Category: Customer Experience

Mozilla’s new logo: An example of the power of the community for which they serve

· Leave a comment ·

Disclosure: Mozilla is a partner of The Buddy Group. We proudly support certain internal product, communication and creative opportunities as needed. Proud to support the mission and ethos for which it stands. 

Mozilla has changed. So have we, the user. One thing that has not changed however is the respect they show their users in everything they do.

Last year Mozilla embarked on the most unique, eye-brow raising, risk/reward endeavor I have ever seen a brand take. Not only were they going to re-brand Mozilla for the next generation of innovation but they were going to tackle it in a way only Mozilla could tackle– open, honest and ready for feedback. They opened the process to the community and through the process earned our respect for taking a road less (if not ever) traveled on this scale.

We, as a company, with all our spirit and gusto to be mavericks and push clients outside of their comfort zone, remained glued to our social streams waiting for what would be next.

What came out of it is fascinating, right and admirable.

Rather than recap every step myself, I turn it over to Adweek and Mozilla’s own voice which did a great job of keeping a running log of the process.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

As written in ADWEEK: For the last six months, Mozilla has been working on a brand identity upgrade, and it’s kept a running log of this process. But it also took it one step further, releasing open-source guidelines for anyone who wanted to jump in and help compose a new logo and visual cues.

“Rather than conduct a brand refresh behind closed doors, we just thought maybe there’s a better or different way to do this,” Mozilla creative director Tim Murray said in August.

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/mozilla-open-sourced-parts-its-new-brand-identity-heres-how-went-175636

Idiot Proof Appliances 

· Leave a comment ·

http://readwrite.com/2017/01/11/whirlpool-ces-2017-dl4/

People who struggle with frozen pizza and microwaveable food instructions will be happy to know that Whirlpool unveiled a selection of kitchen appliances able to cook your food without pressing any buttons.

Unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017 in Las Vegas, the appliances include a double-wall oven for $2,600, a microwave for $1,000, a gas range for $1,800 and an electric range for $1,700. All appliances work with iOS and Android devices.

See also: Intel launches modular Compute Card at CES 2017

All four appliances connect to Wi-Fi and are able to understand instructions from Whirlpool’s Scan-to-Cook mobile app. All the homeowner needs to do is scan the instructions and send them to the appliance, which will begin cooking at the right temperature and time.

Whirlpool already has a few compatible products, including DiGiorno Pizza and Alexia frozen fries, but for the price of each appliance you would expect more.

All work with Amazon Alexa

All Whirlpool appliances will receive Amazon Alexa support as well, letting homeowners set the oven to a certain temperature or turn the microwave off without entering the kitchen.

Bringing the kitchen online may help the poorest of home cooks out, but we doubt any of them will want to spend more than $1,000 just to make sure they don’t overcook frozen fries. That said, a few Reddit commenters have made the argument that this could be useful for those that typically forget how to cook or when to turn off the oven when inebriated.

Whirlpool expects to start selling the appliances in the summer.

ALLIANCE allows for synchronization and more

· Leave a comment ·

Wireless connections within the Internet of Things may soon rival the capabilities of wired systems, based on new standards being released by Wi-Fi Alliance.

The new standard, called TimeSync, is a Wi-Fi feature that brings precise timing and synchronized operation to wireless devices by aligning them to the same internal clock. It was introduced at CES, just concluded in Las Vegas.

This type of synchronization would enable properly synced audio and video playback wirelessly across a full surround-sound system, according to Kevin Robinson, VP of marketing at Wi-Fi Alliance.

“As Wi-Fi becomes more firmly planted in the connected home space, it is growing from simply delivering Internet connectivity to connected devices to now moving into the interconnections between the components themselves,” Robinson told the IoT Daily.

“Part of the reason Wi-Fi has been as successful as it has is that it’s a very flexible and capable platform for other technologies, other ecosystems, to build on top of and it really allows industry to continue to innovate on top of this very capable platform,” he said.

Bringing a cross-brand standard to wireless devices is the goal and Wi-Fi Alliance plans to launch a certification program for device manufacturers to integrate the TimeSync capability into their products later this year.

The Alliance now has more than one flavor of connectivity tailored to different use cases.

For example, Wi-Fi ac, which was updated in mid-2016, is designed to deliver Internet access to wide areas and multiple devices simultaneously. An example Robinson referenced was a recent implementation of Wi-Fi ac access points throughout Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, which brings high-speed Internet across the entire stadium.

On the other side, Wi-Gig, which was launched in October 2016 and was shown in products at CES, brings short-range, but very high performance speeds. This type of connectivity can enable wireless virtual reality experiences.

The TimeSync feature is not intended to act as a type of connection, but rather as a coordinating layer that can enable better experiences, according to Robinson.

“One way to look at it is it’s an ingredient that will help other technologies in applications perform better,” Robinson told the Daily.

“TimeSync would allow you to create that precise coordination between various devices, whether it’s a VR headset, speakers in the room or a wireless headset,” he said.

Wi-Fi Alliance also plans to launch an indoor location-tracking capability later this year, which would operate similarly to GPS with accuracy within a few feet.

There are currently 8 billion Wi-Fi devices in active use, according to Robinson.

 

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/292636/new-wi-fi-standard-syncs-home-devices-in-real-time.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=readmore&utm_campaign=99529

2016 Tech Year in Review

· Leave a comment ·
Dec 30, 2016 9:00 AM EST
AMAZON.COM INC
-15.28
AT CLOSING, DEC 30TH
749.87 USD
ALPHABET INC-CL A
-10.43
AT CLOSING, DEC 30TH
792.45 USD

⇑  THE GOOD  ⇑

 

▲ Tech Superpowers Eat the World: For the first time this year, technology companies at times held each of the top five spots of the world’s most valuable public companies. The combined market value of tech’s Five Fab — Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc. — was $2.4 trillion as of Dec. 27, or more than 11 percent of the S&P 500’s value. That means tech superpowers are inching toward the 16 percent share of the S&P 500 they held at the peak of the tech bubble in March 2000. The bad news: Big Tech’s growing power makes them a target of politicians worldwide.

Tip Top Tech
The five biggest tech companies’ share of S&P 500 market cap
Source: Bloomberg
Note: Companies listed from highest to lowest market cap.

▲ Advertising Becomes a Two-Horse Race: Alphabet’s Google and Facebook are popular destinations for billions and their technology makes it easy for carmakers and detergent companies to pinpoint the right people for their product pitches. As a result, the two gobble a combined 58 percent of all the advertising purchased in the U.S. online or on mobile phones. With Google and Facebook as the only companies generating significant digital ad sales, every other company dependent on advertising — from TV networks to news organizations — is rethinking existing business approaches.

google fb ad spend-01

▲ Amazon’s Ambition Knows No Bounds: It became clear in 2016 that no industry should be free from Amazon paranoia. It’s a giant retailer of every product and service, a growing entertainment power, and a would-be transportation giant that aims to control land, air, sea and new horizons. In an example of the impact Amazon’s ambitions can have, its Amazon Web Services cloud business — a type of computing Amazon created from nothing 10 years ago — made up more than 100 percent of Amazon’s total operating profit in the third quarter (after accounting for international losses), and it’s not an exaggeration to say AWS has changed the direction of both Amazon and the tech industry.

▲ China Tech Flexes Its Muscles: China’s tech giants Baidu Inc., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are unimaginably big and broad, cutthroat competition has honed the next-generation stars such as Didi Chuxing, and many novel tech ideas born in China are being copied elsewhere. China’s tech powers are extending their advantages at home and stretching into other parts of the globe, though few have made major inroads into the U.S. yet.

Internet Tidal Wave
China’s roughly 700 million internet users are double the population of the U.S.
Sources: International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report and database, and World Bank estimates; Bloomberg Intelligence

▲ Television Finally Meets Technology: Television’s dominance of Americans’ leisure time and advertisers’ wallets has peaked, and changes are slowly coming to the fundamental nature of TV. Commercial-free binge watching on Netflix, the popularity of nontraditional video on smartphones and the development of new types of online TV services are reshaping entertainment. Will digital “television” simply replicate the TV we’re used to or become something else entirely?

Changing the Channel
Online pay-TV services like AT&T’s DirecTV Now are estimated to reach nearly 15 million subscribers by 2020, according to UBS estimates
Source: UBS

⇓  THE BAD  ⇓

 

▼ Apple Hits a Wall: The decade-long era of Apple’s impossibly fast growth and profits came to an end. Apple’s revenue fell this year for the first time since 2001. The company can’t outrun a changing market for smartphones globally, and it continues to grapple with government resistance to its power on issues such as law enforcement, taxation and manufacturing.

No Longer Defying Gravity
The last time Apple’s annual revenue declined was 15 years ago
Source: Bloomberg
Note: Data for fiscal years.

▼ Startups Reckon with Austerity-ish: After two years of seemingly limitless funding for young technology companies, there was a marked retrenchment this year. Money invested in tech startups remains historically high but is on track to decline materially from 2015. Smartly, many private tech companies started to manage for profits — or “profits” — instead of straining to grow at all costs. Otherwise the fallout from the investment pullback could have been much worse.

Pullback
Amount invested in companies backed by venture capital
Source: CB Insights
*Data through Q3.

▼ No Mercy for Yahoo and Twitter: Internet companies have to keep growing, or they die. Yahoo Inc. and Twitter Inc. in 2016 each went through protracted sale efforts — Yahoo found a buyer, Twitter didn’t — and had to deal with the punishing effects of disappearing growth in revenue and users.

Growing Pains
Revenue growth is diminishing for Yahoo and Twitter. Change in revenue from a year earlier:
Source: The companies
Note: Yahoo’s revenue excludes commissions paid to web-search partners.

▼ Batteries Had the Worst Year Ever: Samsung was forced to end production of its Galaxy Note 7 after reports of fires or explosions caused by faulty batteries. The U.S. also forced a recall of hoverboards because of overheating batteries, and Apple dealt with battery life hiccups for its new MacBook Pro line. The (sometimes literal) battery flare-ups in 2016 show the fragility of one of the essential components of computing in everything from smartphones to driverless cars.

Look Out Below
Quarterly revenue for Samsung’s mobile division took a dive in the latest quarter, hurt by recalls to its Galaxy Note 7 phone.
Source: Bloomberg

▼ Old Tech Shrinks: The technology industry is brutal to its stragglers (see Yahoo and Twitter above), and that meant painful job cuts in 2016 at some old-guard companies. IntelCorp., Cisco Systems Inc., HP Inc. and others continued to cut back — in some cases drastically — to offset falling revenue or to shift resources away from declining businesses.

Pink Slip
Legacy tech companies had some major layoffs in 2016
Source: Bloomberg

 

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the authors of this story:
Shira Ovide in New York at sovide@bloomberg.net
Rani Molla in New York at rmolla2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Daniel Niemi at dniemi1@bloomberg.net

2017 Internet Of Things Security Threats 

· Leave a comment ·

Any regular reader of the IoT Daily knows that security and privacy are continuously major IoT issues, especially as more devices enter consumer homes and become Internet-connected.

In the not-so-good-news department, the new report, from cybersecurity company Trend Micro, sees the year ahead coming with an increased breadth and depth of attacks.

The Internet of Things will play a larger role in targeted attacks in 2017, capitalizing on the growing acceptance of connected devices by exploiting unsecured systems, according to the report. Here are some of the security-related predictions for next year:

  • The number of new ransomware families will plateau, only growing 25%, but will branch out into IoT devices and non-desktop computing terminals, like point-of-sale systems or ATMs
  • Suppliers will not secure IoT devices in time to prevent denial of service and other attacks
  • New vulnerabilities will continue to be discovered in Apple and Adobe
  • With 46% of the world’s population now connected to the Internet, the rise in cyber-propaganda will continue
  • New targeted attack methods will focus on evading modern detection techniques to allow targeting of different organizations

As the world becomes more connected through billions of new smart devices, security issues are likely to increase.

In the Internet attack earlier this year, which caused millions of consumers to be locked out of many websites, connected devices like smart doorbells and webcams were compromised.

Trend Micro predicts more of the same for next year.

Any brands and marketers planning to message through or leverage consumer connected consumer devices may want to make sure that security is high on the list.

 

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/291609/2017-internet-of-things-security-threats.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=readmore&utm_campaign=99104

Smart Home Consumers Looking For Safety, Comfort 12/20/2016

· Leave a comment ·

Consumers in the market for smart home technology aren’t looking to be early adopters or to be as cool as their neighbors. Rather, they are looking to make their homes safer and more comfortable. 

“We already knew that homeowners prioritize safety and peace of mind, and now we know they will achieve this by adding smart home technology,” Julie Link, director of research for Scripps Networks Interactive, tells Marketing Daily. “The surprising part here is that consumers are clearly demanding home technology solutions that deliver efficiency, but also contribute to emotional satisfaction. It’s far less about collecting the latest toys and gadgets to achieve social status.”

Three-quarters of consumers cited those two qualities when shopping for smart home products, compared with only 18% who said they were looking to meet others’ expectations, according to a survey of 700 homeowners by Scripps Network Interactive. Just over two-thirds (68%) of consumers said energy efficiency, leading to cost savings or a higher resale value, was also a driving factor. 

Different demographics had different motivations for adding smart technology, however. Millennials wanted to make the home more convenient, while Gen Xers wanted to make their homes more healthy. Baby Boomers, meanwhile, wanted the technology to add value to their homes. Millennials were the most likely to add smart home technology within the next year, followed by Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. 

“Each generation is interested and committed to smart home technology, but for very different reasons,” Link says. “Millennials, who say the benefit is about making their home work for their lifestyle, expect hyper-customization. If they can get it exactly how they want it, then the technology will play a vital role in their household. Gen Xers’ technology preferences will reflect their personal values — creating a healthy environment in a hectic world. Boomers want to maximize their investment, so if smart home technology can benefit them in the moment and in the long-term, they are fully on board.”

Nearly half (44%) of consumers said they would like to add features such as energy-monitoring and light automation, although only 11% of respondents said they had firm plans to add them. A quarter of all the homeowners surveyed named the kitchen as their top spot to add smart technology, followed by the front door/entryway (15%) and the living room (13%). 

Consumers are also wary about installing these devices themselves. More than half of the consumers surveyed said they wanted to find a professional to help them make smart home decisions. Expense, however, was still the top barrier to purchase, according to the survey.

“The findings seem to indicate the opportunity to be a trusted counselor for consumers, who are clear that they are very interested, but also very confused when it comes to home tech,” says John Dailey, senior VP of corporate ad sales for Scripps Networks Interactive. “A marketer needs to select its messaging with the different generations’ goals 

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/291386/smart-home-consumers-looking-for-safety-comfort.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=99023

Consumers are ready for media via IOT

· Leave a comment ·

​Brands and marketers may want to take a tip as to why people own smart or Internet-connected devices.

The operative word here is useful.

While the majority of U.S. consumers own at least one connected device, the top characteristic of the most popular devices is that they are useful above all else, based on a new study.

While most 97% consumers are aware of connected devices and 62% of consumers own at least one, the reasons for ownership vary.

The study comprised a survey of 1,200 adults representative of the U.S. population conducted by Maru VCR&C for the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

The most popular connected device in the home, of course, is the connected or smart TV with smart glasses at the tail end. Here are the connected devices owned by consumers:

  • 47% — Connected/smart TV
  • 24% — Wearable health tracker
  • 17% — Internet-enabled home control devices
  • 16% — Connected car
  • 13% — Smart watch
  • 11% — Internet-enabled voice command systems
  • 11% — Internet-enabled appliances
  • 10% — VR headsets
  • 7% — Smart glasses

Without the smart TV, the connected things market would not look so robust.

Most significantly the key driver of popular devices is usefulness. In the top four most popular connected devices, that characteristic is number one, ahead of convenient, innovative, luxury item or cool. Here are the top attributes of the top products owned, according to ownership level:

  • 47% — Useful: Connected/Smart TV
  • 24% — Useful: Wearable health tracker
  • 17% — Useful: Internet-enabled home control devices
  • 16% — Useful: Connected car
  • 13% — Luxury item: Smart watch
  • 11% — Luxury item: Internet-enabled appliances
  • 11% — Innovative: Internet-enabled voice command system
  • 10% — Fun: VR headsets
  • 7% — Unnecessary: Smart glasses

For brands and marketers, the Internet of Things is going to lead to new ways of advertising and many consumers seem OK with that.

For example, of those who own any IoT device, the majority (65%) are receptive to IoT advertising. The receptivity to advertising differs based on which device. By device, here are the percentage of consumers receptive to IoT advertising:

  • 95% — Smart glasses
  • 89% — VR headsets
  • 89% — Internet-enabled appliances
  • 87% — Connected car
  • 86% — Smart watch
  • 84% — Internet-enabled voice command
  • 78% — Internet-enabled home control
  • 72% — Wearable health tracker

As might be expected, nearly all connected home devices are currently connected to the Internet. This is true for Internet-enabled voice command systems (88%), home control devices (80%) and Internet-enabled appliances (69%).

Despite all of the new home connectivity, the smartphone remains the hub, at least for the short term. Almost all devices connect with smartphones, computers or tablets at least once a day.

More than half (55%) of consumers are willing to receive ads on their devices in exchange for coupons or discounts, which is consistent with other studies. Of current connected device owners, 65% are open to such ads.

Interest in getting a connected device by those who don’t already have one is pretty high (65%). The top connected device of those most interested in getting one is the connected or smart TV.

Television is not being replaced by the Internet of Things. It is becoming part of it.

Google launches first developer preview of Android Things, its new IoT platform | TechCrunch

· Leave a comment ·

Google today announced Android Things, its new comprehensive IoT platform for building smart devices on top of Android APIs and Google’s own services. Android Things is now available as a developer preview.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/13/google-launches-developer-preview-of-android-things-its-new-iot-platform/?ncid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&sr_share=facebook

Secrets Behind Building Any AI Driven Smart Service – A Software Insider’s Point of View

· Leave a comment ·

The combination of machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and cognitive computing will change the ways that humans and machines interact with our environments.  AI-driven smart services will sense one’s surroundings, know one’s preferences are from  past behavior, and subtly guide people and machines through their daily lives in ways that will truly feel seamless. This quest to deliver AI driven smart services across all industries and business processes will usher the most significant shift in computing and business this decade and beyond.

Organizations can expect AI driven smart services to impact future of work flows, IOT services, customer experience journeys, and block chain distributed ledgers.  Success requires the establishment of AI outcomes (see Figure 1).  Once the outcomes are established, organizations can craft AI driven smart services that orchestrate, automate, and deliver mass personalization at scale.

FIGURE 1.  SEVEN SPECTRUM OF AI OUTCOMES

rwang0-spectrum-of-outcomes-for-ai

Secrets To Designing AI Driven Smart Services Start With The Orchestration Of Trust

Crafting AI-driven smart services requires a shift in thinking to atomic driven smart services.   In fact, these new AI driven smart services rely on five key components:

  1. Applying digital footprints and data exhaust use AI to build anonymous and explicit profiles.
    Every individual, device, or network provides some information. That digital footprint or exhaust could come from facial analysis, a network IP address, or even one’s walking gait. Using AI and cognitive reckoning, systems can start to analyze patterns and correlate identity. That means that AI services will recognize and know individuals across difference contexts.
  2. Immersive experiences enable a natural interaction.
    Context, content, collaboration, and channels come together to all AI-driven services to deliver immersive and unique experiences to each individual.  The services will use context attributes such as geospatial location, time of day, weather, heart rate, and even sentiment – combined with what the service knows of our identity and preferences – to improve relevancy and deliver the appropriate content. Sense-and-respond mechanisms will enable collaboration among participants and machines through conversations and text dialogs. Channels include all interaction points such as mobile, social, kiosks, and in-person. The goal is natural user experiences based on identity.
  3.  Mass personalization at scale delivers digital services.
    Anticipatory analytics, catalysts, and choices interact to power mass personalization at scale.  Anticipatory analytics allow customers to “skate where the puck will be”.  Catalysts provide offers or triggers for response.  Choices allow customers to make their own decisions.  Each individual or machine will have their own experience in contexts depending on identity, historical preferences, and needs at the time. From choose-your-own-adventure journeys, context-driven offers, and multi-variable testing on available choices, the AI systems offer statistically driven choices to incite action.
  4.  Value exchange completes the orchestration of trust.
    Once an action is taken, value exchange cements the transaction. Monetary, non-monetary, and consensus are three common forms of value exchange. While monetary value exchange might be the most obvious, non-monetary value exchange (including recognition, access, and influence) often provide a compelling form of value. Meanwhile, a simple consensus or agreement can also deliver value exchange on the veracity of a land title or agreement on a patient treatment protocol.
  5. Cadence and feedback continues and AI powered learning cycle.
    Powered by machine learning and other AI tools, smart services consider the cadence of delivery: one time, ad-hoc, repetitive, subscription based, and threshold driven. Using machine learning techniques, the system studies how the smart services are delivered and applies this to future interactions.

FIGURE 2.  THE SECRET TO DESIGNING ATOMIC AI DRIVEN SERVICES

rwang0-ai-atomicservices

The Bottom Line: Artificial Intelligence Augments Humanity

Fears of robots taking over the world have been overblown.  Successful AI driven smart services will augment human intelligence just as machines augmented physical capabilities.  By enabling reduction of errors, improving speed of decisions, identifying demand signals, predicting outcomes, and preventing disasters, AI driven smart services play a key role in defining business models for block chain technologies,  IOT, customer experience, and future of work.

http://blog.softwareinsider.org/2016/11/28/mondays-musings-secrets-behind-building-ai-driven-smart-service/

IoT interoperability: Where it stands and what comes next

· Leave a comment ·

The Allseen Alliance earlier this month merged with the Open Connectivity Foundation with plans to operate under the OCF name in working towards interoperability in the “internet of things” market through open source software frameworks and standards. IoT interoperability is a hot topic at conferences around the world, with the forecast billions of forthcoming IoT devices expected to be reliant on their ability to connect with each other in order to garner the most benefit, even in an industrial setting. Art Lancaster, CTO of Affinegy, told Industrial IoT 5G there has been progress in different verticals, but the growth opportunity of IoT needs to be sped up with a broad base of IoT interoperability using a consortium framework of many different companies.

Gartner predicts IoT reaching 25 billion devices and hitting $263 billion by 2020. Cisco sees it as a $19 trillion market by 2025, with an impact 10-times the internet itself. If these predictions are to come true, the current landscape must adapt to make connecting hardware, software and storage easier.

IoT ecosystems require interoperability to create seamless programmability of devices or sensors in enabling a world of connected devices. This means IoT will require standards to enable horizontal platforms that are communicable, operable and programmable across devices, regardless of make, model, manufacturer or industry. The hope is that connectivity between people, processes and things works no matter what screen type, browser or hardware is used. The reality, however, is that the IoT is fragmented and lacks interoperability.

According to a PTC blog post, this fragmentation can manifest as any of the following:

  • Different OEMs: devices or equipment that are not made by the same manufacturer can cannot integrate.
  • Different OSs: inability to run on the same operating systems.
  • Different versions or times of purchase: devices that weren’t made or purchased at the same time.
  • Different/incommunicable types of connectors or connectivity frameworks (e.g. devices).
  • Different/inconsistent communication protocol standards (i.e. rules).
  • Lack of programmability needed to connect in the first place.

Interoperability is a crucial missing piece to the progress of IoT, according to a report by McKinseytitled “Unlocked the potential of the internet of things.” The report notes:

  • Interoperability between IoT systems is critical. Of the total potential economic value the IoT enables, interoperability is required for 40% on average and for nearly 60% in some settings.
  • Currently, most IoT data are not used. For example, on an oil rig that has 30,000 sensors, only 1% of the data are examined. That’s because this information is used mostly to detect and control anomalies — not for optimization and prediction, which provide the greatest value.

In order for the “internet of things” to be successful, it should better promote IoT interoperability and open interfaces or APIs. Many devices focus on proprietary technology and interfaces because they view themselves as the only game in town, hurting the development and expansion of IoT.

According to Cloud Technology Partners, issues that arise around the lack of IoT interoperability with IoT-enabled devices include:

  • The inability to test APIs using common approaches and mechanisms.
  • The inability to push and pull information from devices using the same interfaces.
  • The inability to secure devices using third-party security software.
  • The inability to monitor and manage devices using a common management and monitoring layer.

To get around this, standards must be created. Interoperability between IoT is extremely complex, but the application layer is seen as the key place to get bridging technology to the layers below, according to Lancaster, who says IoT technology to write workflows still tends to be siloed, but the best place to transcend that challenge and gain broad interoperability is to work at the application layer. Wireless technologies like Z-Wave and ZigBee are at the physical networking layer, and early automation technologies put a simple interface schema for “is it on or off, what is the temperature, etc.” baked right into the radio modules. If you wanted to write ZigBee application you had to write APIs directly into ZigBee application. OCF is looking at creating standard specifications that allow for connectivity specs between each of the technologies.

http://www.rcrwireless.com/20161031/internet-of-things/iot-interoperability-tag31-tag99