This week, CES unsurprisingly dominated the majority of the wider web’s coverage, but here are the most interesting stories from around the web.
Bosch and MegaChips have partnered to produce a reference design for MEMS sensors in smartphones and wearables, to track activity and environmental conditions, as well as launching the Bosch BME680 environmental MEMS sensor for just such use-cases. Greenvity Communications and Mitsumi Electric have collaborated to produce a turnkey cloud-based solution for outdoor LED lighting OEMs to use.
Beijing is due to reach 100% residential smart meter coverage by the end of 2015, Silver Spring Networks has acquired Detectent, a utility analytics provider, for $12m, and CGI has picked Gamma’s network to link smart meters to the business systems of utilities and network operators in the UK. Also, Accenture is set to acquire Structure, a utility system integrator.
Sequans has introduced its new Calliope LTE platform for IoT devices, suitable for category 1 (10Mbps) devices, complementing its 150Mbps (category 4) Colibri platform and StreamliteLTE chipset. EE Times notes that the IoT hubs are the natural next step for FPGAs, as the hubs need fast efficient processing power to handle the time-sensitive messages they receive, and the ULE Alliance has launched its certification program, for its Ultra Low Energy fork of the DECT radio protocol.
Osterhout Design Group revealed its upcoming smart glasses at CES, and promises consumer-grade augmented reality, and Intel has invested $25m in smart glasses firm Vuzix, whose $1000 M100 glasses have been quietly available on Amazon for the past two months. Vuzix also finalized its deal with Nokia to integrate HERE maps into its M100s. The BBC put the controversial GoBe calorie-counting wristband to the test, and found that it might actually work as promised.
ReSound has added Android compatibility to its already iOS compatible smart hearing aids, to allow users to quickly adjust settings, geo-tag places for location-specific settings, and track lost devices. Siemens has also announced a very similar hearing aid, with an accompanying puck-shaped necklace device that acts as a directional microphone to help wearers better pick out relevant sounds and block out distractions. In mHealth, CES sees Valedo show off its stick-on gadget to help strengthen the muscles involved in lower back pain, and here’s a stick-on adhesive fitness tracker from FitLinxx caught The Verge’s eye at CES.
The Verge also has a supercut of Intel’s CES presentation, in which self-navigating drones and the new RealSense depth-perception technology are placed at the forefront. Demos included a drone navigating an obstacle course and avoiding collisions with moving people, as well as a kit that could help visually impaired users avoid colliding with things.
CEPro covers the much-delayed Securifi Almond+ home automation router, scandal-ridden Soap, and the new Amped TAP-R2. Nest has added 15 new partners to its Works With Nest program, including Lutron, Insteon, and Philips Hue, and Tagg has partnered with Alarm.com to launch a pet-tracker that promises to cover nearly all of the US.
EE Times takes a look at agricultural robots, and Sensera Systems has launched its new MC-60 solar-powered time-lapse and security camera, which can now stream HD video and is aimed at site and plant managers who need to keep tabs on progress and high value assets.
Samsung has joined AT&T’s connected car Drive Studio lab, Peq has partnered with Zubie to connect the car to the home to trigger actions and behaviors, and Luxoft has launched its Computer Vision and Augmented Reality software framework, which will help the car scan the roads ahead to add pertinent information on points of interest or hazards to the in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system.
The FTC warns IoT firms to bake in privacy and security protection to their devices and platforms, Motherboard asks why we don’t have driverless trains yet, despite having the technology to do so today, and draws parallels with the adoption of autonomous cars, and ZDNet looks at the dystopian potential of the IoT; a recurring topic of concern, where tinfoil hats are optional.
To round off this bumper issue of RIoT, the Syfy Channel and Philips have partnered up to sync a TV viewer’s Hue lighting system to the show 12 Monkeys, in order to create a more immersive experience, following on from a previous trial accompaniment of the film Sharknado 2, and Motherboard takes a look at the plethora of connected dog accessories the cropped up at CES.