In-brief: German carmaker BMW used a ‘over the air’ wireless patch to close a security flaw that could have allowed hackers to unlock the doors of Rolls-Royce, Mini and BMW vehicles.
connected vehicles
New ZigBee IoT Standard To Replace Six Others
One of the main players in the Internet of Things communications space, The ZigBee Alliance, announced that it has merged six existing standards covering everything from building automation to healthcare to form a single standard:ZigBee 3.0. The announcement, last week, comes as ZigBee looks to compete with other emerging IoT standards. It says ZigBee 3.0 will provide interoperability among a wide range of smart devices that communicate based on its technology, laying the ground work for an expansion of IoT technologies. The new standard is being tested. According to the Alliance, the initial release of ZigBee 3.0 includes ZigBee Home Automation, ZigBee Light Link, ZigBee Building Automation, ZigBee Retail Services, ZigBee Health Care, and ZigBee Telecommunication services. The switch will impact tens of millions of devices already using ZigBee standards. However, the transition to ZigBee 3.0 will be gradual, as devices designed to use some of its constituent standards eventually transition to the unified […]
McKinsey: Consumers Want Connected Cars – And Fear Them, Too
The consulting firm McKinsey & Co. has released an interesting report on the future of connected vehicles. But it has some sobering data for car makers: concerns about privacy and the possibility that connected cars could be hacked are major concerns for consumers that could dampen enthusiasm for smart vehicles. The report, “What’s Driving the Connected Car?” finds that connectivity features will be a major driver of car sales in the coming years, with car buyers increasingly accustomed to vehicles that sport sophisticated interactive and networking features. That said: security concerns may hamper the “rapid and broad adoption” of connected vehicle technology. For its report, McKinsey interviewed 2,000 new car buyers in four countries: Brazil, China, Germany and the U.S. The survey found that a quarter of respondents considered connectivity a more important feature than engine power or even fuel efficiency. The firm estimates that connectivity features will become increasingly important selling features […]
3G Module Just 26mm Wide OK’d by AT&T| ITworld
Steve Lawson at IDG News Service has an interesting article that notes AT&T’s certification of the U-blox SARA-U260 model, which is dubbed “the world’s smallest 3G module.” The 16 x 26 millimeter device is seen as a harbinger of the kind of low power device that will greatly expand the Internet of Things. The SARA-U260 is designed to transmit small amounts of data over 3G networks and could enable a new generation of even smaller and smarter devices – from Smartmeters to wearable technology to connected cars. The U260 has features that support applications from voice calling to auto industry telematics to retail point-of-sale terminals and handheld devices, according to U-blox. It uses A-GPS (Assisted Global Positioning System) and a technology called CellLocate that uses nearby cellular towers to triangulate a location in situations where GPS isn’t available. 3G and 2G networks are being replaced by 4G and even 5G networks for most consumer smart phones. But the technology still works great […]
