the caronavirus, manufacturers extended the holiday. Despite the shut down being only one extra week, the delay could cascade throughout the supply chain, especially for hard to come by parts, impacting many devices, including iPhones, and potentially putting a squeeze on holiday 2020 supplies. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The outbreak has served to remind people around the world that despite tariffs, trade wars and quotas, the world economy is tightly integrated. Even if the coronavirus stops spreading, the interdependence on workers, designers, and business specialists won’t, making it difficult to maintain the impressive pace of bringing tech products to market.

Apple fined $27M in France for throttling

Apple failed to let users of older iPhones know that iOS updates 10.2.1. and 11.2, in order to protect phones from weaker batteries, throttled performance at certain times. France’s watchdog organization DGCCRF took issue that Apple failed to alert users of this situation, and had failed to provide a downgrade path for users that wanted to return to older OSes to remove the limitation. The company has agreed to pay a $27M fine. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: While $27M to Apple is lunch money, the reprimand comes at a time when Apple is working hard to boost its image as the consumer friendly company, that safeguards consumer data better than the other Big Tech companies. The action is another proof point that Europe’s technology regulators are far ahead of those of the U.S. — implementing not only GDPR data privacy policies, but enforcing policies already determined. The U.S. is only now considering national legislation in the wake of California’s just initiated data privacy policy, known as CCPA.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT

Console wars nearing last battle

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End of console wars: XBox says real competition is Google and Amazon

Arch console rivals Sony and Microsoft will both release next gen consoles for the holiday season, but Microsoft says this is the beginning of a divergence from the console business as it was, as Google, with its Stadia games service, and Amazon, with no game service yet, are the real competitors. Yahoo!

dis-rup-shun: It is fascinating to watch the tectonic plates of tech shift before our eyes and here is a movement. Microsoft, Google and Amazon have something that Sony does not — big, hungry and high profit cloud services. Big clouds, fueled by 5G networks, make for great gaming experiences across any device platform. Will Sony be successful playing the role of old school console maker, or does it have a trick up its sleeve? Apple has launched its Arcade game service and is targeting the casual gamers — a market that is not core to Xbox or Playstation. Keep your old console to show your grandchildren what gaming looked like in the dark ages of the early 21st century.

Smart nuts and bolts — IOT in construction 

Hilti Corporation, a construction parts company based in Lichtenstein, is producing a family of heavy construction nuts and bolts that include a code on each part. The part is scanned with a smartphone running the Hilti app, and data regarding where and when it was installed is recorded and tracked. Dallas Innovates

dis-rup-shun: The productivity gains by both having additional information about every part in a project, as well as the time savings and error reduction from eliminating manual recording and tracking make connected construction safer, faster and less tolerant of errors. Expect to see an increasing number of parts — not just high value parts — coded and easily scanned so that the cloud knows where they are and when they were installed.

Chinese phone makers unite to rival Google Play Store

Google’s Play Store is estimated to have earned Google $8.8 million last year. As the Play Store is banned in China, Chinese phone users have to go to multiple app stores to purchase the apps they want, making it difficult for app developers to create critical mass. Chinese phone makers have united to form a coalition called the Global Developer Service Alliance, enabling developers to upload new apps to multiple app stores at once, replacing the need for the Play Store. Countries expected to participate include China, India, Indonesia, Russia, and Malaysia. The Verge

dis-rup-shun: Trade wars and sanctions are painful, but as “they” say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The Chinese tech vendors are finding ways to work around political boundaries and gaining market share while reducing buyer friction. Huawei, cut off from Android services by Google, has begun development of its own phone OS, called Harmony OS. Expect to see other Chinese manufacturers offering Harmony OS phones if Huawei opens up licensing, working around Google in some of the world’s largest markets.

All Google phones will block robocalls

According to the YouMail robocall index, 4.7 billion robocalls were made in the U.S. in January alone. That equates to 1,800 per second and 14.4 calls to each person. All Google Pixel phones will now have the ability to run its Call Screen feature which blocks (some) robocalls. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Despite legislation blocking robocalls, they are a thing of our future. Expect to see phones compete and differentiate on their ability to effectively block calls and intelligently determine when the call is legit. This feature may become as important to smartphone buyers as a snazzy camera as smartphones are quickly becoming our primary business, as well as personal, communications device.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

Disney Plus is a smash hit

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Disney Plus already has 45% as many U.S. subs as Netflix

Disney’s streaming TV service has been out slightly over two months and already has 28.6 million subscribers in the U.S.  Netflix, at the end of 2019, had 61 million U.S. subscribers and 167 million on the planet, according to Statista. Comparing U.S. only, Disney Plus is already almost half the size of Netflix. The Star Wars Mandalorian and Marvel properties, plus a very attractive monthly rate, have fueled new subscriptions. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Now we understand why AT&T spent billions on Time Warner ($85 billion, not counting three years of legal fees), and why Comcast bought NBCU. If you are a network and don’t own really compelling content, your chances of competing in the streaming wars are slim. If you don’t have a streaming service, your chances of surviving the great video revolution of the 2000s are slim. The Mouse has been buying up video assets and studios in the past few years, as Disney has clearly figured out how to compete in the Netflix age.

Smart speakers still not used for purchases

eMarketer has lowered its forecast for smart speaker sales, signaling that this product may be approaching maturity, at least for the early majority buyers. eMarketer’s forecast for speaker penetration is 83.1 million users. The firm estimates that 21.6 million users will have made a voice purchase by the end of this year. The desire to see a product and fears of security are cited as reasons for reluctance to purchase on a speaker.

dis-rup-shun: The fact that 21 million voice purchases have been made indicates that this will become a significant shopping method. In the meantime, Google and Amazon continue to battle to become the voice hub of the home. The ways to monetize the money losing device sales are numerous:

  1. The party that owns the home hub sets the standards for connected home devices, determining which radios, which interfaces and even which cloud services work best — potentially shifting millions of users towards a complementary product or service.
  2. People’s primary use of smart speakers is to listen to music. If device vendors can steer people to the vendor’s own music service (this has not been terribly successful to date), then monthly fees for music subscriptions will add millions to the top line.
  3. The home hub can serve as the light switch and voice-thermostat, providing  feedback on energy usage and energy spending. Energy utilities have great incentives to be a part of a home energy hub.
  4. Senior care, as shown in Google’s Super Bowl commercial, can be impacted by a smart speaker, reminding grandmother that it is time to take medicine, or helping her remember things like the day of week or arrival times for care givers.

Would you consider a separate camera?

For those that think photography is more than smartphone pics, cameras also continue to get better. The Fujifilm X100V features a slim body (not as slim as a smartphone), a 24-megapixel APS-C sensor and image processor, and OLED viewfinder. This can be had for about $1,400. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Camera sales are down, and the camera quality of smartphones is getting crazy good. But for that European vacation or safari trip, a camera is still preferred and the image processing technology is following Moore’s Law, getting better and cheaper each year. The question is, do you go for a digital SLR with the great but bulky lens, or do you go with a pocket camera like the Fujifilm X100V?

Sunrise alarms — better than smartphone alarm clock

A new product category is born to fill the space once occupied by the erstwhile clock radio. It is designed especially for those who sleep in a room with no windows. The devices emulate daylight by changing hue and intensity to simulate the rising and setting of the sun. They can also play music, show the time, and be controlled by an app. Reviewed in Wired are the Homelabs Sunrise Alarm Clock, Philips Wake-Up Light (HF3520), Casper Glow Light, Philips SmartSleep Connected Sleep and Wake-Up Light Therapy Lamp, Lumie Bodyclock Active 250, and Totobay Wake-Up Light.

dis-rup-shun: Inventing new product categories is a great way to embrace the smart product disruption. That’s what Nest did with the dumb thermostat, and launched a new industry. Of course Amazon’s Echo is a home run, as is Roku, the smart TV, and smart mattresses. Alexa-powered microwave ovens have been a flop, as have been internet connected refrigerators. It is time for more creative thinking about how to replace products displaced by smart products.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Uncategorized

Women in tech lambast Silicon Valley

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Women in tech speak out against Silicon Valley

The steady stream of female authors writing about disillusionment with jobs in Silicon Valley continues — Anna Wiener has written “Uncanny Valley,” a memoir of her tech jobs in the Valley. Wiener joins a number of high profile former and current tech employees that have called out the inequities, harassment and moral compromise found at tech jobs in Silicon Valley. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: What are we to make of this growing disillusionment of jobs with Big Tech? Perhaps the collegiate, “no rules” atmosphere of startups is being carried into large tech companies that have real policies and an employee handbook. Working in Silicon Valley means working in a more relaxed environment, but with out sized goals to conquer a niche and become wildly successful. Perhaps the startup mentality, when carried into bigger tech firms, becomes dangerous and unchecked, and with IPOs at a low point, and awareness of workplace abuse on the rise, change is afoot. Expect to see more formality and clearly stated policies, even in smaller Silicon Valley operations.

Google flirts with $1 trillion, but with murky future

Alphabet/Google remains one of the most amazing stories of American business, rising to a valuation close to $1 trillion in only 25 years. It is in the company of Microsoft, Apple and Amazon, all above or close to $1 trillion. The company, however, has failed to significantly diversify its revenue base beyond search advertising, which contributes 84% of total revenue. While there is no imminent disruptor that will unseat Google, unlike its trillion dollar brothers who have multiple successful business units, Google remains dependent on the same business that it launched 25 years ago. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Despite the company’s reliance on search advertising, the company powers the majority of the world’s mobile phones with its Android OS, and its mapping technology may form the foundation for autonomous vehicles. The company, with its Android, Nest, YouTube and many powerful apps, provides a great deal of utility. The company’s deployment of free apps and an open mobile operating system have endeared it to many, but have proven that it is hard to make money at a zero price tag. With a new CEO, perhaps we will see some bold new initiatives, or at least bold new pricing, from Google.

Google’s Loretta Super Bowl ad called “evil”

Google, through a heart warming Super Bowl advertisement, suggested that its Google Assistant could help keep a senior widower’s memories of late wife Loretta alive. The senior tells Google to remember certain thinks about Loretta and the system displays photos of the couple. Tech Blogger Palmer calls this advertisement evil, as the company does not warn, like the Surgeon’s General warning on cigarettes, that all of these intimate details will be used to improve Google’s ability to target advertisements to the senior. Shelly Palmer

dis-rup-shun: Yes, every user of Google’s products should be able to easily determine what personal data is being used by what application. This should be accomplished through a personal data dashboard, much like that now offered by the everyone’s favorite villains, Facebook. But please, Shelly, can we not share in the dream that technology, be it from Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and others, can be effectively used to improve the lives of seniors? It stands to reason that distrust of tech is likely highest among seniors, who have a number of good reasons to resist it, but also have much to be gained by automating their lives. Data, and sales figures, suggest that a very large percentage of our society is happy to pay for services such as memos, photo storage, mapping, chat and email by giving up personal data.

A.I. is like teenage sex (and its happening in HR)

“A.I. is like teenage sex,” says Frida Polli. “Everyone says they’re doing it, and nobody really knows what it is.” Fortune summarizes how HR departments are increasingly using AI in the recruiting and vetting process. Here is where AI use is growing at HR:

  1. Chat bots for recruiting
  2. Deep background checks
  3. Employee advisers
  4. Management coaches
  5. Employee review helpers

dis-rup-shun: While AI is automating much of the employee management process, it makes networking that much more important as personal connections remain far more valuable than AI assessments, that is until your personal connection introduces you to the chat bot that you have to convince to hire you.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Uncategorized

The end of insurance, transportation and retail

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Extinct in 20 years: insurance, transportation and retail

According to Dave Jordan, global head, consulting and services integration at Tata Consultancy Services, these industries will be as good as gone by 2040. Insurance, according to Jordan, will be all but unnecessary with autonomous vehicles and will be absorbed into other transactions. Autonomous vehicles will eliminate car ownership altogether, and maker technologies — that is, the ability to print our own products will eliminate the need for retailers. TechRepublic

dis-rup-shun: While Jordan’s warnings of massive restructuring and redefinition of industries is good to contemplate, his predictions, with the exception of car ownership, are a bit extreme. There are many things in our lives to insure such as houses, so insurance for businesses and consumers will not go away but auto insurance will certainly constrict. Personal car ownership, except for hobbyists, does seem to be a necessary evil that we will be glad to eliminate. Retail, however, serves many purposes, including providing an important communal experience and for that reason, will not go away. Jordan, however, is certainly right to claim that these industries should brace for radical change.

Electric Hummer pickup truck coming in 2021

On the heels of the Tesla CyberTruck announcement comes news of an upcoming, all electric pickup branded Hummer, by General Motors. Release is expected in 2021. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Is it marketing irony that the beloved-by-some and hated-by-environmentalists Hummer is being reborn as an all electric vehicle? The giant gas guzzler was retired in 2010 at the time of GM’s bankruptcy. In an unexpected twist, electric vehicles became status symbols, thanks to Tesla and its CyberTruck announcement that has drawn mixed reactions, but plenty of reactions. The CyberTruck buzz has proved that buyers, including EV buyers, want original, exotic, edgy and even expensive models, and GM plans to deliver in an all new EV Hummer.

IBM’s Rometty follows Brin and Larry Page off the ship

Ginny Rometty has announced her departure from the CEO post at IBM. During Rometty’s eight years at the helm, the company’s value has dropped 24%, making it the worst performing large tech company. The next CEO, Arvind Krishna, comes from IBM’s cloud business. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Rometty took a cue from Google founders Brin and Page and got out under cover of a strong economy and strong sector stock prices. IBM has been living on its strong brand and has been slow to change while Amazon, Google, the Big 4, Tata, Infosys and others have eaten its lunch. Rometty was slow to double down on cloud computing and shake up the old guard that makes up Big Blue, and the board never demanded fresh leadership. Now shareholders look to Krishna to pull off a miracle.

Apple updates its maps and Look Around

Apple has invested millions to upgrade its mapping data, relying less on partners and investing heavily on its own mapping data. These improvements will likely not be noticed by consumers, except that Apple’s Street View-like app, Look Around, that provides a person’s-eye-view of addresses, will be better. Google’s mapping technology has been, and likely will remain, well ahead of Apple, but the Cupertino company is striving to close the gap in hopes that iPhone users will not continue to favor Google Maps on their devices. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Online and interactive maps have become essential to life, whether tethered to an in-car navigation system, guiding an Uber or Lyft, or getting guidance on the streets. Advertisements, websites and weather services are inextricably linked to maps and autonomous vehicles will be critically dependent on mapping data. The company that owns the best maps will be to the rest of the online world what Amazon.com is to the online retail world…in control.

 

 

IOT, Smart Home, Uncategorized

Amazon’s cash cow

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A stellar quarter for Amazon

Q: What makes up only 11% of Amazon’s revenue, but 67% of its profit? A: Amazon Web Services (AWS). The company cleared $9.95 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter and continues to dominate the cloud services space. The quarterly performance well exceeded expectations. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: It’s looking like Q4 was a great one for tech companies, suggesting that consumer and business spending are robust and that the economy did shrug off suggestions of recession. Strong performance should help gain resolution of outstanding trade war issues with China.

Your thermostat called the repairman

Nest has initiated testing of thermostat alerts that notify a homeowner when the HVAC system performs irregularly. While the thermostat can’t tell if the motor is about to go out or if someone left the back door open, it can identify changes and degradation in performance and can point the homeowner to repair technicians listed on website Handy. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: This is a step towards the true smart home and it is high time that devices use their connected intelligence to provide significant value. Preventing several days without AC during a Texas summer is very valuable, and getting warnings that something does not look right, including suggestions of who to call, is outstanding. Expect companies like Nest to go the next step and offer calendar options for when technicians can arrive at the home, complete with standard pricing so that with a click of a mouse or finger, service can be scheduled. Coincidentally, this is the model for how smart sensors in the home will identify changes in inhabitants’ sleep and bathroom patterns, can suggest doctors to visit, their prices, and next available appointments.

A Facebook control panel for personal data

Facebook has rolled out a tool to show you which websites are using Facebook data to serve up ads and how to easily stop sharing. Follow these steps to limit the amount of Facebook activity being fed to other sites. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Facebook is feeling the withering criticism of the public and the shame generated by Apple by claiming to be the safe company while looking down its turtlenecked nose at the social networking giant. Hats off to Facebook for its transparency and its proactive move to help consumers manage data privacy. A similar dashboard needs to be required of every app that is fueled by data, as a privacy policy standard, policed by the FCC or FTC.

Ring’s attempt at better security

Doorbell and camera maker Ring has reacted to hacks, criticisms and lawsuits by adding a security dashboard to its app. The dashboard enables users to turn on two-factor authentication, to view which apps can access the camera account, to see if passwords are set, and to opt out of giving police access to videos. The security features, according to TechCrunch, are still quite weak, despite providing the user with new controls. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Despite the fact that Ring’s implementation of security measures is not industrial strength, the company should be commended for adding an easy to understand security control panel (see Facebook’s data access control panel above). Debate in the smart home market has long been that if products are highly secure, consumers will be frustrated by the more rigid account generation and sign on processes and pan the product. Data suggests this is true, yet consumers are outraged when really lazy passwords such as “12345678” are easily hacked. Making it easier for consumers to protect themselves is the right move, and very important to keep legislators and hackers at a distance, and Ring is on the right path.

 

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Apple reports a stellar quarter

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Apple crushed it

The Q3 earnings report is in and its great news… Apple’s revenue exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. The key news is that iPhone sales were up 8% and other products (those tough-to-get-for-holiday AirPods) slightly beat expectations, and services were slightly below expectation. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: This is great news for the global economy. It shows that the economic engine called Apple was still able to create enough shiny new gadgets to excite consumers around the world. The services business is tough, and it will take a while for Apple to figure out how to extend the aura of its brand — design and user experience — to services.

Apple pushes directly into India

Apple has sold products in India through a number of retail partners that have discounted products and generally had lackluster performance. Apple will launch its own online store for India in Q3, followed by brick and mortar stores, with the first in Mumbai. India is the second largest smartphone market in the world. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Apple doesn’t do well with third parties, and the premium, luxury experience of its retail online and brick and mortar stores will create an event in Mumbai and other Indian cities. The company has announced plans for a lower cost iPhone for big markets like India, and that product will undoubtedly do for India what the C-Class Mercedes Benz did for the U.S. — provide a luxury brand experience for a more affordable price and larger market.

Filmic app enables dual camera filming

An iPhone app by Filmic may transform the way people use smartphone cameras. The app enables use of two of your phone’s cameras at once, providing simultaneous and different streams. One view could be a selfie at the same time as the outward action is being filmed. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Will this app transform the future of pictures? Will it become customary to show two different views in one frame? Expect amateur videos to become very artsy as consumers learn how to edit-in different video camera angles, making even basic videos look like Hollywood products.

Boeing’s 777X has foldable wings

For news not related to the 737 MAX, Boeing completed a test flight for the very large, long haul 777X. Airlines want larger planes for long haul routes, maximizing economies of scale and creating very profitable operations. One problem with bigger aircraft is that they require a larger wingspan, which causes problems in tighter, crowded airports. Boeing is making this massive jet more nimble by enabling the wing tips to fold up during taxi, shortening the wingspan by 24 feet, then fully extending them for flight. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The company is in desperate need for some innovation credit as the 737 MAX debacle drags on. Innovation is what has kept Boeing the number #1 player in avionics. If the newly appointed interim CEO, Dave Calhoun, wants to make the company great again, he will focus on leadership through innovation, and, of course, improved testing and safety processes.

Uncategorized

Big Tech wants regulation

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Big Tech execs ask for more regulation

At the World Economic Forum at Davos last week, tech execs from multiple companies ask governments to set regulations on tough topics such as data privacy, encryption, AI and content monitoring. Caught between the pressures of congressional investigation and strong consumer backlash, Big Tech wants the government to set limits. Wall Street Journal

dis-rup-shun: One of the first concepts new parents learn is that children need boundaries to feel secure. Tech execs are asking federal governments to give them some boundaries and act like parents in order for them to feel secure about the limits of their businesses. Tech companies are rewarded for plowing new ground and providing services that have never before existed, however the backlash over stepping on data privacy is creating serious blow back from consumers and regulators, and turning some of the most loved brands, including Facebook (especially), Google, Amazon, and, to a lesser degree, Apple, into villains. Getting regulators to set the rules for the future will be tough. With disorganized agendas and partisan posturing consuming our regulators, the chances that they will get ahead of technology trends are, unfortunately, slim, however the new cooperative attitudes by Big Tech could make the career of a legislator who seeks to set a strong agenda.

Happy birthday iPad

Exactly 10 years ago, Apple unveiled the first iPad. It was thicker, slower, heavier, but not radically different than today’s model. At the launch, Steve Jobs mentioned that netbook computers had failed to add extra value to the customer experience. Forbes

dis-rup-shun: The company has sold over 360 million of the devices in the last decade, and while annual sales have slowed, the product keeps getting better. The iPad has become what the netbook was intended – a smaller, more portable computer. It appears that one of the most popular applications of the device is to purchase an add-on keyboard and use it as a very portable computer.  If Apple and all the buzz surrounding Jobs had not pushed the iPad into an adoring audience, the tablet would have never made it as a category. One can argue that the tablet is yet to find its true use case and the fact that the iPad was a big iPhone is what drove its growth. The brand power of Apple continues to bring magic to rather mundane product concepts, like wireless ear buds, and the magic seems to only be better in the post-Jobs era. Let’s see what’s next.

Apple earnings report: iPhones, Apple TV+, China

Today’s fiscal Q3 earnings report from Apple will include some important revelations worth noting. iPhone, the biggest part of the company’s earnings, have been down, but the iPhone 11 seems to be hot. Sales of products in China are under stress, as Chinese tech giants flood the market with highly competent but much less expensive smartphones. Apple’s new video streaming service, Apple TV+ has launched and early results will be revealed. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Today’s announcement will answer several very important questions for the direction of the tech economy. Question 1: are the incremental benefits of the iPhone 11 interesting enough to get a strong sales response? Observations of Apple stores over the holidays suggest yes. Question 2: Do Chinese consumers still think Apple is special enough to pay more money than for less expensive non-Apple smartphones? Observations of strong performance by emerging companies suggests the answer is no. Question 3: Is Apple’s new streaming TV service, Apple TV+ special enough that Netflix, Amazon Prime and now Disney + (Mandalorian) subscribers will add yet another service to their bundles? Logic suggests that these results will be mixed — not a home run, but given these services are brand new, the service will be off to a good start.

Strong guidelines for monitoring teens’ online access

Wired takes a stand, setting guidelines for how parents monitor teens’ mobile internet access: remind your children that you, the parents own the device, set periodic inspections to ensure compliance with no bullying and no adult content, no device use during meal time, and the consequences of violation are loss of the device for a period of time. Statistics show that 61% of parents monitor their children’s online activity, 42% of children have been bullied online, and 35% have been actively threatened.

dis-rup-shun: Parenting takes courage, and in the digital age, with fewer established rules, parents have to make them up either before they present the device, or set rules as they go. The transition between content for kids and content for adults seems non-existent, with the tween label having all but disappeared. In the Internet Age, individuals have to create their own rules, as much of the road is unpaved.

Smart Home, Uncategorized

Sonos feels the burn

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Sonos feels the fire from loyal customers

All of us who own Sonos products received a letter of explanation from Sonos CEO, Patrick Spence, who admitted to not handling the Sonos obsolescence announcing well. The letter reiterated that old Sonos gear would not receive feature updates, but would receive security patches. He also announced that the company was working on a way to essentially split home networks into two domains, so that legacy gear could operate in a second environment, maintaining its usefulness in the home without preventing new Sonos gear from having being updated. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: It seems that Sonos has forgotten about the scorching, white hot criticism that Nest received when it decided to brick the smart home hub it acquired from Revolv. Criticism was brutal, as it must have been for Sonos. Tech company leaders must remember that their companies have invested thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars into connecting with customers through social media and image building. Quick decisions that do not put those customer relationships first can torch a stellar image in a matter of days — just ask Sonos.

Why safer cars cost more to insure

Cars are safer than ever and crash rates are down. Insurance costs, however, have risen 29.6% in the past decade. The reasons for the disparity include the rise in distracted driver claims, thanks to the proliferation of smartphones, and the expense of repairing highly instrumented cars. Bumpers, for example, are full of sensors. Windshields are equipped with built-in cameras, high intensity headlamps can cost as much as $1800, and parts of cars are made of carbon fiber. Wired

dis-rup-shun: High insurance rates required to own and operate a car seem to favor the trend toward renting and paying-per-use over ownership. Separately, when we make a transition to self-driving cars, and those cars get in a crash with human-driven cars and the cause is “murky,” whose insurance pays? Expect a period of time when crash data from cameras and sensors from autonomous vehicles make the case that human drivers caused a collision, and the collective reaction from insurance providers for human driven cars will be to raise the rates to “account for crashes with autonomous vehicles.”

Big Tech seeks to change sharing of personal health records

While you read this article, a meeting including some of the largest health information providers in the country, including Cerner and Epic and including Big Tech companies such as Microsoft and Apple, is taking place to discuss a potential action by the Department of Health and Human Services to make consumer health data more open. Today, it is often difficult for a patient to access his or her own health records and move the data between different health providers. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The question consumers need to ask is, who has given me better access to data that has resulted in self-empowerment? Does authorizing Big Tech companies such as Apple or even Google to house my data in their clouds make for a better healthcare purchasing experience, or is there risk in these companies having access to my very personal health data? While you ponder that question, ask yourself if the current kings of health information are working hard to create transparent, consumer friendly healthcare purchasing markets. It is a very important showdown, and what is certain is that the current system must change in order to improve and our Big Tech companies can certainly bring about change faster than the institutional healthcare data provider incumbents.

Technology for better cat health

The PurrSong Pendant is a Fitbit-like collar that holds a charge for one month and measures your cat’s activity and alerts you, through a smartphone app, when there are changes in patterns, which may indicate that kitty is sick. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Using machine learning to detect differences in activity from a “normal” baseline is being applied to senior care, but can work for most any age or animal species. Annual spending on pet care in the U.S. in 2018 was $72.5 billion, an increase of 4%. Globally, the pet care market is estimated by Grand View Research to reach $202 billion by 2025. Expect a host of connected technologies for pets to enter the market in coming years, following the same introductions for humans by only a couple of years.

 

 

Smart Home

The next TV gets 4K over the air

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The next gen TV is built for cord cutting with 4K tuner

TV features continue to evolve quickly, even though people don’t replace TVs quickly. The latest feature is including a 4K tuner into the TV. TV channels in most major markets will begin to transmit the super high resolution 4K format over the air (free) this year. Cord cutters can rely on an antenna to receive local stations in 4K provided they have a built in tuner (new TV) or using an external set top box. Antenna and set top box are extras to purchase. CNET

dis-rup-shun: For those wishing to cut the cord (see instructions in Tuesday’s post), to receive local channels, one can either use the local TV apps provided by Roku or  YouTube TV or one can put up an antenna on the roof or in the attic, and either buy a special set top box or a new 4K ATSC 3.0 compatible TV. With TV features now changing quickly, you should buy up when purchasing a TV, hoping that spending a few hundred extra dollars will keep your TV compatible with the latest technology for a few more years. Unfortunately it looks like the days of not having a bunch of extra boxes plugged into your older TVs will never arrive. Despite the amazing technologies available for home entertainment, it seems that every home implements TV a bit differently, challenging the AirBnB concept and making hospitality TV systems in hotels even more necessary.

DNA testing is down, impacting 23andMe

Makers of DNA testing equipment confirmed what CEO of 23andME reported, and that is people are doing less DNA testing. The breakthrough technology enabling consumers to test their DNA led to fast growth for the company, ballooning to 700 people. The company is now laying off 100 employees due to a sharp decrease in testing that started in 2019. The CEO attributes the downturn to people’s concerns for privacy, and fear of a recession, resulting in more cautious spending. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The fears of a recession in 2020 seem to have calmed, so the drop in DNA testing must, in fact, be related to privacy. It is a fact that many people who have performed the test are not happy with what they have discovered, but the question is, is there a growing wave of consumer fear about loss of privacy? Ring, the doorbell camera maker, is facing backlash from consumers over video sharing. Consumers whose homes or faces appear in their neighbors’ shared videos are feeling exposed, and perhaps a side effect of a connected society is a society that feels watched over. This is a trend to watch in the coming months.

Microsoft sets the path for a new kind of computer experience

The foldable computer is the post-CES buzz, and Microsoft is showing developers how to create dual screen apps that are properly split so that the fold, in a foldable, isn’t doesn’t obscure the app window. Microsoft is pushing a new form factor that is sort of like the current form factor. That is, the new computer is a clamshell, but the keyboard area is also a screen, and the screen extends upwards (where it should be). Getting developers to build apps for this new, unproven device will be a challenge, but one that Microsoft believes will pay off. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The PC form factor has not changed in years, so maybe the market is ready for something fresh. The thing that has kept tablets from taking over the computing world is the need for a keyboard. If a foldable computer doesn’t have a real keyboard, or an app flat on the desktop that works as well as a keyboard, then this new device is a multi-tablet screen. If this device is visually stunning, with lots of screen space, then making this an amazing video watching device may be the best path to market.

Robots hold things without touching them

Robotics are on the rise in manufacturing, and ultrasound technology enables robotic arms to suspend tiny, fragile, or sterile devices and move them, position them or place them. By blasting sound waves at a certain frequency, robots can keep an item suspended in mid air. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Robotics continue to perform specialized tasks, improving one task after another, and this suspension technology will enable robotics in settings such as surgery, medical equipment manufacturing, and many other applications. The success of robotics is in specialization rather than being an all purpose do-anything device, meaning that the idea of a really useful home assistant is at least a decade away.

 

Smart Home

Ready to cut the cord?

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Step by step guide to cord cutting

The art of cutting your traditional pay TV service and replacing it with an Internet TV service has become cocktail conversation. Even luddites are doing it. This step by step guide takes you through the process, which involves some new investments: you must have fast, hearty internet service, and you much either replace old TVs with internet ready TVs (smart TVs) or purchase external connections such as Roku or FireTV for those old TVs. When you are ready to end your pay TV relationship, you can return any devices that you are renting (in perpetuity). Between ending rental fees and government mystery fees, you could save anywhere between $50 to $150, not counting your investment in new stuff. Shelly Palmer

dis-rup-shun: There has been an ongoing debate as to whether or not final TV expenses are lower for cord cutters, given all of the great streaming services and add-ons. The bottom line is that traditional pay TV subscribers have been buying most of the goodies, such as Prime and Netflix, and tacking on premium charges anyway, so lowering the base pay for TV services is a big win, especially given that for now, these services are not opposed to account sharing by your kids at college. 5G will upset the internet subscription pay model, in that super fast 5G connections that can power your entire home’s internet needs will challenge your traditional internet service (and may be the same provider), making what we call ‘faster then required’ much cheaper in a year. It’s a moving target, but you have to jump in some time.

The murky future for Sonos

Sonos has announced a trade-in program for some of its first devices, while also announcing that it will no longer support products dating back to 2006 and 2007. The pioneer in streaming music is directing its efforts on supporting the latest technology, all the while suing partner Google for patent infringement. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Sonos makes some of the greatest products in the connected home realm, with a very simple user interface. Sonos is to whole home audio what iPods were to boom boxes, and Sonos became what Bose was to the prior generation — the mark of really cool home music systems. Amazon and Google, with some help from Apple, JBL and others, are displacing Sonos. Research indicates that the most frequent use case for smart speakers such as Google Nest Home and Amazon Echo is to play music. The biggest complaint, of course, being that sound quality is lacking. The smart speaker makers and the Bluetooth speaker makers are upping their sound quality, while adding support for smart assistants, meaning that Sonos’ advantages as a high fidelity provider of streaming music are all but gone. What’s worse, of course, is that Amazon and Google are happy to sell products below cost as they race to be the provider of shopping services, information services, and a hub for smart home products. If you manage Sonos, how do you compete with that?

Proving space travel is safe

On Sunday, SpaceX, in a final safety test for NASA, demonstrated its human recovery module in the event of a rocket explosion. The recovery module is, essentially, a lifeboat that will bring astronauts back to an ocean landing should there be an in-flight catastrophe. The exercise is in preparation for SpaceX’s upcoming transporting of astronauts to the international space station, not yet scheduled but expected in the coming year or so. Spectacular footage of the flawless launch, explosion, Dragon separation, and splashdown can be viewed on Wired.

dis-rup-shun: The exercise will pave the way for the return of U.S. based rockets ferrying astronauts to space — something that has not occurred since the last shuttle mission in 2011. Boeing, the beleaguered maker of the 737 Max, is competing with SpaceX to be the first to return a U.S. based astronaut in space, but at present the aircraft company has a lot on its corporate plate, giving Musk a chance to steal the spotlight. Of course Musk, with his soaring Tesla auto company, highly criticized solar company, and ambitious boring (tunneling) company, among other endeavors, seems to thrive with a lot on his plate. A private citizen eager to purchase a ticket on a commercial space ride has an interesting choice to make: ride on the craft made by the occasionally fiery Tesla father, or ride with the largest maker of commercial aircraft and semi-complete software. I will wait.

Microsoft pushing hard into remote worker software

If you haven’t been working from a remote site, you may not be aware of Slack, a web-based group working software application that makes it easy for remote or headquarters workers to instant message, call, and file share, all from a pop-up app always running on their PC or mobile device. Slack brought in over $175 million in revenue last year, a growth rate of 42% according to Yahoo! Finance. Microsoft has come after Slack with its Teams application, which it built on top of the awkward Skype VOIP application. Microsoft has gone prime time, highlighting on weekend commercials how the application is transforming the way people work. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Teams and Slack are, in fact, changing the way people work — making it increasingly awkward to use the telephone, tethered or smart, to call a co-worker, when, with a click of a button, one can loop co-workers into a screen session and share a desktop. Document collaboration, while not something that happens in an office, is becoming a common result of frequent use of workflow software. Microsoft, having been blindsided by the commercial acceptance of Google Docs, is not about to give up more of its share of office productivity to San Francisco based Slack, but has declared a full battle to claim the new category, and is bundling Teams with Office 365. Bundling, however, does not ensure success, as Google Chrome has long bested Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and now Edge browsers, despite those being pre-loaded onto Windows computers.

Consumer Electronics, IOT, Smart Home

Ring continues to fortify security offerings

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Ring offers new security devices

Ring, the DIY product company owned by Amazon, continues to offer new security-related products. The new products include an outdoor smart plug, an outdoor siren, and an outdoor solar-powered light. The outdoor smart plug enables people to add lighting that can be controlled through their smart home app. The siren is mounted outdoors and, when triggered by the Ring security system, makes it easier for neighbors to see and hear an alarm. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Ring continues to build out its DIY offerings — filling gaps in its offerings. The solutions appear to continue to be friendly enough for self-installation – guarding against cross-over into the pro-installation realm. As more devices are included in the Ring arsenal, however, one ponders when Ring’s full kit will rival that of security systems providers. Ring continues to court the do-it-yourselfer and provide new ways to retain them even as their homes and needs increase.

New movie release plans will spur home theater growth

Disney, Universal and WarnerMedia have all announced shortened release windows for new movies — making them available to home streamers either on release date or after a shortened theatrical window (the time that movies are exclusively available in theaters). CEPro expects these changes to continue to spur the demand for home theater rooms in high-end homes.

dis-rup-shun: The permanent effects of COVID-19 appear to include the way we watch new releases — transferring spending from the theater into the home. The future of the movie theater is definitely in question, as that sector will have to go through its own transformation which will continue to include adding alcohol and premium food to its locations, and perhaps adding more content to entice viewers. Will the double feature make a return, or will theater owners join together to create exclusive content?

Chip shortage shuts down auto assembly lines

Supply chains for many products remain impacted by COVID-19, including semiconductors. When automakers realized demand recovered quickly from a brief COVID slump, they found that increased demand for devices including computers, mobile phones and game consoles created a shortage. The ripple effect includes the temporary halt of Chevy Colorados and GMC Canyon pickups, as well as Ford F150 pickups. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The global economy continues to be in flux while some industries face unprecedented demand as others continue to reel from shutdowns of restaurants, hotels, and drops in travel, to name a few. The shortages plaguing products that contain semiconductors could last until next year — causing consumers who may be flush with stimulus funds to reconsider new product purchases.

New Sportify interface unites mobile and desktop

Spotify released a new desktop interface designed to provide a similar experience on both desktop and mobile. The uncluttered experience makes it easier to arrange favorite tracks and podcasts. Engadget

dis-rup-shun: Unifying user interfaces is not a new concept, but is a strategy pursued by a surprisingly few companies. Spotify has been aggressive about reinventing audio entertainment — moving from music tracks to aggressively promoting podcasts. With the likes of Clubhouse redefining audio entertainment yet again, Spotify is on its toes — working to make listening a highly customized, personalized experience across mobile and desktop devices.