Peggy Smedley Show

Peggy begins the show by examining how the IoT (Internet of Things) is continuing to grow in the construction industry, but stresses that interoperability hurdles are holding up adoption. She explains how solution companies have created too many protocols to maintain control of its own ecosystems and that an industrywide standard will enable contractors to take full advantage of jobsite data.

Peggy ends the show with an examination of artificial-intelligence solutions set to become a one-stop-shop for city services. She also discusses the developing relationship with AI, and says we must be careful of how much control we hand over.

Mobeen Khan, assistant vice president for IoT solutions, AT&T, explains how emerging LTE M and low-power solutions are leading to more use cases with longer life for things like elevators, vending machines, water meters, and more. He also addresses the decline in device costs and how analytics is ensuring data in the cloud is delivered without interruption. 

Peggy dives into trends gaining traction within the IoT, such as LTE (long-term evolution) and chips—all which is helping enterprises gain access to better connectivity. She further highlights the use of radar in driver-assistance systems for connected cars, as well as big news for satellites and healthcare application ecosystems.

Peggy begins the show by taking a look at how predictions made about the connected wearable market hold up nearly half a decade later. She discusses how enterprises like manufacturing, retail, and healthcare may be adopting more diverse wearable options such as smart cameras and glasses that will transform the way we think about work.

Peggy ends this week's show by examining how self-driving cars grew out of science fiction into a major tool for the automotive industry to keep drivers safe. She says this data and machine learning will propel ridesharing services forward, decreasing cars on the road and the need for multiple trips.

David Strayer, professor of cognitive neuroscience, University of Utah, dives into the mind of distracted drivers and says while part of the brain makes people believe they are capable of multitasking behind the wheel, nearly everyone is not. He explains how new vehicles today are developed with too much integration and dispels the debate whether hands-free or hand-held devices are safer on the ro...

Hagai Zyss, CEO, Autotalks, says that vehicle-to-vehicle communication is creating a boiling point in the way the automotive industry is adopting technology. He discusses how layered short range and 5G standards will help drivers effectively receive message from drivers, as well as infrastructure when operating vehicles at high speeds.

Peggy starts the show by continuing her discussion on what's to come in smart cities this year—from monitoring traffic downtown to saving energy in airports. She says a testing ground for connected infrastructure in Las Vegas is a great example of how the IoT can be advantageous to cities in particular locations.

Daniel Cooley, senior vice president and general manager, Silicon Labs, says there will be two big things in 2017 including gateways and maturing ecosystems. He explains the company is baking a lot of the products at Silicon Labs and it is building modules that have the ability to become one protocol or another with software configurability.

Travis Beaven, chief product officer, Xevo, says security and safety both are two big pillars in the connected car. He explains we have seen with the mobile phone becoming easier to text, and it is something that people need to remember because as you put more into the car, you get more services. He says we are bringing more experiences into the car, and we need to think about how this is going to...

Travis Beaven, chief product officer, Xevo, says in the past the automotive presence was tiny at CES, and now it has almost dominated the show. He explains tomorrow is here, and all of these opportunities are here to do things with and provide value back to the driver.

Victor Melfi Jr., chief strategy officer, VoiceBox, says brand-sensitive people want to use technology to differentiate their product. He says a company like CostCo should be concerned that people are using their voice to buy products with Alexa.

Mike Bell, CEO, Silver Springs Networks, says the Internet of Things is going from a buzzword to something that is finally happening. He explains that often security is an afterthought, and it is really bad, and he believes security has to be job No.1 and we need standards.

Peggy says technologies are emerging that are going to change smart homes and buildings. She explains that all of these technologies that are emerging are going to change how we build homes—and it is requiring builders to think about how they build homes. Eric Tran-Le, chief marketing officer, Logtrust, joins the program to talk about security, and talks about how IT security has evolved from 20 y...

Sujata Neidig, vice president of marketing, Thread Group, says it has developed a protocol that is IP based and mesh, has security, is low powered, and is scalable. She explains the promise of IoT is more than just connectivity, as the devices in the homes need to have an impact on their lifestyle.

Sujata Neidig, vice president of marketing, Thread Group, says the group has over 220 members, and it is growing as we speak, and says Thread Group works really hard to make sure it is creating a good network or ecosystem of partners. She explains the biggest challenge is there always has to be a starting point, saying companies are afraid to pick a technology.

Frits van der Schaaf, ESRI, says the power of the map is a new area that is rapidly being discovered, and the connected car is a big part of that. He explains the technology can be used in natural disasters or in school zones, alerting the driver to slow down.

Arwed Niestroj, CEO, Mercedes-Benz, Research and Development North America, says security of all the systems is key, which is why it needs to stay up-to-date on all the technologies available, and only releases cars on the road when they are really safe. Manuela Papadopol, director of business development & communications, Elektrobit, says the power of software can help with deep learning and arti...

Manuela Papadopol, director of business development & communications, Elektrobit, says the company is announcing a new electronic device that can predict and react in case there are emergencies on the road ahead and lane-departure warnings, saying software on wheels is emerging. Arwed Niestroj, CEO, Mercedes-Benz, Research and Development North America, says he sees the convergence of the technolo...

Chris Meering, senior director, social innovation and sustainability, HP Enterprise, talks about the connected car, V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle), V2I (vehicle-to-infrastructure), and V2C (vehicle-to-cloud) services. He points to an example of black ice and how realtime data about the ice can be sent to the cloud and send a warning to other vehicles on the road.

AJ Smith, vice president and general manager of EES Homes of Americas, Honeywell, says he has always expected the industry to grow, but every year you think this is going to be the big year, and then all of a sudden you get over that tipping point to something even more exciting. He adds companies that are providing the devices and solutions need to take responsibility for the security.

AJ Smith, vice president and general manager of EES Homes of Americas, Honeywell, says connected homes have gone beyond a neat tech gadget that is interesting, and are moving to needing to solve the biggest challenges for homeowners. He says providing comfort to consumers and providing security is where we need to ground ourselves.

Neil Cannon, president, EnOcean, says novel ways of getting energy out of the environment means your technology doesn't go down. He says the last 100 feet to the end of the building and the remote part of a power plant is challenging to get wires to, and wireless technology makes that easier.

Peggy welcomes listeners to CES 2017, talking about the new Michigan laws that permit driverless vehicles. She says self-driving and connected cars have the potential to reduce more than 90% of accidents, according to the Consumer Technology Assn.