CONNECTIVITY

Nothing But Mesh

AirTags, which Apple released in April, offer seamless integration with the iOS ecosystem and nifty AR functionality. The tiny circular trackers are also joining Apple’s mesh network, a group of devices that connect to one another without a central router. Amazon is also playing here. 

Where we’re going, we don’t need satellites or traditional spectrum gatekeepers. 

Networking for the 2020s

AirTags run on Find My, a crowdsourced network of hundreds of millions of Apple devices that use Bluetooth to detect missing devices or items close by. It’s all powered by Apple’s U1 chip, which lets iPhones and AirTags communicate via ultra-wideband (UWB) radio frequencies, i.e., short-range, high-frequency wireless signals. 

Supported devices essentially become mini base stations, sending a staccato of low-power pings to one another. The beauty of UWB is that it’s so efficient, a $29 device (an AirTag) can last a year before you need to replace the battery. AirTags can deliver precise tracking without WiFi or GPS by piggybacking on iOS/macOS relays to the cloud. 

Sidewalk would like a word 

Around when Apple revealed the U1 chip in late 2019, Amazon unveiled its own low-power wireless protocol: Sidewalk.

How it works: Echo and Ring devices kick in a small portion of bandwidth, acting as bridges for a network that reaches beyond the home. Sidewalk could let smart home devices continue functioning even without an internet connection. Or, pet owners could use Tile-esque smart collars to track a lost pet up to a mile away. (If the doge has left for the moon, they’re out of luck.) 

Speaking of Tile...The OG device tracker has no love lost for Apple, recently accusing it of anticompetitive behavior in congressional testimony. Last week, Tile said it would join the Sidewalk network, along with smart lock maker Level and CareBand, which creates wearables for people with dementia. 

Who wins on network effects?

Since the value of these networks increases with the amount of silicon foot soldiers supporting them, this is a game of scale. 

While Apple has an edge in device base, Amazon is thinking big. “Sidewalk is all about the next billion things that are going to get on the network,” Amazon hardware chief Dave Limp told CNBC last Friday. As Sidewalk builds a coalition of the willing, Apple is also adding support for third-party devices, from earbuds to e-bikes. 

• Note: Both networks are encrypted, and allow users to opt out. 

Zoom out: As we wait on 5G networks and low-earth orbit satellites to fully deliver on their potential, UWB could establish a new communication layer for the Internet of Things without congesting existing networks.

Amazon and Apple aren’t the only ones sold on the idea: Samsung, Sony, and multiple carmakers are also developing products using similar technology. —RD 

CYBERSECURITY

Ransomware as a Service

To President Biden, DarkSide is a group of “ransomware criminals.” To cybercriminals, it’s a way to hire out hits on profitable companies’ data security for a major payday. And to the group itself, it’s a RaaS—Ransomware as a Service—firm.

If you’re thinking DarkSide sounds familiar for a reason other than Darth Vader quotes, it’s because the FBI believes that the likely Eastern European-based collective was behind this week’s cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline. The ransomware led to the temporary disruption of a pipeline that controls nearly half of fuel flow on the US East Coast. 

Big-game hunting 

In some ways, DarkSide works like any company: It sells a product, makes guarantees, and takes its reputation “very seriously.” But...it’s also a cybercrime collective. Its product is ransomware; its guarantees are for how targets will be treated; and its reputation is for double extortion, the “current badguy best practice.” 

• The group mostly targets large corporations. It says it won’t go after hospitals, nursing homes, companies key to COVID-19 vaccine distribution, funeral service businesses, schools and universities, nonprofit organizations, and the government sector. 

Looking ahead: DarkSide claims it doesn’t have political motives—its goal is to “make money” rather than create problems for society, and it plans to adopt a new moderation system before greenlighting further attacks, according to a translated statement. But that likely won’t help its case with the FBI, which has been investigating DarkSide’s ransomware since October. —HF

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DRONES

Drones on Island Time

If delivery drones are good enough for Walmart and Amazon Prime, they’re good enough for royalty...at least, in a sense. 

Yesterday, the UK's Royal Mail announced it will become the first UK parcel carrier to pilot drone delivery to remote islands. The project brings together some of the nation’s biggest names in drone technology and is bankrolled by UK Research and Innovation, the national funding agency that focuses on science and research investments. 

During a one-month trial, the autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will carry Covid-19 testing kits, personal protective equipment, and mail to communities in the Isles of Scilly. 

• In December, Royal Mail became the first nationwide parcel carrier in the UK to make a drone delivery. 

Flight conditions: The planned flight route will take a twin-engine autonomous drone—built by Windracers, a drone aid distribution startup—out of sight for 70 miles before it arrives at the islands’ airport...with up to 220 pounds of parcels in tow, equal to a “typical delivery round.” It was chosen in part for its ability to operate in iffy weather, like the area’s famous fog. 

• From there, a smaller vertical takeoff and landing (VTO) drone—built by air mobility company Skyports—will transport the packages between islands. 

Looking ahead: If the trial is a success, Royal Mail will likely tap UAVs to help postal service workers all over the UK deliver parcels and mail to extremely remote addresses.—HF

BITS & BYTES

Stat: 285,000 vehicles were taken out of North American production last week, per Automotive News/AutoForecast Solutions, as the chip shortage gets worse before it gets better.

Quote: “In the last six months, we’ve seen a dramatic uptick in attacks against our customers.” —Matthew Prince, CEO of cybersecurity company Cloudflare, to CNBC 

Read: Meet the startups trying to improve communication via “high-fidelity” digital avatars. 

Hodl: Barron’s explains how to dip your toes in the crypto pond without getting soaked. Crypto can be intimidating, but it also can’t be dismissed —here’s everything you need to know about the perils and possibilities.*

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WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Autopilot couldn’t have been engaged in the recent fatal crash in Spring, TX, according to preliminary findings from the National Transportation Safety Board. 
• The digital yuan isn’t impressing early users, according to some who spoke with Bloomberg. 
• Harley-Davidson is spinning out its electric motorcycle division.
• Zipline, the medical drone delivery startup, is expanding service in Nigeria. 
• 44 US attorneys general urged Facebook not to roll out “Instagram for kids.”
• Sony’s next-gen PS5 VR headset will have much higher resolution, inside-out-tracking, and a vibration motor, per UploadVR.
• 7 Apple suppliers stand accused of using forced Uighur labor from China’s Xinjiang region. The vendors have also worked with Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, The Information reports. 

TRIVIA

In light of the global chip shortage, we’re dedicating this week’s quiz to semiconductors—those in-demand chips that power virtually all our electronic devices, including the one you’re using to read this. 

Take the quiz here.

MARKET RESEARCH

The Society for Automotive Engineers, which has created the gold standard for benchmarking self-driving systems, has updated its six levels of driving automation.

Society for Automotive Engineers

ICYMI

Catch up on the top Emerging Tech Brew stories from the past few editions: 

• The rise of “high-fidelity” digital avatars 
• What will new US fabs change—and what won't they change?
• Cybersecurity AI firm Darktrace goes public at $2.4 billion valuation