The Competitive Carriers Association said it's partnering with consulting firm 151 Advisors to bring an IoT Connection Zone to CCA’s Mobile Carriers Show, April 13-15 in Nashville. “With a dedicated location in the exhibit hall, the IoT Connection Zone will provide an ideal meeting place for carriers and vendors to discuss all things IoT,” said CCA President Steve Berry in a news release.

Avnet is working with IBM to "increase the development and deployment of [IoT] solutions in the U.S., Europe and Canada," Avnet said in a news release Wednesday. The companies "will help customers develop IoT solutions built on the IBM Watson IoT Platform to help create new revenue streams and operational efficiencies," it said. The partnership is also designed to "help Avnet customers, ranging from original equipment manufacturers to solution providers, capitalize on the opportunities in the rapidly growing IoT market," said Avnet, "to develop IoT solutions that effectively gather information, connect to the Internet, and securely manage and analyze data."

Last month’s CES was a good opportunity to see the future of public safety communications, said a Tuesday FirstNet blog post. FirstNet staff used CES as a “a sneak peek to what may be possible with the nationwide public safety broadband network,” especially since devices usually start in the consumer space, wrote Barry Leitch of the FirstNet Chief Technology Officer Devices Group. Smartphones offering “voice, messaging and data access to public safety personnel,” laptops and tablets that can be used as mobile data terminals and vehicle-mounted wireless routers were the types of devices scoped by FirstNet staff, Leitch wrote. “At CES, we also looked to when new technology solutions for public safety may spur innovation in the commercial sector,” he said. “Keynote presentations during the show covered topics including the Internet of Things, commercial video streaming service, and cognitive learning systems working with IOT and cloud services.”

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group announced a new architecture and supporting set of tools that enable developers to create Internet gateways for Bluetooth products. The Bluetooth Internet gateway architecture and toolkit show developers, manufacturers, OEMs and others how to create a connection between Bluetooth and the cloud without the need for a smartphone or tablet as a go-between, said the group. It called the latest Bluetooth communication capability a way to control sensors "regardless of proximity.” Bluetooth gateways allow any Bluetooth sensor to relay data to the cloud and back again, and the architecture gives users the ability to monitor and control fixed Bluetooth sensors from a remote location, said the industry group. Examples include controlling lights while on vacation or unlocking a door for a pet sitter, it said. Consumers aren’t satisfied with current connected home capabilities, said Steve Hegenderfer, Bluetooth SIG director-developer programs. The Bluetooth Internet gateway architecture allows routers, thermostats, security systems -- the always on, always connected infrastructure in the home -- to speak to and control low-power sensors and relay that information to the cloud for control from “anywhere,” he said. The Bluetooth gateway starter kit can be downloaded at Bluetooth.com.

Despite the bigger risks of hacks posed by IoT deployments, more than seven of 10 corporate IT departments spend less than 20 percent of their time “securing the corporate network and data assets,” a Strategy Analytics survey found. The research firm canvassed 600 firms worldwide and found that 56 percent of respondents acknowledged their firms had experienced an IoT breach in the previous 12 months, and 39 percent said their networks didn't suffer any security breaches, it said. "The survey results are a huge wake-up call,” Strategy Analytics said. “IoT environments exponentially increase the size of the attack vector since companies have so many more devices, end points and applications to secure," it said. "IoT deployments can potentially be very risky business.” Other survey findings: (1) 44 percent of corporations that got hacked were unable to determine the source or the type of security attack or the duration of the breach, “which is alarming," Strategy Analytics said. (2) Only 7 percent of firms’ IT departments spend more than half their time on security. (3) 56 percent of respondents cited “end user carelessness” as the top security threats to their IoT networks, followed by 42 percent who cited “malware” as the biggest IoT security threat.

Forty percent of smartphone owners use voice recognition, said a Parks Associates report Wednesday. More than half of iPhone owners use voice control such as Google Now or Siri, compared with less than a third of Android users, said Parks. Among smartphone users ages 18-24, nearly half use voice recognition software, as younger consumers and iOS users are “exploring more intelligent features and interfaces, including voice control," said Harry Wang, director-health and mobile product research. Use of Apple’s Siri among iPhone users rose from 40 percent to 52 percent between 2013 and 2015, representing 15 percent of all U.S. broadband households, said the report. Growing interest in voice control is driving the technology into new IoT areas, said Wang, citing Vivint’s home security demonstration at CES using Amazon Echo and Volvo’s demo of Microsoft’s Cortana in connected cars.

The global healthcare IoT market is expected to grow at a nearly 38 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2015 to 2020, P&S Market Research said in a report released Tuesday. The global healthcare IoT market was valued at $24.67 billion in 2014, said P&S, and the "system and software" segment is expected to have the fastest growth through 2020, with a projected CAGR of almost 41 percent. "The global IoT in healthcare market is growing at a significant rate, due to increasing demand for advanced healthcare information system[s], and a growing prevalence of chronic and lifestyle associated diseases," P&S said in a news release. North America "dominated" the global healthcare IoT market in 2014, while the Asian market is expected to have the fastest growth during the forecast period, with a CAGR of nearly 42 percent, P&S said.

TCL wasted little time unveiling the appliances it alluded to at its CES news conference (see 1601060012). In its North American appliance launch Monday at the International Air Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition (AHR Expo) in Orlando, TCL bowed a split air conditioner, mobile air conditioner and dehumidifier based on the Ayla Networks IoT platform. Ayla’s over-the-air (OTA) communications services allow for remote upgrading of firmware after the products have been installed at customer sites, said the companies. The TCL products can push information to end users’ mobile applications to match the language of each user’s mobile phone, said TCL. Frank Wang, TCL deputy general manager-overseas marketing center, praised IoT for its ability to help manufacturers serve customers better. The company can “repair our smart connected products in the field and perform preventive maintenance using Ayla’s OTA technology, which saves time and money for both us and our customers,” said Wang. Another benefit is energy savings. The new TCL split air conditioner saves up to 25 percent energy versus “pre-IoT versions,” he said. TCL is taking pre-orders at AHR, with shipping due later this year. The move into appliances in North America is part of TCL’s globalization strategy, and its partnership with Ayla will help it achieve its expansion goals through Ayla’s connected data centers in North America, Europe and China, said the company.

Taoglas opened a 16,000-square-foot antenna and RF design center for M2M (machine-to-machine) and IoT applications in San Diego. The facility offers prototyping of antennas and printed circuit boards, and antenna and device testing, the company said. The facility also houses an antenna and cable assembly operation for customers requiring products “in a few days rather than weeks,” President Dermot O’Shea said. The facility targets vendors in IoT looking for off-the-shelf or custom antennas along with design services, O’Shea said.

FTC Commissioner Julie Brill will open the Feb. 9 "Start with Security" event in Seattle, with speakers from Belkin, DocuSign, Facebook, Intel, Microsoft and others, the commission said Thursday. The daylong event will have panels on how startups can build a culture of security within their organizations, integrate security testing and review in their development processes, make a business case for incorporating security, and address security in IoT products and services, said the agenda. It's part of FTC's ongoing initiative to help companies, especially startups and early stage businesses, build security into their products, services and culture. The commission held similar workshops in Austin (see 1511050042) and San Francisco (see 1509090045) last year.