Today, Sprint and Ericsson announce a very big move in connecting and scaling IoT.  Sprint announces a, "Fully dedicated, distributed and virtualized IoT core network works in tandem with the operating system to turn sensor data into immediate intelligence at the network edge; 5G-ready and primed for AI, robotics and more." This is a distributed and virtualized core IoT network and brings with it many benefits to the enterprise based on an overall Compass Intelligence view:

• 5G and Edge Ready IoT Core - enhances and expedites data analytics and computing at the edge (low latency), ability to manage massive amounts of data as close to the enterprise to manage outcomes
• Cloud-based Billing & Managed Services - ease of use and management "IoT OS provides full subscription lifecycle management and monitoring of billing and usage data." Businesses need tech partners to support in managing network operations, security, cloud architecture, and applications/software
• Faster Processing & Prioritization of Data - this brings faster response times to business problems or customer services, not only due to the dedicated network but the expected continued dedication of services and software that will wrap around this network to give IoT what it needs to meet enterprise expectations (Quality of Service, SLAs)
• Optimal for AI, virtual applications, robotics, and Autonomous Vehicles - As the enterprise adopts and seeks solutions around artificial intelligence and automated operations, a dedicated network is expected to provide optimal enterprise solutions by having "AI in the core." These more demanding technology architectures will require a more sophisticated and dedicated network or at the very least a commitment to not treating IoT data the same as general voice and data communitcations.
• Global SIM/chip (ARM) and chip security - To secure connected devices we look to the least common denominator and that means security on the chip (Sprint and Ericsson are pushing this), in addition over the air updates are required to adapt and further secure devices
• Powered by Ericsson's Application Enablement Platform (AEP), IoT Accelerator Platform - "Ericsson IoT Accelerator leverages the scale, speed and lower cost of a cloud based solution to address use-cases and applications for Enterprises and Service Providers." per Ericsson's website.

The enterprise and government IoT number of connections is growing at such a rapid pace but with varying requirements in terms of the amount of data (large streams vs. bits), processing (how often, low latency), analytics (at the edge, in the cloud), security needs, and management. That being said, Sprint and Ericsson take IoT connectivity and commitment to the next level for sensors, connected machines, connected devices, and assets/fleets/AV. We are excited to learn more about this as we attend MWC Americas next week and we will follow up with an additional blog to share further details.

Full release: http://newsroom.sprint.com/sprint-and-ericsson-reveal-ground-breaking-iot-dedicated-core-and-operating-system.htm

Below I highlight Number 1-3 just a bit further...

With the emphasis on intelligent experiences, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 9 available for pre-order Aug 10th, and available August 24th in stores and online. Carrier deals include...AT&T (buy one get one free with new line), T-Mobile (50% off with approved trade-in), Sprint (50% off with lease)Here are the key notes of importance:

• STORAGE: Available in 128GB (doubles that of the Note 8) or 512 GB, with expandable storage available up to 1TB (This is massive, might be great for the photographer, insurance adjuster, law enforcement officer, etc.)
• BATTERY: all day battery life, 4,000mAh battery (3300mAH in the Note 8), based on typical use
• DISPLAY AND SIZE: 6.4 inches, large infinity screen 
• PRICE: Price ranges from $999 to $1300 retail, carriers are offering BOGO free and 50% offers now, pre-orders are also available, and of course you can lease or trade-in
• BLUETOOTH S PEN: Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) S Pen enhanced features, comes in yellow, acts as a remote control (bluetooth ...think selfies and managing presentations, and at the Samsung Developer Conference they are encouraging newly developed applications using the S pen
• NEW COLORS: Available in blue (with yellow S Pen), lavender, copper and black.
• COMPUTING: Samsung DeX available through a HDMI Adapter, sold separately and works with Tab S4, think expanding smartphone to your PC
• AI: Intelligent Camera, has capabilities to notice closed eyes and recommend retakes, super slow mo function, optimizes color tones
  

Analyst Remarks: The device is large and powerful, and great for the creative and gamer. The storage size is double the Note 8 and can get up to 1TB with added storage...so this might be great for professions (home designers, photographers, insurance adjusters, detectives, etc.) that stream and store videos, store massive amounts of photos, and heavy gamers. The 128Gb is equivalent to 670 hours of movies and TV shows! For consumers tired of deleting apps and treasured photos, this is an option that will leave you with keeping everything.

A little late in the game, but very relevant to consumers today, Samsung also unveiled its smart speaker called the Galaxy Home. It has a stemless wine-shaped top with a tripod looking stand. This smart speaker incorporates Bixby voice-recognition and intelligence features all in an AKG (Harman) branded speaker. The form factor is a bit off, but the noted features are pretty cool:

• 6 meter high range (like surround sound), subwoofer with deep base
  
• Optimizes sound based on where you are in the room
  
• Natural sound processing
  
• Works seamless from Samsung smartphone to Samsung TV, to Galaxy Home speaker 

Analyst Remarks: The Galaxy Home is a bit late to the market, and I think will struggle in sales unless it is provided as part of a promotion or given away to consumers. Bixby is also not as favored in the voice-recognition market. I personally have tried both Google Voice (Okay Google) and Bixby on my Samsung smartphones, and Bixby tends to be a bit quirky on picking up words and its voice to text needs a bit of work. The form factor of the Galaxy Home is a tad bit unconventional and may not fit in all locations in the home especially tables that have netted or iron tops, as the base will require a sold and flat table for it to sit evenly. It is also much larger than the HomePod and Amazon Echo Dot.

It looks like the "Galaxy Gear" brand is now "Galaxy Watch." Samsung unveiled its latest smartwatch called the Galaxy Watch and they look like traditional watches (nice). There are 3 primary focus areas for the new watch including: 1-stress mgmt-monitor heart rate, 2-Stay fit-39 exercises, detects six exercises automatically, 3-getting good rest-tracks sleep patterns - syncs with calendar. 

• BATTERY: Up to 2 days of use when fully charged
• CONNECTIVITY: Bluetooth (768MB RAM/4GB storage) and 3G/LTE (1.15GB RAM/4GB storage)
• SIZE/COLORS: 46mm silver version ($349 retail), 42mm black and rose gold options ($349 retail), expect pricing for LTE version to be around $400
• ​MONITORS: heart rate monitor, ambient light sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, and barometer (water resistant)

Analyst Remarks: This watch (especially the rose gold with pink band) is as close to looking like a traditional watch as I have seen (one of the reasons I have stayed away from smartwatches). The bezel and band options provide for the ultimate personalization, and the option to have the stand-alone LTE version allows consumers to not be tied to the smartphone, which is needed when you are out and about. The Samsung Pay integration is also nice, as you can pay without your wallet, purse, or phone. 

Written by: Stephanie Atkinson
​@stephatkins

With approximately 55 million Americans working as freelancers, the gig economy is at a record high. Not only are more people craving freedom and flexibility, but employers are also relying on this system to save money while running a more efficient operation. According to industry experts, the gig economy is the new version of entrepreneurialism, as the hustle is a lot like building a business from the ground up and comes with no guarantees for success. However, if you have passion, are self-motivated, disciplined, aren’t afraid to take risks, know how to network, and can manage your money, then you just may want to shake up your career by becoming an independent worker. Here’s how to get started.
 
Choose a Path
 
Obviously, you’re going to want to get involved with something you’re both interested in and good at; otherwise, you won’t be able to make it for the long term. For example, perhaps you worked for a big accounting firm and now want to handle clients on your own. Or, maybe you simply love animals and want to work for a pet-sitting or dog-walking company. Whether you choose to work for one company or several is up to you, but there are many online platforms and apps to help you explore work opportunities. In an effort to market yourself and stand out from the competition, put some effort into jazzing up your social profiles and use a free website service to build a simple site that showcases your talent and work history.
 
Get a Hold of Your Financial Situation
 
Don’t quit your day job until you have a few months worth of bills covered and a substantial emergency fund started. It can take a while to start generating regular income, and you’ll undoubtedly have good months and challenging ones in terms of workflow. In order to determine how much money you need to make each month, tally up all of your expenses, including financial obligations (from gas to groceries to household expenses), an entertainment budget, and money to cover any vacation you wish to take (remember, you no longer get a paid vacation). Set aside at least 15 percent each month for your retirement so you don’t lose sight of the future. Remember that you’ll also have to regularly stash money away to cover taxes so you aren’t in a pickle when it comes time to pay the piper.
 
It’s critical that you establish and maintain an organized system for any expenses you incur. There are several you can write off as a freelancer, including a home office, providing you follow the proper regulations. Once you have a grasp on monthly expenses, it will likely make sense to open a business credit card to keep business expenses separate from personal, which you’ll be especially grateful for come tax time.
 
Stay Organized
 
Staying organized is key when running your own gig economy business, and this includes your home office. To maximize your productivity, you’ll want to locate this space away from busy areas in your home where there are likely to be distractions. Also make sure you have a comfortable chair and desk. And you’ll want your workspace to be clutter-free so you can manage your finances and keep track of invoices and projects.
 
If you really become comfortable with being independent and want to expand your business, there are a few things to keep in mind if you want to be successful. Make it easier for freelancers to work with you and always pay on time — you know how important both of these things are already. Also, let anyone you hire work remotely. Not only will this make for a happier contractor, but it also enables you to open up your network globally. Lastly, even though everyone is working from different places, they are working for you, so try to create a sense of virtual camaraderie. 

Mobile and Remote Workforces will be Necessary to Access Global Talent.The overall tech industry is already seeing talent gaps, especially when it comes to data scientists and data engineers. These advanced professionals go above and beyond programming, coding, and running analytics software but maintain strategic experience and expertise to evaluate overall business processes and operations, and know how to use the right tools, collate the most relevant data, elevate data for applications and response, and understand the ability to integrate with common business software and systems. Because we are already in a severe overall talent pool decline, companies will need to embrace the remote and global workforce like never before. This means the tools this new workforce uses will require enterprise chat, collaboration, any and mobile device access to business essentials, video conferencing, remote document management, and much more. READ MORE

​Compass Intelligence 2018 Tech Trends: A Review of Major Tech Trends and Highlights of the Annual Awards
Get the full Report HERE!

Most of the smartphone reviews out on the web today are based on the consumer perspective, that is why I wanted to provide a B2B or business smartphone review of the Samsung Galaxy S9. While Android and iOS operating systems dominate, this is also the case for business smartphones, and Samsung continues to improve the Galaxy smartphone series of devices to better meet business use and application needs. Below is a summary of my review of the Galaxy S9 based on a few months of use:
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​Battery Life and Charging: I often have a number of apps running in the background like (Crowdfire, Twitter, Outlook Email and others) and generally do not have to charge my device until late in the evening, this gives me between 13 and 15 hours of business use daily before needing to charge. Now the exception is when I travel and when I am at a conference, since I tend to use the smartphone exclusively and use many more apps when I do not have my Samsung laptop open. Since business users, especially analysts, make many business calls throughout the day it is very hard to have poor battery life as conference calls, webinars, client calls are very vital to the operations of the business. Now, what makes the Samsung Galaxy S9 superior is that when you do plug in to charge, the fast charging process is extremely fast and allows you to get up and running very quickly.

Adopting innovative and smart infrastructure will enable businesses and government to enhance asset, infrastructure, and building performance. These physical structures are transforming into intelligence, cognitive, and predictive assets through existing and emerging technologies including Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communications, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, robotics, and deep learning. This spring’s, “Advancing Smart Infrastructure and IoT” IoT6 Exchange Summit brought together thought leaders, executives, advisory board members, and vendors to explore, learn, exchange best-in-class ideas, technology, solutions, and solve real issues around smart infrastructure. From retrofitting legacy assets and infrastructure to building smart and intelligence infrastructure from the ground up, this event presented hard hitting and actionable best-in-class learnings, and brought smart infrastructure ideas, projects, and use cases to life.  The event enlightened our attendees by capturing all the technology and innovation elements as the industry transition from unintelligent, static physical structures and assets to intelligence, learning, and digital structures and assets. DOWNLOAD THE FULL SUMMARY HERE.

Big news over the weekend for the wireless communications industry, as T-Mobile and Sprint announce a decision to merge but essentially T-Mobile is buying Sprint. The announcement came just before earnings calls for both companies, and was enlightened by joint CEOs taking to YouTube and social media channels to share the news and push the overall message of a bigger and better company leading the charge with 5G. A few details that we have gathered are shared below:

• Deal valued at $26.5B, and will create a combined company valued at $146B
• The T-Mobile branding remains, no word on what happens to the Sprint branding and sub-brands, No word on what happens to Sprint Wireline business
• John Legere remains as CEO of the joined companies, with Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure serving on the board of directors, and Mike Siervert takes over as President
• The main headquarters will remain in Bellevue, Washington with the Sprint campus acting as a secondary headquarters
• The new company will take executives from both companies to lead the charge, and no word on staff changes at this time. In a memo to T-Mobile employees, Legere wrote, "We’ll still be called T-Mobile, we’ll still be magenta, I’ll still be your leader, and we’ll continue to be customer obsessed!"
• Sprint gets a 4-year roaming agreement (they are paying fees to T-Mobile) with T-Mobile for LTE coverage in areas where their service is not up to par
  
• Softbank gets minority share at 27% with Deutsche Telekom holding 42% share with control over voting and the board
• Deal is pending regulatory approvals but they are expecting to close the 1H of 2019

​
​Based on Compass Intelligence tracker research, if we just look at the end of 2017 numbers and stats we collect and forecast, this will get T-Mobile to a combined 127M in connections which is 17M less than Verizon and 14M less than AT&T. What is substantial for the combined company is this...

• The NEW T-Mobile will shine in overall retail subscriber adds, having added 6.4M more than AT&T in 2017 alone.
• The NEW T-Mobile will dominated prepaid, maintaining about 30% of their overall retail subscriber base as prepaid customers and an estimated 24.2M more than Verizon and 14.3M more than AT&T.
• More work will need to be focused around two areas: (1) B2B - The combined company is estimated to have around 24M B2B subscribers, which is 30M less than Verizon and 24M less than AT&T (2) M2M and IoT Connections - compared to AT&T the NEW T-Mobile is extremely behind but only 428K connections behind Verizon.

​
From a 2017 revenue perspective, overall revenue is estimated to be about $1B less than AT&T and $2.5B less than Verizon. This new energy and push to take customers away from Verizon and AT&T will be invigorated with the new entity and Compass Intelligence expects for T-Mobile to place a heavy bet on pushing up the SMB market to take market share away on the B2B wireless side, and will continue to sway consumers to switch as the combined entity will have a larger footprint for the Un-Carrier strategy that has been extremely successful in the consumer sector. Some of the positive things the NEW T-Mobile can take from Sprint might include their go-to-market strategy on the B2B side and vertical segmentation expertise, as well as leveraging spectrum assets to lead in the industry. In addition, Sprint has a legacy knowledge base in prepaid and MVNO brands, public sector (public safety), and also youth and underserved consumers.

For more information regarding Compass Intelligence wireless tracking market data (both quarterly and annually), please click HERE to learn more or contact info@compassintelligence.com.

While IoT6 "Advancing Smart Infrastructure and IoT" Exchange Summit is fresh on the mind, we wanted to share a few highlights of the 2 day event in Ponte Vedra, Florida.

• Great attendees including thought leaders, IT managers, CXOs from Eaton, Volkswagon, American Airlines, multiple universities, smart lighting companies, and even manufacturers.
• Keynotes from Dell's Kirsten Billhardt, VANTIQ's Blaine Mathieu, Verizon's Sanjay Kumar, The Silent Intelligence's Daniel Obodovski, and SphericalAnalytic.io's Chris Rezendes...and of course Stephanie Atkinson to open up the conference
  • Topics ranged from data monetization, IoT best practices, enabling IoT for business transformation, sustainable governments, and next gen technologies for smart infrastructure solutions
• Fireside Chats with VANTIQ's Blaine Mathieu and Adam Stein to discuss real-time IoT applications, and Bob Egan lead another one between ClearBlade and NXP to discuss edge computing
• The panel discussions covered topics ranging from the future outlook, expert/analyst perspectives, and CXO perspectives, to securing end-point devices and compliance for smart infrastructure, asset tracking and fleet management.
• 1:1 Meetings and use case breakouts allowed for more in-depth discussions, deep dive into examples of live deployments in industry and government, and having these structured in the Agenda provides actionable follow up that will continue into this year
• Networking sessions included beautiful, scenic views of the ocean and resort amenities that was highlighted by sunset dinners, casino night, and superior meals and spirits!

Compass Intelligence will be preparing a executive summary of the conference and releasing it in the near future. Please be sure to participate as a sponsor or attendee this fall as we reconvene to concentrate on Smart Cities in Austin, TX at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort and Spa, October 17-19th. Contact Stephanie to learn more!
www.iot6exchange.com

Today Kaazing announced DisasterAWARE ENTERPRISE™, a real-time risk and disaster preparedness platform for businesses across industry globally. I was honored to get a sneak peek by the Kaazing team (led by CEO Bob Miller) and learn more about how this supports and better prepares businesses. A disaster can mean downtime, loss of revenue, shipping delays, destroying of inventory, risk and loss of employees, and more. It is imperative that companies plan and prepare and have the right tools in place with real-time alerting and information that can be integrated with existing operational systems to not just react but to know in advance and have a strategic plan in place no matter where their assets are. While I sat through the audio/video conference I took a few notes that I believe were important to point out about DisasterAWARE ENTERPRISE:

• Data deliver is super fast! - 80% of the data is being delivered to the mobile devices for less than 2ms for something that was taking 200ms for a query
• Platform is very intuitive and full of capabilities
  • Visualize Hazards - dots represents hazards, monitored by PDC (Pacific Disaster Center (Univ of Hawaii)), avalanches, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, mudslides, man-made hazards, and more
  • Familiar Tools - Uses Google Maps overlay
  • User friendly Icons - icons on left hand side allow for easy navigation and exploration
  • Layering of Information - users can look at different things like population density, lightening strikes, winds, velocity, global surface winds, wind speed (color coded) and users can bookmark locations
  • Social Sharing - social media icons are available and have feeds, a heat map of where tweets are coming from, types of tweets, searchable by type of disaster
  • Camera Icons - can turn on traffic cameras in areas and view multiple cameras, 
  • Further Data - other data available include historical data, business continuity, disaster recovery plans - ability to look at expired events, tropical cyclones for example (Maria)
  • Products - product are produced as a result of an event, response efforts broken down by geographies

Kaazing is targeting companies in insurance Companies, large supply chain companies (MNCs), logistics companies, and those large corporations who have remote offices.  Although Kazzing believes this platform and its disaster planning resources are industry agnostic, "Even more noteworthy, DisasterAWARE Enterprise is industry agnostic. It can be vertically integrated into the supply chain and logistics, and is well suited to protect a multitude of industries including travel, insurance, education, healthcare, utilities, finance, airports, mining, ports, retail, and other global enterprises," stated in the press release.

Data remains in silos in a digital environment and there is no real incentive to share it. This results in the hoarding of consumer data which emanates from Google, Facebook, Alibaba, and Baidu. Presently, artificial intelligence (AI) platforms give power to those few organizations that process a bulk of data. With sensors embedded in connected cars and devices across the IoT, there is the exponential rise in consumer data generated by these devices and stored in databases. A race has begun to get this data, which puts questions on privacy.
 
A blockchain is a decentralized, public digital ledger that keeps track of cryptocurrency transactions in a chronological order. Blockchains are considered disruptive to the financial world because no one person or body has complete control over the transactions. As a result, many consider this a more honest substitute for physical financial institutions like banks.
 
The blockchain technology protocol was first constructed by Satoshi Nakamoto. This technology works on the principle of transparency and the intent to distribute information to all parties concerned.
 
In this blockchain network, blocks of information are created for transactions which can be altered by anyone who has access to the blocks.
 
This technology protocol is now being used in the field of Artificial Intelligence. It allows AI engineers to create blocks of AI is open to other blocks of AI and work in tandem. While the technology itself is abstract right now, its potential could be parallel to that of the World Wide Web when it first started.
 
Blockchain allows users to share information and complete anonymous transactions. This technology is gaining hype. Blockchain offers an open, shared, decentralized data layer with data access to all stakeholders. These stakeholders include entities like city governments who use this technology to evaluate traffic patterns, car manufacturers who enhance driving experience, app developers who solve queries in real time, and healthcare providers who deliver personalized services on the basis of demographic profiles and usage patterns.
 
While blockchain has been trending only recently, most AI-savvy organizations have jumped into Blockchains to get consistency in their analytics. Professionals are curious to know what makes Blockchains so special, and therefore, enroll in an AI certification course to understand it.
 
The integration of Blockchain into AI
 
Not many people know the difference between artificial intelligence and machine learning. Despite this ambiguity, a lot is known and written about these two fields. The same, however, cannot be said for Blockchain. Surprisingly little is known about this field. Let’s understand the nature of Blockchain.
 

1. Immutability - This refers to the capability of AI to evaluate more data and models and thereby enhance the worth of these models. Deep learning certainly helps in this context; it’s the result of finding when and how, if provided a detailed dataset, to begin catch interactions along with latent variables.
   
2. Decentralized  -  With decentralized units, higher amounts of data can be processed and more efficient AI networks can be built. For example, when sharing the data amongst ecosystems or participants in a planet-scale ecosystem, such as the Web. Higher the data amount, the better the models could be.  
   
3. Transparency - Blockchain protocols provide a tamper resistance worldwide public registry. This results in testing data & models like intellectual property assets with the copyright claim. 

The most interesting part is we can have factual data that can’t be altered. Consider AI technology gets into Blockchains of data to get information, to discover patterns, and develop insights according to patterns.
 
Most predictions and patterns are more accurate as compared to the knowledge mining that AI performs which uses incomplete, missing data most times. Moreover, between Blockchain and AI, the fallible human elements are eliminated.
 
 Working examples explain its seamless potential
 
Here are the examples of real use cases that point out what Blockchain and AI can do together.

• Knowledge Mining: New learners like Neuromation deal in synthetic datasets to enable a business to master neural networks, laying the foundation for smarter AIs and pocket-friendly knowledge mining and sharing.

• Better Financial Services and Transactions: Using the data in Blockchains, AI can evaluate different types of loan products, demographics depending on those borrowing patterns while predicting products’ type that financial institutions offer.

• Proven Retail. AI can figure out similarities that may have been skipped through previous AI operations. For example, AI can determine that consumer transactions for guttering materials are higher in the summer. Then a big box home retailer will raise stock in those materials. Here Blockchain may show that the high demand for ladders that relate to purchases of guttering materials.

• Immigration. Blockchain technology is in use to validate citizenship in different regions, where birth records are not present.

 
Similarly, it can monitor the migration of people, groups, and the percentage of terrorist health issues depending on those movements. As AI gets this information, predictions become faster that help government agencies make better decisions regarding immigration policies and health concerns.
 
Important Blockchains benefits
 
The main concern of Artificial Intelligence is with understanding the hidden patterns in Big Data resulting in autonomous machines whereas Blockchains have the primary concern with accurate records management, security, and relevance. Data sharing is the first benefit of Blockchain for AI.
 
As AI is associated with data, Blockchain becomes a gateway that leads to secure data transfer over the internet. A lot of processing time is what it saves between the points where the data is evolved and evaluated. Self-operating devices have autonomous nature, therefore, needs secure inter-device communication, one of the other problems that Blockchains can solve.
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Moreover, Blockchains ensure that the data authentication on which AI models depend. The nature of machine learning models is “Trash In, Trash Out” - if there is any compromise over data used to develop the model, then the model results won’t be beneficial.
 
Conclusion:
 
Blockchain technology delivers relevant data that has been checked by various people prior to its movement into a block. It cannot be changed and is available publicly. It is highly relevant than data that is delivered on unproven platforms with embedded errors.
 
Blockchain offers a trustworthy information source to retailers, governments, businesses, financial institutions, non-profits, health and educational organizations, scientific researchers thus enabling informed decision making.