Tag: IoT

Seven Trends We Look Forward To At SXSW 2015

Posted on by Lab Team

Today marks the first day of 2015 South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival, and this year, the Lab has seven market trends that we are looking forward to exploring in the following days.

  1. Mobile Engagement Zooms in on Events and Locations
    We will be talking with Gimbal and Estimote, two leading beacon providers, to discuss how event and location-based targeting can help brands connect with their audiences at the right moments and places.
  2. Exchanging Value for Data With IoT
    The balance between personal data security and data-enabled value is a tricky one, and the Lab will be rethinking privacy in the Internet of Things with Kasisto and Button.
  3. The Future Living Room is for Gaming and Streaming
    The increase in streaming and gaming options provided by the likes of Twitch and LyteShot, is pushing the living room experience into new futuristic domain.
  4. The Internet of Things Will Be User-Centered
    With connected devices offering more user-centered experiences, we’ll be interviewing SnowShoe Stamp and WiActs about digital identity in the future of embeddables and wearables.
  5. Connected Car is Getting an Upgrade
    Connected car is changing the way we drive, and brands like Cargo, an open platform for connected cars, indicates that in-car connectivity will soon get another upgrade that could turn our vehicles into moving media channels.
  6. New Media Interfaces Lead the Future of Brand Experiences
    New advanced interfaces such as virtual reality or interactive touchscreens are opening up new opportunities to create innovative and engaging brand experiences. We plan to talk about such a future with Jaunt VR, LittleStar VR content platform, and EyeQ.
  7. Mobile Payment and Ecommerce To Shake Up Retail
    With promising new players like Clover and OpiaTalk emerging in mobile payment and ecommerce, the retail world is looking at a fundamental shake-up in the near future.

 

Header image courtesy of sxsw.com

 

Final Recap: Mobile World Congress 2015

Posted on by Lab Team

Last week the Lab crossed the Atlantic Ocean to attend the 2015 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain. In addition to our daily recaps for Day one, two, and three, we are now proud to present a final recap to cover everything you need to know about the event and highlight our favorites among the 2,000 exhibiting companies.

Download the Final Recap for MWC 2015 here.

Event Recap: Mobile World Congress, Day 1

Posted on by Angel Mendozza

Live from Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, it’s the IPG Media Lab! We’re on the ground covering the latest news from the conference. As expected, the major consumer electronic players are very well represented at MWC:

  • Samsung looks to have the next big hit on its hands with the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. It supports wireless charging (Qi and PMA), a payments platform, and perhaps the fastest camera ever included in a smartphone to date.
  • LG’s new Urbane LTE smart watch may be the best-looking smart watch we’ve seen. However, this designation might be short-lived, as Apple’s March 9th event is quickly approaching.
  • China’s Huawei (pronounced “Wah-Way”) is continuing the momentum they captured at CES earlier this year; their exhibitor area has been well attended and their new smart watch has garnered a lot of praise.

We’ve also uncovered several notable themes at this year’s MWC:

Open Source

Across multiple categories and sectors, the term “open source” was bandied about, particularly in relation to:

  • Alliances increasing adoption rates: The Allseen Alliance (backed by Qualcomm and partners) and the Open Interconnect Consortium (backed by Intel and partners) will simplify the market and allow IoT providers to build robust product suites that consumers can confidently invest in.
  • Platform validation: Ford’s Smart Device Link is an open platform for developing new in-car experiences for the infotainment system. They’re hoping third-party app developers can create “sticky” experiences, especially in markets like China where new car sales are exploding.
  • Creating needed competition: Cyanogen, the company behind the Android-based open source mobile OS, has recently partnered with Qualcomm, increasing compatibility to over 200 devices. Cyanogen may even try and launch their own app store.

New Interfaces

Another theme we noticed today at Mobile World Congress was the rise of new interfaces. Whether they manifest as sensors, wearables or devices, these new peripherals have the potential to change how we interact with the world around us:

  • ProGlove: This enterprise-focused wearable is a sensor-based “smart glove” that helps manufacturers boost performance by leveraging Intel’s sense technology to help employees visualize difficult task.
  • Yubi Navi: A Nintendo Wii-like device that guides people to their destination with subtle tactile cues.
  • SOSO Brainno: This prototype EEG wearable analyzes a user’s emotions, heart rate, and temperature. The goal is for it to be embedded into VR headsets so it can adapt to a user’s environment and their emotional state in real-time.

Today’s coverage was just the beginning; check back tomorrow for more updates from MWC.

Header image courtesy of MWC.

By The Numbers: Quantifying Consumers’ Fear About Connected Devices

Posted on by Lab Team

As we pointed out in last week’s By-the-Numbers, privacy concerns are holding back mainstream consumers from embracing connected home devices. This holds true for all connected devices, as the following AdWeek infographic perfectly illustrates.

Fears about personal privacy and data security, either through company misconduct or malicious hacking, rank as the top challenge for the IoT industry. In addition, a lack of perceived value in connected devices and associated pricing concerns don’t help the industry’s case.

Unsurprisingly, consumers prefer convenient devices, with fitness devices receiving an approving nod.  Meanwhile, the products in the least-wanted basket all share the trait of low practical value—most of the connected functions they offer can be achieved by simply looking at or smelling the items.

 

fear of connected devices

 

(Infographic Source: AdWeek)

Trigger + Michelle Cortese – LogMe

Posted on by Lab Team

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What if your necklace could detect and record your moods like an emotional journal? That’s the idea behind LogMe, a sentient-recognizing smart necklace designed by Michelle Cortese, the Lab’s very own interaction designer. Watch this trigger + to see our interview with her on the design and application of LogMe, as well as the reactions it has received so far.

Beware Of The Privacy Threats Posed By IoT Devices

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: New York Times

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Tuesday reported that Internet-connected devices presented “serious data security and privacy risks”, urging companies to make data protection a top priority. The announcement came just after Verizon’s supercookie—embedded unique user identifiers that are undeletable—made headlines last week for the privacy threats it poses for customers.

In both cases, the main security and privacy threats originate from non-consented access to and sale of personal data by third-party devices or apps. As estimated by Gartner Research, around 4.9 billion connected devices for consumers, enterprises, and utilities will be in use this year, generating a vast amount of personal and company data that need to be properly protected and regulated.

Update 1/30/2014: NYT reports that Verizon Wireless has decided to make a major revision to allow users to completely opt-out of its “supercookies”.

IBM Unveils The Blockchain Of Everything

Posted on by Lab Team

IBM has released a proof of concept for blockchain-powered Internet of Things devices called ADEPT, short for Autonomous Decentralized Peer-To-Peer Telemetry. The system design is fully distributed, secure, and open source. Primarily based on the blockchain, which is the protocol that underpins BitCoin and the other cryptocurrencies, ADEPT also incorporates Ethereum for smart contracts, TeleHash for fast, secure, peer-to-peer messaging, and BitTorrent for file sharing. The company is teaming up with Samsung, which will presumably help test and implement the system into their products.

“Imagine a world where a smart washer is able to detect a component failing, can check from the blockchain if the component is in warranty, place a service order with a contracted service provider, and the service provider can independently verify the warranty claim – again from the blockchain – and all this, autonomously.”

The distributed design allows IoT devices, which might have a useful life of ten years or more, to avoid using a cloud service with ongoing financial costs that would likely require selling user data to be sustainable. It also eliminates single points of failure—for example, a hacker would not be able to compromise a manufacturer’s update server to instruct every device to transfer cryptocurrency maliciously because there is no central server, and quarantining bad actors is built in.