Europe's biggest software firm SAP and German car parts maker Robert Bosch [ROBG.UL] have signed an agreement to partner to connect everything from screwdrivers to cars to the internet. The companies said on Wednesday they will combine Bosch's platform and SAP's back-end software to connect vehicles, manufacturing machinery and tools of Bosch customers. By 2020, some 21 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices will be in use worldwide, up from fewer than 5 billion last year, research firm Gartner has estimated. The companies said they planned to make SAP's real-time database HANA available to Bosch customers to monitor production processes.

The internet of things is meant to be a game-changer. Yet the technology still faces important physical challenges, such as distance limitations, battery life, and durability. All these issues become even more pronounced in the extreme conditions found in very hot or cold locations. Tespack is trying to tackle some of these problems by developing solar-powered backpacks with IoT and connectivity capabilities, to take energy-generation not only to the next level, but even to another planet.

The connected barbershop that knows a customer’s name and chit-chat preferences as a customer walks in the door is moving beyond being a novelty retailer. The founders of Spruce realized everyone wants a piece of their technology. Taylor and Becca Romero said they will split the Internet of Things barbershop and menswear store in two, with one side focusing on hair and clothing, the other on licensing the technology to others. The realization came relatively quickly to the couple during the three-monthTarget + Techstars accelerator, which wrapped up in Minneapolis on Tuesday.

E-commerce is growing every year and shows no signs of slowing down. E-commerce sales in the U.S. eclipsed $97 billion during the second quarter of 2016, which marked almost nearly 16% year-over-year (YoY) growth, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. This was the greatest YoY increase since Q3 2014. More importantly, U.S. e-commerce growth has regularly outpaced the total retail market over the past six years, and e-commerce made up 8.1% of the total retail market in Q2 2016, up from 6.4% two years earlier.

Apparently, there’s more to Pokémon Go Plus than just using it to detect nearby Pokémon or PokéStops. The Bluetooth peripheral is said to have two hidden features that were not advertised by Niantic Labs and The Pokémon Company. Gravis Ludus has learned that Pokémon Go Plus can also be used to track egg hatching steps. “Pokémon Go” players know that eggs have distance requirements before they hatch. Before, this would mean turning on the display of the device so that every km is counted for an egg to hatch. Since the wearable is tracking distance, gamers can now rely on Pokémon Go Plus …

The government-backed Digital Catapult wheeze has launched an “Internet of Things network” across London to titivate the lives of the eight million poor souls trapped within the M25. We are told that 50 LoRaWAN base stations will be deployed to “overcome issues including infrastructure provision, traffic and transport services, energy management and environmental sensing.” Apparently the network will cure asthma, stop cyclists getting themselves run over by lorries, enable drone deliveries, provoke the Second Coming of Christ and elect Hillary Clinton all on its own – though only within Oyster travelcard zone 1.

With Apple set to release "Series 2" of its Watch and Samsung prepping its Gear S3 timepiece, many of the biggest players that have embraced Google's Android Wear software have decided to hit pause on their own efforts. LG, Huawei and Lenovo's Motorola unit will not release a smartwatch in the waning months of the year, the companies confirmed to CNET. While LG launched a watch in the first half, it'll have been more than a year since Huawei and Motorola offered an update on their wearables.

In the ever-growing world of digital connectivity and the “Internet of Things,” how much sharing is too much? An American woman says the Canadian manufacturer of a smartphone-enabled vibrator has crossed the line by selling products that allegedly secretly collect and transmit “highly sensitive” usage information over the web. The Chicago-area woman, identified in a statement of claim only as N.P., has launched a proposed class-action lawsuit against Standard Innovation (US) Corp., which is owned by Ottawa-based Standard Innovation Corp. The suit involves a vibrator called the We-Vibe.

German automaker BMW is enabling owners to operate functions of their vehicles from inside their homes by integrating Amazon’s Alexa voice service. An extension of the BMW Connected application launched earlier this year that allows for remote control of functions and journey management, this latest development adds voice commands. BMW is the first automaker to announce Alexa compatibility within the United Kingdom and Germany, with this new integration available as early as late September.

Wearable tech startup Thalmic Labs just raised $120 million in a Series B round of funding round led by Intel Capital, the Amazon Alexa Fund, and Fidelity Investments Canada. “Thalmic is best known for … a gesture- and motion-guided armband that taps the electrical activity in your muscles to control a range of devices such as drones, computers, smartphones, and other contraptions with built-in wireless connectivity,” Venture Beat reports.