STUART B SIKES

The new world order of entertainment

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.