IoT Evolution World Week in Review: Jeep, Nokia, Verizon

At IoT Evolution World this week, we did our best to scare the hell out of everyone with a car (and then make you feel better-ish), we did our best to make you hungry for some seafood, and we made a few more entries into the “Asia rules the IoT” theme. You ready? Let’s do it.

Our biggest story came as a result of a terrifying article in Wired magazine this week, wherein a pair of white hat hackers (those are the “good guys”) took over a Jeep Cherokee and wirelessly disengaged the transmission and brakes while the vehicle was in motion (it was a test with the Wired writer driving). The lesson here was that developers working on IoT technology need to put security procedures in place simultaneously with the connectivity tech, not after the fact.

In the commercial fishery industry, there is a global problem of declining fish populations – a big problem, to say the least. One potential solution for the issue is coming out of an IoT-enabled aquaculture project, Catalina Sea Ranch. These folks are setting up to use sophisticated monitoring systems to optimize shellfish farming, and reduce ecological effects.

In Asia, the IoT is a major growth industry, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. We had two major stories this week. First up, Nokia and South Korean telecom KT have teamed up to create an IoT Innovations Lab in that country which will have three main goals to start: jumpstart the development of national IoT innovation, help Korean companies go global with Nokia Networks, and create an IoT development contest to vitalize Korea’s industry. In a column from Ayla Networks CEO, Dave Friedman, we saw that China is racing for the lead in IoT industrial innovation, and if the rest of the world, especially Silicon Valley, wants to keep up, they’d better start running.

Finally, Novatel Wireless this week released a new 4G USB MiFi solution for the IoT on Verizon’s LTE network. It’s designed to support demanding IoT bandwidth requirements and to offer 4G LTE connectivity in a USB stick so that it will be compatible and plug-and-play with all foreseeable future applications and use cases. Tasty.

Visit us on IoT Evolution World for all the IoT news, my friends. Remember to register for the IoT Evolution Expo while the early bird discounts are still in effect. Only a little early bird time left. Also, please get in touch with us when you have stories. As always, if you have questions, comments, input or abuse, please send it to our editorial director, Ken Briodagh at [email protected] or on Twitter @KenBriodagh.