Our blog focuses on sharing our experience and knowledge across a wide range of technologies and industries including hardware and software design, audio, video, internet of things, mobile application and signal processing technologies.
The IoT Zombie Problem
Connected Devices and IoT
By Mike Deeds
Mmm — Brains. There are a lot of residential Internet-of-Things devices available that can connect to my home Wi-Fi network and provide some functionality: Thermostats, security cameras, light switches, connected speakers, and so forth. Some devices even defy classification. Cardinal Peak gave all its employees the choice to receive an Amazon Echo this past holiday… View ArticleDetails
Will CES Be Called the IoT Show in 2017?
Connected Devices and IoT
By Howdy Pierce
I attended the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last month, and the biggest single category again this year was the Internet of Things, or IoT. Evidently, out of nearly 4,000 exhibiting companies, nearly a quarter displayed an IoT product. Meanwhile, for the last two years running, “Internet of Things” has been at “peak of inflated… View ArticleDetails
Engineering a Better Television Experience
Streaming Media
By Howdy Pierce
I shouldn’t admit it, but I’m old enough to remember picking television shows very differently than we do today. Sonny, back when I was a kid, there were fewer choices in programming, it was impossible to time-shift, and if you missed something, you were out of luck. Out of necessity, shows were written on the… View ArticleDetails
What Does the “Freelance Economy” Mean for Engineers?
Outsourced Engineering
By Howdy Pierce
I’ve got a new article up at Entrepreneur: “What Does the ‘Freelance Economy’ Mean for Engineers?” Here’s a taste: What does mean for entrepreneurs across many fields? I’m convinced that the use of freelancers can lead to greater flexibility, with fewer traditional limitations. And that in turn can be a source of great competitive advantage… View ArticleDetails
How to Make the IoT Make Sense for You
Connected Devices and IoT
By Pat French
“IoT-enabling” usually involves taking an everyday product — a kitchen appliance, say — and adding the necessary communication hardware, connecting it to a cloud service, and developing apps for either end-users or installers. What are the common reasons for doing this? Details
The New Elegance: Have the Guts to Leave Something Out
Outsourced Engineering
By Howdy Pierce
I sat recently through a long, multiple-day design review for a major appliance manufacturer. This company —my customer — has a competitor who recently launched an IoT version of their product. In response, my customer is planning a large IoT offering, with a complex app that will support every possible option that their product offers…. View ArticleDetails
We Need a Better Way to Lock the Doors
Connected Devices and IoT
By Howdy Pierce
Another day, another public hack: Today we learned that a “cyber-espionage operation” has used a previously unknown flaw in Adobe Flash to gain information from NATO governments and others. And also 87% of Android devices are vulnerable to numerous known hacks because there’s no good business model to distribute patches on that platform. That’s just… View ArticleDetails
Introduction to AES67
Audio
By Kevin Gross
AES67 is a standard for transport of high performance audio over IP networks. High performance, as AES67 defines it, is at least a 44.1 kHz sampling frequency, at least 16-bit resolution and latency less than 10 ms. AES67 is targeted to applications in professional audio: broadcast, production, live audio and commercial and residential applications. Rather… View ArticleDetails
Full of Doubt
Outsourced Engineering
By Howdy Pierce
One common approach to hiring an engineering services firm is to issue an RFP. The core idea is, you write up your requirements, and get several engineering design services firms to bid. Usually the assumption is that every compliant bid is equivalent on quality and features, and therefore the decision is made based on schedule and total cost. This isn\’t a good idea.
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Which Estimate Should I Give?
Outsourced Engineering
By Howdy Pierce
One thing that is striking amongst different engineering cultures is the range of approaches to scheduling accuracy: How tolerant is the organization of schedule slips? And therefore how aggressive are engineering planners encouraged to be? Details
