The dark side of the Internet
of Things -
Yes, someone really could take control of your car. Cybersecurity researchers used the Internet to turn off a car's engine as it drove, escalating concerns about the safety of Internet-connected vehicles. The researchers used Fiat Chrysler's telematics system to break into a car being driven on the highway and issue commands to the engine, steering and brakes. Read it and weep here.

The results are in - first annual survey
of the iOT
Last month I invited you to respond to a survey of things you'd like to have connected to the Internet to access from anywhere on your smartphone - the Internet of Things. At first I was disappointed at the number of people who responded - fifteen percent of the number who responded to the Downton Abbey TV series questionnaire - almost half of whom didn't even watch the program! I decided though that this was because the iOT is still very new and most people have given the subject very little thought. In fact five times as many people responded to the earlier much more detailed survey concerning what devices they used.

For those who did reply it was in one way predictable and in another way surprising that the lowly thermostat was the single most desired device to access remotely. It was predictable since thermostats have received the

most publicity because of the intelligent Nest version (now owned by Google). It was surprising though since the touted advantage of the Nest is that it programs itself so you don't have to worry about it! In fact two friends have demonstrated how they can access the device but neither gave a good reason to do so. It reminds me of all the programmable VCRs that were never actually programmed and the dozens of options on a microwave that are never used.

The second most desired category made more sense to me - sensors that could monitor your home and quickly alert you to such problems as water in the basement or dropping temperatures in the winter. How all of these gadgets work in practice brings up the problem of connectivity. No individual sensor or device will be directly linked to the Internet. Most will connect through some type of hub that will usually involve your router. Of course if the house temperature is falling, it's very likely there has been a power failure so the sensors will need to be battery powered. Unfortunately your router won't work without power either. All of these problems are solvable but the technology is bound to bring a complex array of problems and solutions. It ain't gonna be easy!

Finally, if you'd like to answer the one question survey and increase the sample size, I'd appreciate it (please click here). Here are the results so far.

My one sentence advice column -
Think carefully before you buy your next smartphone - the minimum memory on the base models may not be adequate and memory cannot be expanded on many models. (Last month's once sentence advice was never, ever take a video on your smartphone held vertically.)