Justin Grammens
This past weekend I had the opportunity to co-organize, emcee and participate in the first IoTHackDay in Minnesota where teams formed to build an IoT project in 10 hours. During my opening remarks, I noted that while some participants had prior experience working together, in most cases the people on the teams had never met before we opened the competition! Thus, "the cause" was more important than "the people".
This got me to thinking, was this something that would happen in other fields? Maybe, but maybe not. Engineers working on IoT solutions today are pioneers. They are focused on solving real world problems using whatever tools are available now. They tinker in their basement, at Maker Faires, in groups and events like IoTHackDay and many other places. They are not driven by a company mandate or the need to make a profit. They are artists, quite literally, as many teams used drills, saws, soldering irons, laser cutters, etc as they built their project.
Additionally, the sharing between the teams was phenomenal. Teams helped each other where they needed with no questions asked. Need a battery? Some wire? A WIFI access point? No problem! These teams shared whatever was needed with each other. Maybe it's just being Minnesotan, but I think there is something more at play here. It's again "the cause" that matters. It even showed in the team that won the competition by popular vote and their solution to help those with subconscious behaviors.
I'm excited to be a part of this small, but growing community of builders and makers who are building intelligent physical objects to solve problems in the world today. We have something unique going on. With the combination of hardware, software and the physical world, the potential to do good in the world is huge.
News
IoT Hackday Winner HabitAware Invents Wearable Tech for Bad Habits
The first IoTHackDay in Minnesota was held last Saturday at Minnetronix. 10+ teams competed for 10 hours to build something new and exciting that could change the world. The competition was fierce with a grand prize package of hardware from sponsors and goodies being given to "HabitAware" for their solution to help with repetitive disorders. Congratulations!
In China, the Internet of Things Is a Social Phenomenon
The Chinese business model typically looks to take ideas from the internet and then localize it for their needs. Tapping into this business model is what many companies are looking to do to sell to the vast number of Chinese consumers in the future. Using social networks and novel partnerships as the hub is one area where businesses are creating an impact on the Chinese market.
Security
The Internet of Things Is Here, but the Rules to Run It Are Not
Interesting article on who is to blame when devices are hacked or information is stolen. Is it the fault of the user who didn't set their password or is it the fault of the manufacturer for not requiring that a password always be set? There have been a number of high profile cases where devices have been hacked. In all of those cases, the one things that is clear is that the law is still being written on this subject.
Business
Coming This Holiday to Best Buy and Target: The Internet of Things
2014 was a year of increased interest in home automation and connected devices space, but it hasn't turned into an explosion of real dollars (yet). Connected home products are going to be all the rage this holiday season. As we work into the coming year, that interest will turn into real dollars and even the brick and mortar retailers know it.
How a Tiny Fishing Village Became the Gadget Factory of the World, and Why That's Just the Beginning of Its Ambitions
Technology is changing the world these days and while we all think about how we use it here in the western world, it's having a huge impact in those countries which manufacture the items that we purchase. Whole cities have completely changed course because of one hit device in the US. IoT will only help fuel this growth with more sensors, devices and "things" that will need to be manufactured.
Ford: Apple and Google Are Welcome in Our Cars, but Sync Is Here to Stay
While there has been lots of talk about Ford shifting the OS of its connected car platform, one thing that is certain is that they will not be handing it all over to Apple of Google. Instead they want developers to have open access into their platform to build a more tightly integrated experience. The fear is that once you start having exclusive deals with the likes of Google or Apple, you will get vendor lock in. You want all those features in your Audi? You need an iPhone - want them in your Lexus? You need an Android Device.
Big Data
ParStream Unveils Analytics Platform
What we are seeing going on right now in technology is that so much data is being generated both by humans and machines, it's difficult to know what is useful and more importantly being able to locate and analyze the pieces that are important. We particularly like this analytics platform as it has some unique advanced analytic offerings.
Startup Crunches 100 Terabytes of Data in a Record 23 Minutes
With the so much data coming into systems when everything is being tracked, we need to get smarter and faster on how we crunch that data. Speed is everything in business and if one product can do it faster than another, they will win in the market.
Consumer
Arduino Is Building A Sub-$1000 3D Printer
The 3D printer market just added another company. The company most famous for creating the open source Arduino prototyping board will be building a 3D printer for the mass market. The specs look amazing and more competition in this space will help to drive the price down for consumers.
Convergence In The Internet Of Things Is Priming The Tech World For A Major Cultural Shift
The history behind how the terminology of The Internet of Things has come into existence born from M2M is an interesting one. While it was originally focused on machine communication, it really was the advent of wearables, home automation and other consumer goodies that has lead to the term of "things", rather than "machines" to take notice. In some ways it has been a slow evolution up until now, but that will change in the coming year.
Video
Monetizing The Internet of Things Data
An interview covering a lot of the very same topics that we discussed in previous issues around what IoT is, why it's becoming popular today and where it's going in the future. Coverage is from Sapphire Now.
Development
Key Players in Internet of Things Promote Thread Protocol at Google Campus
By now we have all heard of the new Thread Protocol that some big players such as Google, Samsung and Nest among others are promoting. Together these companies are hoping to become the networking standard for home automation by offering low energy consumption, secure infrastructure and an IP-based architecture that uses existing IPv6 technology to connect devices together.
Books
Arduino: A Quick-Start Guide, Second Edition
This book covers a number of the basics from what Arduino is, to getting the board setup and software installed. It then quickly moves into building 11 Arduino projects that include a universal remote, a motion-sensing game controller, and many other fun, useful projects. At the end it covers some of basics around electricity and advanced Arduino programming for those that want to continue. As with all PragProg books it is easy to read and well written.
Events
IoT / M2M Innovation World Cup Registration Is Now Open!
The IoT / M2M Innovation World Cup (former M2M Challenge) is going into its third round. First launched in 2012, it has already proven to be the leading IoT / M2M award worldwide.