T-Mobile CEO promises to 'disrupt' IoT market, blasts AT&T's 'low-value' IoT business

T-Mobile US President and CEO John Legere shared some of his predictions for 2016, including what he calls "real implementations" around IoT and more practical uses for drones.
"In 2016, we'll start to see some real implementations practiced, probably along the lines of what Google's done with Nest -- which is, of course, available at T-Mobile. These 'just-works' appliances will be smart enough and helpful enough that consumers will catch on and start to adopt IOT devices in meaningful numbers," Legere said. "And, for T-Mobile, when we see these markets get ready for prime time, we'll be ready to disrupt them just like we've done to the carriers everywhere else!"

Interestingly, he also said T-Mobile already uses drones to help inspect remote cell towers, and it's going to be a space to watch as drones go from hobby/toy to "super, amazingly useful." The buzz about drones "has been crazy" ever since Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said Amazon would deliver packages with drones, which was around two years ago. "While drone delivery to my front door hasn't quite happened (and the FAA is sorting out the rules), I do think we are going to see some amazing new uses of drones in 2016," he said.

Drones increasingly are showing up at wireless industry trade shows and playing a role with operators. Some experts say LTE is particularly well suited for drones because unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as they're also called, range too far away to rely on Wi-Fi alone and transmit too much data to use 3G.

Legere promises the coming months are going to be big once again for the un-carrier movement. "It's really clear to me that the US wireless industry will start to look very different after this year, and though we may not see this industry completely change in 2016, I believe we will see more trends and paths for what may come in 2017 and beyond," he said.


Sourced from: FierceWireless

Technologies That Could Transform Our Future III

Nanomaterials

Nanomaterials are materials made from particles of nanoscale dimensions, produced by nanotechnology. The components measure below 100 nm. What makes nanomaterials unique are their two key characteristics. Their structure and their quantum effects.
By their structure, nanomaterials have a greater relative surface area than other materials. This attribute can improve certain properties in target objects, such as the strength or the reactivity of that material. Also, the quantum properties of nanomaterials can affect the electrical, magnetic or optical performance of the “target” objects.
Current applications include healthcare (in targeted drug delivery, regenerative medicine, and diagnostics), electronics, cosmetics, textiles, information technology and environmental protection.

Terahertz Imaging

 

 Terahertz Imaging is a new technology that can detect explosives previously considered invisible. It also “helps” in path-planning for self-driving cars. Terahertz Imaging “extends sensory capabilities by moving beyond the realm of the human body.”
The market for Terahertz devices is predicted to grow by 35% per year annually and to reach more than $1.4 billion by 2020.

3D Printing

3D Printing is the process of “making” a three-dimensional object from a digital file on your computer using a special printer. The materials can be anything, from plastic to metal and more recently human cells. The 3D printed objects that we use in healthcare, fashion, auto industry, etc.
The process is simple. The printer is laying down successive layers of material until the entire object is ready. You can see the layers as thin, horizontal, cross-section slices that “put” on the top of each other.
3D printing is already a $3.1 billion industry. An industry that is growing by 35% each year. An industry that will “touch” all future aspects of life.

Advanced Energy Storage And Generation

It is not only technology that needs power. The need for advanced energy storage technologies is growing as a direct consequence of new tech developments and population growth.
At the same time, we see significant improvements in battery technology in the last five years. Green products are more incentivised, cold fusion power could become viable by the end of 2020 and solar energy has also developed considerably.



 wtvox.com

Technologies That Could Transform Our Future II

Robotics and Artificial Intelligence

 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the most exciting and the most controversial field in robotics. Still, roboticists are nowhere near achieving a human level of artificial intelligence. Saying that, in recent years we have made a lot of progress with the “limited” AI.
The ideal AI would be a replica of the human thought process. Like a man-made machine but with human intellectual abilities. This man-made machine will have the cognitive level to learn anything, just like us. Will have the capacity to reason, the ability to use a language and the power to formulate original ideas.
Soon, robots will play a larger role in our daily lives. In the coming decades, robots will “leave” the industrial environment and scientific labs and come into our daily lives. A slow “migration” that will start with utilitarian robots like autonomous vacuum cleaners, kitchen helpers, etc. A gradual process. If you like, just as the computers took over our homes in the 80’s.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) allows an “enhanced” view of the “real-world.” Reality enhanced by augmented elements, generated by a computer and its sensors such as sound, video, graphics, etc. A “reality” that is digitally manipulable and interactive.
AR is seen as one of the emerging technologies to reshape the way we interact with the physical world and the gaming industry. Companies like Google, Facebook and even META are looking to capitalise on the AR market. We expect the AR consumer products to hit the markets starting with the first quarter of 2016.

Biotechnology

 

In simple terms, biotechnology is tech based on biology. Thanks to biotechnology we now understand bio-molecular and cellular processes that help us develop products that improve our planet and our lives. Biotechnology is still at the beginning despite reaching new heights in the recent years. It is true, we now have plants that are drought-resistant, crops with better vitamin content and salinity tolerance.



wtvox.com

Technologies That Could Transform Our Future

 


The world is changing fast. Faster than any time in the human history. For example, it took fifty years for one in four Americans to adopt electricity. Then, it got faster. It took thirty years for the same number to utilise the radio. Then, even faster. Eighteen years to “accept” the colour TV. Thirteen years for mobile phones and only seven for laptops. That’s how fast the world is changing.
We see changes in education, agriculture, energy, banking, health and even in fashion. There is hardly anything that is not changing. But all these changes would not be possible without one “ingredient”. The technology.

Big Data

 Big Data is a term used to describe datasets whose size is beyond the ability of traditional databases. However, the term’s meaning has changed over the last few years. Nowadays, “Big Data” not only refers to the data you create but also the “tools” that capture, store, and analyse this data.
Cisco expects “Big Data” to become a $50 billion industry by 2020 and investments in “Big Data” to reach between $75 to $85 Billion by 2020.
It sounds a lot. But there is a reason behind. The Internet of Things, wearable tech and all related industries are dependent on the “Big Data” in a way or another. All these new “industries” produce data that has to be stored and analysed.
The amount of data generated every day grows at a tremendous rate. On the other half, the cost of data storage has declined, year by year.
To give you a better idea how important “Big Data” is, I have some statistics for you: We generate 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day. That is 2.5 followed by 18 zeros. All that data, properly used can change save lives, eradicate diseases, stop world hunger. That is how important the “Big Data” is.
 

Internet of Things

You can imagine IoT as an invisible network, made from the physical objects or “things” around you. Objects you see at work, at home, in the car, etc. These objects will be “embedded” with smart, connected sensors one day. Sensors connected to the internet, capable of collecting and exchanging the data. With you, with other smart objects, with your doctor or your insurance for example.
I already have smart sensors in my home and, in my car. Lights go off when I leave my home and turn back on when I return. I can turn the heating on from my mobile even if I am abroad. My car unlocks the doors on my proximity and when I touch the driving wheel the engine starts. Oh, yes, the fridge. I have a relation with my fridge.
It is true, my fridge messages me more often than my partner but no, it is not that kind of relationship. My fridge lets me know if any of the food expired or if I need to replenish the stock.
We are now in 2015 and there are not many devices connected to the internet. From a Cisco press release, de’ Medici gathered that only 1% of IoT devices are “networked”.

wtvox.com

Android Fingerprint Sensor Flaw Could Open Up Enterprises To Security Risks

 

Security is uppermost in the minds of IT managers when considering whether to allow BYOD. The recent slate of Android vulnerabilities uncovered by security researchers is certain to unnerve many IT folks.

The latest Android flaw uncovered involves the fingerprint sensor on Android phones, which could provide hackers the ability to steal the user's fingerprints.

FireEye researchers Yulong Zhang and Tao Wei gave a presentation at the BlackHat security conference last week in which they showed how an attacker could gain access to not only the user's fingerprint but to anyone who scanned their fingerprints using the compromised sensor. And once the hackers steal the fingerprint, they can abuse it for the rest of the victim's life.

Fingerprint sensors on mobile devices are being used to secure everything from access to banking accounts to corporate data. So a compromised sensor could pose significant security risks for organizations, particularly those that allow employees to bring their own devices.

The researchers warned that the flaw in the fingerprint sensor could enable attackers to "remotely harvest fingerprints on a large scale," according to a paper they prepared based on their work.

The FireEye researchers recommended that Android users "choose mobile device vendors with timely patching/upgrading to the latest version (e.g., Android Lollipop)…and install popular apps from reliable sources."

Facing Stagefright, Google, Samsung, LG all commit to pushing monthly security patches for Android devices

Following the revelation of Android-focused malware Stagefright, Google is working to push monthly security fixes to its millions of mobile users worldwide. Samsung and LG have both committed to streamline that update process to push patches to their Android devices.

The complicated Android ecosystem, where mobile operators and handset makers serve as gatekeepers to software updates, has traditionally made it difficult for Google to push out any kind of update to all end users. Having Samsung and LG on board with the new monthly fix plan helps but doesn't entirely solve the problem. 

The newfound MMS-based attack put an estimated 950 million Android devices at risk, according to Joshua Drake, Zimperium VP of platform research and exploitation. The exploit has likely done no favors for the unsecure perception of Android in the enterprise, an image Google has been trying to shed.

The first of those patches went out Wednesday to Google devices to shore up the flaw that Stagefright exploited. While the blog post points to Google pushing over-the-air updates to only its own branded devices, statements from OEMs show they will try to institute those updates as soon as they can, carriers permitting.

In an email statement, Google did not make clear how all OEMs would handle the updates. However, Samsung and LG made their own statements that showed their intentions to set up systems to fix security flaws as soon as possible.

Samsung, whose devices make up 37.8 percent of the entire Android market share, fast tracked the Stagefright security updates to its Galaxy devices and will build on that incident to optimize future monthly processes.

In a similar move, LG will push the Stagefright updates to all of its in-market devices susceptible to the attack and set up its own monthly fixes for Android.

All said, much of the onus for providing security fixes will fall on the carriers for whom the OEMs supply phones. LG and Samsung said they are both working with carriers to push updates as quickly as possible.

If anything, Android's fractured OS ecosystem could use a bit of top-down unification. Whether that crystallizes around security, and whether Google and its OEM partners can figure out a way to seamlessly do it, remains to be seen.

Microsoft teams with Jasper to integrate IoT platforms

Microsoft is partnering with Jasper, an Internet of Things platform provider, to integrate Microsoft Azure IoT Suite, set to be released later this year, with Jasper's IoT services platform.

The integration, which has been ongoing for months, will provide enterprises with an integrated IoT management platform that will enable them to bring new IoT services to market faster, facilitate their shift from product to services businesses, and rapidly scale their IoT deployments, explained Jasper.

Microsoft unveiled its Azure IoT Suite at its Convergence conference in March. The suite will integrate Azure cloud capabilities to help firms connect, manage and analyze their IoT devices. The suite will provide enterprises with apps targeting IoT use cases – such as remote monitoring, asset management and predictive maintenance.

Jasper's cloud-based IoT platform, known as the Control Center, gives companies visibility, intelligence and control so that they can deploy, manage and monetize IoT services for connected devices.

What Jasper is doing with Microsoft is enabling an integration of all of the data coming from Control Center and exposing that to the users of the Azure IoT Suite. The work started a few months back and it will be available when Microsoft releases the Azure IoT Suite later this year.

Commercial and Industrial Use of IoT to Fuel Tripling of Devices by 2020

The commercial, industrial and public services sectors are expected to fuel growth in the Internet of Things, with the number of IoT connected devices forecast by Juniper Research tripling to 38 billion units by 2020.

In particular, retail, manufacturing, agriculture, energy and smart buildings are expected to drive demand for IoT devices. These sectors will be enabled to see a high return on investment through IoT projects, owing to more efficient business processes, Juniper Research predicted.

Juniper Research defined IoT as the "combination of devices and software systems, connected via the Internet, that produce, receive and analyse data. These systems must have the aim of transcending traditional siloed ecosystems of electronic information in order to improve quality of life, efficiency, create value and reduce cost."

Interoperability hurdles owing to conflicting standards continues to slow progress in the market. Nevertheless, there are signs that standards bodies and alliances are beginning to engage to overcome these hurdles, explained Sorrell.

IoT connections create data, but this data need to be gathered, analyzed and understood. The analytics back-end systems of the IoT will therefore form the backbone of its long-term success, Sorrell concluded.

Nigeria’s digital economy’ll grow with IoT — Buitelaar

The Managing Director, Smile Communications, Mr. Michiel Buitelaar, has said that for the digital economy to grow in the country, the government needs to give priority to the Internet of Things.

He said the IoT was the only practicable determinant to growing a viable digital economy in Nigeria, saying, it would make the people to become more productive.

“Fundamentally, the economy is very positive and will benefit a lot by becoming digital in the way it does business,” he said.

The Smile MD said that the concept of IoT was already happening in Nigeria, but stated that businesses and individuals should be more open to it.

“We have a very innovative climate here. One will be amazed with the number of people, vehicles and machines hooking up and finding new ways of doing business,” Buitelaar added.

ADVERTISEMENT

Meanwhile, he said Smile Communications, with the deployment of 4G/LTE technology that runs on 800GHz spectrum, offered the “best connectivity and high network availability index in the country.”

Buitelaar quoted the Nigerian Communications Commission Monthly Internet Subscribers Data, which indicated that users on the country’s telecom networks increased to 83,362,814 as of February 2015.

He, therefore, said that Smile understood the type of broadband services Nigerians had been waiting for, “even at a reduced price and has consistently provided them with excellent services.”

He said that it was a common thing among some operators that as more customers subscribed to their network, the quality depreciated, saying, “but at Smile and after our successful start, we are working to ensure there is no such backlash to customers coming to the network.”

He said, “We are prepared and working through densification of the network. Where we see issues, we quickly address them.

“More so, we are deploying more capacity and the figure shows we are actually meeting our brand promise which is for everybody to get six megabytes per second on download, even as the busy hours of the day.

“Our team has always been on its oars to meet the target and we don’t get congestion. In other words, we are ready to offer corporate organisations the kind of connectivity that will enhance their productivity.”

However, Smile Communications Chief Marketing Officer, Mrs. Alero Ladipo, said that after two years in operations, the network session with the CEOs, CTOs and CIOs of major firms operating in Nigeria was to alert the participants about “our service offering and how we can help reduce their costs.”

Speaking through the Head of Corporate and Enterprises Sales, Mr. Chiekezi Dozie, Ladipo said, “We use 800GHz spectrum, which itself offers efficiency for mobile communications.

“It is a pure Internet provider network. So, we can do corporate voice, data, and can make life very simple for them.”

She said, “The era we are in, people are increasingly engaging in mobile communications; therefore, we have MiFis, mobile and fixed solutions to cover the whole gamut of corporate requirements. The testimonials are out there.

“Apart from the fact that our network is very fast even at reduced cost, we have had a couple of tests with some Automated Teller Machines.

“We compared the network on the ATMs with machines in other networks. A normal ATM with a different connectivity provider records about 43 seconds speed on transaction. But with our network, such transaction was done in 23 seconds. That is an improvement on customer experience.”

http://www.punchng.com

Cisco Backs UK IoT Start Ups With $150M Investment

Cisco committed to investing $150 million (€134 million) in UK Internet of Things (IoT) start ups as part of a broader plan to pump $1 billion into the country's digital economy.

The U.S.-based infrastructure company announced a major extension of its UK investment strategy following a meeting with UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Business Secretary Sajid Javid, Cisco chairman and CEO John Chambers, incoming Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins, and Cisco UK CEO Phil Smith.

In a statement, Cisco said its UK IoT investments will focus on the financial, retail and healthcare industries, along with smart city development. The company also plans to acquire businesses focussing on wireless software, next generation video delivery, and cloud-based security technologies. Cisco is also aiming to make corporate investments to accelerate innovation in cyber-security.

The latest investment also covers extending the work of the Cisco Networking Academy--an education programme established to boost the number of students utilising science, technology, engineering and maths skills--to promote innovation and entrepreneurship.

Cisco said its latest investment will also seek to address UK government concerns about a north/south economic divide by adding new centres of expertise, funding university collaborations, investing in skills and expanding apprenticeship programmes. The company said the UK is its second largest country market and that it plans to add 200 new jobs to its operations in the market, and construct a new "state of the art" office in central London by the end of the year.

David Cameron said Cisco's investment plan "is great news for the UK's growing digital economy" and a "clear vote of confidence in our long term economic plan."

Cisco in February announced a similar ($100 million) investment in France's digital economy as part of an overseas investment programme the company started eight years ago, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Tour de France and IoT Together At Last

South African IT firm Dimension Data proclaimed that it was partnering with Amaury Sport Organisation, which owns the Tour de France, to deliver big data cycling analytics platform for the first time in the history of professional cycling. This would be accomplished through sensors installed on cyclists' seats, with the data collected and analyzed by Dimension Data's cloud-based platform and delivered to a website that could be customized by the users depending on which cyclists they wanted to follow.
They are collecting sensor data, such as the cyclist's speed, location, and position relative to other cyclists, and processing the data through its cloud platform. 198 riders in 22 teams are generating 42,000 geospatial points and 75 million GPS readings. In addition, the website, once it is up and running, will support 17 million viewers and 2,000 page requests per second. This would probably be the coolest domestic and sport application of IoT ever.

Luxul Unveiled World’s First IOT Switch-based Lighting Control System at LFI 2015

Luxul Technology unveiled its latest innovation at LIGHTFAIRR International: MATCH - the world’s first IOT switch-based lighting control system, where you can control, monitor and manage your light switch and energy consumption directly from your mobile phone or tablet.
During the exhibition, Luxul Technology hosted multiple seminars and Q&A sessions, introducing and demonstrating MATCH to industry experts. Using a scale model, dubbed the MATCH TOWER, Luxul Technology CEO Dr. James Pan wowed the crowd as he illustrated the numerous applications of MATCH.
”We have created a simple product with complex functionality, giving the user more control in one click” said Luxul’s CEO Dr. James Pan. “The positive feedbacks are overwhelming. LIGHTFAIRR International 2015 has been a huge success for Luxul Technology”.
MATCH system control functions allows users to turn lights on and off from any location. One unique function of MATCH is its meter capabilities, which provides users with analysis and reports on voltage, current and energy usage. Thus helping users manage and control their energy consumption.  

Accenture, Cisco And Others Form Wireless IoT Standards Group

Another standards group has been formed to accelerate the adoption of wireless Internet of Things technologies. Called the Wireless IoT Forum, the group's board includes Accenture, Arkessa, BT, Cisco, Telensa and WSN. The group joins at least five other standards groups, including the Industrial Internet Consortium, the Allseen Alliance, Thread and the Open Interconnect Consortium, that have been created to streamline the IoT space.

The Wireless IoT Forum said its goal is to stop fragmentation and consolidate around a minimal set of standards for both licensed and unlicensed wireless IoT solutions. In addition, the group said it will work with various end users to establish requirements and also work to build the IoT ecosystem.

The non-profit group will also help promote and market wireless IoT for wireless operators, infrastructure providers, fixed line operators, application developers and more.

The Open Interconnect Consortium, (OIC) was launched by Intel, Samsung Electronics, Broadcom and other firms to try to formulate standards for IoT and stop fragmentation. Cisco Systems, General Electric, IBM and Intel formed the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC)  to create standards for the sensors inside machines and around cities as part of the Internet of Things.

Cisco Invests In 6WIND For High-Performance Networking

During a recent visit to France, Cisco CEO John Chambers committed to investing $100 million in the country's innovative technology businesses, and it looks like the networking vendor is already making good on that promise. The company is now investing in and working with 6WIND, a high-performance networking software business.

6WIND's technology includes packet processing software, accelerated virtual networking infrastructure software and IPSec software appliances. The company uses software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) technology to boost the performance of networks for enterprises, cloud services providers and telecommunications firms.

"6WIND's networking software enables a new paradigm of NFV and SDN use cases. 6WIND's fast growing number of design wins with key market players, including Cisco, exemplifies its strong added value for the telecom and networking industry," said Frederic Rombaut, head of Cisco M&A and Investments International, in a statement.

It's interesting that it's the head of mergers and acquisitions quoted in the press release. It's easy to speculate that 6WIND could be a future target for acquisition by Cisco. The company has made no such announcement, but it would follow Cisco's history of M&A – invest in a technology vendor first, ease it along and then bring it into the Cisco fold.

The investment also makes sense for Cisco because of its growing interest in SDN and NFV technologies. It's a long-term play for all networking vendors, but it's also becoming a highly competitive one, particularly as the battle between open-source and proprietary technologies heats up.

Sprint looks beyond Kansas City for future smart city deployments

 

Sprint  is considering partnerships with other cities on smart city deployments similar to the one it has struck with Kansas City, Mo.

Meanwhile, Sprint's partners in Kansas City, beyond Cisco Systems, are gearing up for the deployment near the carrier's headquarters in Overland Park, Kan. They include construction and engineering firm Black & Veatch and Sensity, a company that makes and manages smart sensors for lighting and other applications.

In Kansas City Sprint will deploy hardware from Cisco to construct, own and manage the intelligent Wi-Fi network as part of a smart city deployment covering a 2.2-mile Kansas City streetcar line through downtown,

The project is expected to cost more than $15 million over the next decade. The city is investing $3.7 million in public funds, Sprint is spending around $7 million and Cisco is going to pony up $5 million. The service is expected to be operational when the streetcar opens to the public, probably on or before March 1, 2016, and if the system works well, it could be expanded beyond downtown.

The project is expected to cost more than $15 million over the next decade. The city is investing $3.7 million in public funds, Sprint is spending around $7 million and Cisco is going to pony up $5 million. The service is expected to be operational when the streetcar opens to the public, probably on or before March 1, 2016, and if the system works well, it could be expanded beyond downtown.

The network will also support smart city applications that deliver maps and information, as well as help manage parking, traffic, city lighting, water and waste management. Additionally, Sprint said that its subsidiary Pinsight Media+ will operate the data analytics and advertising platform and will e-enable commerce.

One of Sprint's partners is Black & Veatch, which is also based in Overland Park. The 100-year-old engineering and construction firm supports oil and gas projects, wastewater management, telecoms and also has clients in the federal government. The company is also working with Tesla on electric charging infrastructure for Teslas's cars in California, Connecticut and New York. Several years ago, the firm started a smart cities-focused division that cuts across all of the vertical industries Black & Veatch supports. The unit supports applications for transportation, energy grids, smart parking and lighting, roadways and more.  

Black & Veatch works closely with Cisco but Cisco needed a systems integrator for the project, which is the role Ellermeier's firm will serve. Black & Veatch is also going to bring its expertise in water systems, watershed management and other areas and is working with Cisco and the city's water department on projects like advanced leak detection in pipelines.

The deployment schedule of the smart city systems has not been set yet, Ellermeier said, but will proceed in phases that will extend past the opening of the street car line.

Another partner is Sensity, which was founded in 2012 and is based in Sunnyvale, Calif. The firm decided that smart LEDs were the perfect infrastructure to embed sensors that could collect data for use in smart city applications, since many cities are moving to LED lighting.

Sensity has an application platform that exposes the data its sensors are collecting and analyzing through a set of APIs. Harrington said that lets application developers "go far beyond lighting control" and develop apps for security, smart parking traffic analytics and people counting for retail stores.

Sensity is deploying 125 core nodes and 125 video nodes as part of the Kansas City deployment and there are prototype or reference design applications that Sensity will enable directly via its partnership with Cisco. One potential use case could be using video cameras in lights to identify open parking spots, and then having an app tell citizens where the spots are and letting them pay for the spot, which cuts down on emission from cars. Another could let cities dynamically price parking based on demand. Another could store security camera footage locally in cameras embedded in street lights and only send back data when it is requested.

Pinsight, noted that the company is "a hometown team" with its headquarters in downtown Kansas City, in the streetcar line's footprint. Part of the company's role will be to deliver the free public Wi-Fi portal, which could also promote local apps, businesses and services. The firm will also enable local companies to promote targeted advertising and offers based on factors like customer location profiles and foot traffic.