Amazon has opened Sidewalk, its low-power, wide-area network (LPWAN), to developers. Introduced in 2019, Amazon’s early focus was using Sidewalk to optimize Ring cameras and Level smart locks. The company quietly extended coverage to what it says is 90 percent of the U.S. population, and indicates it is now ready to connect “the next billion devices.” Sidewalk can be useful for a multitude of IoT devices that need Internet connectivity yet can’t always rely on a robust four-bar signal, or just don’t require a lot of bandwidth or power. Continue reading Amazon Opens Low-Power Sidewalk Network to Developers

A Kindle that lets you annotate text, a “no-contact” sleep tracker and a refresh on the Fire TV Cube were among the new products Amazon showcased at its annual fall hardware event this week. Updates for Echo smart speakers, an expanded Ring camera inventory and updates to its Eero Wi-Fi extender line were also in the spotlight. Home devices that enable “a silent infrastructure of ambient intelligence to do just about anything” was the through line, according to Wired, with news ranging from pet detection for Astro the robot to a feature called Alexa Shop the Look. Continue reading Amazon Promotes Device Updates at Its Fall Hardware Event

When your smart home takes stock of who’s there before turning the heat on to their favored temperature, that’s anticipatory technology. CNET editor-at-large Brian Cooley and CBS Interactive Tech Sites senior vice president, content strategy Lindsey Turrentine led a CES discussion on how data including location, human behavior, facial recognition and object recognition can help smart homes and smart devices anticipate human needs. “Some things will get better,” said Cooley. “And others might be unnerving.” Continue reading CES 2020: Smart Devices Enter an Anticipatory Tech World