Does owning a smart fridge or a smart toothbrush make you smart??

Amazon just released a Superbowl ad and it is hilarious!
Amazon gamely admits that it has tried incorporating Alexa, the company's smart assistant in a lot of products that could have been avoided. Amazon cheekily admits that they have gone out of the way in trying to put Alexa in everything from a toothbrush to a spaceship.

Nice ad. But, let us step back and actually consider this digital assistant / smart things phenomenon.

Just a couple of weeks back, hot on the heels of this years CES event, Google announced that they have now 1 billion GOOGLE ASSISTANT active devices and The Verge carried out an exclusive that Amazon has sold over 100 million ALEXA devices.

These are HUGE numbers!! These are impressive numbers. If you were to dive a little deeper into the distribution of these devices, Amazon might have a slight edge as people have gone out and purchased devices with built-in Alexa whereas Google Assistant is baked into an Android phone, thus inflating the number of "active devices".

Source: Freepik

But, I digress. This piece is not about who is winning the war and whether Alexa is better than Google Assistant or otherwise. I want to address the situation that we find ourselves in. What situation, you ask? the situation of having a smart assistant in every electronic device. While it started out as a war between Amazon & Google, the likes of Samsung (BIXBY), Apple (SIRI) are also making a splash. For all practical purposes, I do not consider CORTANA as a competitor.

Digital Assistant War (Source: Google Photos)

This month during CES, we saw a number of things that had a smart assistant built-in. From alarm clocks to microwaves. The one that takes cake was a piece of wood with an electronic display to show you the weather!! No kidding! Why would anyone want that? Or why would you want a "smart" microwave?

I clearly seem to be missing something. Do not get me wrong. I like the basic concept of a smart home. I myself have about 6 "smart" gadgets at home. These connected devices make my life simpler. They are practical. For instance, at night, I like the convenience of being able to switch off the light from an app or just saying Goodnight. I also like to just get my home device to play a song with a simple command rather than fishing my phone out! I am of the belief that these connected devices should have a practical use. They should not be made just because it is possible!

Let me give you an example of the Samsung Family Hub refrigerator. It is loaded with 3 cameras and internet-enabled tablet. It costs a cool $5000!!!!! Why?

A) You can leave notes on the big display for family members?
B) Playing videos in your kitchen?
C) Display your grocery list?
D) Click pics with your fridge?

 Sounds more like a gimmick than being practical. Just by making it sound like an "upgrade" from your "dumb" appliance/gadget, customers are led to buy something that is exorbitant. My question to Samsung is - If your phone & tablets don't last longer than 18-24 months, how is that tablet on the fridge going to hold up for 5-6 years or more? You dot expect us to upgrade our refrigerator every 2 years, do you? What about security? Since it is a connected device, would you give security updates as long as we keep the refrigerator? the answer is a BIG no!

The other reason why it is not advisable to make everything "smart" is that there are glaring security issues. All these devices are vulnerable to hacking and are easily exploitable. Here is an instance of the getting HACKED last month. SCARY is an understatement.
Imagine a scenario wherein someone takes full control of all the gadgets of your household remotely. The lights go off when you want them on at night. The TV shows what the hacker needs to show you instead of the cute Cat videos.

Let me again reiterate that I am not against the idea of building a smart home. I am in on it. The thing is, you need to be absolutely sure of the utility of the device before taking the plunge. Once decided, ensure that you have all the security checks in place.

If any product does not do anything that you want it to do in a simpler, cheaper and effectively in an already existing manner, it is certainly not smart. Ans, you shall not be smart in buying it!!

Here are my key takeaways:

1) A smart home (or multiple smart devices)  MUST ensure both simplicity and privacy. If anyone is being compromised, it is not worth it.

2) Currently, these smart devices are more beneficial for manufacturers and advertisers. They use whatever you say and store it in a remote server. Share smartly. Do not be at the mercy of these devices.

3) I am not the one to go all in on a single HUB. I am just not comfortable dumping all my info into or to one device.

What do you guys think? What is your take on this issue? Are you a digital person or an Analog person? or a bit of both (like me)?
Let me know if you want everything to be smart or you just like life as it is now.

Finally, if you want to start taking baby steps in building a smart home, do let me know. I could help you with it or just write a blog or shoot a video about it.

Xiaomi to concentrate on becoming a Luxury/Lifestyle brand?

Earlier this month, Xiaomi announced that it is spinning off REDMI into a separate brand while separating it from the Mi brand. REDMI joins POCO as the 2nd sub-brand that manufacturers niche budget smartphones. The 1st phone (Redmi Note 7) under the independent REDMI  brand was launched on January 10th.

So far, Xiaomi has launched premium phones under the Mi lineup of smartphones and the budget/value for money phones under the Redmi series. Poco series, which caters to budget flagships,  falls between these two.

The move to spin off brands is not a new one. HUAWEI did the same with its HONOR brand of phones and more recently, OPPO launched REALME to focus on the entry-level and budget segment phones to cater to the price sensitive Indian market.

That said, why would Xiaomi do that? There could be a few reasons for this. The first one is the more apparent one. While Redmi series would continue to operate in the segment it already rules, the Mi series would concentrate on launching high-end (more expensive) flagships. The super success of the Redmi phones, owing to inexpensive phones, has led everyone to believe that Xiaomi is a budget brand. This move will allow Xiaomi to launch aspirational / lifestyle products under the Mi series at a higher price.

Mi India lifestyle product page

The other reason is not very different from the first one but important for Xiaomi. In India, Xiaomi is largely considered as a phone brand. However, the brand offers a lot more in China and in other select markets. Xiamoi has invested in several tech start-ups to offer a varied range of products that include robot-vacuum cleaners, security cameras, fitness bands, smartwatches, air-purifier smart lights etc. The Mi line up of TVs is also a recent addition to the long list of products. While the narrative so far has been to undercut the more expensive alternatives by offering great value for money, this move will allow Mi to slowly start charging a little premium.

On the product front, Xiaomi has already started positioning itself as a lifestyle brand in India, Over the last 12 - 18 months, the company has launched a slew of products including, backpacks, neck pillows, luggage, pollution mask, pens, security camera and a soundbar. All these products have a unique understated design language. They look and feel premium. These products have done reasonably well. Considering that the brand has done such a good job with its lifestyle portfolio, the move of  Mi launching its premium line-up of lifestyle products would be a smooth one.

Xiaomi portfolio

While Redmi will continue to be the torchbearer on the financial growth front (after all Xiaomi only makes 5% profits off its smartphone business), the lifestyle range will surely help the company grow (both financially and product -portfolio wise) over a period of time. This will help Xiamoi in both solidifying its financial structure and it will also come across a lifestyle brand that offers a huge portfolio of smart electronics and lifestyle products that simplify life. Xiaomi would want to own the whole ecosystem in an Indian household.
Take my example for instance. My household has 5 smartphones ( 3 Redmi, 1 Mi & 1 Poco), 1 air-purifier, 1 VR headset, security camera, soundbar, earphones, pens, suitcase, power bank that belong to Xiaomi. I am also planning to purchase a Mi TV for my bedroom!

Looking at Xiaomi's Chinese portfolio, it soon will cater to almost every need of an average Indian consumer. Having owned and loved Xiaomi products for a while now, I can only look forward with glee to see the brand grow and become a force to reckon with across the globe.

HOW TO: Lock/Unlock your Aadhar biometric data

Aadhar card has pretty much become mandatory across the board! Over the last couple of years, it has gone on to become one of the most credible Government documents that act as identity & address proof.

Source: Google Images

There are many, like me, who fear the misuse of information linked and stored in connection with Aadhar, as there have been multiple cases of Aadhar numbers and info of lakhs of people being compromised.

Biometric data refers to the iris, fingerprint & facial photograph of the Aadhar holder. The iris & fingerprint data is often used for authentification.

Keeping this in mind, UIDAI has rolled out a facility of locking or unlocking biometric data online, in order to prevent any misuse. 
Once the Biometric is locked by the Aadhar holder, he/she will not be able to use their Biometrics (fingerprints/iris) for authentications and neither can anyone else, thus preventing potential misuse. The process has been kept simple and once locked, it will temporarily get unlocked for only ten minutes. It automatically gets locked again. 

One can lock/unlock their biometric data online either through UIDAI portal or through the mAadhaar mobile app. 

Given below is the procedure to lock/unlock Aadhr details online:

Locking data:

Step 1. Visit UIDAI’s online portal and select the “Lock/Unlock Biometrics” from the Aadhaar Services section.

Step 2. Enter your 12-digit Aadhaar number and the security code and click on the 'Send OTP' option.

Step 3. An OTP will be sent to your mobile number registered with Aadhaar.

Step 4. Enter the OTP sent to your mobile number and click on the 'Login' button.

Step 5. Your biometrics will now be locked when you enter the 4 digit security code displayed on the screen and click on the “Enable” button.

Unlocking data:

Step 1. In order to unlock the biometrics, click on the “Login” button.

Step 2. Enter your Aadhaar number and the security code in the space provided.

Step 3. Click on the “Send OTP” button to receive one-time password on your mobile.

Step 4. The OTP will be sent to the mobile number registered with Aadhaar.

Step 5. Enter this OTP in the space provided and click on the “Login” button.

Step 6. Enter the security code and click on the “Unlock” button and your biometrics will be unlocked temporarily for 10 minutes.