就算冒着听起来有些小家子气的风险，我还是得坦承，虽然关于物联网(IoT)肯定还是有一些正面的题材可谈，我个人还是忍不住抱持怀疑态度，对这整个概念感觉意兴阑珊。除了数字规模庞大的预测(如Cisco预测2020年全球将有500亿物联网设备)可能吸引人们支持物联网，我还没看到一个可能吸引普通消费者投入物联网浪潮的可靠应用情境。
老实说，物联网一直让我联想到我家的各种电子设备会彼此交谈，在不需要我插手的情况下自己做事，甚至会在背后向陌生人(如广告商、服务供货商或者是其他的机器)谈论我的习惯──无论好坏；这实在让人不舒服，一点也不。
而我想你可能也看到不久前的一则报导，指出智能LED灯泡泄漏了Wi-Fi密码；这跟科幻小说或电影的情节有点类似──当智能设备(在上述案例中，只是一颗小灯泡)透过网络链接被启动，就变得比主人更聪明，开始会做一些没人交代它们做的事情。
一 家安全方案供货商Context Security 就示范过能如何轻易地入侵连网LED灯泡，在远程进行开关控制；该公司拿来实验的LIFX灯泡配置方式很常见，就是一个主灯泡会接收来自智能型手机应用程 式的指令，并将之透过无线网状网络传递给其他的灯泡。而黑客则能透过一个“冒充”的新灯泡，取得灯泡所联机的住宅无线网络用户名称与密码。
智能灯泡方案供货商LIFX表示，自从以上的安全漏洞被发现，该公司已经更新了软件，但这让人不由自主想象，家中的连网智能家电要是有一天也突然自己开关──被一个不知名的陌生人在远程操控──那该有多恐怖？
为此，我开始向产业界消息来源询问物联网的可靠应用情境──那些物联网设备究竟能如何透过彼此“交谈”来改善我的生活？如果你有比较好的例子也欢迎提供，请说服我，为何我家的洗碗机需要跟我的烤箱聊天？
可靠的物联网技术应用情境？
来自市场研究机构IHS Technology的分析师Bill Morelli，跟我分享了几个他从供货商那边听来的物联网应用案例：
˙当感测到用户正在客厅的大屏幕电视看影片，房间内的灯具会自动调整亮度；
˙当屋子里有小婴儿在睡觉的时候，门铃会自动调整成静音模式，用室内的灯光闪烁来代替门铃声，以免吵醒小宝宝；
˙当使用者在夜晚开车回家却忘了关车子大灯，车库内的传感器会自动送出警告简讯到使用者的智能手机上；
˙与上一个案例类似，当使用者离家却忘了关闭电熨斗，警报简讯会立即送至智能型手机。
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
第2页：家庭自动化更重要是让消费者感觉无后顾之忧、生活也更有保障
第3页：基础建设应用的物联网
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• 华为投资英国物联网芯片公司XMOSApwesmc
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在6月初举行的苹果(Apple)开发者大会上，该公司发表了HomeKit ，即是能协助使用者建立并设定特定的物联网使用情境。例如用户能将家庭网络设定成“夜间模式”，家里所有的照明就会被关闭，并锁定不被开启；当设定“度假模式”时，照明则是会随机开启或关闭以防盗，花园里的洒水器则会定时运作，保全传感器系统也会触发。
也许以上这些应用案例确实是很有智能，但各位看官，你觉得这些就是能说服消费者对物联网买账的杀手了吗？早在我们过去谈“家庭自动化”的时候，那些就已经是老把戏了，已经卖出去过的相关产品搞不好都进了垃圾回收场。
Envisioneering Group 研究总监Richard Doherty 则对可靠的家庭物联网应用有不同的看法：
˙有许多国家在目前都有电价优惠，吸引民众在用电离峰时段才开启洗碗机；很多区域基于电压考虑，民众会注意不在同一时间开启微波炉、冰箱或是洗碗机马达，以避免保险丝烧断并延长家电使用寿命；
˙物联网需要提供“无后顾之忧”的便利性，例如让使用者知道家中老人的电器使用情况；
˙物联网将创造与保险业之间的连结，例如使用者每天只要达到一定的运动量，就能享受保险费的优惠；
˙物联网可提供公共服务，例如限制空调的使用以达到节约用电的效果。
以上Doherty 的物联网应用观点主要是针对现有方案的改善，我也看到了目前物联网概念的一些进步，也许没有物联网也不会让家庭自动化的设置更容易，更重要的是要让消费者感觉无后顾之忧、生活也更有保障。
另 一个藉由物联网技术使家庭自动化老把戏升级的功能，是用户可利用智能手机来操控所有的家电；透过那些自动发送的简讯，你家的电器绝对会变得很“聒噪”。不过我觉得这种功能总有一天会变成鸡肋，IHS分析师Morelli也同意，他预见未来消费者会开始忽视那些从家电自动送出的讯息，就像现在大家也 不会想听语音信箱那样。
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
第3页：基础建设应用的物联网
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• Sequans：聚焦4G新增长点物联网应用
• 华为投资英国物联网芯片公司XMOSApwesmc
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基础建设应用的物联网
Morelli预见在未来的三到五年内，家庭应用导向物联网方案将会起飞，不过更大范围的物联网应用──针对公共基础设施的物联网方案──则还需要10~15年的发展时间。他指出，物联网要真正发挥重要性，必须要在进驻大楼、城市、汽车与公共基础建设之后。
那 些使用案例包括交通号志管理，协助紧急救护车辆更快速到达定点，与医疗网络的链接，以及疏散参加大型体育赛事的散场群众、在特定时刻暂停某些路段的收费以 疏导交通等。这些应用听起来规模庞大，也意味着若想要实现，会需要完全不同的支持力量，包括政府机关、私人企业以及民众的配合，这并不是简单任务。
而 物联网设备之间的通讯规格也是个大问题；最近英特尔(Intel)主导成立了一个物联网标准推动组织──开放性互连联盟(Open Interconnect Consortium ，OIC)，与高通(Qualcomm)率领的AllSeen 阵营似乎有相互较劲之势。
不 过Morelli指出，目前那些不同的物联网标准团体成员都是以设备供货商为主，缺少服务业者如AT&T、Time-Warner等等；此外拥有 Nest Labs、Dropcam等物联网概念产品的Google，在物联网领域的经营策略究竟为何也还不清楚，很难相信Google会放弃透过物联网来获取更多 广告利润的机会：“这些不同的物联网标准团体活动仍看不出差异性以及实际作为。”
至于家用物联网设备的互操作性问 题，Envisioneering Group 的Doherty则指出，不会有人想重复花费大笔认证费用；他表示，目前消费性电子产业协会(CEA)正准备成立一个针对物联网的工作小组，透过中立产业 团体所举行的插拔大会，可望能催生让消费者信任并安心、能相互沟通的正确产品。
要说物联网能为电子产业带来的商机有多大很容易，困难的是在消费者心目中建立可靠度。Doherty表示：“对企业、服务业、政府机构与大多数消费者来说，物联网要能顺利运作并扩大规模，建立公信力是最重要的；”他认为，若缺少这个关键，恐怕马上就面临失败。
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
编译：Judith Cheng
参考英文原文：Convince Me Why Washer Must Talk to Grill，by Junko Yoshida
相关阅读：
• 上海庆科发布中国第一款物联网操作系统MICO
• Sequans：聚焦4G新增长点物联网应用
• 华为投资英国物联网芯片公司XMOSApwesmc
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Convince Me Why Washer Must Talk to Grill
Junko Yoshida, Chief International Correspondent
Talking back to IoT devices that talk behind my back
MADISON, Wis. — At the risk of sounding a bit curmudgeonly, I have to confess one thing. While there’s certainly something positive to be said about the Internet of Things (IoT), I can’t help feeling suspicious, weary, and a bit turned off by the whole idea.
Aside from big-number projections (e.g., Cisco predicts 50 billion IoT devices by 2020), which would tempt anyone into becoming an IoT cheerleader, I haven’t seen a single credible-use scenario that might lure the average consumer onto the IoT bandwagon.
Honestly, it creeps me out to think about my devices at home talking to one another, doing stuff without my involvement, and talking about my habits -- good and bad -- to total strangers (advertisers, service providers, or just more machines), behind my back. There’s nothing warm and fuzzy about this. At all.
Smart LED lightbulbs hacked
I’m sure you’ve all heard about an incident, reported last week, in which smart LED lightbulbs leaked WiFi passwords.
This is a classic case that hearkens back to Asimov or 2001: A Space Odyssey. Once empowered by its network connection, the “smart device” -- in this case, a lowly light bulb -- outsmarts its human “host” and starts doing things nobody ever asked it to do.
Security experts at Context Security have released details on how easy it is to hack network-enabled LED light bulbs, showing how hackers could eventually turn the lights off and on remotely.
The way an LIFX light bulb, used by Context Security for this demo, is set up sounds all too familiar. The master bulb receives commands from a smartphone application and broadcasts to all the other bulbs over a wireless mesh network.
WiFi and 802.15.4 6LoWPAN Mesh Network.
(Source: Context Security)
The hacker was able to obtain the WiFi username, and password of the household the lights were connected to, by posing as a new bulb joining the network.
LIFX said it had updated its software since being notified of the vulnerability. But it’s not far-fetched to imagine that my networked smart appliances at home could suddenly get turned on and off remotely, by a total stranger, without my knowledge.
Credible scenarios?
With this in mind, I’ve started asking industry sources for credible scenarios under which IoT devices improve my life by talking to each other. Readers are welcome to chime in below. Give me your best shot. Convince me why my washing machine needs to strike up a conversation with my gas grill.
Bill Morelli, associate director at IHS Technology, shared with me some use cases that have been presented to him by vendors.
? Room lights automatically get adjusted, sensing that I am watching a movie on a large-screen TV in a living room.
? Somebody rings a door bell when my baby is asleep. The bell, however, is set up to flash the room lights instead of ringing, leaving the baby undisturbed.
? If I accidentally leave my car’s headlights on when I come home late at night, a sensor in the garage automatically messages my smartphone, which, in turn, sends me an alert SMS.
? Similarly, if I left the iron on when I left home, I get an alert on my smartphone.
Early in June at its Worldwide Developers’ Conference, Apple unveiled what the company calls HomeKit, which reportedly helps users create and set up a specific “scene.”
? Users can put the home network into "night mode" so that lighting throughout the home can be turned off and all locks turned on.
? When "vacation mode" kicks in, lighting goes on and off randomly, sprinklers follow a schedule, and the motion sensor system is triggered.
Maybe there are brilliant ideas I haven’t heard before. But come on, guys. Is this the best you can do to talk consumers into IoT nirvana? These scenarios are straight out of the old home-automation catalogue. They’ve been shopped around and recycled for years.
Richard Doherty, research director of the Envisioneering Group, however, has a slightly different take on credible home-front IoT ideas.
? Even today, in many countries, there are attractive discounts for starting dishwashers during non-peak hours. In many areas, ensuring that your microwave, refrigerator, and washing machine motors do not activate simultaneously enhances longer appliance life while preventing blown fuses and tripped circuit breakers.
? IoT will need “peace of mind” allowances. For example, IoT could let us know if Grandma opened the fridge this morning or used her Bluetooth toothbrush.
? IoT will also create insurance access. Did Rick walk his requisite one mile a day to earn his present insurance discount?
? IoT offers public services. Are enabled air conditioners being throttled back 10% for brownout prevention?
Next page: IoT for infrastructure
Doherty’s points are an improvement on the usual stuff, and I do see some advancements in today’s IoT ideas. Setting up home automation couldn’t have become easier without IoT. But more important, it might even offer consumers some peace of mind, and a little more safety.
Texas Instruments supports Apple's HomeKit.
(Source: Texas Instruments)
Another big IoT improvement over the old-fashioned home automation is that you can use your smartphone to control pretty much every home appliance. Your appliances are definitely getting chattier, with all those SMS alerts.
But this, I think, is a mixed bag. IHS's Morelli agrees. He envisions a future of consumers ignoring a flood of messages from their machines at home, just as they ignore voicemail now.
IoT for infrastructure
The IHS analyst foresees home-oriented IoT taking off over the next three to five years while a broader realm of IoT -- in the infrastructure -- will take another 10 to 15 years to get up and running.
Morelli acknowledged that the power of IoT gains significant importance when intelligent connectivity starts getting implemented in buildings, cities, cars, and the infrastructure in general. Examples include traffic light management, routing first responders' vehicles faster, connections to hospital networks, funneling crowds to less crowded roads after a big sporting event, and forgoing payment at toll gates in special circumstances to ease traffic.
As significant as these applications sound, however, before making all these scenarios work, “you need to get different stakeholders -- including different agencies, private entities, and citizens -- to come to a table, sign off with the idea, and agree on the terms,” says Morelli. No easy task.
Competion over device-to-device communication specs
We should all step back and take a breath when we look at the industry’s positioning today in device-to-device communication specs for IoT.
I don’t think I was the only one rolling my eyes when I learned about the Intel-led Open Interconnect Consortium (OIC) unveiled earlier this week, obviously an answer to the AllSeen effort started by Qualcomm.
Morelli points out that these rival groups mostly consist of device vendors. No service provider, such as AT&T or Time-Warner, is included, he says. Further, he notes, we know little about Google’s plans on IoT, including the company’s intentions for such IoT properties as Nest Labs and Dropcam. It’s hard to believe that Google, armed with a wealth of IoT-fed information, will gladly forgo the opportunity to sell more ads. For example, if a Nest thermostat knows you’re cold, suggests Morelli, Google can relay a promotion aimed at selling you a sweaters.
Doherty notes, “What is missing from these seemingly rival initiatives is the difference between standards and recommended practices."
When it comes to the interoperability of IoT devices at home, he says, “No one wants to pay for a repeat of the CableLabs certification fees (HUGE!) nor HDMI certification (expensive!).”
Noting that the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) recently started a new working group on IoT, says Doherty, “Things like a CEA plugfest may serve to deliver confidence and peace of mind that the right products talk to each other.”
It’s easy to talk about how big an opportunity IoT could bring to the electronics industry. Harder is to formulate a credible pitch for consumers.
“Business, services, government, and, most of all, consumer citizen mindshare of trust is needed for IoT to work and scale,” says Doherty. Without it, “massive failure is looming.”
责编：Quentin
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