SURE IoT Blog

SURE IoT Blog

13 Sep 2017

iRobot and the Smart Home

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) technology. Find out what that mapping technology could mean for the future of the smart home.

The Roomba, that cute little robotic vacuum by iRobot, has been cleaning our floors since 2002. That makes it one of the elder statesmen of the modern smart home.

But did you know the company originally made bomb disposal robots? iRobot, founded in 1990, only sold off its military unit in 2016.

All robotic vacuum cleaners (robovacs) use short-range IR sensors to detect obstacles. That helps them avoid bumping into anything. Yet iRobot’s models from 2015 and onwards now feature cameras, super powered sensors, and new software.

This Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) technology means that the Roomba doesn’t just avoid obstacles. It now generates a map of the whole room. Measuring the spatial dimensions, it also includes the layout of furniture and other items that may block its path.

The SLAM tech is so sophisticated that the robovac can pause cleaning, go back to recharge in its dock, and then pick up where it left off. All of that with no input from you.

That’s a smart device.

But let’s find out what that mapping technology could mean for the future of the smart home.

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06 Sep 2017

Is IoT Security on Your Mind?

The Internet of Things (IoT) offers many new opportunities which can be exciting, but they also have a shadow side for security. Discover the solution…

The Internet of Things (IoT) offers many new opportunities in both the commercial and personal space. While much of the IoT discussion revolves around new devices within the home, those same devices have an equal place in offices, retail units, medical facilities, and other spaces outside of the home.

These opportunities are exciting, but they also have a shadow side for security. With IoT in its infancy, no single way to manage security has been developed. Different manufacturers use different protocols, exposing a range of access points within the home or the office.

How do you provide security across a series of connected devices that are using different rule books?

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30 Aug 2017

All You Need to Know About Amazon’s Alexa

Alexa is the digital assistant that answers your commands and controls your smart home devices. Let’s look at what else Amazon’s Alexa can do.

Amazon’s Echo device made its debut in 2014. It wasn’t until December 2016 that the world sat up to pay attention. Amazon has been cagey about sales figures, but Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimate that the company has sold almost 11 million Echo units.

The Echo’s voice-based assistant, Alexa, is the real star of the Amazon show. Helping users to order an Uber, get directions, play music, or even perform mathematical calculations, Alexa was inspired by the Star Trek computer on board the Enterprise.

Asking Alexa to navigate a course to the nearest star system might be beyond her right now. But she learns fast, and she keeps earning fans with her ever-expanding AI system.

Let’s look at what Amazon’s Alexa can do.

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23 Aug 2017

Do You Know the Smart Devices Privacy Issues?

All technology has the potential for security and privacy concerns. Let’s investigate some of the potential privacy issues associated with smart devices.

More people are bringing smart technology into their home. The technology usually comes in the form of smart devices to help people save energy, monitor health problems, entertain the kids, and protect their property while they’re away.

All technology has the potential for security and privacy concerns, but the privacy issues are more obvious with certain types of devices like voice assistants.

Voice assistants such as the Amazon Echo or Google Home provide ways to integrate these smart solutions. They also dispense with the need for multiple controllers for an array of products. The devices integrate with other systems. So you can install Amazon’s Alexa within your SURE Universal remote to control the app – and your smart devices – using your voice.

But the devices also pose their own problems.

The voice assistants aren’t autonomous like Iron Man‘s Jarvis. But they are always listening, ready to pick up on any cues to swing into action. Google’s Home assistant, for example, wakes up when it hears “Okay, Google.”

Yet the “always listening” aspect of many devices leads some to worry about who else might be listening.

Let’s investigate some of the potential privacy issues associated with smart devices.

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17 Aug 2017

Is Fiber Internet Connection the Future of Smart Home?

What will be the next solution to the crowded internet space as more people set up smart homes?

Since the days of dial-up access, the internet connection comes into the house at a single point. Back in those days, a length of telephone wire connected the family computer to the outside world. The switch to WiFi and broadband didn’t change much, except households now connect their wireless router to the outside world – still through a cable.

All your devices connect to the internet through that central hub. In a typical house, you might have a Roku box, a laptop or two, the family’s smartphones, and an Xbox hooked up to the router.

In a smart home? You’ll have a lot more devices than that. Think light switches, thermostats, smartphones, surveillance systems, media streamers, medical devices, smart kettles, and maybe a Roomba.

The more devices connected to the network – and ultimately the internet connection – the slower the speeds become for each device. Think of those annoying “video is buffering” messages. Or choppy music playback through wireless speakers. Some devices might not work at all.

The increasing number of WiFi networks in your neighborhood also make the problem worse. The radio bands get crowded, and interference causes its own issues.

That’s not something you want in a world where things like wearable medical devices will need a stable, reliable internet connection.

What’s the solution to this crowded internet space as more people set up smart homes?

Fiber internet. 

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09 Aug 2017

­China’s Tech Scene and the Internet of Things

Is Beijing set to rival Silicon Valley as China’s tech scene continues to grow?

When you think about technology and the places it stems from, the most obvious location that springs to mind is Silicon Valley. The name was first coined in 1971, so the area holds a lot of history alongside its list of success stories.

Forty-six years later, Silicon Valley is no longer the only player on the technology block. Other cities, like London, Berlin, Tokyo, and Tel Aviv, have thriving tech scenes producing exciting innovations.

But what about China? We’ve seen Samsung from South Korea, HTC from Taiwan, and countless companies from Japan. Is the growing popularity of Huawei any sign of China’s booming tech scene?

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02 Aug 2017

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) as the New Standard

What is Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and is it really the “New Standard”?

If you’ve ever used Bluetooth on a device, you’ll know how frustrating it can be sometimes. Your battery drains faster than usual. If you move mere inches out of range, your connection drops. And that’s if the devices will pair in the first place.

What may be an annoyance for you is a big problem for the Internet of Things (IoT) community. Bluetooth is a protocol available for connected devices – in other words, Bluetooth is a language devices can use to speak to one another. It’s also predicted to be used by 60% of all devices by 2021. Users won’t rely on systems if they can’t move freely while using devices, and if communication between devices is unpredictable.

The adoption of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE or Bluetooth LE) as the new standard looks set to fix many of the old issues of Bluetooth.

Originally marketed as Bluetooth Smart, BLE’s main aim is to operate at a lower cost and with drastically reduced power consumption. That’s not to say you’ll lose communication range. Far from it – BLE aims to offer four times the same range as Bluetooth 4.2.

BLE dates back to 2006, first introduced as Wibree by Nokia. Adopted into the Bluetooth standard as part of the 4.0 spec in 2010, BLE already appears in today’s mobile operating systems.

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26 Jul 2017

Reviewing the Voice Recognition Competition: Alexa, Google, Siri and Cortana

Voice recognition seems to be on everyone’s mind, with all of the major players in the game. But who is really winning this competition?

It’s 5 pm, and you’re sitting in your living room, relaxing and streaming media to your Smart TV with the SURE Universal Remote app.

Out of the blue, your virtual assistant reads a text from a friend out loud, inviting you to dinner. You ask your AI to respond with a “yes,” and order you an Uber while you go upstairs to get ready.

Before you leave, you ask to set an alarm for 7 am the following morning. Your ride arrives, and you head off for dinner.

It sounds like something from a futuristic science fiction film, doesn’t it? But, with the recent growth in artificial intelligence (AI), it’s fast becoming a reality.

When it comes to AI and voice recognition, you have plenty of choices. Between the Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Amazon’s Alexa, there is a smart home virtual assistant available for most devices.

Let’s find out more about them.

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20 Jul 2017

SURE Universal Introduces the First Software-Defined IoT Platform Based on Open Connectivity Foundation Standard

SURE Universal Ltd. Delivers a Complete Software Solution for IoT Based on OCF Standard Which Ensures Interoperability Between Different Appliance and Manufacturers

Tel Aviv — SURE Universal Ltd. introduces the Software-Defined IoT (SD-IoTTM) platform as the next-generation software solution for digital media, Smart Home, and IoT. At MWC Shanghai in July 2017, SURE Universal demonstrated an Android based Set-Top Box (STB) that includes both Smart TV and IoT gateway functionality based on OCF protocol.

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19 Jul 2017

Are Robotics the Future?

With news stories like Amazon’s alleged use of drones to deliver packages, some people wonder how integral robotics might be in the future.

The popularity of films like Wall-E shows we’re ready to embrace robots in our daily life. They’re an easy way to pass on the chores we don’t want to do. With advances in machine learning and more advanced artificial intelligence (AI), a future like the one seen in The Jetsons might not be too far away.

Let’s look at some of the robotics that may become commonplace in the next few years.

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