Immer Mittwochs erscheint auf neunetz.com eine kommentierte Übersicht zu den wichtigsten Entwicklungen und besten Analysen aus der Welt der vernetzten Geräte, dem 'Internet der Dinge'. Vernetzte Welt kann per Email und per RSS-Feed abonniert werden. Die letztwöchige Ausgabe musste wegen Krankheit ausfallen. Die vorliegende Ausgabe ist deshalb etwas länger geworden. Nächste Woche sind wir wieder im regulären Zeitplan.
Top: Bosch startet IoT Cloud
Bosch gab auf seiner IoT-Konferenz ConnectedWorld in Berlin den Start einer eigenen Cloud für seine IoT-Services bekannt. Die Bosch IoT Cloud soll aus der technischen Infrastruktur sowie aus Plattform- und Softwareangeboten bestehen. In ihr will der Elektro-Hersteller und Automobilzulieferer unterschiedliche Anwendungen aus den Bereichen vernetzte Mobilität, Industrie und Gebäude betreiben. Zunächst soll sie nur interne Dienste anbieten und ab 2017 auch anderen Unternehmen zur Verfügung stehen.Als ersten Standort seiner Cloud hat Bosch eins seiner eigenen Rechenzentrum nahe Stuttgart auserkoren.
Mit dem neuen Dienst sei Bosch jetzt ein Full-Service-Provider für Vernetzung und das Internet der Dinge, sagte Bosch-Chef Denner am Mittwoch auf der ConnectedWorld. Bosch sei weltweit das einzige Unternehmen, das auf allen drei Ebenen des IoT aktiv ist: Schlüsseltechniken wie Sensorik und Software für die Vernetzung und gleichzeitig darauf basierend neue Services.
Es wird spannend werden, wie genau Bosch als Cloud-Underdog sich gegen AWS positionieren wird, das natürlich ebenfalls in Richtung Internet der Dinge APIs und 'Primitives' (elementare, universell einsetzbare Services) implementiert. Siehe Vernetzte Welt #31.
Das Wertversprechen von AWS ist mehr oder weniger identisch mit dem der Bosch IoT Cloud:
“Connected does not necessarily mean useful,” said Amazon’s CTO Werner Vogels during the keynote today, and indeed this is what Amazon is aiming at tackling with its mega platform: a place where the many different strands of creating services for disparate connected objects can come together into one place to be run in a cohesive way
Ob Bosch als Hardwarehersteller und Zulieferer wirklich einen Vorsprung gegenüber einem erfahrenen Cloudanbieter (dem Marktführer) hat, wird sich zeigen. Eine Chance dafür besteht. Die Frage ist nur, ob sie wirklich groß genug ist. Time will tell.
(Bosch könnte sich natürlich als Zulieferer mit einem weniger zentralen Vernetzungsansatz differenzieren, statt 'nur' ein weiteres Heer an Serverparks aufzubauen. Hier liegt Potenzial.)
More than five million devices are currently connected via Bosch’s IoT software suite. Applications include a system that enables users to remotely control the temperature of their home as well sensors that help drivers find parking spaces or firms track the quality of a product once it leaves a factory.
Bosch declined to disclose how much money it was spending on the cloud specifically but said it was investing around 500 million euros ($548 million) annually in new technologies.
Hintergrundgeschichte im Bosch ConnectedWorld Blog, angeblich von Volkmar Denner, dem Vorsitzenden der Geschäftsführung bei Bosch, selbst geschrieben:
Perhaps one of the most exciting developments happening in the Bosch Group at the moment is its transition to an IoT company. The IoT offers a wealth of opportunities in all our business areas: in connected vehicles, connected power tools, connected industry, and smart home solutions, to name just a few. Our strategic target for all of our electronic product categories is to be IoT-enabled by 2020. In order to achieve this ambitious target, we need to put an IoT infrastructure in place that provides our operating units, customers, and business partners with a reliable, efficient, and scalable onramp to the IoT.
Any such IoT infrastructure has multiple facets, and we should perhaps remind ourselves that Rome wasn’t built in a day. One of the first critical IoT infrastructure elements we built was the Bosch IoT Suite. Its components today already connect and manage more than 5 million devices. Another important piece of the IoT puzzle is of course sensor technology. Since 1995, Bosch has delivered some 7 billion MEMS sensors. Every day, more than 4 million MEMS sensors leave Bosch’s state-of-the-art wafer plant in Reutlingen, Germany. Another important milestone was the launch of our XDK sensor kit. Developers inside and outside our company can now create new functions with our sensors.
Siehe auch: Bosch macht die vernetzte Industrie international | ZulieferMarkt.de und Platform as a Service für das Internet der Dinge: Bosch geht mit IoT Cloud in die Offensive - computerwoche.de
Fazit eines Besuchers der BOSCH connected experience in Berlin:
But more important than the dress code: a large organization is changing it mindsets towards disruptive business models in the Internet of Things. And I am curious to see, if this big vessel BOSCH can keep direction until 2020. If they succeed BOSCH can become an important serious player in the IoT Game of Thrones with the dominating Corps as Amazon, Google and Alibaba.
Things I wish for the 2nd connected experience in 2017: engage more Start Ups to discuss their business with BOSCH. I believe both parties can get a better Win-Win learning from mice perspective and the view of the big Elephant.
Kooperation von Bosch und HUK
Die HUK Coburg will ab dem dritten Quartal 2016 einen Kfz-Versicherungstarif einführen, der das Fahrverhalten berücksichtigt. Dazu werden Daten genutzt, die über Dienste von Bosch erhoben werden. (..)
Genaue Tarife stehen zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt noch nicht fest, wohl aber, wie die Datenerfassung erfolgen wird: Im Fahrzeug wird ein Datenlogger, eine sog. "CCU" (Connectivity Control Unit) installiert, die die Daten von Zeit zu Zeit über das Mobilfunknetz an die Bosch-Cloud übermittelt. Der Fahrer wird dadurch zum gläsernen Kunden, denn erfasst werden praktische alle Daten, mit denen sich das Fahrverhalten quantifizieren lässt: Beschleunigung, scharfes Bremsen, Lenkbewegungen, Ortsdaten - und nicht nur das: Diese Daten werden mit Geodaten verknüft, so dass die Art der benutzten Straßen (Autobahn, Stadtverkehr, Landstraße), die Einhaltung von Tempolimits und vieles mehr überprüft werden kann. "Wer auf der Landstraße 150 fährt, wird keinen besonders großen Bonus erhalten," sagte Klaus-Jürgen Heitmann.
Eine sehr logische, naheliegende Entwicklung. Bereits heute versuchen Versicherer (nachvollziehbarerweise) Tarife anhand von Fahrverhalten zu vergeben. Deshalb sind beispielsweise Automobilmodelle, die besonders beliebt bei jungen Männern sind -welche eher zu unvernünftigem Fahrverhalten tendieren als andere Bevölkerungsschichten-, teurer in der Versicherung als andere Modelle.
Das Privatsphärenproblem hier, dass durch eine zu starke Ausweitung des Ansatzes entstehen kann, ist offensichtlich. Weniger offensichtlich ist die Tatsache, dass eine direkte Datenmessung sehr viel fairer gegenüber der Einzelperson ist als die aktuelle Praxis der indirekten Datenanwendung (anhand von etwa Unfallstatistiken etc.).
Hier zeigt sich auch eine wesentliche Zukunftskomponente für Zulieferer wie Bosch: Produkte von Bosch landen bereits als Bestandteile in Endprodukten. (Wie eben zum Beispiel in Automobilen; das HUK-Beispiel zeigt allerdings auch, dass das gar nicht immer zwingend notwendig ist.) Eine verbindende zentrale Komponente -die eigene 'Cloud'; in erster Linie Daten sammelnde und auswertende Server- ermöglicht neue Geschäftsfelder. Bosch wird damit zum Teil auch zum Mittler zwischen, hier, Versicherungen und Automobilherstellern.
Wird das Cloud-Angebot von Bosch schnell groß genug, hat Bosch dank des branchenübergreifenden Geschäftsumfangs des Konzerns gute Chancen darauf, sich deart zu etablieren dass, zum Beispiel, Automobilhersteller die Mittlerfunktion von Bosch nicht ersetzen könnten, selbst wenn sie wöllten. (Letztlich ist das vergleichbar mit dem Szenario der Automobilbranche, das ich hier auf andere Felder bezogen beschrieb.)
Top: Amazon Tap und Echo Dot
Amazon hat zwei neue Versionen des Sprachsteuerungsgeräts Echo (weiterhin US only) vorgestellt. Das kleinere (und günstigere) Echo Dot, das man auch an externe Lautsprecher anschließen kann und das portable Amazon Tap.
Ich habe eine kurze Übersicht auf Early Moves veröffentlicht:
Amazon has expanded the Echo, and made it into a gadget family: The original Echo is joined by the portable Tab ($130) and the Dot ($90), a smaller version of the Echo.
Ebenfalls auf Early Moves habe ich letzte Woche die Echo/Alexa-Plattform von Amazon intensiv in einem langen Beitrag beleuchtet:
Here are the building blocks:
- Dedicated devices to get the platform initally rolling. ((1), the new Amazon Tap and Echo Dot just got additionally released)
- Allowing (2) and fostering (3) third-party functionality to create a rich general-interest platform that can be used for a wide array of use cases.
- First-party functionality: Useful features (7) have to be implemented early on to make the product useful for end-users. Once they start coming the other side (third-party providers) come as well. Think of this as the aquivalents of browser, maps and photos/camera apps on mobile operating systems. No mobile OS would get shipped without these.
- Subsequently, vertical integrations ((6) and (4)) increase the functionality of the platform further whilst also bringing your business into the fold. Now we’re talking!
- Unbundle the platform/service functionality from the dedicated devices (5) and make the former available as an API. This makes more integrations of the platform itself possible (8) and hence increases the reach. (Or in other words: A platform like Alexa can this way travel with the users wherever they go. This is not needed for all kinds of platforms. But for something like Alexa, that is first and foremost the manifestation of an interface model (voice), this makes a lot of sense: The voice interface will ideally one day be everywhere where the user goes. This is why obviously the Alexa interface is also available on the Fire TV for example.)
Analysen & Berichte
Australische Stadt Adelaide wird "Smart-City-Experiment"
Initiated eight months ago, key players in the project include the University of Adelaide, the South Australian Department of State Development, Adelaide City council and companies including Ernst and Young, Cisco, Microsoft, Oracle, Fuji and Xerox.
Stand der Dinge bei Wearables
The wearables market topped $4.2 billion in 2015, up about 40 percent from the year before, according to research from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). And sales are expected to jump another 30 percent in 2016 to more than $5 billion. (...)
For women, Tempdrop’s wearable basal body temperature sensor tracks ovulation cycles through an ear bud that monitors your temperature and syncs with a fertility app to predict when you’re most likely to become pregnant.
The wonders of wearables aren’t limited to humans, either. The pet wearables market took off in 2015. From a GPS-enabled collar to track Fido’s whereabouts to virtual fence and leash technology to keep your pup from straying too far afield, wearables are truly for the whole family. One pet collar, still in the pre-order stage, is set to include two-way audio for keeping in contact with your furry friend if he’s out of earshot.
Another pet collar serves as a health monitor, tracking your pet’s temperature, pulse, respiration, activity and more. The data can be accessed by a veterinarian to help keep pets healthy.
"Mobvoi is on a mission to create a new kind of wearable"
Wired UK über ein spannendes chinesisches Startup:
That mission is to reinvent voice search for the era of wearable devices. "Smart wearables will be the next generation of independent devices that can communicate, and you'll use them to make payments, authenticate yourself to unlock the door and track your healt(...)
The Ticwatch was an ambitious challenge: nobody had assembled 400 components into a round watchface before. The result, out in June 2015, went on sale for 999 RMB (£107), around half the Moto 360 price. By October, 400 apps had been built for the platform - including translation, PowerPoint and games. The company has organised hackathons, which it calls Creatics. Now Mobvoi has 192 staff, mostly engineers and product people.
"We're not positioning ourselves as watchmakers," says Li, formerly with MicroStrategy in Washington DC. "We're an AI technology company, and we're already looking at the in-car experience and at family robots. They'll tell you where your kids are. And we want them to be huggable."
Hier die Produktübersicht von Mobvoi.
"Internet of rings: Smart doorbell startup raises $61.2M, launches sleeker $250 Pro device"
But the basic premise remains the same: When someone rings your doorbell and you’re not at home (or simply can’t be bothered answering the door), Ring calls your phone so you can see who’s at the door and talk directly to them. While it is partly designed to deter would-be thieves from “checking” if anyone’s home, it’s also useful for conversing with genuine visitors. With Ring, there’s always somebody at home.
Interessant wird es, wann man über Ökosysteme und zum Beispiel den Onlinehandel hier nachdenkt.
"Looking beyond the Internet of Everything consumer hype"
The Samsung fridge, for example, has a milk shelf that will automatically add that item to your virtual grocery list when it’s out, or even order the milk itself. Sounds awesome, right?
Well, here is where I think practicality gets in the way. What if your milk is low because you are about to go on a holiday? Do you want another item that has to be connected to your calendar? Do you want one more thing you have to remember to do before leaving?
For mass market appeal, I have simple tests to determine if there is a strong likelihood of success: 1. Will it make your life 10 times easier or better? 2. Will your grandmother be able to use it? 3. Can you explain why you are using this service in under a minute?
"Skyhook Wireless brings location services to wearables in a petite package"
Skyhook’s Precision Location for Wearables SDK released today is designed to bring those location services directly to the wearable without the need for a location middle man. It’s reduced the size of the code dramatically to the point that it can be built directly into a wearable’s firmware and placed on the tiny chip inside the gadget, David Bairstow, VP of product at Skyhook told TechCrunch.
The software transmits the location information back to Skyhook’s servers and you can track it through an app or web page.
In terms of how this will play out, think about a fitness tracker you use that generally relies on the smartphone to track where you ran. With this technology, it should be capable of tracking your location itself. You can log on to your account and get that information directly from the device now.
"Health-Tracking Startup Fails to Deliver on Its Ambitions"
Measuring biological signals at the wrist is convenient, but even just gathering heart-rate data is a “non-trivial” problem, says Emil Jovanov, an associate professor at the University of Alabama at Huntsville who studies real-time physiological monitoring. In addition to issues like sorting out the signal you want from the noise of motion artifacts, you can’t get perfect contact with the skin, and different people’s skin can change the quality of the signal that’s collected. Temperature, he says, can play a factor, too.
"Phonvert has a plan to convert old smartphones into IoT nodes"
At SXSW 2016, I spoke with the leader of the Phonvert project, Tomo Kihara, and he pointed me to research from IDC “that more than 280 million working smartphones were replaced without being recycled last year.”
With this info in mind, Tomo, along with Keisuke Shiro, Kosuke Takahashi and Seibe Takahashi, founded Phonvert, an open-source software platform that can convert retired smartphones into usable Internet of Things nodes.
You install Phonvert onto your old smartphone and then you can make it usable and valuable again for a variety of tasks like Fridge Cam, Mailbox Cam, Video Baby Monitor to name a few.
"The Internet of dangerous, broken things"
Matthew Garrett, the well-known Linux and security expert who works at CoreOS, was in a London hotel recently where the light switches had been replaced by Android tablets. Garrett, a hacker's hacker, decided to see what they were doing. A few hours later Garrett had access to the electronics in every room.
Meldungen
- IoT Focus Shifts To Customer Experience; Adoption To Hit 43% This Year 03/04/2016
- 3 ways smart clothing can push you to the next level
- IoT: Cisco will 500 Millionen Dollar in Deutschland investieren - Golem.de
- Fossil’s Q Motion tracks sleep and activity, learns from Misfit devices | Ars Technica
- Fossil stellt zwei neue Android-Wear Smartwatches vor: Q Wander und Q Marshal
- Vodafone and Philips join forces for connected lighting and smart city services
- GoTenna, the startup that lets you text without cell signal, raises $7.5M and launches with REI
- New index will track Apple, GoPro and others in wearable tech space - MarketWatch