Why history matters. Even to tech leaders

When looking at the challenges that the fast-moving tech landscape throws up, it is often tempting to think that these problems are new to the 21st century and consequently need completely novel approaches. While the mechanics, business process and technologies may well be new, the underlying problem is very likely to be one that has been around for centuries. Just as the Roman Republic can provide a casebook of the entire gamut of political mechanations and intrigue, similarly, history books can provide invaluable advice on … Read more…

Qualcomm and Samsung in new IoT chip product announcements

This has been a busy couple of weeks in terms of Internet of Things technology announcements. In particular, two titans from the mobile space, Samsung Electronics and Qualcomm are attempting to catch up with Intel with processors aimed at all manufacturers of ‘things’. Qualcomm announces two new products for its $1 billion IoT segment Qualcomm are making a very strong push in its “Internet of Everything” as its smartphone technology portfolio which is no longer benefiting from growth rates it was previously accustomed … Read more…

CES 2015 – Internet of Things goes Mainstream

Reviewing the various round-ups on what was big at CES, most agree that the Internet of Things was pretty high up the agenda of the companies attending, and was the underlying theme for the event. Not that this is a reliable predictor – don’t forget that 2012 was the year that supposed saw 3D TV come of age. The Absentees It is perhaps worth starting with a reminder of the notable absentees, Apple, Google and Microsoft, the three industry’s largest platform and … Read more…

Connectivity in the Smart Home. Thread or Bluetooth Smart?

This blog has already explored the multitude of standards currently being used as the basis for connecting sensors, object and all sorts of things  to the Internet and to each other. Nowhere is this problem more acute than in the area of home automation, where the lack of widely adopted standards results in systems that don’t talk to each other, and worse, in systems that quickly become obsolete and cease to be supported by their manufacturers. The situation where the home … Read more…

The Internet of Things standards tussle – A phoney war?

  One thing that all commentators on the ‘connected everything’ space agree on is the need for common standards to allow a wide range of sensors, appliances and devices to talk to each other. This is nicely captured in an article in the Economist magazine, where the key problem is described as there being too many overlapping and conflicting initiatives. This is nothing new, and most new technologies which benefit from network effects, starting with the battle between direct and … Read more…

The weird and wonderful world of Beacons

Aislelabs, a technology company specialising in big data analytics for retailers has just published what they are calling “The Hitchhikers Guide to iBeacon Hardware”. In 2013, Apple introduced support for Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) (or Bluetooth Smart) in iOS7 as a means for providing finely-tuned location information indoors. The idea is that if you pass an exhibit in a museum, a display in a shop, or approach a check-in gate at the airport, the appropriate app will trigger. In the … Read more…

Qualcomm set to acquire CSR

Today Qualcomm announced its planned purchase of CSR, formerly Cambridge Silicon radio. Key observation is that Qualcomm is making a dual-technology strategy for personal area and local area networking, namely Bluetooth and WiFi, the latter building on its previous Atheros acquisition. This surely must raise questions for the current home-automation protocols such as Zigbee and Z-Wave, who cannot compete for scale of deployment with Bluetooth and WiFi, which are implemented in practically every Smartphone and Tablet sold. As Qualcomm buys CSR, … Read more…