Bluetooth device and Smartphone App can use Crowdsourcing to find your lost keys

A new Bluetooth device called the 'Tile' can be paired with most Bluetooth 4.0 capable smartphones, in order to find your keys - or any other item you want to keep track of (wallet, purse, luggage, bicycle, etc).

Designed to last up to one year, they have a 50-150 foot (17-50 meter) communication range. If you are out of range, anyone with a similar application on their phone can crowdsource the location of the device, without violating your personal security, and direct you to the device's last known location.

Here’s how it works. The Tile tags themselves are small, waterproof plastic squares that are no bigger than a slim custom USB drive with a key-ring loop on one corner and a two-sided adhesive strip.

They’re inconspicuous and stylish at the same time. You then attach your Tile tag to any of your personal items. If any of these items is ever stolen or goes missing, the Tile app radar sensor will increase in strength as you get closer to your lost stuff, as long as you’re within range of the Tile tag.

This might seem as though it limits Tile’s dependability on tracking stolen items, but actually there’s more to it than that. If someone takes your bicycle, purse, or laptop with a Tile tag attached to it, you can mark the tag as a lost item on your phone. If the item is within range of another Tile app user, their receiver will pick it up and alert you of its location. Granted, even with the large amount of pre-orders that Tile has already received, there’s still a good chance that only a small number of users will be within distance of you upon the product’s launch in the fall of 2013. But like Waze and other network based apps before it, as Tile becomes more popular and its user base grows, you’ll be much more likely to have your thief cross paths with the Tile app.

There is of course the every growing concern with privacy that comes with sharing your location data with the public at any given moment. But some will more than likely see it as a means to an end in this regard.

Each Tile costs about $18.95 - and you can link your phone up to 10 Tiles.  You can also share access to your Tiles with trusted family members or friends.

Shipping starts in the winter of 2013/2014.  At the release of this article, they have already sold 49,586 units at a total potential income of $2,681,297.

SiriusXM to Get More Involved in Telematics

As reported by Radio World: SiriusXM intends to acquire the telematics arm of Agero.

The satcaster says the deal, $530 million in cash, is for the connected vehicle unit, which offers safety, security and convenience solutions.

SiriusXM says after the deal closes it will provide connected vehicle services to more automakers, including Acura, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Lexus, Nissan and Toyota. The deal comes a month after SiriusXM, AT&T and Nissan formalized a partnership for in-car services.

SiriusXM CEO Jim Meyer says the Agero deal “accelerates SiriusXM’s development in architecture supporting connected vehicle services, as well as the ability to provide services over both satellite and cellular networks.”

The companies expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter, though the transaction is subject to antirust review and other usual closing conditions.

Morgan Stanley advised SiriusXM about the arrangement.

Telematics Market Drivers: Customer Return Visits to Dealerships

As reported by Connected World Magazine: The connected car is gaining ground as safety and convenience technologies are added to vehicles. For manufacturers, in-vehicle telematics systems may be the wave of the future. But there are also challenges to face when integrating connected technologies into the automobile.

One recent report states the increasing complexity of design is one hurdle the industry needs to overcome. TechNavio, says telematics use is definitely growing for vehicles, but that growth brings with it more complexity of design in the applications to manage all the telematics.

TechNavio says the infotainment trend is one of the driving factors in the growth of the in-vehicle telematics market. As more vehicles are sold worldwide, and more consumers look for telematics capabilities in their cars, the overall demand for telematics is increasing. Right now, the largest markets are the Americas and Western Europe, according to the report.

Telematics also presents opportunities for dealers and OEMs (original-equipment manufacturers). A report from Frost & Sullivan, says auto manufacturers are seeing the value of including some telematics services in the cost of the vehicle.

“Vehicle manufacturers are waking up to the advantages of signing up users for a connected service for three or more years than having them pay a monthly subscription of $15 or $20 for a year,” says Frost & Sullivan Telematics and Infotainment Research Manager Praveen Chandrasekar.

Frost says successful telematics systems need to bring dealers into the value chain by providing them with vehicle data and performance information. With this data available, dealers can reach out to car owners to provide additional services throughout the life of the vehicle. Access to vehicle data can allow both manufacturers and dealers to provide value-adds to the customer.

Telematics is a $1 billion service market in North America, according to Frost. But the research firm says even more significant revenue can come from customers returning to dealerships during their ownership of the vehicle.

For customers, safety and convenience are driving the selection of telematics in vehicles. But for manufacturers and dealers, additional service opportunities may be the most important force for embedding telematics. 

Hitting The Road Without A Driver

GM-Carnegie Mellon Autonomous Driving Collaborative Research
using a modified Cadillac SRX crossover.

As reported by NPR: The cars we drive have gotten ever more sophisticated. They can just about park themselves; they tell us if we're drifting out of our lane; they can prevent skids. Some even automatically apply the brakes if they sense that a collision is imminent.

Engineers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh are developing a car that can do all of those things and more — it can actually drive itself. Imagine that commute to work.

The car, developed with General Motors, is by all appearances a normal Cadillac SRX crossover. That's by design, according to Jarrod Snider, the chief engineer on the project.

"We're not using really fancy, really expensive devices all over the car," he says. The sensors are integrated into the car, "so when you look at the car you don't see a lot of things hanging off of it."

Hidden in the bumper and behind the car's grille are three types of systems that guide the car's decision-making — sensors, lasers and cameras. Snider says the sensors provide input for the car's software, "so when we see an object we can say that's a person or that's a sign or that's a traffic light. ... We can actually do some classification of the object."

The car's navigation screen will show and identify pedestrians and bikes, as well as traffic lights and some road signs. It also has thermal imaging, useful to identify objects at night, beyond the range of the car's headlights.

In the back of the car, below the floor where the spare tire would normally be, are four computers about the size of Apple's Mac Mini, cooled by an air-conditioning system. Snider says the computers are a development platform and won't be as big or noisy when driverless cars are commercially available.
Inside, the car looks pretty normal, too, with one exception — a big red button that sits prominently in the middle of the dashboard. Snider says it's there for when engineers are testing a new system. If something goes wrong, "we can just push that button and that just turns the car back into a stock car, immediately," he says.

Surprisingly, a test ride in the autonomous Cadillac occurs not on a closed course, but on busy Route 19, a multilane highway in Cranberry Township, outside Pittsburgh. Snider says township officials have been cooperative and helpful with development of the driverless car, installing special radio transmitters on traffic lights to tell the vehicle when to stop (the car can also "read" the lights with a camera positioned over the windshield).

Snider says it's hard to replicate real-world conditions on a closed course. People drive in unpredictable ways; they stop suddenly, change directions; there are pedestrians jaywalking.

To put the car in driverless or autonomous mode, Snider simply turns a knob located near the gear shifter.
"System starting up," a female-sounding computer voice intones. "Autonomous driving."

The car pulls out of the parking lot. Though Snider is behind the wheel, he's not touching it, as the car stops at a stop sign, waits for traffic to clear and then makes a right turn onto the highway.

The car is programmed much like a driver programs a GPS for directions. In this case it's heading for a restaurant in a shopping center. We travel about a half-mile down the busy road, the car accelerating, stopping at a red light and moving into a left-hand turn lane, where it waits for a green arrow before proceeding.

The drive is not always smooth. The car tends to wait until the last minute before braking and floors it when accelerating to its desired speed. Snider says engineers are working on that, but that it's difficult to precisely re-create the human touch on the gas pedal and brakes.

Carnegie Mellon's car is not the only driverless vehicle around. Google has one as well. Raj Rajkumar, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon, predicts that by 2020 the technology needed for driverless cars to travel normal roads will be ready. Though he says it make take a bit longer for the legal system and insurance companies to catch up.

"It has to go through the societal process of acceptance, the legal process of laws being in place that allow driverless vehicles on the roads, the insurance aspects of liability, the legal things falling into place," Rajkumar says.

The federal government has already begun conducting research with an eye toward
establishing standards for driverless vehicles. Three states — California, Nevada and Florida — have passed legislation allowing testing of driverless cars on their roads.

Google to test Project Loon in California

As reported by Engadget: It's safe to say Google took the world by surprise when it introduced its Project Loon. But, some were disappointed that it was done so far away from home -- at least at first. Now, the company has announced that it's ready to more openly test out the high-flying internet service in California, with research flights due to take place around The Golden State's Central Valley. Google says it's seeking people in the area "who are willing to have a Loon internet antenna installed on their house or small business building to help test the strength of the Loon internet connection." For those interested in helping out the cause (and why not!), you'll need to fill out the survey located at the source below -- the Project Loon team notes that those selected to participate will be contacted directly.

Electronic Onboard Recording Devices: Cost and Driver Usability is a Concern in the Trucking Industry

As reported by Arkansas Business: Roughly the size of an iPhone, an electronic onboard recording device does not take up much space in the cab of an 18-wheeler.

The tiny device has, however, become a huge topic of conversation in the trucking industry.

By January 2016 it is possible that all drivers will be required to install EOBRs in their vehicles as a means of monitoring hours of service. Proponents see it as a way to make driving more efficient and point to it as the first real change to the act of logging hours of service since the 1930s. Opponents view the replacement for paper logs as an intrusive instrument that will make life more difficult for drivers than it already is.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration wants to outfit long-haul commercial vehicles, trucks and buses with EOBRs. Ultimately, the goal is safer roadways. By getting an accurate measure of when drivers are on the road, the FMCSA believes that drivers — already under new hours-of-service rules that went into effect on July 1 — will be on the road less, cutting down on fatigue and, in theory, accidents.

As they have done with hair drug testing, members of the Trucking Alliance (both J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of Lowell and North Little Rock’s Maverick belong) have lent their support to the use of EOBRs. They see it primarily as a way to improve safety, eliminating the underreporting of hours, something one local trucking official calls “the worst-kept secret in the industry.” The Arkansas Trucking Association also supports putting EOBRs on board each truck.

Plus, the devices can help improve relationships between dispatchers and drivers because both sides will have an accurate measure of hours driven. Neither dispatcher nor driver can take advantage of the other in hopes of getting more hours or getting more work. This, proponents say, will improve the efficiency of scheduling and make interaction friendlier between drivers and their home bases.

Cost is, of course, a concern. High-end EOBRs can come with a price tag of nearly $2,000. Depending on the size of a company’s fleet, even the low-end cost of $300 to $400 per truck can be an intimidating prospect. In theory, the improved operational efficiency will ultimately make up for the increased cost.

Where opponents of EOBRs really have problems with the devices is in determining just how necessary and driver-friendly the technology really is.

There is undoubtedly an element of “Big Brother is watching” that makes drivers and owner-operators nervous about installing EOBRs. Few of us are comfortable with the thought of willingly allowing the government to track our movements (especially when we’re out on the open road and have the cruise control set in that 5-to-9-miles-per-hour-faster-than-the-speed-limit window in which most of us operate).

EOBR data — hours logged, speed driven, stops made — in individual trucks is not likely to be monitored on a daily basis by the government (or law enforcement officials). In fact, other than group data collected for the continued tweaking of regulations, little of the information will be shared outside of specific trucking operations. But surely we can sympathize with those who are nervous about the prospect of having their every move monitored.

Perhaps the biggest issue that drivers have with EOBRs is that the device eliminates flexibility in their schedules. Anybody who has punched a time clock understands what a pain it can be. Many folks are happy to be given a task and a deadline. They don’t want to account for every second spent in accomplishing that task, and if they happen to get finished early, they’d like to just call it a week.

EOBRs make that more difficult for drivers to do. There’s no opportunity for them — let’s use an analogy from your office — to turn a late Friday lunch into an early weekend.

There is still time for tweaks to be made to the proposed regulations, though it is doubtful much will change between now and the end of the year. Regulations mandating EOBRs won’t likely be official until January 2014, and companies will then have two years to become compliant.

How long it takes for companies and drivers to become comfortable with having the EOBRs remains to be seen, of course.

More Connected Homes, More Potential Hacker Targets

They might offer convenience or potential cost savings,
but Internet-connected home appliances may also
create security risks.

As reported by MIT Technology Review: As a growing number of Internet-connected home appliances hit the market, David Bryan and Daniel Crowley worry that digital ne'er-do-wells will get new ways to take control of these devices, unlocking your house, running up your heating bill, flushing your toilet—or worse—from afar.

Bryan and Crowley, both security researchers at Trustwave Holdings, have been trying to sound this alarm since they heard about the Lockitron, a $179 gadget designed to fit on a standard deadbolt and allow you to lock or unlock your home from your smartphone. At the time, the device had not yet begun shipping to customers, but it piqued Bryan and Crowley’s curiosity. They figured they’d try out other “smart” devices while they were at it, and over the past several months they've found that nearly all of them, including lights, a scale, and a toilet, had significant security shortcomings.

Their findings highlight a potential problem with the so-called “Internet of Things” and the new class of Internet-connected home products that you can monitor and manage remotely. These devices offer convenience and potential energy savings and sometimes just novelty (see “Home Tweet Home: A House with Its Own Voice on Twitter”). According to data from ABI Research, there are already more than 10 billion wirelessly connected devices in use, and by 2020 there will be more than 30 billion of them. While “hub” devices like smartphones and laptops make up most of this total today, the market researcher expects this will shift in favor of cheap sensors and node devices that make up the Internet of Things.

Yet as we connect more and more devices to the Internet, everything from the thermostat to the toilet to the front door itself may create a potential new opening for electronic intruders. As with computers, there are ways to protect these devices from outsiders, but Crowley and Bryan’s experiences indicate that, for now at least, this isn’t always a primary concern for companies in a rush to sell this equipment. Making devices more secure can add time to product development.

“It varies from device to device, but a common thread with a lot of these devices is they don’t require any authentication at all,” Crowley says.

For example, Crowley and Bryan examined the Veralight, which plugs into your home computer network and allows you to control and manage many types of household appliances. By default, it required no username or password to access the system, and they say they found numerous ways to bypass authentication even when it was turned on. More recently, Crowley and Bryan discovered how easily one could get a music-playing toilet called the Satis, which is controlled by an Android smartphone app, to flush itself repeatedly or play loud music. They recently discussed their findings at the annual Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas.

Crowley and Bryan say they've contacted each company whose products they believe have security flaws. Mostly, they've gotten no direct response. In a statement, the maker of the Veralight, Hong Kong-based Mi Casa Verde, said it believes its controllers “are as secure or more secure than any of the home automation products on the market today.” Lixel, the Japanese company behind the networked toilet, said in a statement that there are “several necessary conditions” that must be met to control the toilet remotely, such as pairing a smartphone with the toilet, which must be done with a separate unit that comes with the Satis.

Security researchers fear that the risks presented by these new types of gadgets are especially concerning. If hackers can exploit a weakness in a single type of Internet-connected home appliance or system—such as an Internet-connected door lock—they may be able to harm thousands of people at once. “It might be some effort to get this kind of scenario, but if breaking into one server means you get to ransack 100, 1,000, 10,000 people’s homes, that’s definitely worth it, and that’s where the real danger lies,” Crowley says.

Yoshi Kohno, an associate professor at the University of Washington who studies computer security and privacy in consumer technologies, says it’s hard to know exactly how big a problem this will be. But he has found “real vulnerabilities” in several Internet-connected things including cars, medical devices, and children’s toys. A toy that includes a webcam, for instance, could allow an online attacker to connect to the toy and turn on the webcam. “We as a community need to look holistically at all the emerging technologies and not just say, ‘Oh, it’s a toaster, it doesn't matter,’ and think that everything matters until we believe that it doesn't,” he says.

Kohno says he’d need to see more of an emphasis placed on security before he’d feel comfortable using most of the currently available connected-home gadgets: lights that can be controlled over the Web may be okay, but an automated door lock, for example, would still be out of the question.

Even with security measures in place, there’s also potential for electronic eavesdropping, says Kamin Whitehouse, an associate professor at the University of Virginia who studies smart buildings. His research has shown that even if data traffic from wireless smart devices in the home is encrypted, an attacker can still analyze network traffic patterns and, by making a few assumptions about human behavior, get an idea of what’s going on inside the house. “Once the house starts becoming fully connected, there’s no reason to think that it won’t become a target,” he says.

For their part, Crowley and Bryan are optimistic that this will change. The smartphone-controlled door lock that first intrigued them recently began shipping to customers and offers security details and an e-mail contact for security-related questions. That’s an indication that Apigy, the company behind Lockitron, is focused on the issue, Crowley says. “That is big. It says something good about the state of security in that product,” he says. “It means we’ll probably have a tough time breaking it.”