Tag Archives: Internet of Things

Editorial

Strengthening Core Infrastructure with Proactive Measures and Monitoring

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This article was based on an interview with Mr Ramon Pinero, General Manager of BlackBerry AtHoc, and Mr Jonathan Jackson, Senior Director of Strategic Accounts at BlackBerry.

As digital ecosystems grow more complex, the need for robust cybersecurity measures becomes critical. BlackBerry, having transitioned from mobile devices to cybersecurity, is now one of the foremost companies leading the charge in safeguarding critical infrastructure, supply chains, and digital assets through emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). With cyberattacks growing in sophistication, BlackBerry’s focus on prevention and vigilance sets a new standard in cyber resilience.

The Financial Impact of Cyberattacks

The cost of a cyberattack is staggering. A 2024 study from BlackBerry revealed that the average cost of a single data breach has risen to USD 4.45 million. For industries such as healthcare, finance, and energy—where attacks can disrupt critical services—the cost can soar even higher. Beyond immediate financial losses, cyberattacks can damage reputations, erode customer trust, and lead to legal penalties or regulatory fines.

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Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich

In particular, ransomware attacks—one of the most prevalent threats—cost companies over USD 1.85 million per incident when factoring in downtime, recovery, and ransom payments​. These costs are unsustainable for many organizations, especially smaller businesses. In the words of Ramon Pinero, General Manager of BlackBerry AtHoc, “If we can prevent attacks from happening, it means that organizations don’t have to spend time and resources recovering from incidents.”

The Rise in Cyber Threats: A Call for Vigilance

BlackBerry’s Global Threat Intelligence Report highlights a surge in cyberattacks. Between April and June 2024, the company prevented 3.7 million attacks— a 53% increase from the previous quarter. Over 800,000 of these attacks targeted critical infrastructure, including the financial sector, energy grids, and healthcare. This increase undoubtedly underlines the importance of continuous vigilance across all sectors.

Prevention Through Proactive AI Solutions

Prevention should be at the core of any company, organization and city’s strategy in dealing with malicious attacks. That being the case, it’s also at the core of BlackBerry’s strategy when it comes to empowering customers. By embedding AI into its cybersecurity solutions, the company is emphasizing deterring cyberattacks before they cause damage. By acquiring Cylance, BlackBerry was able to incorporate predictive AI technology into its security systems, allowing it to proactively prevent cyberattacks instead of just reacting to them.

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AI-Generated Image by Copilot of an AI Chip embedded in a system

BlackBerry’s AI-powered defence mechanisms are particularly effective in securing critical infrastructure and supply chains. According to the Global Threat Intelligence Report, the company intercepts over 11,500 unique malware hashes daily, highlighting the pace at which new cyber threats emerge.

Supply Chain Security: A Critical Weakness

One of the most significant risks today lies in the vulnerability of software supply chains. BlackBerry’s June 2024 survey on supply chain cybersecurity reveals that more than 75% of software supply chains experienced cyberattacks within the past year. These attacks often target smaller, less secure suppliers as entry points to larger organizations, causing a cascade of damage.

Of concern is that 74% of these attacks originated from third-party vendors or suppliers that organizations were either unaware of or failed to monitor. As BlackBerry’s Vice President of Product Security Christine Gadsby noted, “How a company monitors and manages cybersecurity in their software supply chain has to rely on more than just trust.” In this landscape, prevention demands heightened visibility, continuous monitoring, and regular audits of suppliers’ security postures.

The Role of Managed Detection and Response (MDR)

For organizations without dedicated cybersecurity teams, BlackBerry’s Cylance Managed Detection and Response (MDR) provides critical support. The service offers real-time monitoring and rapid response to emerging threats, ensuring that businesses, especially smaller ones, are not left vulnerable.

According to Jonathan Jackson, Senior Director of Strategic Accounts at BlackBerry, “BlackBerry offers MDR because not every organization can afford a fully staffed cybersecurity team,”. MDR enables companies to utilize sophisticated threat detection tools and professional analysis, allowing them to stay ahead of cybersecurity risks even without an extensive cybersecurity outfit.

Zero Trust for Critical Infrastructure

A zero-trust approach has become essential for protecting critical infrastructure. BlackBerry’s security solutions implement zero-trust architectures, where no device, user, or system is inherently trusted. This model is crucial for sectors like healthcare, finance, and energy, where the stakes are high, and breaches could lead to widespread disruptions.

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Image from Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

“Zero trust is especially important for critical infrastructure because of the types of data and assets involved,” Jackson emphasized. By enforcing strict authentication protocols and continuous monitoring, BlackBerry’s solutions protect critical systems from both internal and external threats.

Resilience for Smart Cities and IoT

As cities become smarter, integrating Internet of Things (IoT) devices into their infrastructure, they become prime targets for cyberattacks. With IoT traffic systems, smart utilities, and public services forming the backbone of modern cities, a single cyberattack could cripple entire urban centres.

Companies like BlackBerry will play a critical role in safeguarding these environments, ensuring that IoT systems are secured and cyber-resilient. “As you have more connected systems, you increase the attack surface,” Jackson explains. AI-driven threat detection and real-time monitoring are vital to ensure that smart cities remain functional despite cheap to cyber threats.

Cyber Resilience Through Prevention

As the cyber threat landscape evolves, prevention and vigilance remain the twin pillars of a robust cybersecurity strategy. Whether protecting supply chains, critical infrastructure, or smart cities, solutions like BlackBerry’s Cylance AI offer a blueprint for building resilience in the face of increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.

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AI-Generated Image by Copilot of A cyber resilient Kuala Lumpur

By staying proactive, monitoring vulnerabilities, and implementing zero-trust architectures, organisations can prevent breaches before they occur. As BlackBerry’s research shows, the key to true cyber resilience lies in constant vigilance and a commitment to prevention—because in today’s world, one breach could mean the difference between success and disaster.

This article was written based on an interview session with Mr Ramon Pinero, General Manager of BlackBerry AtHoc and Mr Jonathan Jackson Senior Director of Strategic Accounts at BlackBerry.

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Ramon Pinero
General Manager BlackBerry AtHoc

Ramon Pinero is the General Manager of BlackBerry AtHoc, where he oversees all aspects of the critical event management business. With more than 20 years of experience in crisis/emergency management (CEM) technologies, Ramon brings a deep understanding of both product development and customer success.

With a passion for technology and deep roots in emergency response, Ramon continues to advance BlackBerry AtHoc’s position as the market leader. He is focused on driving strategy, fostering innovation, and enabling AtHoc’s technology to make an even greater impact—helping more organizations increase their resiliency and save lives through fast, accurate communications before, during, and after critical situations.

Jonathan Jackson Profile Pic

Jonathan Jackson
Senior Director, Strategic Technical Sales APAC at BlackBerry

Jonathan Jackson (JJ) is the Senior Director, Strategic Technical Sales APAC for BlackBerry. With over 20 years of experience, he helps organisations manage their cyber risk, leveraging the best of breed solutions to stop cyber attacks. JJ is a staunch advocate of protecting data and privacy and is a frequent spokesperson on cyber threat intelligence in Australia and all across APAC.

Accessories, Consumer Electronics, Editorial, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

[CES 2023] More SmartThings for the Future – A Samsung Editorial

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CES 2023 is upon us early in January of 2023, there is no surprises there. The show is also a place where you can find the latest and greatest from all sorts of electronics manufacturer, a sort of showcase of what end users like us can expect to see throughout the entire year. It is not uncommon to see new smartphone concepts, new laptop concepts, and even new ways to experience technology in the show. While it is happening early in the year, you can expect manufacturers to bring their big guns to the show. One of those manufacturers you can be excited about is Samsung.

Samsung is in a rather unique position in the world. It is a technology giant that is involved and participates in many industries. If you have not known yet, Samsung has rather unique role in the military equipment industry as well. What they are most known for today is their unique approach to smartphones with their folding flexible displays. But according to the latest editorial you can find in their newsroom, written by their current CEO, JH Han, that is not all they want to be known for.

It is no secret that Samsung, very much like Apple, wants to build an ecosystem for themselves. At some point, it looked like their ecosystem, known as the Galaxy ecosystem, built around the smartphone experience is going to take over and pivot the South Korean giant away from Google’s complete ecosystem. Now, they seemed to have turned things around a little and embrace Google a little bit more, save for a few things.

Samsung’s Galaxy ecosystem is not technically a failure though. It has evolved a little bit more instead. It has developed into something they call the SmartThings ecosystem.

SmartThings – The Heart of it All

SmartThings, in a lot of sense, has always been there. It is not a replacement to the Galaxy ecosystem; it is a big part of it. It has a lot more potential in the smart home space than you think though. For 2023 then, instead of focusing on the smartphone side of things, Samsung plans to bring more IoT products and expand on SmartThings, which could be more exciting than it sounds.

According to the published editorial, Samsung is working with more partners this time for SmartThings. That can only mean that Samsung is expanding its compatibility and ability to more than just Samsung products. They are integrating AI implementations into SmartThings too, which is not entirely unheard of, but just means that their SmartThings products can just be smarter and more intuitive to work with over time than before. Where this will sit between the Apple Home and Google Home IoT framework, only time can tell.

The focus is not to just make the SmartThings ecosystem smarter and more readily available for users, but to also make it more sustainable than ever before. In a way, Samsung wants to make SmartThings the center of your eco-friendly practices. That also means that Samsung will be committed to creating more energy efficient products and more environmentally conscious packaging decisions.

We mentioned earlier that Samsung is in rather unique position in the world. They are in all sorts of sectors and are rather successful in all the industries it has participated in. They make some of the world’s most popular Television, they are the world’s leader in terms of display technology, they are a leader in the world of smartphones in both popularity and innovation, they make very compelling and very clever home appliances. They are in the perfect position to introduce a whole host of products and solutions that can talk to each other and integrate them seamlessly into your lives.

From the published editorial, we think that we can be excited for Samsung in 2023. You can expect Samsung to shift its focus a little in 2023. Of course, that does not mean that you will not see the usual Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy Z flagship smartphones being released and pushing smartphone technology to the limits. But you can expect Samsung to shift gears when it comes to their home appliances. For CES 2023 at least, we think that Samsung will focus more on smart home appliances or even announcing new partners to their SmartThings ecosystem. We can only wait and see.

Lifestyle, Reviews

Xiaomi ROIDMI EVE Plus Robot Vacuum Review: Keeping up with the Dust Bunnies in a Smart Way

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Xiaomi’s quest to be the king of the Internet of Things (IoT) is no secret. The company has more than one subsidiary working on its IoT products. To date, we’ve seen IoT products branded as Mi, Soocas and even Dreame. ROIDMI is yet another brand that works on IoT particularly cordless vacuums. Its laser focus on the niche seems to have worked in its favour as their line-up of cordless vacuums seems to be one of the more popular options on platforms like Shopee and Lazada.

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That said, Robot Vacuums are no revolution when it comes to cleaning. They’ve been available on the market for quite a while now, but they’ve always had their quirks when it comes to cleaning. ROIDMI’s EVE Plus is looking to address many of these quirks with some interesting approaches and smart implementation of AI technology. These small innovations have made for one of the easier, hands-off cleaning experiences for robot vacuums we’ve experienced.

The ROIDMI Experience

The ROIDMI experience isn’t just a manual plug-and-forget experience; it comes with a host of “prep work” and setup that you’ll have to undertake at the beginning which lends to a more automated experience later on. Of course, it is in no way a deal-breaker when it comes to the overall experience.

Being an IoT device, the robot vacuum requires some setup. However, the process is pretty straightforward, simple and very app-centric. The EVE Plus Robot Vacuum itself doesn’t come with many interactive components. Most of the interactions and settings are done through the app. This actually makes setup a breeze. However, the ecosystem itself can be a little quirky as it isn’t as integrated as you would think.

When you initially unbox and set up your EVE Plus Robot Vacuum, you’ll need to make sure that you remove the plastic and Styrofoam pieces that have been placed to prevent damage to moving parts during shipping. If you look at the manual, it says that the vacuum can be integrated into the Mi Home app or the ROIDMI app.  However, this particular model of the robot vacuum isn’t listed in the Mi Home app, instead, you will need to use the ROIDMI app to set it up.

Set up was very simple and quick. All you had to do is plug in the base, place the EVE Plus in the cradle and power on. Once you do, you just have to tap the add product option in the app which is denoted by a “+” on the top right. When you do this, it will automatically look for the local WiFi being broadcast by the vacuum and proceed to program the Wi-Fi settings for the vacuum. To be frank, that’s all the setup that is required. After this, everything else is automated and done by the vacuum itself during its first cleaning.

App Design & Usability

The ROIDMI app is a simple, well-designed app. Unlike a lot of other IoT apps, it cuts to the chase and immediately allows you to set up and manage your products after you sign in. The simplicity and straightforward design are some of the best features of the app. The no-frills in your face design lets you get things done without fumbling and digging for functions.

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After your initial set-up of registering and logging in, you’ll be greeted by a screen with a list of your appliances. Each appliance can be set up and monitored through the app. The main screen shows you pertinent information such as the battery level, active time, and area that the vacuum has cleaned previously.

Clicking further into the app brings up more detailed information.  In the case of the EVE Plus Robot Vacuum, you’ll be able to see a map of the space it’s in and the cleaning path it took on the previous cleaning session. It also gives you quick access to its cleaning modes and map customisations. It also gives you quick access to the recharge and clean options. You can also customise how much water it will dispense when mopping and even the suction power of the vacuum.

Designed for Real Living Spaces

While the app is the core of their user experience, the ROIDMI EVE Plus Robot Vacuum itself comes packed with hardware and design that makes using it a more seamless experience.

Let’s start off with the overall design of the vacuum. The ROIDMI EVE Plus Robot Vacuum is designed to be able to manoeuvre through real living spaces. While it shares a similar design to many of the robot vacuums available, it is short enough to fit under most spaces in a room. The circle design of it gives it more manoeuvrability that allows the vacuum to get out of tight situations with minimal intervention.

ROIDMI has also struck a balance in the size of the vacuum and the size of the internal tank. It is large enough that the vacuum doesn’t need to make multiple trips back to the docking station to be emptied even in larger rooms but small enough that the robot vacuum is still able to fit in most nooks and crannies of a space. It also doesn’t come with many parts which click into space. All the components of the robot vacuum are securely in place either with screws or by a secure locking mechanism.

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The vacuums movement is dependent on two rather large plastic wheels. They function similar to the hoverboards we’ve seen in the market. This decision actually allows the robot vacuum to find its way through tough spaces. It also allows it to move over ledges objects about 2cm in height. So, if you have a table with a stand design that runs on the ground or running cables across a room, it’ll be able to move over them. However, for cables, if they aren’t fastened to the ground securely, you might have electrical items connected to these cables falling over.

The ROIDMI EVE Plus has a small, elevated component on the top where the LIDAR sensor is. This allows it a 360° field of view allowing it to map and detect quicker and more accurately. In fact, it managed to map the room it was in even during setup. The sensor also allows the robot vacuum to gauge the height of furniture, so it doesn’t get stuck under them. This is complemented by sensors on the side and bumpers on the front to help with movement and manoeuvring. There are only 3 physical buttons on the EVE PLUS – the power button, the home button and a button that acts as a quick clean command.

The base station or dock is also designed minimally. It’s a relatively small unit with a single touch screen for status monitoring and a space for the EVE Plus to come home to. The main, 3-litre dust bag is accessible through the top. It also has a HEPA filter to prevent odours from escaping. This also means that you won’t be emptying the bag too often. ROIDMI does highlight that they’ve designed the base in a more compact fashion. This apparently allows them to minimise noise while dust is being emptied.

Dealing with the Dust in a Smart Way with Some Quirks

To be really frank, I’ve never really understood the allure of robot vacuums even after reviewing earlier models ages ago. In fact, they always seemed like more hassle than they are worth. However, the Xiaomi ROIDMI EVE Plus robot vacuum did a good job of convincing me otherwise.

The AI that comes programmed into the EVE Plus makes it one of the simplest, most seamless robot vacuum experiences I’ve had to date. It can intelligently detect the height of furniture and even detect slopes or ledges. It was able to avoid getting stuck most of the time thanks to this. However, even if it got stuck you simply had to put it immediately beside the area it got stuck in and it would avoid it.

The way the EVE Plus cleans is also different from other robot vacuums. It intelligently partitions large areas into smaller rooms. It wasn’t immediately apparent when I was observing the vacuum itself but when I glanced at the app, the map was sectioned into multiple smaller areas. Using this mapping and guidance, it would optimise its route to efficiently clean the area. It’s also the only robot vacuum I’ve seen that has a unique Y cleaning pattern that allows it to clean more effectively. If you’re like me, you’ll also turn on the 2X clean feature which makes the EVE Plus do a second run when cleaning. Its ability to mop with spaces with water is also a welcomed feature. However, this feature is limited to 250m2 space as the water tank on the robot vacuum is limited.

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However, the ROIDMI EVE Plus is not without its quirks. During our review period, the vacuum actually lost mapping data spontaneously. This isn’t a major issue as it is able to rebuild the data pretty quickly. The robot vacuum is also a little quirky when it comes to dealing with carpets and rugs. It’s able to handle thicker carpets but tends to wrestle with rags.

It also communicates through the app which is an added advantage – if your phone doesn’t put the app to sleep. The app never requests to allow it to run in the background either so when you launch your ROIDMI app, it tends to spam you with notifications. It also does cry for help with a voice when it’s stuck.

Of Raised Slopes & Tassels – ROIDMI Eve Plus Kryptonite

If the ROIDMI EVE Plus was Supergirl, tassels and slopes are its kryptonite. The robot vacuum seems to enjoy wrestling (and losing) with tassels. Rugs or carpets with tassels are things you may want to remove when using the EVEL Plus. In fact, I had to cut tassels off a floor mat cause the EVE Plus had a bout with them and couldn’t break free. The other thing that the EVE Plus seems to have trouble with is raised slopes and platforms. This is particularly apparent if you use a stand fan in your room. If the stand fan is designed with a base that is slightly sloped, the EVE Plus will try to run over the slope and eventually get stuck.

This was irritating at first. However, you can easily prevent this by creating no-fly zones on the map through the ROIDMI app.

Not Just About Removing Dust – It Zaps Bacteria with Activated Oxygen   

Earlier we mentioned the HEPA filter that helps prevent odours from escaping. This is actually part of a larger disinfection system that is integrated into the base station of the EVE Plus. When the dust is emptied from the robot vacuum to the main 3-litre bag, it is bombarded by activated or ionised oxygen. A little bit of a science refresher here – activate or ionised oxygen is a charged molecule that readily destabilizes cellular structures and intracellular structures. Using this understanding, ROIDMI has created a solution that is able to kill 99.99% of bacteria or so they claim.

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This technology is also responsible for the odourless storage of dust in the base station. The ionised oxygen can also help neutralise bad odours. This working together with the HEPA filter that is integrated into the docking station minimises harmful particles and allergens from escaping.

A Simplified, Smart Robot Vacuum that is able to handle small to medium spaces with a user experience that changed the mind of a non-believer

It’s very rare for a piece of technology to make me reconsider my initial experiences and change my mind. However, the ROIDMI EVE Plus robot vacuum did just that. It provided a seamless, simplified experience which convinced me that there is a time and space for smart cleaning devices. In my case, with a busy day to day life and older parents at home, the robot vacuum provided us with a means to maintain our most used spaces keeping them clean and dust-free without sacrificing time and conserving time.

The features of the EVE Plus are what made the difference. Its simple app and set-it-and-forget-it experience allowed me to get things done without the need to worry about the robot vacuum when it’s running a cleaning cycle. If the vacuum had poorer manoeuvrability or got stuck in spaces regularly, this review would have been very different. However, the fact that it was able to handle a busy space without much hassle, was a welcomed surprise.

Accessories, Reviews

Samsung Galaxy SmartTag & SmartThings Find Review: Keeping Track & Finding Your Galaxy

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Samsung announced their SmartThings Find and SmartTags not too long ago. The new feature to their growing SmartThings ecosystem opened the doors to a whole new galaxy of possibilities when it comes to keep track of your devices. However, in announcing SmartThings Find, they also created a new opportunity for a brand-new class of devices: trackers. Like the ones that came before their time, the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag brought the feature to items that aren’t necessarily connected to the internet – something a lot of us would find very useful especially when it comes to keeping track of often misplaced items like your keys or even your pet dog.

SmartThings – All Your IoT in One, Unified Place

One of Samsung’s biggest updates to their SmartThings ecosystem in recent memory is the inclusion of SmartThings Find. The new feature allows users to keep track of their Galaxy devices and other SmartThings compatible devices. While it may seem pretty rudimentary with other brands like Apple already using Find My in their ecosystem, Samsung has actually made SmartThings find a tad more user friendly and useable overall.

App Design & Usability

Samsung has seemingly put a little more thought in implementing features into their SmartThings Find platform. Before we go into the nitty gritty of the features, let’s first look at the design of the SmartThings app. The fact that Samsung has opted to keep its tracking feature as a part of the main app is a boon to the platform. It makes the app a one stop shop when it comes to Samsung devices. In fact, you will be directed to the SmartThings App even when you want to track the location of your Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Watch devices.

The app overall is pretty sleek. The home screen brings you a summary of the dashboards you have access to which includes “On the Go”, “SmartThings Find”, “Directly Connected Devices” and, if you have them setup, the rooms where your other devices such as your TVs and sound systems setup. The at a glance dashboard is pretty convenient allowing access to actionable widgets which allow you to check your device’s last known location and, in the case of TVs and sound systems, a simplified remote widget for quick control. Clicking on any connected device brings up more detailed controls which differ depending on the device.

When it comes to app design, Samsung has got this one down pretty good. The app has well designed features and is customisable to what you want as a user. However, there are a few gripes that we have with the app, particularly with how Samsung has designed the menu with the more advanced SmartThings features. These features are kept within the main menu of the app which you have to swipe to reveal. Considering Samsung is touting SmartThings to be a ubiquitous platform it needs to bring these features into the spotlight. Features like automations and companion apps are kept in the side menu where you’re not likely to use them unless you spend the time to discover them. These features are actually some of the more useful features in SmartThings that we, unfortunately, couldn’t test as we were unable to track down products which supported them.

While it may seem like the app has a ways to go before it’s properly useful, that’s far from the truth. The app creates a unified platform for Samsung devices and also devices that support the SmartThings platform. Devices that are connected via Bluetooth also appear in the app albeit in a limited capacity. Samsung has the bases of a platform that can be very robust and ubiquitous, but they have to expand the partners they work with for the platform to become truly a one-stop-shop especially with their own Galaxy ecosystem being adopted by more users.

Samsung SmartThings Find – Finding What Was Once Lost

That aside, let’s take a deep dive into SmartThings Find. The platform’s most recent “upgrade”. To be honest, this is one of the most useful features of the SmartThings platform. If you have a Samsung account, the platform opens even more – which could be a detriment to the ubiquity of the platform that Samsung envisions.

That said, devices registered to your Samsung account automatically appear in SmartThings. This includes tablets, smartphones and even TVs. Once they’re registered, they appear in a device list where you are able to highlight the 10 that you want to keep an eye on. In the SmartThings Find section of the app, these items will appear on a map with their most recently retrieved location pinned.

The SmartThings Find interface is very straightforward. As mentioned, it presents you with a map with pins for each of your devices. Tapping on them either brings up a list if they are overlapping or a device specific menu. The device specific menu will present you with the last known location and address of the device. It will give you options to navigate or ring the device. Yes, this includes your Galaxy Buds.

In fact, Samsung has one of the better implementations of tracking for their wireless buds. The app allows you to track each individual bud separately which, in our opinion, is genius! Of course, they aren’t the only ones with this implementation but credit where credit is due. This feature came in really handy when my left Galaxy Buds Pro decided to go for stroll. Clicking the ring makes the bud produce a loud, high pitched sound which allows you to locate the bud.

Samsung Galaxy SmartTag – Keeping Tags on & Automating Everything

The newest additions to the SmartThings ecosystems are the Galaxy SmartTag and Galaxy SmartTag+. Both are tags that allow Galaxy users to track and locate whatever they are attached to – even your pet dog. The proposition to have a simple device that allows you to make stuff like your keys and even bags “smarter” is pretty intriguing.

The design of the SmartTag is pretty simple – it’s a rounded square plastic tag which can easily be attached to any keychain or bag tag. One thing Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag has over their competition, at this point is, their design which doesn’t require users to purchase additional accessories to make them properly useful. The SmartTag’s simplicity continues with their use of regular CR2032 batteries instead of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Samsung claims that these batteries will power the SmartTag for about 300 days. After which, you can swap the battery by simply prying the SmartTag open with a coin via the slit.

The thread of simplicity continues even in setting up the Galaxy SmartTag. All it took is turning on the SmartThings app and pressing the large button on the Tag itself. This will make it beep that then activates the Bluetooth connectivity which allows it to connect to the smartphone. Once connected you get access to the same controls as other devices in the SmartThings app.

That said, the Galaxy SmartTag becomes more useful when you use it together with automations. You can recreate “If… then” recipes straight in the SmartThings app which allows you to do things like send you a notification or message if your car keys leave the house or even set your phone to vibrate when your keys enter the house. It’s even more useful when you use the button on the trigger other SmartThings supported. You can use a single press to turn on your lights or even a long press to kick on the thermostat.

The Galaxy SmartTag feels like it has a lot of potential to become even more useful with future iterations. Overall, for MYR119 a piece or MYR209 for a two pack, the Galaxy SmartTag more than just the peace of mind that comes with tracking your keys and other valuables. However, until the SmartThings ecosystem is mature enough, you may be struggling to truly get the most out of the automation and IoT features of the SmartTag.

Accessories, Android, Consumer Electronics, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

Samsung’s Galaxy Upcycling Programme Turns Your Old Smartphones into an IoT device!

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There is a problem with the smartphone and smart device industry today. That problem is accentuated by the accelerated growth of the industry as well. It is not just a localised problem, mind you.

That problem is electronic waste. Technically, electronic waste has started becoming a problem since electronics have become a part of our lives. Today, electronics are an excessively big part of our lives. Wherever you go, you carry your smartphones with you. Every where you go too, you are exposed to at least one electronic display that is not your smartphone. When these devices go out of phase and gets replaced, it becomes electronic waste. We are sure you could be spared from the lecture though.

In that case, plenty of the current electronics manufacturers look for ways to reduce their own electronic waste, or waste in general in some cases. Apple claimed that they are reducing their own electronic wastes by not including charging adapters when you buy your Apple iPhone 12 series devices. Samsung followed suit with their Samsung Galaxy S20 devices. Superficial or not, you have to admit that your old chargers are still effective in charging your modern devices, albeit at a slightly lower speed (that also protects your battery a little bit).

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Samsung also took liberties in redesigning their packaging so that users can opt to repurpose their unused packaging for some other purposes, like a pencil holder or something. This is all part of their Galaxy Upcycling Programme, very clever stuff. But your old smartphones are still collecting dust in your drawer.

With SmartThings Labs though, your old Samsung Galaxy devices can stop collecting dust in your drawer and be a smart home accessory. Of course, this is not a new thing that we have heard about. Samsung has been talking about upcycling their older Galaxy devices into an IoT device for a couple of years now, correct us if we are wrong.

Via SmartThings Labs within the SmartThings app on a Galaxy device, your old device can now become an enhanced sound and light sensor.  The implementation uses Galaxy’s improved Artificial Intelligence (AI) to accurately distinguish sounds in its surroundings. It can even record certain sounds too, if you want it to. You can get it to record knocks, dogs barking, baby crying, and even cat meowing. If any of those sounds are recorded, it will send notification to your current smartphone of choice and you can listen to the recording yourself. Nothing too new here, except you do not need the camera function.

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Other than sounds, Samsung Galaxy device can be turned into a light sensor. Thanks to the existing light sensor on your smartphones, the Galaxy devices can measure the brightness level of a room quite accurately. That could also be an indication to automatically turn on the lights in a room or even adjust the brightness level of your TV through SmartThings.

What makes it cleverer is that Samsung’s SmartThings implementation to make your device a smart sensor for sounds and lights technically reduces its battery consumption as well. Your smartphones already uses its mic and light sensors constantly anyway, which also means that they devices already consume minimal battery life on their own. With the implementation though, Samsung also introduces their very own battery optimisation solution to minimise battery consumption. We suspect that the implementation turns off other sensors in favour of the sensors the device has exclusive access to for the purpose of measuring light and sounds. So, is this another glorified light sensor? Sort of, but it is a start.

Business, Contributed

Beyond the Now: Thrive in 2021 with These Five Trends

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From shifting to work from home policies to customers’ increasing demand for better services and experience, organizations are finding that they need to transform faster to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We expect technology trends to only continue to evolve as reliance on technology becomes more critical in our current social and economic landscape. To ride out the wave rather than sink in it, forward-thinking organizations in Asia-Pacific (APAC) should rethink their digital transformation strategies based on these trends we expect to see in the coming year.

5G, IoT, Edge computing: The trio for intelligent connectivity

APAC will continue progressing on its 5G journey. While commercial 5G services are already available in nine markets in the region — including South Korea, Japan, and China — another 12 have officially announced similar plans. The increased availability of 5G will help drive the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) and edge computing to deliver ultra-low latency, high bandwidth network, and effectively support large-scale distribution of endpoints. For example, 5G, IoT and edge computing can be applied to smart fleet management, wherein edge devices can monitor critical vehicle systems and access the 5G network to send alerts, track the flow of goods, plan routes, and facilitate communications between a vehicle and any IoT-enabled entity that may affect or be affected by the vehicle.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

We foresee more APAC organizations and cities adopting 5G, IoT, and edge computing in 2021 to become more connected and efficient. Emerging use cases for the three technologies include analyzing sensor data for predictive maintenance and quality control, augmented reality systems for remote operations, and personalized ‘connected experiences’ for customer and supplier engagement.

Security is a growing priority for hybrid cloud

Customers and employees alike now expect business applications and services to be highly available, on-demand and secure. To achieve that, we recommend organizations to embrace hybrid cloud in order to run workloads  across any environment (i.e., on-premises, private or public cloud) more easily and quickly. Red Hat’s 2021 Global Tech Outlook found that 77% of APAC organizations surveyed plan to use more than one cloud platform — be it private and public clouds — in the next 12 months, up from 53% in 2020. According to the survey results, the top three reasons for organizations to run their applications across hybrid cloud include improving data security, gaining IT agility, and addressing data privacy concerns.

Security will remain a focus area as organizations progress in their hybrid cloud journey — nearly half of the organizations we surveyed globally cited cloud security as their top funding priority next year. The challenge when it comes to security is that it is made up of different elements such as endpoint, network and data security. One way of overcoming this is by adopting an open security automation framework that unifies the different security practices using a set of automated workflows. By doing so, organizations can gain greater visibility across the entire security function, enabling them to identify threats or remediate cyber attacks faster.

Cloud-native will drive container adoption

Cloud-native applications can respond quickly to change, adapting and evolving with new features and functionalities released incrementally more quickly, reliably and frequently with less risk. As more organizations adopt hybrid cloud to increase the scalability and availability of apps, those that also embrace cloud-native development are in a better position to build and run responsive, scalable, and fault-tolerant apps on any cloud.

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Containers are a key technology for unlocking the benefits of cloud-native development. Containers enable applications to be packaged and isolated with their entire runtime environment, making it easier to move them between environments while retaining full functionality. With containers, developers can more easily release and update apps as a collection of loosely coupled services, like microservices, instead of having to wait for one large release. Recognizing that containers can help accelerate innovation, 45% of APAC respondents from the 2021 Global Tech Outlook expect more than half of their workloads to be containerized in the next 12 months.

Automation is on the rise

Customers are demanding more at a faster pace, while IT architectures are ever-changing and built on increasingly complicated technology stacks. Organizations also need to support a work-from-home productivity model during the COVID-19 pandemic. To address these requirements, APAC organizations are increasingly turning to automation to reduce complexity, improve productivity, and lower operating cost. However, they must have an enterprise-wide automation strategy instead of deploying automation in silos in order to fully benefit from the technology.  

More organizations are increasingly using automation in conjunction with artificial intelligence and machine learning to create an additional layer of automated insight to optimize business processes. Some APAC banks are already using robotic process automation (RPA) to approve credit card applications, automate payments, and validate claims. Because RPA can augment and mimic human judgment and behavior to replicate rules-based human action, it reduces the time taken for those tasks.

Open culture needs to complement technology modernization

According to a November 2019 study sponsored by Red Hat, 80% of APAC business leaders surveyed rank cultural change and technology modernization of equal importance for digital transformation. Cultural characteristics key for transformation include adaptability, inclusivity, transparency, and collaboration – all of which are open source principles. Organizations that have supported their cultural change initiatives with efforts to modernize their infrastructure and application architecture have been able to quickly develop and deliver new applications, respond rapidly to customer demands, and control maintenance costs.

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With APAC businesses recognizing that digital transformation is driven by a change in mindset, we foresee more organizations embracing open principles, processes, and culture next year. By doing so, organizations can nurture collaboration and empower employees to bring their best ideas and selves to work, which can help accelerate innovation and address changing customer and business requirements in an agile manner.

All in all, global events in 2020 have caused organizations to focus on near-term survival goals to support business continuity. As the business landscape continues to evolve, APAC organizations must prepare  for the future by adopting flexible, agile and scalable technology solutions. Considering trends such as 5G and edge computing, hybrid cloud and automation can help organizations as they develop or update their digital transformation plans in 2021.

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Samsung Makes the Kitchen Hi-tech with Family Hub

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Samsung has been hard at work revolutionising traditional living spaces with a touch of technology. They’ve done the living room and the outdoors with some impressive TV offering. Now, they’ve got their sights set on the kitchen with their new refrigerators. The new two door side by side refrigerators are imbued with technology to make life and meal planning easier.

The new Samsung side by side (SBS) Family Hub brings features that make grocery shopping and meal planning a breeze. The new fridge comes with a ViewInside camera which allows users to peek into the fridge without letting any of the cold air out. Not only is this convenient, it helps when it comes to maintaining the temperature of the fridge. It also helps with power efficiency.

The SBS Family Hub also gives you a screen that seamlessly integrates with any Samsung smartphone; allowing you to share precious memories on the screen. The screen can also act as a virtual bulletin board; bringing a traditional use of the refrigerator surface into the future. The Family Board feature also allows you to share music and images on an interactive screen.

The Family Hub brings connectivity to your kitchen like never before. As part of Samsung’s Smart Things ecosystem, it brings seamless connectivity to your kitchen. Interact with your other Smart Things enabled devices such as your Samsung TVs or even smartphones. Mirror your screens on the Family Board, bring your daytime soap opera to the kitchen as you get started cooking for the family or even put your favourite tunes on while you’re getting ready for your day with breakfast. The functionality isn’t device dependent, the Family Hub is able to support apps and independently run music streaming or video streaming apps.

Pricing & Availability

The Samsung SBS Family Hub is now available in Malaysia for MYR8,999.