Episode 429: Why Roku wants a smart home OS

Episode 429: Why Roku wants a smart home OS

Author: Stacey Higginbotham, tech journalist June 29, 2023 Duration: 1:01:00

This week we learned a bit more about streaming provider Roku’s plans to build a smart home operating system. This is in addition to all of the new smart home devices the company has developed using Wyze hardware. Because Kevin Tofel is on vacation, I’m talking about all this with my co-host and the creator of the Lowpass newsletter Janko Roettgers, who is a smart TV expert. Janko explains what’s happening with this deal and the overall shift to control smart homes through televisions. We then talk about smart energy management options from SmartThings, and Josh.ai’s new JoshGPT service that combines traditional smart home control with a large language model. In smaller news bits we cover two new sensors from SimpliSafe, new Matter-enabled Wi-Fi light switches from TP-Link’s Tapo brand, a potential audio streaming device from Eve, and purported new sensors for IKEA’s smart home ecosystem. Nanoleaf also launched a reasonably-priced way to give your TV ambient lighting. We also hear from a listener about his review of the Bond IR device we recommended a few weeks back.

Josh.ai’s new generative AI model can answer many more questions than a traditional home assistant. And it can still turn on the lights. Image courtesy of Josh.ai.

Our guest this week is Scott Ford, the CEO of Pepper. Pepper recently teamed up with Embedded Insurance to create an add-on cyber insurance policy that Pepper can offer through its partnerships with service providers and consumer device makers. Pepper provides a smart home application and service for other businesses, for example providing a smart home interface for an ISP or providing cloud storage services for a connected camera maker. Much like adding on cloud storage can generate extra revenue, adding cyber insurance or other insurance policies can generate money. So customers of Pepper’s customers may soon get a notification asking if they want to pay $5 for cyber insurance that will offset some of the costs of identity theft, cyberbullying, cyber extortion, and more. Ford talks about the cyber insurance product and about how connected devices are changing the way that insurers market their products, and how they assess risk. Honestly, that risk assessment is both exciting and a little bit scary. Enjoy the show.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Janko Roettgers, creator of the Lowpass newsletter
Guest: Scott Ford, the CEO of Pepper
Sponsors: Blynk and Particle

  • Does Roku really want to build a smart home OS or just sell more gear?
  • Josh.ai brings generative AI to smart homes, and it’s nice
  • Nanoleaf’s 4-D screen mirror tech is pretty cool
  • Why your smart camera maker may soon offer you insurance
  • How connected devices change the way insurance is sold … and priced

The post Episode 429: Why Roku wants a smart home OS appeared first on IoT Podcast - Internet of Things.


For anyone trying to make sense of a world where everything from your thermostat to a factory floor is getting smarter, The Internet of Things Podcast-Stacey On IoT offers essential context. Veteran tech journalist Stacey Higginbotham, who brings her experience from Fortune, and co-host Kevin Tofel break down the weekly flood of news, separating genuine innovation from mere hype. Their analysis spans the entire connected ecosystem, diving into the gadgets in our homes, the sensors transforming industrial workspaces, and the complex enterprise systems tying it all together. This isn't just theoretical; it's a practical guide to the business and technology decisions shaping our networked future. You'll hear from a range of voices that have built and critiqued this landscape, including pioneers like Vint Cerf, insightful commentators like Om Malik, and practitioners from companies such as Amazon, AT&T, and IBM Watson. Listening to this podcast provides a crucial framework for understanding the real-world implications of connectivity, whether you're an industry professional, a curious developer, or simply someone wondering how all these "smart" things actually work-and what they mean for privacy, security, and daily life. It's the clear-eyed conversation you need to navigate the ever-expanding Internet of Things.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

The Internet of Things Podcast - Stacey On IoT
Podcast Episodes
Episode 406: Return of the HomePod [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:23
This week’s show kicks off with a discussion of Apple’s new HomePod, which has some cool machine learning capabilities and new sensors built into it, plus a higher price tag than most smart speakers. Then we talk about a…
Episode 405: More CES trends including wireless power [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:37
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Episode 404: CES has more Matter and many voices [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:55
Kevin and I are at CES 2023 this week and eager for the show floor to open to see all of the new and crazy gear. But before we see the show floor, we had to slog through the planned news and media events, which we’re tal…
Episode 403: Matter upgrades aren’t ready for prime time [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:03
We tried Matter for the first time late last week, and have a lot to share with our listeners about what we and other journalists learned through the process. The early verdict is that most people should not update for a…
Episode 402: Google begins its Matter roll out [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:29
This week’s show is a celebration of Matter actually hitting devices, with Google announcing its Matter roll out and Eve allowing users to update its devices to Matter as well. We’re super excited to play with Matter, an…
Episode 401: Two big smart home deals explained [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:24
The end of the year is a busy time for M&A as companies rush to get deals done before the start of a new tax year, and this week the smart home sector saw Assa Abloy sell its Yale and August smart lock and some other bra…
Episode 400: How to pronounce IKEA’s Dirigera hub [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:35
This week’s show starts off with a review of news from AWS Re:Invent which is happening now in LAs Vegas. We cover the general availability of support for the latest version of the MQTT messaging protocol, the launch of…
Episode 399: Alexa’s drama and our holiday gift guide [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:39
The biggest news in the internet of things this week was the staggering story about Amazon’s Alexa business being responsible for the majority of an estimated $10 billion loss in the year ahead. So Kevin and I discuss wh…
Episode 398: Bluetooth bets on 6 GHz and TP-Link hops on Wi-Fi 7 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:54
Amazon has started laying off workers, including some working on Alexa and in Amazon’s devices business. We discuss this as well as IBM following in Google’s footsteps and shutting down its IoT cloud business. We move fr…
Episode 397: Arduino Opta adds a little IT to the OT [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:29
This week’s show kicks off with a discussion of the lawsuit between Arm and Qualcomm amid accusations that Arm is changing its licensing model. We cover what has been said, and what it might mean for the IoT before headi…