Tech News - Home Automation

We have Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Phillips Hue for smart actions in your home. But they are individual and require different controls. What if all of your smart devices can work together with a master hub? That is Home Assistant. Home assistant is an automation platform that can run on Raspberry Pi. It acts as a central hub for connecting and automating all your smart devices. It supports services like IFTTT, Pushbullet, Google cast, and many others. Currently there are over a thousand components supported. It tracks the state of all the installed smart devices in your home. All the devices can be controlled from a single, mobile-friendly, interface. For security and privacy, all operations via Home Assistant are done locally, meaning no data is stored on the cloud. The Home assistant website advertises functions like having lights turn on upon sunset, dimming lights when you watch a movie on Chromecast. There is a virtual image called Hass.io which is an all in one solution and get started with Home Assistant. There is a guide is to install Hass.io on a Raspberry Pi. The requirements for running Home Assistant are: Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ + Power Supply (at least 2.5A) A Class 10 or higher, Size 32 GB or bigger Micro SD card An SD Card reader Ethernet cable (optional, Hass.io can work with WiFi) For unattended configuration, optionally a USB-Stick Home assistant is a hub, it cannot control anything on its own. Think of it as a hub that passes instructions, a master device that communicates with other devices for home automation. Home assistant can’t do anything if there are no smart devices to work with. Since it is open source, there are dozens of contributions from tinkerers and DIY enthusiasts worldwide. You can check out the automation examples to know more and use them. The installation is very simple and there is a friendly UI to control your automation tasks. There is plenty of information at the Home Assistant website to get your started. They also have a GitHub repository. Cortana and Alexa become best friends: Microsoft and Amazon release a preview of this integration Apple joins the Thread Group, signalling its Smart Home ambitions with HomeKit, Siri and other IoT products Amazon Echo vs Google Home: Next-gen IoT war

Update: Included Google’s recent plan of action after facing backlash by Nest users.   At this year’s Google I/O developer conference, Google announced that it is bringing all the Nest and Google Home products under one brand “Google Nest”. As a part of this effort, Nest announced on Tuesday that it will be discontinuing the Works with Nest API by August 30, 2019, in favor of Works with Google Assistant. “We want to unify our efforts around third-party connected home devices under a single developer platform – a one-stop shop for both our developers and our customers to build a more helpful home. To accomplish this, we’ll be winding down Works with Nest on August 31, 2019, and delivering a single unified experience through the Works with Google Assistant program,” wrote Nest in a post. Google with this change aims to make the whole smart home experience for users more secure and unified. Over the next few months, users with Nest accounts will need to migrate to Google Accounts, which will serve as a single front-end for using products across Nest and Google. Along with providing a unified experience, Google also promises to be transparent about the data it collects, which it mentioned in an extensive document published on Tuesday. The document titled “Google Nest commitment to privacy in the home” describes how its connected smart home devices work and also lays out Google’s approach for managing user data. Though Google is promising improved security and privacy with this change, this will also end up breaking some existing third-party integrations. And, one of them is IFTTT (If This, Then That), a software platform with which you can write “applets” that allow devices from different manufacturers to talk to each other. We can use IFTTT for things like automatically adjusting the thermostat when the user comes closer to their house based on their phone location, turning Philips Hue smart lights on when a Nest Cam security camera detects motion, and more. Developers who work with Works with Nest API are recommended to visit the Actions on Google Smart Home developer site to learn how to integrate smart home devices or services with the Google Assistant. What Nest users think about this decision? Though Google is known for its search engine and other online services, it is also known for abandoning and killing its products in a trice. This decision of phasing out Works with Nest has left many users infuriated who have brought Nest products. https://twitter.com/IFTTT/status/1125930219305615360 “The big problem here is that there are a lot of people that have spent a lot of money on buying quality hardware that isn't just for leisure, it's for protection. I'll cite my 4 Nest Protects and an outdoor camera as an example. If somehow they get "sunsetted" due to some Google whim, fad or Because They Can, then I'm going to be pretty p*ssed, to say the least. Based on past experience I don't trust Google to act in the users' interest,” said one Hacker News user. Some other users think that this change could be for better, but the timeline that Google has decided is pretty stringent. A Hacker News user commented on a discussion triggered by this news, “Reading thru it, it is not as brutal as it sounds, more than they merged it into the Google Assistant API, removing direct access permission to the NEST device (remember microphone-gate with NEST) and consolidating those permissions into Assistant. Whilst they are killing it off, they have a transition. However, as far as timelines go - August 2019 kill off date for the NEST API is brutal and not exactly the grace period users of connected devices/software will appreciate or in many cases with tech designed for non-technical people - know nothing until suddenly in August find what was working yesterday is now not working.” Google’s reaction to the feedback by Nest users As a response to the backlash by Nest users, Google published a blog post last week sharing its plan of action. According to this plan, users’ existing devices and integrations will continue to work with their Nest accounts. However, they will not have access to any new features that will be available through their Google account. Google further clarified that it will stop taking any new Works with Nest connection requests from August 31, 2019. “Once your WWN functionality is available on the WWGA platform you can migrate with minimal disruption from a Nest Account to a Google Account,” the blog post reads. Though Google did share its plans regarding the third-party integrations, it was pretty vague about the timelines. It wrote, “One of the most popular WWN features is to automatically trigger routines based on Home/Away status. Later this year, we'll bring that same functionality to the Google Assistant and provide more device options for you to choose from. For example, you’ll be able to have your smart light bulbs automatically turn off when you leave your home.” It further shared that it has teamed up with Amazon and other partners for bringing custom integrations to Google Nest. Read the official announcement on Nest’s website. Google employees join hands with Amnesty International urging Google to drop Project Dragonfly What if buildings of the future could compute? European researchers make a proposal. Google to allegedly launch a new Smart home device

IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS) released its annual tech future predictions, earlier this week, unveiling the top ten most likely to be adopted technology trends in 2019. "The Computer Society's predictions are based on an in-depth analysis by a team of leading technology experts, identify top technologies that have substantial potential to disrupt the market in the year 2019," mentions Hironori Kasahara, IEEE Computer Society President. Let’s have a look at their top 10 technology trends predicted to reach wide adoption in 2019. Top ten trends for 2019 Deep learning accelerators According to IEEE computer society, 2019 will see widescale adoption of companies designing their own deep learning accelerators such as GPUs, FPGAs, and TPUs, which can be used in data centers. The development of these accelerators would further allow machine learning to be used in different IoT devices and appliances. Assisted transportation Another trend predicted for 2019 is the adoption of assisted transportation which is already paving the way for fully autonomous vehicles. Although the future of fully autonomous vehicles is not entirely here, the self-driving tech saw a booming year in 2018. For instance, AWS introduced DeepRacer, a self-driving race car, Tesla is building its own AI hardware for self-driving cars, Alphabet’s Waymo will be launching the world’s first commercial self-driving cars in upcoming months, and so on. Other than self-driving, assisted transportation is also highly dependent on deep learning accelerators for video recognition. The Internet of Bodies (IoB) As per the IEEE computer society, consumers have become very comfortable with self-monitoring using external devices like fitness trackers and smart glasses. With digital pills now entering the mainstream medicine, the body-attached, implantable, and embedded IoB devices provide richer data that enable development of unique applications. However, IEEE mentions that this tech also brings along with it the concerns related to security, privacy, physical harm, and abuse. Social credit algorithms Facial recognition tech was in the spotlight in 2018. For instance, Microsoft President- Brad Smith requested governments to regulate the evolution of facial recognition technology this month, Google patented a new facial recognition system that uses your social network to identify you, and so on.  According to the IEEE, social credit algorithms will now see a rise in adoption in 2019. Social credit algorithms make use of facial recognition and other advanced biometrics that help identify a person and retrieve data about them from digital platforms. This helps them check the approval or denial of access to consumer products and services. Advanced (smart) materials and devices IEEE computer society predicts that in 2019, advanced materials and devices for sensors, actuators, and wireless communications will see widespread adoption. These materials include tunable glass, smart paper, and ingestible transmitters, will lead to the development of applications in healthcare, packaging, and other appliances.   “These technologies will also advance pervasive, ubiquitous, and immersive computing, such as the recent announcement of a cellular phone with a foldable screen. The use of such technologies will have a large impact on the way we perceive IoT devices and will lead to new usage models”, mentions the IEEE computer society. Active security protection From data breaches ( Facebook, Google, Quora, Cathay Pacific, etc) to cyber attacks, 2018 saw many security-related incidents. 2019 will now see a new generation of security mechanisms that use an active approach to fight against these security-related accidents. These would involve hooks that can be activated when new types of attacks are exposed and machine-learning mechanisms that can help identify sophisticated attacks. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) Packt’s 2018 Skill Up report highlighted what game developers feel about the VR world. A whopping 86% of respondents replied with ‘Yes, VR is here to stay’. IEEE Computer Society echoes that thought as it believes that VR and AR technologies will see even greater widescale adoption and will prove to be very useful for education, engineering, and other fields in 2019. IEEE believes that now that there are advertisements for VR headsets that appear during prime-time television programs, VR/AR will see widescale adoption in 2019. Chatbots 2019 will also see an expansion in the development of chatbot applications. Chatbots are used quite frequently for basic customer service on social networking hubs. They’re also used in operating systems as intelligent virtual assistants. Chatbots will also find its applications in interaction with cognitively impaired children for therapeutic support. “We have recently witnessed the use of chatbots as personal assistants capable of machine-to-machine communications as well. In fact, chatbots mimic humans so well that some countries are considering requiring chatbots to disclose that they are not human”, mentions IEEE.   Automated voice spam (robocall) prevention IEEE predicts that the automated voice spam prevention technology will see widespread adoption in 2019. It will be able to block a spoofed caller ID and in turn enable “questionable calls” where the computer will ask questions to the caller for determining if the caller is legitimate. Technology for humanity (specifically machine learning) IEEE predicts an increase in the adoption rate of tech for humanity. Advances in IoT and edge computing are the leading factors driving the adoption of this technology. Other events such as fires and bridge collapses are further creating the urgency to adopt these monitoring technologies in forests and smart roads. "The technical community depends on the Computer Society as the source of technology IP, trends, and information. IEEE-CS predictions represent our commitment to keeping our community prepared for the technological landscape of the future,” says the IEEE Computer Society. For more information, check out the official IEEE Computer Society announcement. Key trends in software development in 2019: cloud native and the shrinking stack Key trends in software infrastructure in 2019: observability, chaos, and cloud complexity Quantum computing, edge analytics, and meta learning: key trends in data science and big data in 2019

Microsoft had initially come up with Windows IoT which was formerly known as Windows Embedded. It was rebranded with the release of Windows 10 where Microsoft introduced twelve versions of Windows 10 that varied in features delivered, use cases, and the devices they supported. With that said, Microsoft gained a fighting place in the world of IoT with Windows 10 IoT which consists of two products catering to different customer bases: Windows 10 IoT Core and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise. Since IoT has to still evolve amongst major enterprises, we will focus on Window 10 IoT Core today. Windows 10 IoT Core is an optimized version of Windows 10 that is designed for smaller devices with or without a display that run on both ARM and x86/x64 devices. It is created to work on devices such as Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and other popular single board computers while it also utilizes the extensible Universal Windows Platform (UWP) API to build great solutions. The IoT domain has always been popular with traditional open source operating systems such as Linux distributions. Since the past couple of years, Windows has started to find its way into this domain and have proven to be an advantageous alternative in many ways. Initially setting up Windows 10 IoT Core to install the image and get started was a task. Recently Microsoft has focused on alleviating these small pain points and has got things sorted for Windows users. When it comes to developing IoT applications, open source distros lack making beautiful user interfaces possible. But with Windows this can be achieved thanks to Visual Studio. Visual Studio has always been a great environment to code in and if you are strong with C#, this can definitely be your go to platform. I emphasize on Windows users because  if you are looking at using or developing on Windows 10 IoT Core you would strictly need Windows 10 which isn’t open source. Well, this might never change. No doubt Microsoft wants to sell its software keeping its existing user happy. This would only be possible when Microsoft services work well only in its own environment. I’m sure you are wondering what could you possibly build with Windows 10 IoT Core and Raspberry Pi or Arduino. These are some breathtaking project ideas that you might be interested in building: Obstacle avoiding robot: This could be your basic project that can help you getting used to the new ecosystem you have adopted. Room light and temperature manager: Next, you can get some home automation tweaks that will help you automate your room environment.   Personal car data monitor: This can be an intermediate project where your IoT application can reveal the health of your vehicle before you start your ride.   Pet feeder: Lastly, you can take up something that involves Cloud platforms where you can feed your pet while your in office or at your neighbours instead of letting them starve. IoT is at such a stage now where the virtual world of Information Technology is connected to the read world. Initially this was possible only through Linux-based ecosystem, but with Windows 10 IoT coming into picture there has been quite a shift observed in the IoT market. Users have observed that in spite running on smaller devices Windows 10 IoT has managed to offer most of the essential features from parent Windows 10.  The world may still seem like a Linux base and deploying Python programs may look easier but it’s best to keep your options open and in this case you have a trusted platform, Windows. 5 reasons to choose AWS IoT Core for your next IoT project Should you go with Arduino Uno or Raspberry Pi 3 for your next IoT project? Splunk Industrial Asset Intelligence (Splunk IAI) targets Industrial IoT marketplace

Researchers from the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo and the University of Michigan released a paper on Monday, that gives alarming cues about the security of voice-control devices. In the research paper the researchers presented ways in which they were able to manipulate Siri, Alexa, and other devices using “Light Commands”, a vulnerability in in MEMS (microelectro-mechanical systems) microphones. Light Commands was discovered this year in May. It allows attackers to remotely inject inaudible and invisible commands into voice assistants, such as Google assistant, Amazon Alexa, Facebook Portal, and Apple Siri using light. This vulnerability can become more dangerous as voice-control devices gain more popularity. How Light Commands work Consumers use voice-control devices for many applications, for example to unlock doors, make online purchases, and more with simple voice commands. The research team tested a handful of such devices, and found that Light Commands can work on any smart speaker or phone that uses MEMS. These systems contain tiny components that convert audio signals into electrical signals. By shining a laser through the window at microphones inside smart speakers, tablets, or phones, a far away attacker can remotely send inaudible and potentially invisible commands which are then acted upon by Alexa, Portal, Google assistant or Siri. Many users do not enable voice authentication or passwords to protect devices from unauthorized use. Hence, an attacker can use light-injected voice commands to unlock the victim's smart-lock protected home doors, or even locate, unlock and start various vehicles. Further researchers also mentioned that Light Commands can be executed at long distances as well. To prove this they demonstrated the attack in a 110 meter hallway, the longest hallway available in the research phase. Below is the reference image where team demonstrates the attack, additionally they have captured few videos of the demonstration as well. Source: Light Commands research paper. Experimental setup for exploring attack range at the 110 m long corridor The Light Commands attack can be executed using a simple laser pointer, a laser driver, and a sound amplifier. A telephoto lens can be used to focus the laser for long range attacks. Detecting the Light Commands attacks Researchers also wrote how one can detect if the devices are attacked by Light Commands. They believe that command injection via light makes no sound, an attentive user can notice the attacker's light beam reflected on the target device. Alternatively, one can attempt to monitor the device's verbal response and light pattern changes, both of which serve as command confirmation. Additionally they also mention that so far they have not seen any such cases where the Light Command attack has been maliciously exploited. Limitations in executing the attack Light Commands do have some limitations in execution: Lasers must point directly at a specific component within the microphone to transmit audio information. Attackers need a direct line of sight and a clear pathway for lasers to travel. Most light signals are visible to the naked eye and would expose attackers. Also, voice-control devices respond out loud when activated, which could alert nearby people of foul play. Controlling advanced lasers with precision requires a certain degree of experience and equipment. There is a high barrier to entry when it comes to long-range attacks. How to mitigate such attacks Researchers in the paper suggested to add an additional layer of authentication in voice assistants to mitigate the attack. They also suggest that manufacturers can attempt to use sensor fusion techniques, such as acquiring audio from multiple microphones. When the attacker uses a single laser, only a single microphone receives a signal while the others receive nothing. Thus, manufacturers can attempt to detect such anomalies, ignoring the injected commands. Another approach proposed is reducing the amount of light reaching the microphone's diaphragm. This can be possible by using a barrier that physically blocks straight light beams to eliminate the line of sight to the diaphragm, or by implementing a non-transparent cover on top of the microphone hole to reduce the amount of light hitting the microphone. However, researchers also agreed that such physical barriers are only effective to a certain point, as an attacker can always increase the laser power in an attempt to pass through the barriers and create a new light path. Users discuss photoacoustic effect at play On Hacker News, this research has gained much attention as users find this interesting and applaud researchers for the demonstration. Some discuss the laser pointers and laser drivers price and features available to hack the voice assistants. Others discuss how such techniques come to play, one of them says, “I think the photoacoustic effect is at play here. Discovered by Alexander Graham Bell has a variety of applications. It can be used to detect trace gases in gas mixtures at the parts-per-trillion level among other things. An optical beam chopped at an audio frequency goes through a gas cell. If it is absorbed, there's a pressure wave at the chopping frequency proportional to the absorption. If not, there isn't. Synchronous detection (e.g. lock in amplifiers) knock out any signal not at the chopping frequency. You can see even tiny signals when there is no background. Hearing aid microphones make excellent and inexpensive detectors so I think that the mics in modern phones would be comparable. Contrast this with standard methods where one passes a light beam through a cell into a detector, looking for a small change in a large signal. https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoret... Hats off to the Michigan team for this very clever (and unnerving) demonstration.” Smart Spies attack: Alexa and Google Assistant can eavesdrop or vish (voice phish) unsuspecting users, disclose researchers from SRLabs How Chaos Engineering can help predict and prevent cyber-attacks preemptively An unpatched security issue in the Kubernetes API is vulnerable to a “billion laughs” attack Intel’s DDIO and RDMA enabled microprocessors vulnerable to new NetCAT attack Wikipedia hit by massive DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack; goes offline in many countries

CES 2019, the annual consumer electronics show in Las Vegas will go from Tuesday, Jan. 8 through Friday, Jan. 11. However, the conference has unofficially kicked off on Sunday, January 6, followed by press conferences on Monday, Jan. 7. Over the span of these two days, a lot of companies showcased their latest projects and announced new products, software, and services. Let us look at the key announcements made by prominent tech companies so far. Nvidia Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unveiled some "amazing new technology innovations." First, they announced that over 40 new laptop models in 100-plus configurations will be powered by NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs. Turing-based laptops will be available across the GeForce RTX family — from RTX 2080 through RTX 2060 GPUs, said Huang. Seventeen of the new models will feature Max-Q design. Laptops with the latest GeForce RTX GPUs will also be equipped with WhisperMode, NVIDIA Battery Boost, and NVIDIA G-SYNC. GeForce RTX-powered laptops will be available starting Jan. 29 from the world's top OEMs. Nvidia also announced the first 65-inch 4K HDR gaming display that will arrive in February for $4,999. LG LG Electronics, which have a major press release today, has already confirmed a variety of their new products. These include the release of LG's 2019 TVs with Alexa and Google Assistant support, 8K OLED, full HDMI 2.1 support and more. Also includes, LG CineBeam Laser 4K projector for voice control, new sound bars included with Dolby Atmos and Google Assistant and LG Gram 17 and new 14-inch 2-in-1. Samsung Samsung announced that their Smart TVs will be soon equipped with iTunes Movies & TV Shows and will support AirPlay 2 beginning Spring 2019. AirPlay 2 support will be available on Samsung Smart TVs in 190 countries worldwide. Samsung is also launching a new Notebook Odyssey to take PC gaming more seriously posing a threat to competitors Razer and Alienware. HP HP also announced HP Chromebook 14, at CES 2019. It is the world's first AMD-powered Chromebook running on either an AMD A4 or A6 processor with integrated Radeon R4 or R5 graphics. It has 4GB of memory and 32GB of storage and support for Android apps from the Google Play Store. These models will start shipping in January starting at $269. More announcements: Asus launches a new 17-inch, 10-pound Surface Pro gaming laptop, the Asus ROG Mothership. It has also announced Zephyrus S GX701, the smallest and lightest 17-inch gaming laptop yet. Corsair’s impressive compact gaming desktops come with Core i9 chips and GeForce RTX graphics L’Oréal’s newest prototype detects wearers’ skin pH levels Acer’s new Swift 7 will kill the bezel when it launches in May for $1,699. It is one of the thinnest and lightest laptops ever made Audeze’s motion-aware headphones will soon recreate your head gestures in-game Whirlpool is launching a Wear OS app for its connected appliances with simplified voice commands for both Google Assistant and Alexa devices. Vuzix starts selling its AR smart glasses for $1,000 Pico Interactive just revealed the Pico G2 4K, an all-in-one 4K VR headset based-on China’s best-selling VR unit, the Pico G2. It’s incredibly lightweight, powerful and highly customizable for enterprise purposes. Features include kiosk mode, hands-free controls, and hygienic design. You can have a look at all products that will be showcased at CES 2019. NVIDIA launches GeForce Now’s (GFN) ‘recommended router’ program to enhance the overall performance and experience of GFN NVIDIA open sources its game physics simulation engine, PhysX, and unveils PhysX SDK 4.0 Uses of Machine Learning in Gaming

iRobot, the intelligent robot making company revealed its latest robot vacuum, the Roomba i7+ yesterday. It is a successor to the Roomba 980 which was launched in 2015. The i7+ has two key changes - it stores a map of your house and empties the trash itself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPgxcETuqzI Weighing about 7.4lbs, the Roomba i7+ is designed to be easier to manage than the previous models. The new charging base houses a larger trash bin for automatic emptying. The stationary base automatically sucks the debris out of the Roomba into the bag. The base has the capacity to hold dirt of 30 cleanings. This would mean you’ll have to empty the bigger trash bag only once a month, depending on your cleaning needs. The i7+ works with two rubber brushes, one to loosen up the dirt and another to lift and collect it. The large bag in the base traps dust so that it can’t escape. It works on iAdapt® 3.0 Navigation with vSLAM® technology both of which are patented. They allow the robot to map its surroundings and clean sections of your home systematically. It creates visual landmarks to keep track of areas it has cleaned and areas pending to clean. Source: iRobot The i7+ too like the older models connect to the iRobot Home app and can sync with virtual assistants like Alexa to schedule cleanings. Like the previous 900 series, the i7+ too maps your house, the difference being that the newer model stores the map for automatic navigation later. You can use the app to differentiate and name different rooms and control the cleaning frequency. With an assistant, you can use voice commands to clean specific rooms. The i7+ will be available in stores from October. The price tag of $949 may not appeal to everyone, but if you want your house to be cleaned automatically, this is something to consider. There is also a lower- priced model, the i7 with a price tag of $699. This version does not have a self-cleaning base or mapping features, but it can be controlled by Wifi or an assistant. You can pre-order the latest Roomba i7+ from the iRobot website. Home Assistant: an open source Python home automation hub to rule all things smart How Rolls Royce is applying AI and robotics for smart engine maintenance 6 powerful microbots developed by researchers around the world

Yesterday, Microsoft and Amazon announced a public preview of the integration of their intelligent digital assistants, Cortana and Alexa for US users. Both Cortana and Alexa allow each digital assistant to summon each other and access additional apps and services on their Windows 10 PCs and Harman Kardon Invoke speakers. This digital assistant integration was first announced on 30th August last year and was demonstrated at the Microsoft Build Developer Conference, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxwjnuhNVIY Why did Microsoft and Amazon collaborate Cortana and Alexa? "I want them to have access to as many of those A.I.s as possible", said Jeff Bezos in an interview with The New York times, while putting forth his vision for users to communicate with AIs as they do with their friends while asking them recommendations about a good restaurant or a famous hiking place nearby, and so on. He further stated, "The world is big and so multifaceted. There are going to be multiple successful intelligent agents, each with access to different sets of data and with different specialized skill areas. Together, their strengths will complement each other and provide customers with a richer and even more helpful experience." Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft added,"Bringing Cortana's knowledge, Office 365 integration, commitments, and reminders to Alexa is a great step toward that goal". Cortana users can have another way of making their lives easier with a great shopping experience. For instance, if you’re at work but remember you have to get soft drinks for a dinner party in the evening and you’re using their Windows 10 PC, iPhone or Android phone, you can simply ask Alexa to order soft drinks using the preferred payment method for their Amazon account. “Alexa, open Cortana” “Hey Cortana, open Alexa” For trying out this exciting update for Alexa on Cortana, and vice versa, you can simply say “Hey Cortana, open Alexa” on a Windows 10 PC, or “Alexa, open Cortana” on an Echo device. https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/1029722099789832200 As explained by Amazon in one of its recent posts, “The goal is to have two integrated digital assistants who can carry out tasks across different dimensions of daily life — at home or work, and on whatever device is most convenient. Currently, Cortana and Alexa can each be enabled as a skill on the other.” In Microsoft Office 365 users can simply ask Cortana to summon Alexa through a PC at work or can use Alexa to order groceries, adjust the thermostat before heading home for the day. Also before heading to work, one could enlist Cortana through an Echo device to preview a daily calendar, add an item to a to-do list or check for new emails while making breakfast in the kitchen. As a part of this latest public preview, users can freely offer their feedback on how they can help both the communities in improving the Alexa+Cortana experience. The feedback will be based on what the users like, what they did not, and what features they use the most. With customer feedback, the experience will keep getting better and more precise as more people use it and as changes are updated to the underlying algorithms. “Engineers will use feedback from the public preview to deepen the collaboration between Cortana and Alexa”, stated Jennifer Langston in Amazon’s official post. Read more about this collaboration in detail on the  Amazon blog and Microsoft blog. Amazon Alexa and AWS helping NASA improve their efficiency Amazon Echo vs Google Home: Next-gen IoT war Microsoft Azure’s new governance DApp: An enterprise blockchain without mining

European researchers have proposed an idea for buildings that could compute. In the paper On buildings that compute. A proposal published this week, they have made proposals to integrate computation in various parts of a building, from cement and bricks to paint. What is the idea about? Smart homes today are made up of several individual smart appliances. They may work individually or be interconnected via a central hub. “What if intelligent matter of our surrounding could understand us humans?” The idea is that the walls of a building in addition to supporting the roof, had more functionality like sensing, calculating, communicating, and even producing power. Each brick/block could be thought of as a decentralized computing entity. These blocks could contribute to a large-scale parallel computation. This would transform a smart building into an intelligent computing unit in which people can live in and interact with. Such smart buildings that compute, as the researchers say can potentially offer protection from crime, natural disasters, structural damage within the building, or simply send a greeting to the residing people. When nanotechnology meets embedded computing The proposal involves using nanotechnology to embed computation and sensing directly to the construction materials. This includes intelligent concrete blocks and using stimuli-responsive smart paint. The photo sensitive paint would sense the internal and external environment. A nano-material infused concrete composition would sense the building environment to implement parallel information processing on a large scale. This will result in distributed decision making. The result is a building which can be seen as a huge parallel computer consisting of computing concrete blocks. The key concepts used for the idea of smart buildings that compute are functional nanoparticles which are photo-, chemo- and electro-sensitive. A range of electrical properties will span all the electronic elements mixed in a concrete. The concrete is used to make the building blocks which are equipped with processors. These processors gather information from distributed sensory elements, helps in decision making, location communication and enables advanced computing. The blocks together form a wall which forms a huge parallel array processor. They envision a single building or a small colony to turn into a large-scale universal computing unit.  This is an interesting idea, bizarre even. But the practicality of it is blurry. Can its applications justify the cost involved to create such a building? There is also a question of sustainability. How long will the building last before it has to be redeveloped? I for one think that doing so will almost certainly undo the computational aspect from it. For more details, read the research paper. Home Assistant: an open source Python home automation hub to rule all things smart The iRobot Roomba i7+ is a cleaning robot that maps and stores your house and also empties the trash automatically. Cortana and Alexa become best friends: Microsoft and Amazon release a preview of this integration

Amazon has unveiled a range of Echo devices at the Amazon Devices Event hosted in their Seattle headquarters, yesterday. The products announced included a revamped selection of Amazon’s smart speakers ( Echo Sub, Echo Dot, and Echo Plus), smart displays (the Echo Show and Echo Spot), and other smart devices. Also released, was a smart microwave (AmazonBasics Microwave), Echo Wall Clock, Fire TV Recast, and Amazon Smart Plug This event marks the largest number of devices and features (over 30) that Amazon has ever launched in a day. Alexa Presentation Language For developers, Amazon introduced the Alexa Presentation Language, to easily create Alexa skills for Alexa devices with screens. The Alexa Presentation Language (APL) is in preview and allows developers to build voice experiences with graphics, images, slideshows and video. Developers will be able to control how graphics flow with voice, customize visuals and adapt them to Alexa devices and skills.  Supported devices will include Echo Show, Echo Spot, Fire TV, and select Fire Tablet devices. Now let’s take a broad look at the key device announcements. Amazon Smart Speakers Echo Dot: The new version of the Smart speaker now offers 70 percent louder sound as compared to its predecessor. It is a voice-controlled smart speaker with Alexa integration. It can sort music, news, information, and more. The driver is now much larger from 1.1” to 1.6” for better sound clarity and improved bass. It is Bluetooth enabled so you can connect to another speaker or use it all by itself. Echo Input:  If you already have speakers, this device can add Alexa voice control to them via a 3.5mm audio cable or Bluetooth. It has a four-microphone array. Echo Input is just 12.5mm tall and thin enough to disappear into the room. It will be available later this year for $34.99. Echo Plus: Echo Plus combines Amazon’s cloud-based Natural Language Understanding and Automatic Speech Recognition along with built-in Zigbee hub to make it one of the premier smart speakers. It also has a new fabric casing, and built-in temperature sensor. This model's pre-orders begin today for $149.99. Echo Link: The Echo Link device can connect to a receiver or amplifier, with multiple digital and analog inputs and outputs for compatibility with your existing stereo equipment. It can control music selection, volume, and multi-room playback on your stereo with your Echo or the Alexa app. Echo Link will be available to customers soon. Echo Sub: This 100-watt subwoofer can connect to other speakers and create a 2.1-sound solution. The $129.99 Echo Sub will launch later this month with pre-orders beginning today. Amazon Smart Displays Echo Show: The new Echo Show is completely redesigned with a larger screen, smart home hub, and improved sound quality. Amazon is also introducing Doorbell Chime Announcements, so users will hear a chime on all Echo devices when someone presses your smart doorbell. Echo Show includes a high resolution 10-inch HD display and an 8-mic array. The new Echo Show will be available to customers for $229.99. Shipping starts next month. Other Smart devices Echo Wall Clock: It is a $30 Echo companion device, an analog clock with Alexa-powered voice recognition. It is 10-inch, battery-powered and features a ring of 60 LEDs around the rim that show ongoing Alexa timers. It also has automatic time syncing and Daylight Savings Time adjustment. AmazonBasics Microwave: It’s a $59.99 voice-activated microwave. It features Dash Replenishment and an array of Alexa features including integration with connected ovens, door locks, and other smart fixtures, reminders, and access to more than 50,000 third-party skills. Fire TV Recast: This is a companion DVR that lets users watch, record, and replay free over-the-air programming to any Fire TV, Echo Show, and on compatible Fire tablet and mobile devices. Users can also record up to two or four shows at once, and stream on any two devices at a time. It can also be paired with Alexa. Amazon Smart Plug: The Amazon Smart Plug works with Alexa to add voice control to any outlet. You can schedule lights, fans, and appliances to turn on and off automatically, or control them remotely when you’re away. Follow along the live blog of the event for a minute to minute update. Google to allegedly launch a new Smart home device. Cortana and Alexa become best friends: Microsoft and Amazon release a preview of this integration. The iRobot Roomba i7+ is a cleaning robot that maps and stores your house and also empties the trash automatically.

In April, the Mozilla IoT team relaunched Project Things as “WebThings” with its two components: WebThings Gateway and WebThings Framework. WebThings is an open-source implementation of W3C’s Web of Things standard for monitoring and controlling connected devices on the web. On Friday, the team announced the release of WebThings Gateway 0.9 and the availability of its first experimental builds for Turris Omnia. This release is also the first version of WebThings Gateway to support the new Raspberry Pi 4. Along with that, they have also released WebThings framework 0.12. W3C’s Web of Things standard The Internet of Things (IoT) has a lot of potential, but it suffers from a lack of interoperability across platforms. The Web of Things aims to solve this by building a decentralized IoT using the web as its application layer. It provides mechanisms to formally describe IoT interfaces to enable IoT devices and services interact with each other, independent of their underlying implementation. To connect real-world things to the web, each thing is assigned a URI to make them linkable and discoverable. It is currently under the process of standardization at the W3C. Updates in WebThings Gateway 0.9 and WebThings Framework 0.12 WebThings Gateway is a software distribution for smart home gateways that allows users to monitor and control their smart home devices over the web, without a middleman. Among the protocols it supports are HomeKit, ZigBee, Thread, MQTT, Weave, AMQP. Among the languages it supports are JS (Node.js), Python, Rust, Java, and C++. The experimental builds of WebThings Gateway 0.9 are based on OpenWrt, a Linux operating system for embedded devices. They come with a new first-time setup for configuring the gateway as a router and Wi-Fi access point itself instead of connecting to an existing Wi-Fi network. Source: Mozilla However, Mozilla noted that the router configurations are still pretty basic and are not yet ready to replace your existing wireless router. “This is just our first step along the path to creating a full software distribution for wireless routers,” reads the announcement. We can expect support for other wireless routers and router developer brands in the near future. This version ships with a new type of add-on called notifier add-ons. In previous gateway versions, push notifications were the only way for notifying users of any event. But, this mechanism is not supported by all browsers and is also not considered to be the most convenient way of notifying users. As a solution, Mozilla came up with notifier add-ons using which you can create a set of outlets. These outlets will act as an output for a defined rule. For instance, you can set up a rule to get an SMS or an email whenever any motion is detected in your home. You can also configure a notifier with a title, a message, and a priority level. Source: Mozilla The WebThings Gateway 0.9 and WebThings Framework 0.12 bring a few changes to Thing Descriptions as well to make it more aligned with the latest W3C drafts. A Thing Description provides a vocabulary to describe physical devices connected to the web in a machine-readable format with a default JSON encoding. The “name” is now changed to “title” and there are experimental new properties of the Thing Descriptions exposed by the gateway. To know more check out Mozilla’s official announcement. To get started, head over to its GitHub repository. Mozilla introduces Pyodide, a Python data science stack compiled to WebAssembly Mozilla developers have built BugBug which uses machine learning to triage Firefox bugs Mozilla re-launches Project Things as WebThings, an open platform for monitoring and controlling devices

Yesterday, the Mozilla IoT team announced that ‘Project Things’ is now out from its early experimental phase with a new name, ‘WebThings’. Mozilla WebThings is an open platform that allows you to monitor and control devices over the web. This project by Mozilla is an open source implementation of Web of Things, which defines software architectural styles and programming patterns that allow real-world objects to be a part of the World Wide Web. The idea here is to create a decentralized Internet of Things by providing “things”, URLs on the web to make them linkable and discoverable. Mozilla WebThings comprises of two components: WebThings Gateway WebThings Gateway is privacy and security-focused software distribution built for smart home gateways. It enables you to directly monitor and control your smart home gateways over the web, without relying on a middleman. Mozilla further announced that WebThings Gateway 0.8 is now available for download. This release comes with a feature that allows users to privately log data from their smart home devices. This logged data can also be visualized with interactive graphs. “This feature is still experimental, but viewing these logs will help you understand the kinds of data your smart home devices are collecting and think about how much of that data you are comfortable sharing with others via third-party services,” said Ben Francis, a Software Engineer at Mozilla. This release also brings in new alarms capabilities for devices like smoke, carbon monoxide, and motion detectors. With this new feature, users can configure rules to alert them when an alarm is triggered while they are away or check whether an alarm is currently active. The team has also started working on a new version of WebThings Gateway for OpenWrt, a Linux operating system targeting embedded devices. This version will be designed to act as a WiFi access point itself, instead of just connecting to an existing wireless network as a client. WebThings Framework WebThings Framework is a suite of reusable software components using which you can build your own web things, which directly expose the Web Thing API. This makes them easily discoverable by a Web of Things gateway or client. It can then automatically detect the device’s capabilities and monitor and control it over the web. These components are implemented in a range of languages including Node.js, Python, Java, Rust, and C++ (for Arduino). To know more in detail, check out the official announcement by Mozilla. Mozilla introduces Pyodide, a Python data science stack compiled to WebAssembly Mozilla developers have built BugBug which uses machine learning to triage Firefox bugs Mozilla adds protection against fingerprinting and Cryptomining scripts in Firefox Nightly and Beta  

Last month Amazon announced that it acquired the mesh Wi-Fi router company, Eero for $97 million. However, this deal, which sounded full of potential, struck Eero’s investors and employees with a financial catastrophe. Mashable, who first reported on Amazon’s acquisition, reported that Eero executives brought home multi-million dollar bonuses of around $30 million and eight-figure salary increases. However, the others did not fare well in this deal. According to Mashable, “Investors took major hits, and the Amazon acquisition rendered Eero stock worthless: $0.03 per share, down from a common stock high of $3.54 in July 2017. It typically would have cost around $3 for employees to exercise their stock, meaning they would actually lose money if they tried to cash out. Former and current Eero employees who chose not to exercise those options are now empty-handed. And those who did exercise options, investing their financial faith in the company, have lost money.” Eero devices, the first to mesh WiFi, hit the market first in the year 2016. However, companies such as Luma and NetGear launched similar products in the following year. According to an Eero former employee, another major challenge for Eero was when Google launched its own mesh network, Google Wifi, in late 2016, for just $299 whereas Eero’s was priced at $500. To remain ahead of the curve, Eero later launched a smart home security system named Hive. And Google again produced a similar product called Nest Secure. Post this, Eero abandoned Hive leading which aroused a period of confusion. “The day they killed [Hive] was the day the company changed,” a former employee told Mashable. “After Eero employees returned from the holidays, 20 percent of the staff was cut. Next came massive attrition. An ex-employee described it as a period of “desperate fear.” Morale was so low that HR disabled group emailing and prohibited employees from sending out goodbye emails to say they were leaving”, Mashable reports. After Eero announced its acquisition last month, specifics of the deal was neither disclosed by Eero nor Amazon, which led the employees to bundle up their anger against this deal. Per Mashable, “Employees tried to guess from news reports and social media what the deal meant for them. When the stock price leaked, some ex-employees breathed a sigh of relief that they didn’t exercise their options in the first place. Others were left with worthless stock and disappointment.” All employees received a letter dated February 15 which mentioned that they had four days to decide what to do with their Eero shares. Some even received the letter on or after the deadline. Source: Mashable The employees who chose to purchase or exercise their stock received a "phonebook-sized" packet of dense financial information including acquisition terms. Nick Weaver, Eero’s co-founder, wrote in the introduction, “Unfortunately, the transaction will not result in the financial return we all hoped for.” Rob Chandra, a partner at Avid Park Ventures, and lecturer at UC Berkeley’s Haas business school said, “One obvious way you can judge whether it was a great exit or not is if the exit valuation is lower than the amount of capital that was invested in the startup. So it's not a great exit.” “The documents state that after transaction costs and debt, the actual price will be closer to $54.6 million. That means that Amazon is covering around $40 million of the debt that Eero owes. Ex-employees believe the debt to be from hardware manufacturing costs, since they said that Eero took on corporate financing to actually manufacture the products”, Mashable reports. Jeff Scheinrock, a professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management said, “What this says about it was that Eero was cash strapped. A lot of this money is going to pay off debts. They were having difficulty and probably couldn’t raise additional money, so they had to look for an exit.” To know more about this news in detail, head over to Mashable’s complete coverage. SUSE is now an independent company after being acquired by EQT for $2.5 billion JFrog acquires DevOps startup ‘Shippable’ for an end-to-end DevOps solution Amazon buys ‘Eero’ mesh router startup, adding fuel to its in-house Alexa smart home ecosystem ambitions

Apple announced last week that it has canceled its AirPower charging mat over concerns related to its inability to achieve “high standards” for the product. Apple had first announced details about the AirPower charging mat during the company’s iPhone X event in September 2017. During the event, Apple said that AirPower would be shipped in 2018, but failed to follow up for the next 18 months. The speculation over AirPower chargers getting canceled grew when Apple removed all info regarding AirPower from its website. However, the rumors of its cancellation went down as iOS 12.2 beta release included support for a wireless charger. “After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have canceled the project. We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch”, Dan Riccio, SVP of Hardware Engineering, Apple, told TechCrunch. Had the chargers shipped, a multitude of new and unique features would have welcomed the users. For instance, apart from being wireless, AirPower charger would have also been equipped with multi-device charging feature (ability to charge three devices at once), and a unique technology with multiple coils, among others. Many people have made speculations about the reason behind AirPower cancellation, with many blaming it on issues related to engineering and overheating. Craig Lloyd, a staff writer at iFixit, published a post where he discusses the possible reasons behind charger’s cancellation. Craig states that Wireless charging pads use electric current in your phone’s wire coil that helps charge the battery. However, this electricity being transmitted isn’t perfectly clean and generates noise that can interfere with other wireless devices. When different coils are charged together, a slightly different waveform is generated. Apple wanted to create a large charging platform with the help of overlapping coils which would allow AirCharger to power different devices on the charger mat. However, this introduced a different set of challenges. “Apple boxed themselves into an electromagnetic corner. What they wanted to do was physically possible—and they surely had it working in the lab—but they couldn’t consistently meet the rigorous transmission requirements that are designed to keep us safe from our gadgets”, states Craig. Now although Apple failed to deliver this product, it has not lost hope yet. “We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward”, said Riccio. Public reaction to the news is largely comical, as users took to Twitter to post memes regarding the news. https://twitter.com/wannatechnow/status/1112664509108375552 https://twitter.com/MKBHD/status/1111710778741190656 https://twitter.com/JonyIveParody/status/1111772531210534912 https://twitter.com/amelvand/status/1112031397831692289 Apple’s March Event: Apple changes gears to services, is now your bank, news source, gaming zone and TV Apple to merge the iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps by 2021 Apple acquires Pullstring to possibly help Apple improve Siri and other IoT-enabled gadgets

In the midst of all the leaks related to Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL regarding whether Google will embrace iPhone like notch or will have wireless charging, reports have surfaced that Google has even more news to showcase in its big hardware event “Made By Google” on October 9. According to a report from MySmartPrice, Google might launch a new device called "Google Home Hub" Smart Speaker sporting a 7-inch display with large squarish speakers in two variants Chalk white and Charcoal. Image source mysmartprice Google has been pretty successful with its smart home devices like Google Home series but after Amazon teased its smart home device with screen called 'Amazon Echo Show' Tech giant was keen to work on a product to compete with its rival. If the leaked news from "MySmartPrice" is to be believed, with Google Home Hub powered by Google assistant we can watch YouTube, HBO, and videos from other content providers. Additionally, the device will also display time, weather, daily commute information and other regular Google assistant features.  However, it will not have full-fledged Android OS. While the device comes power packed with the Google software but based on leaks, what seems to be missing from the device is the camera. It would have been perfect if the device sported a camera as well which could have been used for video calling as Google is aggressively marketing its video calling app Google Duo. The device will, however, feature  WiFi and Bluetooth. Image source: mysmartprice With the new device, Google might also introduce new features for the Google assistant. Though there is no confirmation from Google regarding the product yet but the timing makes perfect sense as Google's upcoming event on October 9th would be the perfect place to announce a Google Home Hub along with its much awaited Pixel smartphone series. Read full article on Mysmartprice. Author Bio Full time Linux Admin part time reader, always up for latest technology and a cup of tea, interested in Cloud services, Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence. Amazon Echo vs Google Home: Next-gen IoT war. Home Assistant: an open source Python home automation hub to rule all things smart. Cortana and Alexa become best friends: Microsoft and Amazon release a preview of this integration.