Company / division: Other Companies
Andy Rubin Nears His Comeback, Complete With an ‘Essential’ Phone – Bloomberg (Jan 13, 2017)
Andy Rubin, the creator of Android and its leader at Google for many years, is now apparently about to get back into the smartphone business, or more accurately into the ecosystem business, with a smartphone and potentially several other devices fleshing out the portfolio. On the one hand, this makes sense – few people want to buy just a phone anymore – they want to know that it comes with services and potentially other devices which will increase its value. On the other hand, creating such an ecosystem from scratch is incredibly tough and costly, as we’ve seen with LeEco recently too, so the prospects for success when trying to get there in one big leap are slim. The other big question about all of this, of course, is which operating system the Essential phone will run…
via Andy Rubin Nears His Comeback, Complete With an ‘Essential’ Phone – Bloomberg
FDA warns that certain pacemakers are vulnerable to hacking – Engadget (Jan 10, 2017)
The specifics of this story aren’t as important as the trend that’s emerging ever more clearly – almost any device that’s connected to the Internet is potentially susceptible to hacking, and the more critical the device’s intended function is, the more serious any potential breach can be – in this case, life threatening. The challenge is that most of these devices – along with cheap web cams and many others – were not designed with watertight security built in, and it’s almost impossible to add that on after the fact. So we’ll see lots more of these stories in the coming years, which will put off potential customers, while giving an advantage to IoT and smart home vendors who prioritize security.
via FDA warns that certain pacemakers are vulnerable to hacking – Engadget
Ellen Pao joins forces with Kapors to bring diversity to technology – USA Today (Jan 10, 2017)
It’s good to see Ellen Pao land in another venture role, but also one where she’ll be able to continue to push for more diversity in tech now that she has a high profile in this area. Funding is one of several bottlenecks at which diversity is stripped out of the Silicon Valley ecosystem, so having her and her new partners working on improving things should be helpful.
via Ellen Pao joins forces with Kapors to bring diversity to technology – USA Today
Parrot is laying off a third of its drone division – Recode (Jan 9, 2017)
I’ve tagged this one against the Hardware is Hard narrative, because it seems the perfect illustration – thin margins in the face of aggressively priced competition from China is the perfect encapsulation of much of what ails the hardware industry. On the other hand, it’s also notable that Parrot is heading deeper into the enterprise drone market and pulling back from the consumer side – that seems an entirely sensible move in the face of the competition, and should work out better for the company. DJI, though, seems increasingly dominant here, while I’m curious about how GoPro will fare – it faces the same issues as Parrot across its entire business, and may well see similar results in drones specifically.
via Parrot is laying off a third of its drone division – Recode
FTC takes D-Link to court citing lax product security, privacy perils | Network World (Jan 5, 2017)
This is yet another story about IoT security, and the many vulnerabilities that exist in a variety of connected devices in the home. The difference this time around is that this isn’t some low-cost Chinese vendor, but D-Link – one of the larger router manufacturers, and the FTC claims its gear suffers from some of the same basic flaws that enabled the Mirai botnet attack a while back. We could still see far worse attacks taking advantage of these vulnerabilities, and with the growth of home automation gear there will be even more attack vectors. All this makes it even more important that those selling connected gear from the home bake in really serious security protections and educate users on the risks.
via FTC takes D-Link to court citing lax product security, privacy perils | Network World
Energous still isn’t delivering truly wireless charging, but says it’s coming later this year – The Verge (Jan 4, 2017)
Energous and its version of wireless charging has always been far more interesting to me than the standard, mat-based version, because the latter is actually less flexible in some ways than cable-based charging. Charging over distance is the real innovation here, but no-one has cracked and released it yet in a mass market product. The big question about Energous specifically is whether Apple is or isn’t the mysterious partner it frequently refers to – if Apple puts this technology in products and it works well, that will be game changing for a whole range of products from iPhones to Watches. But if it isn’t, Energous appears to be stalling indefinitely on technology that never seems quite ready.
Canvas — Project Alloy Executive Summary (Dec 28, 2016)
This seems like an admirable effort aimed at increasing diversity in the tech industry by sponsoring people from underrepresented backgrounds to attend conferences. Nice to see someone come up with a logical and realistic solution, and one that allows those already in the industry to put their money where their mouths are.
via Canvas — Project Alloy Executive Summary