Last week at Embedded World, Qualcomm made a big IoT announcement about a new AI-enabled platform for both home and industrial use. There was also additional explanation regarding Qualcomm Connect regarding his Wi-Fi in Service Definition.
These announcements signal a significant effort to solve the train wreck caused by smart homes and buildings.
This week we discuss that and end with my product of the week. Lenovo's new AI-enabled desktop computer based on the latest AMD Ryzen 8000 platform. A lot of AI-enabled stuff is coming.
Smart home technology challenges
I've been following smart home technology since the 1970s. Only then did he get so excited about the X10 that he removed all the light switches in his small apartment and replaced them with X10 replacements.
I also had an X10 robot turntable at the time and it was pretty cool when it worked. You can play stacks of records by selecting individual tracks. But it fell far short of what it was supposed to do, and the X10 technology was questionable even on its best days.
Over the years, I've tried multiple platforms from different vendors that aren't interoperable, often resulting in more deterioration and cost than benefit. I recently had a company come in and bid to replace my boyfriend's Insteon system with a new one. The bid was a whopping $45,000, which exhausted my modest budget. This expensive solution is also likely to become obsolete in a few years, so I decided not to buy it.
We are now moving towards AI and standardization is progressing. The Google Matter standard has received considerable attention. Additionally, the Amazon Alexa platform is amazingly good at accepting third-party platforms and allowing them to control the products they connect with their voice. However, applying patches or updates to connected systems often causes them to stop working for a while, or at all.
What is needed is more advanced hardware commonality that reduces the complexity that makes the hardware that should be easy to use difficult and prevents most companies from adopting this technology.
Qualcomm Connect: Service-defined Wi-Fi
In collaboration with British Telecom, Comcast, and several other major cable and carrier operators, Qualcomm is introducing Service Defined, a service that enables these internet service providers to offer services that accept and integrate compliant smart home devices. I created a solution called Wi-Fi. Consolidate them into a common central control that users can access at home and on the go.
Log in to your user portal to view, control, and access your smart home switches, plugs, appliances, security cameras, TVs, lights, HVAC systems, and other connected devices (such as electric vehicles). You can control it. Access it from your connected PC or smartphone, whether you're at home or in a remote location.
The convenience of a service provider approach is that not only can you ask for support, but these providers also provide technicians on a regular basis, for a fee, to troubleshoot issues remotely or on-premises to get you up and running. Being able to provide better service to our users. It is more experienced than the DIY approach that most solutions currently require.
But this is only part of the problem.
Qualcomm’s AI-enabled IoT platform
Last week, Qualcomm announced a new embedded edge AI platform and micropower Wi-Fi SoC. This could create a level of standardization for these edge devices and, when combined with Service Defined Wi-Fi products, should provide a more consistent experience.
Qualcomm works with 35 companies in Embedded World to bring cross-vendor solutions to market with standardized hardware. This makes creating and servicing next-generation IoT smart building solutions for homes and businesses much easier and cheaper than ever before.
The announced hardware consumes up to 88% less power than previous generations and uses the most advanced wireless technology available today, including the Qualcomm QCC730 platform for Wi-Fi IoT connectivity. These features enable the use of more battery-powered IoT devices and reduce the use of IoT devices that require AC power, significantly reducing installation and service costs.
These modules could enable better security camera solutions and alleviate concerns about porch pirates, pet pirates, and new thieves flying in from other countries to break into homes. The result should be a more comprehensive system for managing your home both when you're at home and especially when you're away.
Smarter home management with AI
Ideally, with Service Defined Wi-Fi, Google Matter, and Qualcomm's AI-enabled platform, you can overlay cloud-based or on-premises AI solutions to automatically manage your home or business.
When someone enters your property, home, or business, the component automatically operates by triggering both the camera and the lights. It also lights up and provides automatic voice guidance in the event of a natural disaster, theft or fire, so you and your family can get out of harm's way as quickly as possible.
The system provides a comprehensive AI-driven solution that provides a single interface for your entire site and proactively manages safety and security. It automatically closes motorized shutters before bad weather strikes and alerts you if your pet is trying to escape from your garden, helping to prevent potential trouble and lengthy searches (as we once did). However, it was a painful few months).
The ability to better protect against package theft, burglary, children who are indiscreet and spend too much time, pet theft or escape, and the intrusion of wild animals that can endanger your home and pets is a smart home concept. It's the center. .
AI is the icing on this IoT cake, and these Qualcomm services and products are on the critical path to finally making this all work.
summary
Smart homes and smart buildings promised a lot but delivered little in terms of easy-to-use, integrated products and were a huge disappointment.
Embracing Qualcomm's Service Defined Wi-Fi concept and working with cable or phone service providers that encourage IoT devices to utilize Qualcomm's common hardware solutions will increase the potential of the smart home. The advancement and success of Google Matter will further expand this possibility.
Incorporating a new and increasingly capable class of AI solutions will provide autonomous control and more reliably deliver the results originally promised by smart homes in the 1970s. I think it just took me a while to understand what I needed to do to deliver on my promise.
Lenovo ThinkCentre M75 Desktop Family
AI PCs are getting a lot of attention these days, but it's all about laptop computers and those of us who live our lives using desktop computers have moved away from SOL. That changed last week with the announcement of Lenovo's latest ThinkCentre desktop PCs powered by AMD Ryzen PRO 8000 series desktop processors.
The ThinkCentre M75 Gen 5 family of compact PCs is the first desktop series to feature an NPU (neural processing unit). These perform at around 16 TOPS (trillion operations per second), similar to AI PC laptops currently on the market.
There are three basic configurations, and the lineup is as follows:
ThinkCentre M75q Tiny Form Factor ThinkCentre M75s Gen 5 Small Form Factor ThinkCentre M75t Gen 5 Tower
ThinkCentre M75 Gen 5 series desktops leverage AI technology to improve energy efficiency and deliver superior performance. (Image courtesy of Lenovo)
All three have integrated graphics, but tower configurations can be equipped with AMD Radeon RX 550 4G or AMD Radeon RX 6600LE graphics cards.
The M75t is not yet available in North America, but the M75s will be available in May at an initial price of $709, and the M75q will be available in June at an affordable price of $749.
This product is environmentally friendly in that the chassis, keyboard, and mouse incorporate over 85% recycled plastic, and most of the shipping cardboard and packaging materials are recycled.
These are the first AI PC desktops to hit the market, and they could be the ideal desktop for anyone actively developing for or using Microsoft Copilot. , so the ThinkCentre M75 Gen 5 desktop family is my product. week.