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.