Simon Fabri

This blog explores different aspects of what it takes to create great tech products. It is meandering journey as I amble around from topic to topic driven by where my curiosity takes me. Sometimes I try to explore different aspects of what makes truly great tech teams, while at other times I try to get under the skin of the latest tech hype or understand what's going on in a particular industry. This blog started off with a distinct IoT flavour, but now is fairly tech-agnostic.

The Internet of Things – A conceptual model

Earlier this week, we saw how TechCrunch attempted to model the Internet of Things ecosystem. In this post I propose an alternative model, albeit one quite similar in structure . I will not attempt to reproduce in comparable detail the vast number of companies and organisations involved, but will simply provide a representation on how the overall model can be represented. In common with many other models, I too split the connected things ecosystem into industry verticals and horizontal enablers. … Read more…

Big data predictions in the online and physical world

One piece of news that hit the headlines this week was the revelation from researchers from the University of Cambridge and Stanford University that Facebook may be a better judge of personalities than spouses or friends. Apart from the obvious hype value this is particularly significant as it shows the power of machine learning in scenarios which we intuitively feel should be difficult for algorithms to handle. Instead it turns out the the inherent lack of subjective bias and prejudice … Read more…

Mapping the IOT Ecosystem – 612 companies at a time

One of the most ambitious attempts to pull together the key players in the IoT space can be found in TechCrunch, courtesy of Matt Turck of FirstMark Capital. Originally compiled in 2013, their ecosystem is divided into verticals, enablers and building blocks. Like any attempt to make sense of such a complex web of players, it is imperfect – see ARM, Amazon and Sony grouped rather randomly into a ‘Corporates’ bucket. What is startling is that this version has increased … Read more…

CES 2015 – Internet of Things goes Mainstream

Reviewing the various round-ups on what was big at CES, most agree that the Internet of Things was pretty high up the agenda of the companies attending, and was the underlying theme for the event. Not that this is a reliable predictor – don’t forget that 2012 was the year that supposed saw 3D TV come of age. The Absentees It is perhaps worth starting with a reminder of the notable absentees, Apple, Google and Microsoft, the three industry’s largest platform and … Read more…

CES 2015 – Gogoro’s SmartScooter – A triumph of hype or a vision of the future?

In the second piece on this year’s CES, we look at Gogoro, a company we featured last year as it gained  $150m worth of funding. There was much speculation as to what they were producing, fuelled by vague statements such as to “utilize the power of mobile connectivity and data analytics to transform energy distribution and management in the world’s cities”. Finally this week we found out. On the face of it, Gogoro launched an electric scooter, promising to revolutionise personal … Read more…

CES 2015 – Blackberry’s Three-Pronged IoT Strategy

In the first of a series of posts on noteworthy announcements at this year’s CES, we look at what Blackberry have been talking about. In November, we discussed the prospects of Project Ion, Blackberry’s umbrella Internet of Things play, where we talked up the applicability of Blackberry’s core expertise in embedded systems, mobile messaging and security to the world of connected ‘things’. Well, this week, John Chen, Blackberry’s CEO has been filling in the gaps, and it has been getting … Read more…

Venture funding for London tech start-ups doubles

A recent report in the Financial Times claimed that venture funding for London-based start-ups reached $1.4bn in 2014, double the amount in the previous year and twenty times that four years ago. This represents 65% of the UK’s $2.2 tech venture funding last year. Venture capital funding of London tech start-ups doubles – FT.com Clearly an impressive growth, though according to Deloitte, the UK still lags behind the US, Germany, Canada and Israel in terms of VC confidence.   The … Read more…

FTC warns of privacy risks of ubiquitous connectivity

The need for means for managing user privacy as more and more devices become connected is a topic that has been raised a number of times on this blog. This week, at CES, someone slightly more influential, the chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission, Edith Ramirez raised these very concerns. While highlighting all the wonderful benefits the Internet of Things can bring, she highlighted the risks of ubiquitous data collection, the impact of unintended uses of data and the increased security risks will … Read more…

2015 in Tech – Crystal ball gazing

Tech Trends for 2015 Now that we’re into the new year, it is worthwhile to have a look at what industry-watchers and analysts are forecasting as being important and significant in 2015. Here is a summary of what some of what is being said regarding 2015 Technology Trends. Gartner – Top 10 ICT Trends Gartner, the IT research firm focuses on three themes: the merging of the real and virtual worlds, the advent of intelligence everywhere, and the technology impact … Read more…

Connectivity in the Smart Home. Thread or Bluetooth Smart?

This blog has already explored the multitude of standards currently being used as the basis for connecting sensors, object and all sorts of things  to the Internet and to each other. Nowhere is this problem more acute than in the area of home automation, where the lack of widely adopted standards results in systems that don’t talk to each other, and worse, in systems that quickly become obsolete and cease to be supported by their manufacturers. The situation where the home … Read more…

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