Home Assistant gives new life to Insteon Smart Home products following Smartlabs bankruptcy

Insteon Home Assistant

Smartlabs used to sell Insteon Smart Home products, but the company is now in bankruptcy proceedings, its cloud has been turned off, and users have reported their products not working since April 14. Going to Insteon website confirms the problem: …the company engaged in a sales process in November, 2021. The goal was to find a parent for the company and continue to invest in new products and the technology. The process resulted in several interested parties and a sale was expected to be realized in the March timeframe. Unfortunately, that sale did not materialize. Consequently, the company was assigned to a financial services firm in March to optimize the assets of the company. IoT and Smart Home products going offline are nothing new, either because the company is going bankrupt or the product is not profitable anymore. It happens to me with Weloop Hey 3S smartwatch which I still […]

RAKwireless adds more Wisduo and Wisblock modules, launches WisToolBox configuration tool for IoT devices

RAK3172-SIP and RAK4630 Wisduo modules

RAKwireless have launched several Wisduo wireless modules, a dozen of Wisblock modules for IoT prototyping, updated WisDM, WisGateOS, and RUI3 software, and introduced WisToolBox mobile/desktop configuration tool for IoT devices as part of their spring launch 2022 even entitled “Empowering the Innovators: Making IoT your own”. Three new Wisduo modules RAK3172-SIP WisDuo SIP based on STM32WLE5 Wireless SoC with LoRa connectivity. Compared to the original RAK3172, it offers more IO pins, integrates a TCXO, and comes in a smaller size. The module supports LoRa P2P and complies with Class A, B, & C of LoRaWAN 1.0.3 specifications. Cost: $5.99. WisDuo RAK3272-SiP – That’s a breakout board for the RAK3172-SiP System-in-a-Package module for LoRaWAN and allows easy access to all pins via 2.54mm pitch headers. RAK4630 WisDuo Stamp Module – This module supports both LoRa/LoRaWAN and BLE 5.0, and comes with RUI V3 (RUI3) firmware. It can be deployed as an […]

Maple Eye ESP32-S3 board offers 2MP camera, microphone, and two LCD displays

Maple Eye ESP32-S3 camera displays

AnalogLamb Maple Eye ESP32-S3 is a WiFi and Bluetooth connected board based on ESP32-S3 dual-core Xtensa LX7 microcontroller and equipped with one 2MP camera, one microphone, and two LCD displays placed on each side of the board. Those features, plus 8MB of flash and an 8 MB Octal PSRAM, allow the board to make good use of ESP32-S3 AI instructions through the ESP-DL library found in ESP-WHO framework in order to speed up face detection and recognition algorithms, or for audio processing. Maple Eye ESP32-S3 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 module with ESP32-S3 dual-core Xtensa LX7 processor @ up to 240 MHz integrating vector instructions  for AI acceleration, 512 KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM & 8MB Octal SPI Flash Storage – MicroSD card interface Displays – 2x 1.3-inch TFT LCD displays, selectable by switch Camera – 2MP OV2640 camera Audio – Digital microphone for VAD (voice activity detection) & ASR (automatic […]

Gas pumps happen to be about as insecure as your typical router

gas pump insecure linux embedded box

Around 400 gallons of gas were stolen from a gas station a few days ago by using a special remote to put it in “dispense mode” and get the gasoline for free. It is not an isolated incident and over the years gas pumps have been hacked using different methods, with some running embedded Linux and connected to the Internet just like a router. We previously noted devices connected o the internet like IP cameras and routers were often not secure since most were configured with default credentials (username/password). I went backpacking a few years ago, and each time I stayed somewhere I tried to log in to the router web interface using the infamous admin/admin, and it worked about 80% of the time. In 2016, I also noticed that changing the default credentials may not help, as the telnet port of my modem router was opened to the outside […]

LOLIN C3 Mini ESP32-C3 board is compatible with Wemos D1 Mini shields

Lolin C3 Mini

Wemos LOLIN C3 Mini board is powered by Espressif ESP32-C3 WiFi and BLE RISC-V microcontroller and follows the company’s earlier Wemos D1 Mini (ESP8266) and LOLIN S2 Mini (ESP32-S2) form factor for compatibility with the original stackable Wemos D1 shields. The tiny board comes with 4MB flash embedded in the ESP32-C3 chip, a USB Type-C connector, reset and user buttons, as well as sixteen through holes for GPIOs, VBUS, 3.3V, and ground signals. LOLIN C3 Mini V1.0.0 specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-C3FH4 single-core 32-bit RISC-V (RV32IMC) microcontroller up to 160 MHz with 400 KB SRAM, 4MB Flash Connectivity – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE (in SoC) Expansion headers – 2x 8-pin headers with up to 12x GPIO, ADC, I2C, SPI, UART (3.3V I/O voltage) USB – 1x Type-C USB for 5V power and programming Misc – Reset button and button 0 also used to enter Device […]

CM4-IO-POE-4G-Box – A Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 box for industrial IoT applications

CM4-IO-PoE-4G-Box

While the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 is basically unobtanium, companies keep introducing products based on the Arm system-on-module, and Waveshare CM4-IO-POE-4G-Box is a complete system designed for industrial IoT applications with CAN Bus, RS232 and RS485 interfaces, Ethernet with PoE support, plus optional support for 2G to 5G cellular connectivity. The CM4-IO-POE-4G-Box is based on the “Compute Module 4 PoE 4G” carrier board which itself appears to be an update to the company’s earlier “Compute Module PoE 4G” carrier board for the Raspberry Pi CM3 module. CM4-IO-POE-4G-Box / Compute Module 4 PoE 4GB board specifications: Support SoM – All variants of Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Storage – MicroSD card socket used for Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Lite (without eMMC) Display 2x HDMI ports up to 4Kp30 (I suppose even 4Kp60) 2x 15-pin MIPI DSI connectors + openings in the enclosure for flat cables Camera – 2x internal […]

OnLogic announces Factor 201 Raspberry Pi CM4 industrial PC, Factor 202 controller coming soon

Onlogic Factor 201

OnLogic has announced the launch of the Factor 201, a compact fanless industrial PC based on Raspberry Pi CM4 (Compute Module 4) for Edge IoT applications, and is working on the Factor 202 industrial controller with onboard digital and analog I/Os (DIO & AIO), as well as a capacitive touchscreen. OnLogic Factor 201 Specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi CM4 with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Arm Cortex-A72 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz, up to 8GB LPDDR4 RAM, up to 32GB eMMC flash Additional storage – Optional M.2 SATA SSD (See Expansion section) Video Output – HDMI port up to 4Kp60 Networking 2x Gigabit Ethernet LAN (Optional PoE PD Input) via Realtek RTL8153 controller Optional WiFi/Bluetooth module on Raspberry Pi CM4 module + 3x antenna holes Optional 4G LTE wireless module via M.2 socket USB – 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, 2x USB 2.0 ports, 1x USB-C management port Serial – […]

Ai-Thinker Hi-series WiFi modules support HarmonyOS (Sponsored)

Ai-Thinker Hi-12F

Ai-Thinker Hi-series WiFi modules feature Hisilicon Hi3861/Hi3861L 32-bit RISC-V microcontroller with 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 and support for HarmonyOS for IoT projects. The new Hi-12F module even got certification for HarmonyOS “S identification” meaning the Hi-12F module supports HarmonyOS Connect for the Smart Home which used to be called “Works With HUAWEI HiLink” or “Powered by HarmonyOS”. Some of the highlights for Ai-Thinker Hi-series WiFi module include: Integrated high-performance 32-bit RISC-V microprocessor (Hi3861V100/Hi3861LV100) with 352KB SRAM, 288KB ROM, and 2MB Flash IEEE 802.11 b/g/n WiFi 4 up to 72.2Mbps @ HT20 MCS7 with STA and AP modes (Up to 6 clients in AP mode). Baseband and RF circuits with power amplifier PA, low noise amplifier LNA, RF balun, antenna switch, power supply management Multiple Security Capabilities with a built-in eFUSE, support for secure storage, and hardware ID Rich peripheral interfaces with  UART, SPI, I2C, GPIO, ADC, PWM, I2S, SDIO, etc… […]

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