To kick things off around the web this week, Network World list the 12 most powerful IoT companies, with no major surprise inclusions. PCB Design has a write-up of an IDTechEx report regarding the Internet of Things vs. the Internet of People, which is well worth a read. ABI Research found that smart home device shipments doubled between 2012 and 2013, and predicts that 500 million smart home devices will be deployed globally by 2018. The Consumer Electronics Association is forming a new working group for a home automation interoperability standard.
Swiss wireless company u-blox is buying connectBlue for $28 million, for its industrial radio modules.A proposed new European wireless standard could lead to “major industrial wireless failures,” and Bosch Software Innovations and MongoDB have partnered to push Big Data to connected industries. Quartz has discussed the problems that face keeping the connected car connected, and Strategy Analytics says the demand for automotive sensors will grow at 5.9% CAGR in 2013-18 from $18.1 billion to $24.1 billion.
Ventyx has joined the Smart Grid Gotland intiative in Sweden to produce a renewable energy grid in a pilot program that could be adopted in the rest of the country and EU. ClipperCreek has partnered with Itron to launch an electric vehicle charging station, which uses ZigBee to communicate its smart metering data. Google is recalling 440,000 Nest Protect smoke alarms, while Forbes asks whether Google’s idea of pushing ads to a Nest or fridge means that the smart home is doomed. Lastly and a little light-heartedly, Whistle has launched a GPS dog collar on the new US Sigfox network for the quantified canine.