The residents of two apartment buildings in the city of Lappeenranta in Finland found themselves bundling up at home when the heat in the buildings shut down. The reason for the failure wasn't an accident — it was a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack primarily using internet of things devices that lasted for several days. It's the latest in a string of attacks that have leveraged the internet of things to overwhelm systems. In this most recent case, the hackers directed traffic to the computer system that controls the heating (including the hot water heaters) for the apartment buildings. The …

Corporate giants Microsoft Ventures, a unit of China’s HNA, India’s Tata, GE Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures will join forces with Tel Aviv University and Israel’s Pitango Venture Capital to set up a new $20 million fund to invest in Israeli startups that are developing Internet of Things (IOT) technologies, the university said. The new consortium will be called Israel IoT Innovations – i3 Equity Partners (“i3”). It was set up by the five corporations together with Pitango and the Tel Aviv University, via its RAMOT technology transfer company. The aim is to invest in early-stage Israeli ventures and help them …

Lowe’s is providing a new way for consumers to model what they want their homes to look like with Lowe’s products without even going to the store thanks to a new augmented reality program.  Lowe’s Vision, as the feature is called, is a mobile application that uses Google’s augmented reality platform, Tango, to let users model different products in their homes through their phones. The move is an attempt to streamline the decision process, which can be quite long for large home purchases such as couches.

SAP has announced that its new SAP Connected Parking solution Internet of Things (IoT) software to help parking management firms take advantage of the cloud, smart devices and Big Data technologies, is now available. This Connected Parking offering is designed to give parking providers access to a digital backbone for more efficient operations and improve use, visibility and efficiency. Technology partners include DESIGNA Verkehrsleittechnik, which has signed an agreement to integrate the solution with its parking management systems and kiosks, and Bosch Service Solutions, which recently announced integration with the Bosch Secure Truck Parking service. “SAP is helping customers map …

Alibaba is looking to work closer with US chipmaker Intel to develop products and services in the emerging areas of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT) and smart hardware. Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang met Intel CEO Brian Krzanich in Hangzhou at the Tmall 11.11 Global Innovation and Smart Living Summit. “With everything in today’s world becoming smart and connected, we have a great opportunity to innovate and transform our everyday experiences,” said Krzanich. “Intel looks forward to working with Alibaba to drive continued innovation for the world and push the boundaries on key areas such as artificial …

AT&T may be hoping a free Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV stick may be enough to get you to sign up for its upcoming DirecTV Now streaming video service. The telecom giant could offer the streaming devices to people who subscribe to the service, according to a Variety report Sunday based on leaked customer-support documents. Consumers who commit to being subscribers for at least three months will be able to get a free Apple TV; those who pay for a single month earn a free Fire TV Stick.

Recent cyber attacks harnessing everyday devices such as cameras, video recorders, printers, routers and speakers are a wake-up call to the hidden dangers of the Internet of Things. The problem for the device makers, though, is that few are well equipped to tackle the unfamiliar task of foiling hackers. For a sense of that challenge, take AV Tech Corp, a once proud giant among CCTV camera makers whose 1990s building in a Taipei suburb hints at the gap it must overcome between hardware factories of a decade ago and those of today. AV Tech, which made the 2008 Forbes list …

Security was a prominent theme at the Cisco Partner Summit in San Francisco last week, and it’s clear that Cisco intends to play a fundamental role in securing the Internet of Things (IoT). “The internet as we know it today, and the network that you operate, will not work for the Internet of Things,” said Rowan Trollope, Cisco senior vice president and general manager of the IoT and applications group, according to Network World. “We can solve that problem because we own the network.” That assertion comes amid ongoing attacks on IoT devices, including one last month that saw devices such as baby …

The tech company unveiled its new "shooting star" drone Friday as it released a video of 500 of the drones flying in formation in Germany this fall. The autonomous drones, which are essentially an LED light with propellers attached, darted around the sky, spelling out "500" and "Intel." The drone shows could rival fireworks displays. But Intel sees a lot more potential than wowing crowds on the 4th of July.

BlackBerry Ltd  has signed a deal to work directly with Ford Motor Co (F.N) to expand the carmaker's use of its QNX secure operating system, the Canadian technology company said on Monday, as Ford develops increasingly automated vehicles. The deal with Ford is the first BlackBerry has done directly with a major automaker, though it currently sells its technology to auto industry suppliers. The company is betting its future on expanding sales of software products, including to automakers and other manufacturers, after largely ceding the smartphone market to rivals including Apple Inc, Alphabet's Google and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Panasonic …