AI meets everything is how one might characterize this year’s International CES 2017. Ironically, it was a meta-CES experience that served as a proof-point that artificial intelligence-powered, natural language interfaces can sometimes do as good, if not better job, than a human.
While at CES, this author had to cancel a reservation and, not figuring out how to do via online links, as a last resort, decided to make the call to a real person which would inevitably mean a long-wait in a queue. Turns out, there was no queue, as the entire conversation was with a machine, took only a minute or two and was a very satisfying experience; maybe even more satisfying than if the interaction had been with a real human.
Stay tuned in 2017 for ViodiTV (@Viodi) for the publication of the 50+ video interviews, many of which demonstrate how artificial intelligence is creeping into even the dumbest objects and the far-reaching impact it will have on society. In the meantime, this issue features commentary from Alan Weissberger on the impact of creative destruction on the telecom industry and some of the CES 2016 interviews that were published just before the New Year.
Why Telco Mergers Destroy Jobs and Stifle Competition by Alan Weissberger
Management from CenturyLink and Level 3 talked up their announced merger at the Citi Internet, Media and Telecommunications Conference this past Wednesday, January 4th. Combining Level 3’s backbone network with CenturyLink’s small and medium size business customers has definite advantages. While the synergies, cost savings and complementary advantages were highlighted, nothing was said about job losses due to redundancies and consolidation of network resources. Yet huge job cuts always occur when telcos merge or get acquired. Let’s use AT&T as a textbook case study to prove this point.
Moving the Attack Vector Away from the Applications
“It’s time to have a fundamental shift in how we view the network and we view the security as being built into the network and have the network platform provide the security,” says Rick Conklin, Vice President of Development for Dispersive Networks in the above video. Speaking at the 2016 Carrier Network Virtualization Summit, Conklin indicates that one of the benefits to network virtualization is that it moves the attack vector away from the users and applications.
Passively Battling WiFi Interference
A passive way to improve WiFi using a specially made plate that reflects interfering signals (e.g. from neighboring apartments) and strengthens the desired router’s signal is what INFLUX demonstrated at International CES 2016. This $59 device could be a good way for service providers to improve a customer’s WiFi, particularly in apartments and dense areas, where interfering signals are everywhere.
Mother Knows Best – IoT Adapting to One’s Lifestyle
Smart tags that attach to and turn everyday items, such as pill bottles, water bottles, remote controls and even bedspreads, into smart devices. The Sen.se mother hub connects to these tags and provides a way for caretakers to monitor and provide feedback to the elderly, detect whether intruders are in the house or even measure temperature on a room-by-room basis. One of the unique things is that the tags, “Cookies”, as Sen.se calls them, are reprogrammable as needs change. Coupled with their analytics app, perhaps mother does really know best.
The Connected Shower #CES2016
Inspired by his four daughters’ excessive use of the shower, a father sought a way to reduce his family’s water consumption. Powered via water flow, this unique IoT device also transmits its sensor information to an accompanying application via Bluetooth Low Energy. The app allows tracking of water usage and could be a boon for water agencies looking for ways to encourage people to voluntarily reduce water use.
Some Tweets and Short Thoughts:
- @Viodi, your Fire TV application was just released to Amazon App Store! Thanks @SeeOtterTV! More on this in a future Viodi View.
- As usual @Wordfence does an excellent job cutting through the noise to try to get to the bottom of hacking
- Interesting perspective from Michael Sena (page 3 of PDF) regarding the cone of uncertainty of self-driving versus driverless cars and their potential impact on suburbs and urban areas and how policy-makers might influence the rollout.
- The report describing the CityMobil2 trial is available and it looks to have some interesting insight on the experience of running a low-speed, last-mile autonomous shuttle that served over 60k passengers in real traffic conditions.
- And more insight on the future of driving from a locale outside the United States is found at this site and report (PDF) about the impact of autonomous driving in metro Vancouver.
The Korner – Jerry Laufer – A Perspective on the Cable Industry – from 1960 to the Early 1980s
Jerry Laufer describes his career from the early days in Oregon repairing televisions and building tube amplifiers for an early cable system to his days at Tomco, where he developed some of the first frequency modulation systems used for video transmission in cable television. Along the way, he worked with some cable luminaries, including Monty Rifkin, JC Sparkman and John Malone, building cable systems where none existed in areas as diverse as Great Falls, Montana to Buffalo, New York. His career parallels the go-go years of the young cable industry from the 1960s to 1980s.
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