On Target: Embedded Systems

Microsoft Setting Precedents in Data Sovereignty and Residency

Microsoft recently announced that the company will open two datacenters in Canada, to provide its Azure cloud service to the Canadian Government and businesses operating in that country. Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s chief operating officer, said “this substantial investment in a Canadian cloud demonstrates how committed we are to bringing even more opportunity to Canadian businesses and government organizations, helping them fully realize the cost savings and flexibility of the cloud.” (To read the full press release from Microsoft, see here.) In an article in Toronto’s Globe and Mail newspaper about the announcement, Janet Kennedy, president of Microsoft Canada, said, “there... Read more →

Privacy and Security Trends in IoT – Parsing the FTC’s Guidance

Privacy and security are both huge concerns for consumers and businesses alike in the evolving IoT landscape. Privacy is the unauthorized use of data by an entity that has been granted access to a dataset. Thus it is generally privacy that forms the relationship between companies and customers, and any breach of this contract is a privacy concern. Security, on the other hand, is the unauthorized use and or/access of data by an entity that has not been granted access to some dataset; e.g. hacking and external security breaches. Both privacy and security goals will be hard to reconcile with... Read more →

Samsung Invests in Sigfox. Is the Race Over for Long-Range Low-Power Wireless Competitors?

A preliminary market battle has been brewing over the past year between technologies to connect IoT devices via wireless wide area networks. These cellular-type networks allow very low power battery devices to transmit small amounts of data over several miles, a solution highly suitable to many types of IoT devices such weather sensors and smart meters. Entrants in this market include Sigfox, LoRa, and Neul. (In addition, standards organization IEEE is developing the 802.11ah wireless networking protocol for distances up to a kilometer.) Sigfox announced on June 15 that Samsung’s Artik IoT platform would integrate Sigfox support. Also, noted in... Read more →