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Top Stories

New England IoT: A Conversation Next Week On Cloud, Security and Internet of Things

September 12, 2014 Paul Roberts

One of the challenges of talking about security in the context of Internet of Things is that the Internet of Things (IoT) isn’t a discrete technology, but an umbrella phrase that encompasses a lot of separate innovations: mobility, inexpensive sensors, wireless connectivity, Big Data and so on. One of the biggest moving parts in the IoT puzzle is cloud computing. Cloud infrastructure – whether its Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) or Google or any of the thousands (millions?) of private cloud – is the back end for almost every IoT product. That presents both opportunities and real challenge for companies that are looking to leverage IoT in their workplace. Next week, I’m going to moderate a panel at an event here in Boston where we’ll tackle some of these issues head-on. The event: The Connected Cloud Summit is taking place in Boston on Thursday, September 18 at The State Room in downtown Boston. […]

Building an Unhackable Autonomous Vehicle – CityLab

September 11, 2014 Paul Roberts

The folks over at The Atlantic have an intriguing take on the subject of “connected vehicles” and autonomous driving. Now this is a vision that we’ve been chasing for more than 50 years (consider all the technicolor “highway of tomorrow” films from the 50s and 60s). And we’re on the cusp of realizing it. Google’s self-driving car is racking up the miles and automated features like hands free cruise control and collision avoidance are making their way into production vehicles. As Alexis Madrigal at The Atlantic’s (cool) CityLab writes, however, there’s one major fly in the ointment when you consider the super efficient, algorithmically driven road of the future: humans. Specifically: Madrigal, in the course of writing an article on how to build an ‘unhackable’ car poses a scenario that I think is very likely: humans who subvert or otherwise game vehicle automation features to suit their own needs. Imagining the orderly procession […]

Apple’s Platform for Wellness Arrives | Life as a Healthcare CIO

September 10, 2014 Paul Roberts

John Halamka, the CIO of Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center in Boston has an interesting post on his blog about Apple’s big unveiling yesterday and its implications for connected health applications. With the image of naked Jennifer Lawrence still fresh in our minds, Halamka points out that Apple is taking steps to make sure no such slip-ups happen in the context of protected health information – a promising new market for wearable technology. As Halamka sees it, we’re on the cusp of revolution that will see the consumerization of what he calls “healthcare middleware.” That refers to software and services, like Apple’s recently announced HealthKit, that aggregates data about your body from multiple sensors in your clothing, your body and environment. Unlike the nude selfies that recently made the rounds online, however, health data is protected by Federal legislation – HIPAA. For that reason, Apple keeps that data local to the mobile […]

IEEE Issues Standard For Sensors, Tiny Machines

September 10, 2014 Paul Roberts

A new standard published by the IEEE may accelerate the spread and use of the Internet of Things: providing a common reference to govern the performance of microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS. The standard, IEEE 2700-2014, was recently approved by the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Standards Board. It will provide a common methodology for specifying the performance of tiny sensors that are becoming more and more common in consumer electronics and other industries. That should make it easier for vendors , including Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to begin integrating two or more sensors without having to worry about integration challenges. The standards apply to a wide range of small sensors that currently populate everything from mobile phones to wearable devices like Apple’s newly announced smart watch. These include accelerometers, magnetometers, gyrometers and gyroscopes, barometers and other pressure sensors, humidity sensors, temperature sensors, ambient light sensors and proximity sensors, IEEE said. “The industry has been struggling […]

Samsung Expanding Mobile Management To Court Enterprise

September 10, 2014 Paul Roberts

Editor’s Note: this story was updated to note that Centrify is now known as Delinea. PFR Sept. 18, 2022 Apple stole the show this week, unveiling its new, larger iPhones and a smart watch that everyone is just calling iWatch, whether that’s the product’s name or not. But the rush of new products from Cupertino doesn’t change the fact that, behind the scenes, the battle for the hearts and minds of business users (aka “enterprises”) rages on between Apple, Google, Microsoft and Blackberry. iPhone 6 or no, the outcome of that battle is anything but clear. Case in point: Samsung will roll out new features this week for its KNOX-powered Android phones and tablets that are designed to appeal to security and privacy conscious business users. The new KNOX solution offerings, which will become public on Thursday, promise enterprises and government organizations the tools to simplify the implementation of BYOD (or Bring Your Own Device) programs. In […]