As Internet of Things, or IoT, technology grows and influences multiple market segments, policymakers must consider rules that could apply across the board, a new report states. The potential IoT holds for vertical markets, such as health care, transportation, energy, manufacturing and government, has led policymakers to focus on specific sectors, but horizontal policy issues must also be taken into account, according to a report (pdf) by the Telecommunications Industry Association. Those common elements include interoperability, privacy, security, data storage and spectrum and bandwidth – all of which are crucial to IoT's success, the report states.

It has recently been announced that people who want to buy the Apple Watch will soon have 100 more places in which to make the purchase, as that many Best Buy locations will be placing that smartwatch on their shelves. This greater availability of the Apple Watch may play an important role in boosting the sales of this device. This could be especially true when Best Buy has added the smartwatch to the total 300 locations that will be carrying it, as well as on its website.

The internet of things seems to be dominating technology headlines at the moment, but Frost & Sullivan warns that adoption of IoT ‘is not without its challenges’. Audrey William, Frost & Sullivan Australia and New Zealand head of research, ICT Practice, says while the IoT and IT-lead disruptions will transcend industry sectors, there are several hurdles that could prevent it from achieving rapid growth. “Security and information privacy are some of the largest hurdles to the adoption of IoT,” William says.

When Amazon announced the Dash Button back on March 31st, it seemed like an early April Fools' joke: it had made a button you can buy that would place an order for something — a single, specific product — whenever you pressed it. But the Dash Button was very real and designed to be a convenience for helping people reorder commonly used household goods, like toilet paper or laundry detergent. They were initially available for free to Prime members, but only by invitation. As of this week, they're now available to be purchased by all Prime members for $4.99 each.

GM’s Onstar service offers some of the most futuristic features on any connected car, including the ability to locate the vehicle, unlock it, and even start its ignition—all from a smartphone app. But if a hacker like Samy Kamkar has hidden a small, $100 box anywhere on your Onstar-equipped car or truck, those same conveniences could fall into unintended hands.

It's a television show, sure, but it's also many, many associated products featuring the affable tank engine and his band of hardworking locomotive colleagues on the fictional Island of Sodor. Now, in time for the 70th anniversary of the books on which the show is based, there is a new way for children themselves to become one of the aforementioned friends: ToyTalk is launching an iPad app today called Thomas and Friends Talk to You that lets kids be part of the stories by talking to characters and hearing appropriate responses.

One of the largest Internet of Things (IoT) solution providers, Philips, announced this week that it would support the AllJoyn standards initiative. AllJoyn, an open source software connectivity and services framework for IoT devices, is being coordinated by the AllSeen Alliance, a 170-member organisation focused on developing cross-sector IoT standards.

British inventor Andrew Fentem has come up with a way of cheaply turning fabric into large active displays. Fentem, who pioneered multitouch input technology 15 years ago, only to see a UK quango squander the innovation and Apple reap the reward, calls the new display “organic pixels”. He’s invented an ulta-thin magnetic actuator, fractions of a millimetre thick, which can be applied fabric to create a “pixel”. The programmable actuators create enough of a magnetic field to “flip” the pixel. This allows a vast display to be created at much lower cost than an arena-scale LED display.

The U.S. Congress should take a hands-off approach toward the burgeoning Internet of Things industry and let vendors figure out how to deal with privacy and security issues, representatives of four trade groups said. The IoT industry offers great potential for growth and for innovative new products, but that growth “requires government restraint,” Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, told lawmakers Wednesday.

Seven months ago, Facebook introduced Place Tips by which businesses can send contextual marketing messages to people in proximity to the store. The social media giant had been testing the Place Tip feature which uses Facebook beacons. These beacons use Bluetooth technology to send a signal to the Facebook app on a shopper’s phone which helps businesses run proximity marketing campaign.