IOTc Next Archives -

Medicare ready to reimburse telehealth

November 7, 2019November 7, 2019by sbsikesLeave a Comment

Medicare finalizes rules for telehealth

CMS, the regulatory body that determines which medical treatments will be reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid, is now finalizing the rules to reimburse doctors and clinicians for remote care, starting in 2020. These new rules allow for reimbursement of remote examination of a patient in another location by qualified medical professionals. mHealth Intelligence

dis-rup-shun: This is likely a watershed event for the connected health and wellness industry. Despite desperate need for cost savings and new efficiencies through technologies, connected health and wellness products have not been adopted by consumers or care providers at any reasonable scale. It appears that, despite the effectiveness of remote patient monitoring, without a reimbursement model, care providers have not deployed the technology except in rare cases. Allowing Medicare funds to pay for remote patient visits will make remote patient monitoring a standard offering in rural and urban areas alike. The connected wellness market hopes this development will be a catalyst for adoption of many effective technologies that are available today.

Xerox makes offer to purchase larger HP

Xerox announced an offer to acquire HP for a combination of stock and cash in order to cut up to $2 billion in operating expenses. Xerox’s market capitalization is $8.05 billion to HP’s $27.27 billion. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Is this a mind game? If two ships are slowly sinking and everyone on one ship jumps to the other and then 10% of people are thrown into icy water, what’s left? 90% of the people and one ship. This is not progress – this is a survival game. These are two of the strongest corporate brands in tech history – both once leaders in their respective markets. This merger reminds one of the 2001 Carly Fiorina-directed merger of sinking HP with sinking Compaq – a merger that cost her the CEO position, thousands of jobs, and billions in market value. Surely there are some innovators that can help these companies focus on developing new and emerging technology products and services.

Xiaomi launches Apple Watch knock-off

Xiaomi, the Chinese maker of smartphones and wearables, has released an Apple Watch clone for $185. The Mi Watch runs the company’s MIUI operating system and features apps 40 popular Chinese apps. As expected, the device includes speakers, microphone, heart rate monitor, and connectivity via cellular, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and NFC. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: While imitation is flattery, Xiaomi’s watch is a less expensive copy of Apple’s premium priced device. Hey Xiaomi, did you know that Apple has sued vendors before for copying its design and look and feel? It seems odd that this Chinese firm would launch this Apple clone in the face of a hot trade war that intends to end illegal use of protected intellectual property. Maybe Xiaomi wants to take the heat of off Chinese telecom vendor Huawei, or maybe Xiaomi determined that the design of the Apple Watch is generic (black rectangle) enough that it cannot be protected.

IOTc, the Internet of Things Consortium launches summit

The Internet of Things Consortium launches IOTc Next, The Connected Futures Summit. The event takes place in New York City’s TimesCenter on November 12th.

dis-rup-shun: Readers of dis-rup-shun.com are entitled to event discounts. The one day event features a wide variety of IOT topics and speakers. The agenda topics include: financing IOT projects, user interfaces, media organizations in a connected world, marketing how-to’s, seeing the future, IOT and mobility, smart homes, connected health and wellness, securing devices and networks, connected retail, smart cities, and the ethics of IOT. 5 days to register.

Uber forgot to program jaywalking into autonomous car’s software

In a federal investigation of what went wrong when an autonomous car killed a woman in Arizona, it was determined that the car’s software was not programmed to account for jaywalking (crossing the street outside of a cross walk – for our foreign readers) pedestrians. Wired

dis-rup-shun: This discovery is a blow to our trust and confidence in: the (likely) young, over-worked and over-caffeinated developers from Silicon Valley who may not even own a car; the QA lab at Uber that is supposed to simulate enough use cases to find deficiencies in a program before it goes live; regulators that approve the testing of new devices with the general public. Technologies fail, and even several rockets produced by NASA, the most fastidious tech organization in history, exploded and killed people, but this discovery is a shocking reminder that the tech companies we trust make some really big mistakes. Since the industrial revolution, companies have built products that are dangerous (737 Max, anyone?) and government oversight mostly resolves safety issues, if the product is on the government’s watch list. Whose is responsible for proper certification of autonomous vehicles?

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Remote care improves cancer care

November 5, 2019November 4, 2019by sbsikesLeave a Comment

Remote monitoring improves care for cancer patients

Cancer patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering (New York City) whose health symptoms were monitored remotely each day showed an unplanned hospital visit rate approximately 2/3 less than those not monitored. Unplanned admissions between scheduled hospital cancer treatments account for 48% of the costs of cancer treatments. Daily management of patients enabled them to receive, in most cases, care without admissions. HBR

dis-rup-shun: The healthcare world is full of indications that certain technologies improve care, but not enough clinical bodies of evidence that statistically confirm the results. As a result, the healthcare industry lags other industries in the deployment of connected technologies. The rising costs of care, especially hospital admissions, require increased use of remote care. In two to three years, large care providers will be deploying remote care solutions, pushing the industry to more efficient operations.

BMW demonstrates gesture control

BMW has offered gesture controls in cars for several years, but new enhancements in the 850iL prove highly reliable and easy to learn. With hand motions, like rotating one’s index finger, the sound volume can be turned up or down. Gesture control further reduces the need to find and depress a button. Gesture can be an alternative to larger touch screens which may require more, rather than less, focus on locating the correct control on the screen. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: New interfaces in cars include larger touchscreens, voice control, and now gestures. In car technology is a significant differentiator, as consumers love technology that improves the in-car experience. Better, easier controls increase safety and lower production costs, however the driving experience continues to be significantly different from manufacturer to manufacturer. New innovations continue to make it difficult for car renters and borrowers to easily know where all the controls are in unfamiliar models.

The pros and cons of Google’s acquisition of Fitbit

Wired ponders the pros and cons of Google’s acquisition of Fitbit. On the positive side, the same intelligence that tells you which route to take to get to an appointment and how long it will take can make smart suggestions about how to reach certain fitness goals. On the downside, Google could use the data that it has committed not to sell to cross-sell other Google products and services, fatiguing users with promotions of products we don’t want (remember Google +).

dis-rup-shun: The majority of tech users today are mostly willing to trade personal data for beneficial services. What is lacking is constant assurances that our data is safe and has not been compromised. Apple has taken the lead in establishing its public image as “the privacy company.” Google will quickly follow suit and try to prevent Apple from gaining this higher ground without company. Facebook is too busy testifying to Congress to improve its tarnished privacy reputation.

IOTc, the Internet of Things Consortium launches summit

The Internet of Things Consortium launches IOTc Next, The Connected Futures Summit. The event takes place in New York City’s TimesCenter on November 12th.

Nest WiFi a top performer

Nest has joined the ranks of companies selling mesh network WiFi extenders for the home. Nest’s extenders double as smart speakers and come in colors to match decor. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Big Tech is anxious to create new product categories, especially ones that Apple does not already dominate. Why device makers have waited 5 years to solve the common problem of weak WiFi reception in certain parts of the home is a puzzle, but having a coordinated, fashion forward device that makes me quit cussing my WiFi is a great value.

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Apple considering iPhone subscription

November 4, 2019November 3, 2019by sbsikesLeave a Comment

Apple ponders subscription model

Apple may be preparing to offer iPhones on subscription plan, easing the cost of up-front purchases by charging by the month. Tim Cook stated that the company has a similar plan now that provides upgrades and bundles warranties and tech support. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: As Apple transitions its revenue mix to much more emphasis on services, “throwing in” devices with services is a quick way to do so. iPhones can be a part of a SPaaS (Smartphone as a service) initiative that includes the latest and greatest phone with subscriptions to Apple’s streaming video, game service and news service. Perhaps there is a way to throw in the Apple credit card, which currently charges no annual fee, but could be free with smart phone subscription. Cell phone upgrade plans are confusing enough, so a simple monthly fee including services and regular upgrades could ease the confusion and make people happy.

Internet Archive enables digital access to rare books

The Internet Archive, the non-profit that is cataloging for posterity old websites that have come and gone, is in the processing of digitizing old books that are hard to find or not in print. The service is improving the verification of citations in reference documents such as Wikipedia and enabling researchers to dig deeper into unique data sources, such as old books. In addition, the service is allowing people to check out the digital books, one at a time, for free. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Did you know that you can use the Wayback Machine to find archives of old websites that are long gone? Think of it as the microfiche of old newspaper editions that a librarian could, on demand, retrieve from drawers at the library. The Internet Archive is bridging the gap between commercially available books provided by Amazon and Google, and old volumes long out of print. This amazing service is the digital key to unlock stores of important books that would never be offered by Amazon or Google due to their lack of commercial value.

Ring Fit Adventure — gaming to get fit

Nintendo’s animated exercise adventure game is now available for $80. The game comes with a ring that attaches to a controller (Joy-Con) and a leg strap that attaches to the other Joy-Con. The user works (literally) to foil an ugly dragon that can only be defeated with some hard labor on the part of the player. TechCrunch

dis-rup-shun: In the new world of connected fitness, an old player re-enters. Ring Fit is for the home fitness enthusiast who would rather fight dragons than follow hard bodies teaching live or recorded spin classes and boot camps. The demand for connected fitness should be big enough for many approaches, and there are certainly plenty of people who would prefer to workout in a fantasy world.

New conference to feature top IOT thought leaders

IOTc, the Internet of Things Consortium launches summit

The Internet of Things Consortium launches IOTc Next, The Connected Futures Summit. The event takes place in New York City’s TimesCenter on November 12th.

Forrester’s turn to predict the future

Market research firm Forrester has joined the ranks of future predictors with its 5 trends for 2020.

5G will augment existing low power personal area networks (LoWPAN) to provide faster connectivity of networked devices to the cloud.
Smart speakers will catch on, not just at home but in the corporate conference room to facilitate conference calls and video meetings, with software that adjusts to unique contexts, like too many people speaking at once.
Cybercriminals will also enjoy the rise of IOT, taking over more devices and holding them ransom. IOT devices will include improved security in an attempt to lock out these challengers.
Connected trucks that provide more data about their contents will optimize logistics, resulting in fewer empty or partially full trucks. Connected technologies will also keep drivers informed if they are drowsy or showing signs of diminished performance.
Device makers will shift from selling devices to bundling devices as a part of service delivery. See the Apple subscription story above for an example. Tech Republic

dis-rup-shun: As stated before, IOT has an ROI problem and the exciting news about the future will be examples of IOT making or saving money. Of Forrester’s predictions, improving logistics efficiencies in trucks, or anything that carries paid freight will be a great example of the tangible value of connecting things. Let’s hope that 2020 brings a number of strong examples of IOT making a difference to the bottom lines of industries that have connected their assets.