In this tech insight, we take a look at a selection of the latest B2B and B2C tech products and gadgets on show at the recent CES® tech trade show.

Examples

The more business-focused devices, hardware and software on show included:

Laptops And Other Devices

As you may expect, many new laptops and other devices were unveiled at CES®. These included new EliteBook 605 Series PCs (aimed at hybrid workers), and Lenovo’s new ThinkPad Z Series laptops (134 and 16) aimed at the business market.

New Routers For Small Offices/Remote Working

Netgear’s new tri-band Orbi Pro SXK50 mesh router is designed to give rapid Wi-Fi speeds for small offices and remote working, and offers 5.4 Gbps, has Wi-Fi 6, and can manage up to 75 concurrent devices with a coverage area of 12,500 square feet.

TP-Link ‘s new Wi-Fi 6E router has antennas that rotate automatically to give the best signal based on the location of the user’s devices and can deliver total speeds of over 10 Gbps.

New Webcams

Examples of new webcams previewed at CES® include Jabra’s PanaCast 20 4K HDR video business-focused webcam which uses AI to ensure that the user is always perfectly in frame with the right lighting levels. Also, the Anker Video Bar comes with its own adjustable lighting, as well as a built-in mic and speaker array making it ideal for video conferencing.

New Monitors

Dell’s new UltraSharp U3223QZ business monitors include a new 4K webcam built-in, two echo-cancelling mics, two 14W speakers, IPS Black panel technology, and are certified for collaboration software Microsoft Teams. This clearly positions them as products aimed at improving remote/hybrid working.

Docking Station For Multiple Monitors

Plugable’s new docking station can support three 4K monitors at once, has three 4K HDMI ports and three 4K DisplayPort ports, plus the docking station lets users mix and match monitors with different connectivity standards.

Blackberry Security Software

Blackberry showcased the fact it has shifted from being a smartphone company, through a range of partnerships, to supplying the BlackBerry Jarvis software composition analysis tool. Its job is to help embedded software developers whose products are used by the US Federal Government to spot any potential security issues.

Some of the many ‘gadgets’ on show at CES® included:

Immersive “Virtual Ride” OLED Fitness Bike From LG

LG’s “virtual ride” immersive fitness bike sits the user on an exercise bike in front of three, large, arched, 55-inch OLED panels which bend vertically over the user. The high-quality visuals e.g., riding along a forest path give the user the feeling of cycling through a real environment. The panels are an alternative to a VR headset, but the user would need somewhere with plenty of space to set up this particular product.

Smart Dog Collar

French company Invoxia’s ‘Smart Dog Collar’ claims to be the “first biometric health collar for dog”. The collar monitors a dog’s vitals, activity, and location 24/7. It has already won 2 CES® Innovation Awards and allows the owner to track their dog’s heart and respiratory rate, check their activity levels and eating habits, and uses a radar, a buzzer, and GPS to track a dog and/or locate the dog if it’s lost or stolen.

Samsung C-Lab’s Zamstar Digital Guitar

The Zamstar guitar from Samsung C-Lab uses LEDs on the fretboard to show finger positions and an accompanying app to help users to learn their favourite riffs and songs.

Health Tracking Lightbulb

The smart, health-monitoring light bulb from Sengled uses radar sensors to track the heart rate, body temperature and other vital signs of people in the home. If several Smart Health Monitoring Light bulbs are used in the home, for example, they can connect via Bluetooth to create a health-monitoring map of the occupants of a house.

Finger-Nibbling Animal Robots

Japanese company Yukai’s cute, cuddly animal robots use different algorithm-driven nibbling patterns such as “Tasting Ham”, “Massaging Ham”, and “Suction Ham” to give the user the feeling that a baby or pet is nibbling their fingers when they put their fingers in the robot’s mouth.

The Lili Lamp For People With Dyslexia

Lili’s lamp, which the company says is “based on French scientific discoveries” emits flashes of light, almost invisible to the naked eye, which are designed to make the perception of writing more precise for the majority of people with dyslexia, and help their reading to become smoother, faster, and less tiring.

iPhone-Finding, Eco-Friendly Backpack

The Cypress Hero Backpack with ‘Find My’ technology built-in is an eco-friendly backpack that allows the user to ping their iPhone if they’ve lost it and set up geofencing alerts which sound an alarm if the backpack is moved out of a certain area.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

The effects of the pandemic on working have clearly affected the types of new products (and their marketing) being released with many companies focusing on their usefulness for remote and hybrid working. Also, as expected, the continued growth of the IoT with a variety of smart gadgets, many of which have a health focus, and the inclusion of AI technology were very much in evidence. This reflects how important the IoT and AI have become in our business and home life and what a big market there is now for health-related wearables. Although some big companies were not ‘in-person’ at CES®, it was still able to reveal how tech companies can innovate and use multiple technologies to create new products, enhance existing ones, and help businesses and consumers to meet needs in new and interesting ways. The hope is, of course, that Covid will not prevent in-person attendance at the next show although the tech industry is probably the best prepared to go virtual if needed.

In this article, we look at what BYOD is, why a BYOD policy is important, and what elements form the essential blueprint of a BYOD policy.

What Is BYOD?

The term Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has been around since 2004 when it was first coined as an expression. With BYOD, employees can bring and use their personally owned laptops, tablets, sometimes USB drives and smartphones to work and use them for work-related activities. The activities could be accessing company emails and information, connecting to the company network, and accessing company apps and data, and using their own device to solve work problems. Smartphones are the most popular BYOD device.

Types

It should be noted that there are different types of BYOD. These include corporately owned/managed, personally enabled (COPE), choose your own (company) device (CYOD), personally owned, partially enterprise managed, or personally owned, with managed container application.

Why?

The benefits of BYOD underpin why it has become so popular. For example:

– Convenience. We now have more personal devices and that these devices have the capacity to do many of the things that work PCs would have done. Most people, for example, now bring at least their own smartphone to work. LaptopsDirect research found that 84 per cent of British employees now use their smartphones at work. The same research showed that those in the marketing, information and communications, creative and photographic industries (and within professional services) are the top smartphone users. Also, many businesses, particularly smaller ones, have simply come to rely on the fact that employees’ own devices are available for work use.

– Increased Productivity. Employees often work faster (with less training needed) using their own devices and, therefore, becoming more productive.

– Costs savings. For example, a much-quoted Cisco report from 2016 estimated that with a BYOD policy in place, companies save an average of $350 per year.

– Speed. It has been estimated that using portable devices for work can save employees 58 minutes per day (Samsung + Frost and Sullivan).

– Harnessing the skills of tech-savvy employees.

– Innovation by finding new, better, and faster ways of getting work done.

– Improved morale and employee satisfaction, and productivity gains.

– Reduced IT Dependence. BYOD typically means fewer IT-related issues for the business to deal with, therefore saving on IT resources.

Why Do You Need A BYOD Policy?

Having a BYOD policy is a way of ensuring that employees use the right, approved security practices when connecting to the company network. A BYOD is a document that outlines how employees (and who) are permitted to access corporate digital assets using their personal devices.

Setting out the company’s/organisation’s rules of acceptable use of the technology, how to operate it and how to protect the company from cyber threats in an enforceable BYOD policy, which employees must agree to comply with. For example:

– Protect the company/organisation’s infrastructure and data from cyber threats e.g., ransomware, hacking, data breaches.

– Ensure legal compliance and meeting contractual obligations.

– Enable the smooth running of flexible, remote and hybrid working.

– Give users the ability to use IT confidently and comfortably.

The Essentials

The essentials of a BYOD policy, and developing that policy, should broadly include the following:

– An audit of the existing system to establish threats, risks, and opportunities for using BYOD.

– Establishing goals for BYOD based on the audit.

Based on these two stages, a BYOD policy that works for both the business and the employee can be developed which could incorporate:

– A statement of the aims of the policy to help employees understand its purpose and importance.

– An outline of the scope of the policy i.e., who it applies to (which staff and/or third parties), and the systems it applies to.

– A definition of what constitutes the acceptable use of personal devices for business activities. This could include, for example, the types of supported mobiles/devices that have been approved by IT, and the approved security software that must be installed on the user’s device (mobile device/application management tools).

– Permitted and non-permitted tasks.

– Other security measures that must be taken e.g., password requirements, verification and encryption requirements, biometric security, and any time-out period to locking.

– User responsibilities relating to how their device is used when accessing the company’s/organisation’s network. This could include informing IT if they leave employment and compliance with relevant legislation (including not using BYOD while driving).

– A statement of who is responsible for cost, e.g. for the purchasing, running, repairing, and replacing of personal devices used in BYOD plus the nature of any incentives or cost reimbursements offered to employees who use their personal data plans in the course of using their device for work activities.

– The company’s/organisation’s position on liability for any loss or damage of personal devices and data used with BYOD.

– How monitoring will take place e.g., checking the make and model of devices and whether operating systems are up to date, and any spot checks. This statement could also include details of what IT personnel can access e.g., details on usage of corporate applications via the BYOD, not personal details.

– Control limits over devices e.g., whether they can be accessed and wiped remotely by managers.

– Details of enforcement measures, what happens if employees fail to comply with the policy e.g., access to BYOD services being withdrawn.

– A definition of the termination policy and an exit plan for employees who no longer wish to participate in BYOD.

Guidance

There are many online resources providing guidance and help with BOYD and developing an effective policy. For example, both Microsoft and Google have provided online guidance for BYOD:

Microsoft – Office 365 UK Blueprint – BYOD Access Patterns.

Google – 6 ways that G Suite helps IT admins safely use BYOD.

Also, there is the UK National Cyber Security Centre guide.

Solutions and Software

There are also many different solutions and software options to enable the management of BYOD. These include CrowdStrike Falcon for mobile, SolarWinds RMM, ManageEngine Mobile Device Manager Plus, AirWatch Workspace One, and more.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

With remote working and hybrid working, having an effective, well-communicated and regularly updated BYOD policy in place has never been more important for businesses. It should be remembered that having a good BYOD in place doesn’t just help with security but can also facilitate improved productivity and can make for a smarter, more agile business. The starting point of developing a BYOD policy is a full assessment of the risks, challenges, costs, and resource implications, plus an understanding of its goals and benefits. An effective BYOD policy should be designed to work for both the employee and the business and be supported by appropriate and effective monitoring, feedback, and enforcement.

A filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission shows that Apple CEO, Tim Cook, earned $100 million in 2021.

1,477 Times Higher Than Average

The filing showed that his pay, fuelled by stock awards, if compared to the new median pay for employees of $68,254, was 1,447 times that of the average employee at Apple.

Considerably Higher Than 2020

The filing appears to show that Mr Cook’s $98.7 million salary was so much higher than his $14.8 million in 2020 because he received $82.3 million in stock awards, $12 million for hitting Apple’s targets, and $1.4 million for air travel on top of his $3 million basic salary.

Home Working Has Boosted Demand

Apple was reported to have first become a trillion-dollar company as far back as August 2018, and in its first day of trading in 2022 became the first company to hit a $3 trillion stock market value (albeit briefly as stocks dipped at the end of the day). The company’s revenue received a considerable boost of more than 30 per cent to $365.82 billion in 2021 due to increased demand for its products thanks to the home working caused by the pandemic lockdowns.

First Since 2011

Mr Cook taking over for Steve Jobs in 2011 led to an initial 1,000 per cent stock surge, and Mr Cook has not, until last year, received restricted stock units since 2011.

Donate Wealth To Charity

Back in March 2015, Mr Cook announced that he planned to donate his $800m fortune to charity before he dies, with the money to go to many social causes, and to his nephew’s education.

Not The Richest

Tim Cook is certainly not the richest man compared if to Tesla founder Elon Musk whose fortune was boosted recently by a $ 32.6 billion rise in share price due to strong Tesla car sales in 2021 to $ 304.2 billion.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Evidence of the personal wealth and salary increases of big tech company bosses, particularly over the last 2 years, highlights the strength of the market position of their companies, the increased demand for tech/digital products and services with home working during the pandemic, and of course, obvious inequalities in society. Apple has clearly strengthened its market position during 2021 and Cook has been rewarded for his leadership through stock units, albeit for the first time since he took over. It’s difficult for many business owners to imagine the kind of remuneration figures that big tech bosses and rich-list people receive although, thankfully, it is not unusual for some to spend substantial amounts on worthy causes (Bill Gates), and it is heartening to hear that Tim Cook plans to donate so much to social causes, albeit after his death. Apple’s good profit news is a far cry from its 2020 fine for the ‘batterygate’ scandal and, with its new ‘Business Essentials’ service and ‘Self-Service Repair’ programme for iPhones beginning this year, plus the continued demand for its products, 2022 looks set to be another good year for Apple and its CEO.

The Google Maps mobile app now has many useful and surprising features. Here are 3 top Google Maps tips you may like to try:

1. Remember Where You Parked

– When using Google Maps on Android, on reaching your destination, tap the blue location dot.

– Select ‘Save your parking,’ which adds a label to the Maps app, identifying where you parked.

– Tap that to add details e.g., car park level, or amount of time left before a meter expires (you can also set meter reminders or add a photo).

– To find your car later, tap the search bar up top and select ‘Parking location.’

– For iOS, tap the little blue location dot when you arrive, in the pop-up, tap ‘Set as parking location.’

– In the app, a ‘P’ icon will appear alongside a note that says, “You parked near here.”

2. Add Multiple Locations e.g., If You Have Several Stops To Make

– In the Google Maps mobile app, enter your starting point and your ultimate destination.

– Click the three dots (top-right).

– Select and click on “Add stop” and add details of the next stop on your route.

– Different stops can be dragged and dropped within your itinerary.

3. Measure Any Distance

– Right-click on a point on the map.

– Select ‘Measure distance’ from the list. A dot and a black line will appear.

– Click anywhere else on the map, and the distance between the points will be calculated (multiple points on a route can be added and the total distance calculated).

A mother took to Twitter to complain that Alexa had suggested to her 10-year-old daughter that she play a game that involves touching the prongs of a live plug with a penny!

Playing

The mother, Kristin Livdahl (of Minnesota, USA), was reported to have been doing physical challenges indoors on Boxing Day with her 10-year-old daughter because of inclement weather outside, when her daughter asked Alexa, via the Amazon Echo, for another challenge.

The Penny Challenge

To her mum Kristin’s horror, as outlined in her Tweet, Alexa’s suggestion, which it had “found on the web”, was something called the “penny challenge” which is reported to have been circulating on TikTok and other social media platforms last year.

According to Kristin Livdahl’s tweet, the suggestion offered by Alexa was: “Here’s something I found on the Web. According to ourcommunitynow.com: The challenge is simple: plug in a phone charger about halfway into a wall outlet, then touch a penny to the exposed prongs.”

Thankfully, as Livdahl reported “I was right there and yelled, ‘No, Alexa, no!’ like it was a dog. My daughter says she is too smart to do something like that anyway.”

Extremely Dangerous

As reported by USA Today, comments from a Fire Marshal about a case where two high school students had tried the challenge (reported in The Providence Journal) highlighted how the challenge causes “sparks, electrical system damage, and in some cases fire.” 

Metals conduct electricity and, therefore, touching a live metal plug prong with another metal object held in the hand can result in serious physical harm such as burns, electric shock and potentially death.

Amazon Says Sorry

Amazon is reported to have apologised and offered help to Livdahl and stated that it had fixed the problem as soon as it became aware of it. Amazon has also stated that it will continue to advance its systems to prevent any similar responses in the future.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This is a damaging story for Amazon, and it was incredibly lucky that nobody was hurt. The story highlights how AI and algorithms can’t exercise judgement in the same way that a human can. It also illustrates how the Internet, apps, and the IoT can be dangerous for children and young people and how tech companies need to increase their efforts and their investment to make the digital world safer for young people. Parental oversight and control are also clearly still important elements in making sure that risks are minimised and that there is always a fail-safe in place.

It has been reported that the rapid spread of Omicron has led to more tech companies cancelling in-person appearances at January’s CES® technology industry trade show.

CES®

CES® is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association which is due to take place in Las Vegas 5 – 8 January. Due to Covid, last year’s CES® was held as a virtual event instead.

Some Big Names To Attend Virtually Instead

Although the in-person event is to ahead with around 2200 companies having in-person representatives present, some very high-profile tech companies have pulled-out of sending representatives in favour of attending virtually instead. The rapid rise in Covid (Omicron) cases is the given reason for in-person being swapped for virtual attendance.

Companies that have announced that they will not be sending in-person representatives to CES® so far include Amazon, Facebook, Google, Intel, and Microsoft, and, also just announced, chip maker AMD and PC manufacturer MSI. It has also been reported that Smartphone company OnePlus has cancelled an in-person event that was due to be held in Las Vegas on the same dates as CES®. It should be noted, however, that despite some big companies pulling out of in-person representation, 60 new exhibitors had been added in recent days.

Omicron

In the US (at the time of reporting), the country has just recorded a record-breaking seven-day average of Covid cases which has exceeded 267,000. The highly infectious Omicron variant now accounts for 59 per cent of new infections in the US, a massive jump up from 23 per cent just a week earlier. It is not surprising, therefore, that many of the big technology companies are not willing to take the risk.

Rules For Attendees

Attendees to the show must be fully vaccinated, wear masks and have tested themselves for Covid within the 24-hour period prior to entering one of the exhibition venues. There will, of course, also be social-distancing measures in place at CES®.

Covid Has Changed Big Tech Events

Covid has changed how big tech events have been held over the last two years.  For example, London Tech Week Connects back in June 2020 and CES® in January 2021 were held as fully virtual events, whereas London Tech Week in September 2021 was held as a hybrid of virtual and in-person events.

Value of Virtual

Although January’s CES® is going ahead as a physical, in-person event, those tech shows that have been held virtually in recent times have highlighted some of the advantages of virtual. For example, with most people now used to using platforms such as Zoom, attendances at virtual events are high. Also, virtual attendees find that they can network with more people and not needing to be physically present offers convenience, less hassle, less expense (e.g., no long flights or quarantines and uncertainty or hotel bookings required). Virtual events can also mean that some much higher profile speakers may be available.

Not Great For The Hospitality Industry

Unfortunately, fewer in-person appearances from big companies and attendees perhaps changing their minds as Covid cases rise rapidly is bad news, not just for the event organisers and workers (e.g., for productions crews) but also for hotels and surrounding businesses.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Event organisers can, of course, hold entire tech events virtually, or as a hybrid of virtual and in-person, but with the event already booked and organised, costs incurred and a lot at stake, high profile companies opting out of in-person attendance is likely to be a blow for CES® organisers. It could lead to others pulling out and may discourage attendance at the show. There is also the uncertainty now of the effects of a rapidly spreading variant on attendance and what pressure this may put on the organisers, and how it could affect the success of the show. It may be expected in the post-pandemic world that big events will have at least some virtual elements to them but cancellations for in-person attendees is bad for hotels and other bricks and mortar businesses that would normally benefit. Some businesses pulling out of in-person attendance, however, may benefit other exhibitors who may now be able to get a place at the show, possibly at favourable rates.