Month: April 2019

Bose frames eliminate ear buds altogether

Bose’s eyeware hides tiny speakers in the arms, providing for full fashion frames and Bluetooth headphones in one. Bose offers two styles, the Alto and the Rondo, catering to Wayfarer fans or those that prefer a smaller, rounder look. At $200, the frames are well within many people’s personal luxury budget. Gizmodo

dis-rup-shun: If you think of smart glasses being about augmented reality and video capture, Bose has offered a high-value, mass market application of smart glasses: replacing earbuds. As soon as Bose strikes a partnership with Ray-Ban or Prada, we will all be enjoying music or carrying on conversations without fumbling for earbuds, hoping they are either untangled or charged. This product will first enjoy success for recreational value, but will quickly address professional applications such as navigation, military, and training, and hopefully won’t become a new crutch for SAT test takers.

Omron develops blood pressure monitor smart watch

The Omron HeartGuide smart watch provides the first wearable to easily and frequently measure blood pressure, and the device is FDA approved. The HeartGuide is $500, and relies on an inflatable cuff underneath the band.  Gizmodo

dis-rup-shun: Smart watches seem a bit mundane, now that the novelty has worn off, but Omron, long a maker of consumer friendly health and diagnostics products, has created something remarkable, as measuring blood pressure without an arm band is no easy feat. For the 33% of Americans who have high blood pressure and need to be mindful of their condition, this product is a breakthrough. More importantly, however, is that this functionality, or an improvement of it, will eventually be incorporated into everyday watches like the Apple Watch, helping the masses improve their health, if they choose.

Juul using online tools to track misuse of vapes

Juul, maker of the smokeless e-cigarette popular among teens, is seeking to prove it is serious about combating underage nicotine use. A new campaign urges parents and authorities, who confiscate a Juul device, to log its serial number in an online portal which will help company investigators understand where and when the device was purchased. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: While a Juul vape is not (yet) a connected device, it likely will be soon. Illegal use of connected products will be difficult, requiring underage users to create false online aliases or even carry “burner” smart phones registered to an older sibling or imaginary persona. The price and penalties for cheating will increase at the expense of continuing loss of online privacy — a mixed blessing.

“Alexa, I need a doctor’s appointment.”

Amazon is positioning Alexa to be a health coach, providing information about nutrition, the location of clinicians, and answering questions about health. The device is now HIPPA compliant, meaning that its data storage policies meet federal health records privacy standards. While one can schedule a doctor’s appointment now, they cannot yet communicate with a doctor over Alexa, as that is a feature in development for future use. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Smart speakers are great, and most people have found a number of applications for them, but Amazon wants to be sure you get more value from your Alexa-powered device than listening to music. Making critical household tasks, such as getting health informaton, easier on Alexa than even on your phone, will add to the product’s stickiness. More importantly, Amazon is working to embed Alexa as a core component of senior care and aging in place technologies, where using a keyboard and finding phone numbers is increasingly difficult.

Notre Dame, you have a place in all our hearts. 

“Notre Dame of Paris is Notre Dame of all of Europe,” tweeted European Council President Donald Tusk. “We are all with Paris today.” Washington Post

AI will increase effectiveness of mobile commerce

Mobile users are experiencing app and notificiation overload, according to a study by Connecthings. Most mobile users (84%) report using fewer than 10 apps on a daily basis. 40% of men and 30% of women clean up their phones once per week. The majority of respondents open only 25% of notifications, citing lack of relevance as a problem. ZDNet

dis-rup-shun: Information overload, the vice of daily snail mail and email, now threatens the effectiveness and satisfaction of newer communications apps on the smartphone. Understanding what is most important to me requires both access to my personal behavior data as well as an understanding of my context (am I at work, play, home or away?). Consumers seek less annoyance from technology and are willing to trade personal information for better experiences. For this reason, the data sharing economy, despite fears of loss of confidentiality, will continue to thrive.

Amazon employees listening in

Amazon confirmed that employees in U.S., Costa Rica and Romania listen to as many as 1,000 audio recordings per day from customers who have invoked the “Alexa” watch word. The listeners are monitoring Alexa’s ability to properly recognize speech, and the company assures that audio clips are encrypted, protected and unidentified to listeners. CNN

dis-rup-shun: Most smart speaker customers are aware that they have a microphone in their homes and have determined that the risks are less than the rewards. Perhaps the news of employees listening will change the usage or placement of the devices, but one only needs to consider use of social media, Google searches, and online purchases to realize that we have all painted a detailed profile of our lives with or without speaking to Alexa. An unmet business need is an online portal which shows consumers all of the services that are tracking personal data and provides the option to “pull down the curtains.” It may take federal regulations to implement such a comprehensive tool following increasing distrust of our data providers.

Princeton researchers offer a spy app to see who is watching your devices

IoT Inspector enables a person to visually see when and with what cloud service your home devices are communicating. With some detective work, one can figure out if devices are reporting in even when not in use. Download it here (available for MacOS only at the current time). TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: As suggested in the story above, consumers will increasingly require tools that help them see how visible their data is. The majority of people understand that usage of the valuable free tools across the Internet are not free — but require a payment of personal data. A data usage dashboard would likely not grealy reduce participation in online activities, but would encourage users to understand the usage agreements — like reading the labels on food products to see if they contain high-fructose corn syrup.

World’s largest plane takes flight on Saturday

The Stratolaunch, after many years in development, finally took to the skies over the Mojave desert on Saturday. The behemoth, a project of the late Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen, is akin to two Boeing 747s fused together. The purpose of the craft is to carry rockets to 35,000 feet where they can be more economically launched into outer space compared to the high fuel costs of boosting rockets off of a launch pad. Gizmodo

dis-rup-shun: The space race is getting more crowded as tech entrepreneurs, including Richard Branson, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos are making strides far ahead of government initiatives. Regulation of space, whether to track presence of crafts or to impose territorrial rights, is a looming problem and will require formation of international, cosmic FAA or NATO-like organizations. Astrophysics, astronomy, jet propulsion and space law may be the hottest careers in 2025 and beyond.

Samsung’s Frame is a work of art for your wall

The Frame TV is a QLED 4K UHD TV from Samsung that looks exactly like a picture frame, available in 43″, 55″, 65″. Optional magnetic wood-looking frames can be added to match your decor. By opening an account on the Samsung Art Store, you can choose different styles of art, or display colletions by your favorite curators. Of course you can display your own photos and, if you get bored, you can watch TV. CEPro

dis-rup-shun:  This product is brilliant, gorgeous, exciting, and a bit frightening. First of all, every home should have one and I am fighting the urge to just buy one right now. Samsung has followed well the new immutable law of consumer electronics which says every connected device must feature exclusive content that merits a monthly fee. Most significant, however, is what this may do for art. The Art Store is the iTunes for art, making understanding and “collecting” digital art a new fad, potentially driving demand for the real thing and spurring Rent the Runway, or Spotify types of subsciption businesses for famous as well as not-yet-discovered artists. Art world, prepare to be rocked.

Amazon goes to outer space

Amazon’s project Kuiper proposes to launch 3000 satellites to provide Internet service to rural areas (and everywhere else). The network of low orbit satellites would increase the capacity of international data connections.  CNBC

dis-rup-shun:  A 2009 academic journal stated that $.09 of every retail U.S. dollar was spent at Walmart. Fast forward to 2029, when at least $.20 of every dollar will be spent with Amazon on groceries, food delivery, drone delivery, video content, consumer electronics, streaming music services, and Internet service from outer space and, could it be, Amazon health care? If the Network Effect continues to hold, satellite broadband service will be good for the global economy.

Speaking of satellites, Elon Musk launched another one

SpaceX Falcon Heavy hurtled a satellite into space on Thursday, commissioned to launch an Arabsat satellite. The Falcon Heavy’s twin boosters again made a synchronized landing at Cape Canaveral while the rocket’s core landed on a drone ship at sea. CBSNews

dis-rup-shun:  In Elon Musk fashion, rockets now don’t just work (mostly), they land, like synchronized swimmers, on small targets, and some of those targets are floating drones bobbing on the sea. Is this stuff really happening in our lifetime? In the clash of titan egos, will Musk help Bezos launch 3000 satellites (see above)?

Israel in space

Israel was also in space this week. Its Beresheet (Genesis) lunar lander, also launched by SpaceX (see above), had to be rebooted, then took a selfie moments before landing but was, moments later, lost. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun:  Space: everybody’s doing it. Clearly winning a place in space is critical to big companies and ambitious countries that see space as the superhighway to connect travelers, via commercial craft, and to position electronic devices to spread Amazon Prime content, or packages, or to spy, or, unfortunately, point weapons from their floating outposts.  It looks like the new measure of power is one’s place in space. Mr. Trump, where is your satellite?

Walmart is hiring … robots

Walmart has been testing robots to clean the floors of stores in Texas and will now roll out the cleaning robots to 1,500 stores. It has 4,600 stores in the U.S. Robot technologies have also been employed to sort stock and track inventory. The Verge

dis-rup-shun: Some quick math says say that a crew of 2 to 3 human floor cleaners per store means that the initial human cleaner displacement factor is initially 4,500, possibly growing to 13,800 people across all U.S. stores. If robots in stores require a full-time technician for the programming and maintenance of the devices, we can add back 4,500 higher skilled, higher wage earners, for a net human impact of 9,300 displaced people. Should we be concerned about jobs displaced by technology? History says that each major productivity sea change, such as the industrial revolution and the information age, has led to a higher standard of living, although accompanied by significant job disruption.

Amazon Echo-ize your premium audio system

Amazon began shipping its Echo Link Amp which, like Sonos Amp, allows you to turn non-Internet-connected audio systems into steaming music devices that can be controlled by your Echo devices. The offering, at $299, is half the price of the equivalent from Sonos. The Verge

dis-rup-shun: The Echo and its competitors are great products, and less glitchy than my Internet enabled whole-home audio receiver, but certainly do not sound anywhere as great as a custom home sound system. Other members of the household who still have not mastered all the settings required to play music from certain streaming accounts in certain rooms on certain speakers will be deligthed to boss the Echo around. Most of our home appliances will be voice enabled in a few short years, but certain devices have a lifespan of 10 or even 20 years, and Amazon is helping us update our legacy devices.

Really smart lighting from Orro

Orro, a lighting control that replaces your light switches, makes ligthing control easy. Orro automatically switches lights on and off, based on your movement, and adjusts brightness based on time of day. Orro replaces your light switch, not your bulbs or fixtures and remembers the patterns and brightness you prefer, so you get the same experience after adjusting one time. Unlike many smart home products, Orro does not depend on the cloud, so none of your personal data leaves the home. ZDNet

dis-rup-shun: There are a host of ways to implement smart homes – some expensive and instrusive, and some easy add-ons. Orro is a wholesale replacement of your light switches with a great looking, $199 black glass plate. Orro is more like a smart phone that you install in the wall, meaning it is an intercom, a whole-home controller and thermostat. Just when we thought we had to rely on mobile apps to control lighting, Orro puts the app on the wall.

Roku brings even more goodies

Roku continues to improve its video streaming service and channels, including premium HBO channels and soon, Cinemax. These are additions to the already 25 premium channel offerings on Roku. CEPro

Roku is an example of a company that gives people exactly what they want at the price they want. The service continues to offer many form factors so that old TVs and new can add the experience. Traditional cable and satellite are feeling more and more like land lines. Why do we pay $200 a month for Shark vacuum and AB Buster infomercials?

Drone deliveries approved in Australia

Alphabet’s Project Wing has gained approval in Canberra, Australia to begin delivery by drone of food and medicine. Deliveries will start with a group of 100 homes as drones are not allowed to cross highways or operate after dark. Gizmodo

dis-rup-shun: There exist so many obstacles to commercial drone use, including regulation, technology, trees, power lines, airplanes and weather, that finding profitable mass market applications will take some creativity. Clearly niche applications exist — perhaps in rural areas like the Australian outback — where the ecnomics will work. Emergency deliveries of medicine to battlefields, where profit is not the motive, could be an early application.

Facebook is schooled by the European Commission

EU regulators have asked Facebook to clearly state, in its terms of service, that its services are offered at no charge in exchange for people allowing the company to use individuals’ data and show them advertisements. The company confirms that the EU changes will apply to terms of service globally. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Facebook is an example of how fast things can turn south in the Internet economy. The high flying unicorn has become an object of consumer distrust and has not yet restored its once-stellar image. This pressure from the EU is an opporutnity for Facebook to take the lead in developing not only very-simple-to-understand terms of service that people will actually read in a minute or two, but also to provide a dashboard of options, enabling users to click on radio buttons to determine how much and for what purpose they wish to share data. If the company really wants to do right, this is a chance.

Verizon prices 5G at extra $10

Verizon’s much touted first rollout in Chicago has been patchy, with few towers equipped with 5G but with speeds of over 600 Mbps. The company has announced that users must have an unlimited data plan to get the $10 per month upcharge to unlock 5G, a fee which is waived for three months while the infrastructure build out continues. ArsTechnica

dis-rup-shun: Cellular data pricing for 5G will follow a familiar pattern: first it will be priced at a premium as customers become convinced that they can’t live without it, then spoilers, such as T-Mobile, that have already promised not to charge extra, will package 5G with new phones and new plans in an effort to grab market share, then AT&T and Verizon will match and beat their deals with attactive new-phone bundles, effectively driving the price down. With the increased data capacity offered by 5G, the race by carriers to monetize new infrastrucure will be great for consumers, developers and entrepreneurs seeking greater connectivity. Remember Metcalfe’s Law?

Stringify, a consumer-friendly language for programming your smart home, dies

Stringify provided an easier than IFTTT if/then-that configuration language to make smart home products super easy to personalize. Comcast purchased the company in 2017 for its Xfinity Home line, but made the decision to kill the product by June of this year. CEPro

dis-rup-shun: Many companies have been acquired, only to be abandoned on the road to smart homes, but it’s hard to understand where Comcast is heading with this decision. Perhaps the acquisition, in the end, wasn’t worth the expense of maintaining, or, perhaps the company that has an excellent voice powered remote, is moving to an audio-based configuration engine. Or perhaps Comcast will be providing a far more sophisticated configuration tool that’s even easier than IFTTT. While today’s DIY smart home systems are easier and easier to use, they still challenge a large percentage of the target market.

 

The singing lamp is the next must-have smart home product

Sonos and Ikea have teamed up to create Symfonix, a Sonos speaker with a lamp shade on top of it. Leveraging the high volume retail home furnishing channel, Sonos continues to diversify its form factors, and for $179, consumers get a high fidelity speaker and a decorative lamp. Wired

dis-rup-shun: The crossovers and blurring lines of the smart home continue. While determining if the Samsung fridge is a big TV with a cooler built in, or a fridge with a TV bolted on, and if the Amazon Echo Show is a monitor with a speaker or an Echo with a screen, we now have the singing lamp. With everything from doors and windows to toothbrushes being connected, expect channel confusion while Best Buy, Home Depot and Walmart struggle to draw the lines between furnishings, appliances and consumer products.

The ethics of AI are proving more complex than its creators expected

Google has disbanded its council on AI ethics, called ATEAC for Advanced Technology External Advisory Council, allegedly given employee objection to two of the eight council members. ZDNet

dis-rup-shun: Our society has always been built on representations of different viewopoints. If Google employees are against diverse opinions on their council, aren’t they collectively foregoing checks and balances against herd mentality or group think, or is “the wisdom of crowds” akin to democracry? The ethics of AI are already fuzzy and already at odds with economic and military advantage. See Shelly Palmer on how the West has already lost the AI race to China because of ethical hesitations.

Microsoft’s Healthvault to close on November 20th

Healthvault, the free, consumer friendly service started 10 years ago as a play to put Microsoft at the heart of connected health technologies. The company is reported to be moving its focus to non-consumer facing health applications.  ZDNet

dis-rup-shun: Free still isn’t a good business model and Microsoft never found a way to monetize the highly confidential data stored in the vault. Having terabytes of consumer data is not very monetizable if you can’t use it, and Microsoft, not being a strong device maker, hasn’t found the Kindle-to-eBook relationship for Healtvault. Will Google or Amazon be the first to offer a compelling device/data combination that provides free health record storage for consumers?  

Apple drops the price of its HomePod speakers

Apple’s pricey HomePod speaker dropped from $349 to $299, as it fails to cut into the share of Amazon’s Echo family and Google Home. ArsTechnica

dis-rup-shun: Apple has been late to a number of categories, like computers, digital music players, set top boxes and wearables, but has built a strong or dominant busines in each one. Its lack of success with HomePod is more a testament to how well Amazon has learned from Apple how to build truly compelling products at aggressive prices and with good design. Amazon’s Fire Phone, in retrospect, could have been one of its most valuable exercises. Amazon and Google are closing the gap on superior design and Apple will have to continue to elevate its game.

Kwikset knocks down a barrier to smart home adoption

Kwikset announced the Convert model of lock. This kit leaves your exterior hardware intact and replaces the interior hardware with a metal box and deadbolt mechanism which contains the batteries, motor and Z-Wave chipsets. CEPro

dis-rup-shun: Smart locks are a wonderful use case for smart home technology, and their prices and selections have been attractive, but let’s face it, who wants to replace expensive decorative hardware from the likes of Baldwin with a lesser designed lock? Especially on the most prominent part of one’s home. By allowing a homeowner to leave their hardware in place on the outside and simply replace the interior faceplate, Kwikset eliminates one more barrier to adoption – aesthetics.

 

Tonal fitness raises series C funding to bring resistance training to your home

Tonal, based in San Francisco, offers a wall $2,995 mounted electromagnetic device that simulates weights, providing a compact weight free training system with personalized training sessions delivered online for $49 per month.  TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Tonal’s resistance training, Peloton’s cardio training, and Mirror’s yoga and boxing fitness all rely on training classes delivered over the Internet to your home or gym. Now joining a health club is similar to joining a social network – one joins a social networking/fitness online community where online friends offer high-fives and choose their favorite instructors. Will dating app kingpin Match Group start buying online fitness companies to replace the social aspect of joining a gym lost by not joining a gym?

 

Google is laying faster fiber under the Atlantic

Google’s latest transatlantic cable, called Dunant, will transmit at 250 terabits per second, which is sufficient to “zap all the contents of the Library of Congress from Virginia to France three times every second.” Wired reports that this 12 pair cable is over 50% faster than cables owned by Microsoft and Facebook, but likely to be leapfrogged by an upcoming 16 pair cable in development by NEC. Wired

dis-rup-shun: The last subsea cable races of the 1990s delivered the offshoring economy, leading to call centers and software development in low cost countries and to concomitant outrage at the displacement of jobs. The simultaneous development of 5G and faster, cheaper international fiber will accelerate the shift of more jobs to the lowest cost regions of the world, while leading to development of new jobs that to build companies employing “cloud” architecture to instantly deliver services anywhere in the world from the farthest, and lowest cost corners of the world.

 

Tesla’s electric car for every man is a bumpy ride

Tesla reported that it delivered 30% fewer cars in Q1 than the prior quarter, in spite of ramping up troubled production of its Model 3 – the electric car priced for the mass markets. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Tesla has been around long enough that it is no longer the hot new product and perhaps those that can afford to make an eco-status statement by owning a Model S or X are now looking for the next statement vehicle. Meanwhile, those that cannot afford a spare show car, and rely heavily on their autos to take the kids to school and get to work, the supermarket and home again, aren’t interested in the challenges and perceived risks of an electric car. The Chevy Volt is at end of life but many luxury car makers like Audi, Volvo and Porsche have new models on the way. Electric cars, like Whole Foods, are still luxury items.

Amazon readying its answer to AirPods

Someone at Amazon’s Lab126 has leaked the news that Amazon is developing Alexa-powered ear pods. It is assumed that one can issue voice queries via Alexa, but on an Android or iPhone, one would first have to unlock the phone to activate the Amazon pods. Bloomberg

dis-rup-shun: The razor and blade battle that Apple started with iTunes on an iPod continues to play out in countless new products (see prior post on Apple’s credit card). Amazon’s blade does not fit as nicely into Apple’s or Android’s razor as their own do. Amazon’s access to smartphones require one to first open the phone — a task not required with AirPods. Perhaps this is partial payback for Amazon not paying the App Store tax by not selling Kindle books through Apple. Why would I buy ear pods from Amazon if they are less convenient? Because they will cost substantially less, of course.

 

 

Shopping Wars — a multi-front battle pitting Google v. Amazon

Google and Walmart have announced a partnership that enables a user to say “Hey Google, talk to Walmart.” Given Google’s 52% share of the U.S. smartphone market, the large number of Android and Google Home users can easily shop at Walmart where the cloud will remember their past brands and size preferences, reducing shopping time and increasing convenience. This alliance is a response to the Whole Foods/Amazon vertical integration. Vox

dis-rup-shun:  Using a simplified description of today’s retail supply chain, there are five components: the cloud, the online marketplace, the brick and mortar store, the delivery company and the user interface (app, smart speaker or clerk). Amazon is on a path of total vertical integration, owning AWS, Amazon.com, Whole Foods, Amazon Logistics, and Alexa. Walmart, playing online catch up with its Jet.com marketplace, has already moved its cloud business from AWS to Azure (Microsoft), relies on FedEx and UPS for delivery, and has now partnered with Google to secure a spot in the smart speaker. Will other supply chain vendors including FedEx, UPS, Home Depot, Safeway, Walgreens and Lowe’s act defensively and partner with Google as well? The retail market is looking like Game of Thrones, with many kingdoms vying for power through alliances.

 

Don’t buy Chinese 5G, urges group of 6 U.S. generals

A group of military leaders issued a statement urging American allies to “just say no” to Chinese communications technology when seeking to build 5G networks. The statement lists threats to data security, future military operations, human rights and democracy itself. CNN

dis-rup-shun: The campaign against Huawei continues on, with U.S. leaders urging allies not to pierce the Silicon Shield. Fear of Huawei may be a good thing for the race to 5G if it has the impact of Sputnik on the space race. Consumers and businesses will benefit sooner and faster from accelerated implementation of 5G and AI.

 

Amber’s smart circuit breaker is another step toward natively smart homes

Amber joins Leviton in the smart circuit breaker market. The solid state and electro-mechanical breakers are designed for either retrofits or for new construction, providing smart switches and plugs that can be remotely controlled and can report energy consumption without use of energy disaggregation add-ons. Amber Solutions

dis-rup-shun: As commented in Leviton’s announcement, smart breakers are the most elegant approach to the smart home, and hopefully the wave of the future. As breaker makers provide APIs that will enable elegant integration with leading smart home software and device makers, consumers will enjoy control and coordination of every switch and plug in their home — leading to increased comfort, safety, security and efficiency without add-on and retrofit devices.

 

 

“5G is the platform for tomorrow’s economy.”

According to the president of CTIA, the U.S. has caught up with China and South Korea in the race to deploy 5G networks, expected to be in 92 cities by year end. CNN

dis-rup-shun: If 4G is the technology that enabled transformational companies such as Uber and Lyft, it is clear to see that 5G, at data rates 20 times faster than 4G (downloads at 20 Gb/s) will significantly impact our economy. A few disruptions coming: value and prices of today’s fiber infrastructure will decrease, meaning today’s 100 Mbps household connections, priced at $40 per month, will cost less than $10; streaming services such as Netflix will be faster and higher quality than traditional cable TV; smart cities will inexpensively connect traffic lights, street lights, garbage trucks, buses and police cars to create new efficiencies and higher service levels. Expect 2020 to be the beginning of a significant economic growth wave as new technologies are launched on top of 5G.

Why you will soon carry an Apple credit card

Last week Apple announced their new credit card, better described as personal payment platform, which will be available this summer. The account is tied to the Apple Wallet app, has a physical card with no account number, and each transaction must be authenticated through the Wallet app. The account has no annual fees and no late fees. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Apple has done it again — listened to what customers want and implemented it. Tracking credit card numbers and transactions through an app is genius, as authentication through a mobile device will reduce fraud, increase visibility of how much and where you used your account, and increase stickiness. Competitors will implement authentication through an app that requires a login, while Apple’s wallet app, on iPhones, is one touch away. Of course this product will boost use of Apple Pay, and, voila, Visa, Mastercard and AMEX will find themselves with a cable TV problem (rapid loss of subscribers).

Why are you messing with my Inbox?

Wired covers the latest email applications, both free and paid. A host of companies are busy re-thinking the way you interact with email and devising better ways, including Edison’s encryption scheme and Outlook’s Focused tab.

dis-rup-shun: While it seems these companies are solving problems I never knew I had, they serve as examples of how AI is entering everyday apps and making decisions about what and where I see things. Expect our everyday productivity applications, such as the office suite, to soon feature interfaces that are customized to our work habits.

Smart kids play with smart Legos

Legos has announced Spike Prime, its $330 set that includes over 500 pieces and enables one to build a robot, hopefully boosting interest in STEM and engaging the creativity of digital natives.

dis-rup-shun: Remember when we were young and went over to each other’s houses to build and play with robots? I don’t either. The beleaguered toy industry has a chance to win back some youth from smart phones and game consoles — by becoming extensions of both. If Spike Prime has an app and enables interaction over social networks, it will keep young minds engaged far longer. 

Badges will soon be obsolete with facial recognition cameras

Alcatraz AI is developing FACE ID — technology that enables your face to replace your plastic ID badge. The camera includes three sensors (RGBs and infrared) and mounts on the wall to convenient read passers by and determine if the door should be unlocked or security alerted to your presence. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: Traffic snafus caused by employees who left their badge at home is a common problem in most large lobbies. Imagine the productivity gains achieved by whizzing through access points. The evolution of this technology will move from corporate lobbies to factory floors, to smart doorbells at home, and hopefully to the TSA at an airport near you. Once peace officers install ID cameras on their uniforms, toting a driver’s license will be unnecessary and, when adopted by the neighborhood pub, junior’s fake ID is toast. 

 

Please pass the power

Two way charging, or the ability for your phone to charge other devices, presently available in the newest Samsung Galaxy smartphones, will be coming soon to the iPhone. Analysts expect battery size and capacity in newer phones to increase to support this “mothership” configuration. MacRumors

dis-rup-shun: Bigger mobile battery packs will spur development of even more hungry cord-free appliances, following the success of AirPods and competitors. Expect a new class of wireless Bluetooth speakers, additional wearables, smokeless cigarettes, and even smart glasses that now have a more persistent power source and can piggy-back on the smartphone while you are on the go.

 

Toyota’s Cue3 and Duke’s Zion Williamson — not perfect

A Toyota robot called Cue3 made 5 of 8 3-point shots in a technology demonstration. Using a series of sensors that identify the rim, position the torso and the arms, then calculate the motion required to shoot, the robot was not as accurate as in its pregame warm-ups. Washington Post

dis-rup-shun: Despite impressive gains in robotics, note that successes have been for specific tasks, such as painting undercarriages, vacuuming floors and shooting basketball 3-pointers. Cue3 is unable to dribble, walk or run and combining those tasks is several years away. If Toyota’s technology makes 63% of 3 point attempts, can it build an autonomous car that makes the right stops, starts and turns 100% of the time? I think I will wait. 

 

Leviton’s smart Wifi breaker is a vision of the future

Leviton’s new IOT Load Center is a home breaker box with snap in WiFi breakers that can be controlled through a home’s WiFi network. Using Leviton’s smart home mobile app, all circuits can be switched, managed and remotely monitored . CEPro

dis-rup-shun: This is perhaps the most exciting smart home product I have seen in a long time, and a sure sign that smart home has moved beyond novelty. Today’s wall worts, multi-protocol hubs, retrofit plugs, switches, sockets and surface mounted sensors can be unattractive, clumsy and too complex for many. Leviton puts home automation in the hands of electricians and software developers and creates a platform (your home wiring) on which solutions providers such as Amazon, SmartThings, People Power, and Google Nest can build elegant multi-vendor solutions. With an applications interface that other vendors can address, Leviton will make smart homes as standard to new homes as power windows are in new cars.