PCR June 2017

No. 165 • JUNE 2017 COMPUTER & IT RESELLERS z RETAILERS z SYSTEM BUILDERS z DISTRIBUTORS z VENDORS

ENTATECH: IT’S OVER Company boss Dave Stevinson speaks to PCR about the hard decision to enter the company into administration

WWW.PCR-ONLINE.BIZ z WWW.TWITTER.COM/PCR_ONLINE z WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/PCRMAG

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CONTENTS & COMMENT

Follow us @pcr_online

MEET THE TEAM

CONTENTS

COMMENT

REGULARS Jonathan Easton Editor

06 Analysis 09 Appointments

jeaston@nbmedia.com @jonman247

Pride after a fall

09 Events 10 Opinion

Rob Horgan Deputy Editor

FEATURES

rhorgan@nbmedia.com @robbiehorgs

04 Entatech 12 The big interview: Nest’s

Gurpreet Purewal Group Sales Manager gpurewal@nbmedia.com

Lionel Paillet 16 IoT market 19 The internet of too many things?

20 Building the smart city of

Sarah Goldhawk Senior Account Manager

tomorrow

sgoldhawk@nbmedia.com

22 The history of the IoT

@sarzgoldhawk

25 What’s next for connected devices?

THIS PAST month has been one of very mixed emotions.

Firstly there was shock; on May 8 it was announced that Entatech had filed for administration. While it was no secret that the Telford distributor hadn’t been in the best financial state for some time, it was undoubtedly a surprised at just how abruptly it all happened.

But while there was shock and confusion, there was also an immense amount of sadness for all the people associated with the company who were out of jobs. These are hardworking and talented individuals who, through no fault of their own, have been suddenly left to find new career avenues. People who have invested time, and in some cases, money into the company.

“I am proud that the industry recognises that competition is good for business.

The Channel is stronger when it is together.”

26 IoT security

Dana Radu Sales Executive

28 Canonical

dradu@nbmedia.com

PRODUCTS 31 New products

Dan Bennett Designer

38 Smart home

dbennett@nbmedia.com

40 Connected devices and accessories Jason Dowie Production Executive jdowie@nbmedia.com

42 Networking

OUT OF OFFICE

However, the largest emotion I felt this past month was pride. Pride that even though this is a competitive Channel with big characters in it, there was nothing but sympathy from anyone I spoke to. Everyone from vendors to retailers and even rival distributors expressed their sadness that Entatech – one of the biggest names in the Channel – is no more. Some even went so far as to create job opportunities for those laid off.

I am proud that the industry recognises that competition is good for business and that the Channel is stronger when it is together.

Jonathan Easton, Editor jeaston@nbmedia.com

44 In The Hot Seat: James FItzgerald, Optoma James McKeown Content Director

46 Team of the month:

jmckeown@nbmedia.com

Cooler Master

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ENTATECH

The end of the road

After spending two years trying to recover the company’s financials, Entatech announced that it was shutting up shop for good. MD Dave Stevinson speaks to Jonathan Easton about what happened to the company, and what’s next for him…

Tell us about the situation surrounding Entatech when you came on board in 2015.

Entatech was suffering extremely under the reputational issues of a high profile VAT fraud case, coupled with the staggering losses from 2014. This was combined with poor record keeping and a high profile multi-million lawsuit with HMRC. There were strong rumours that the bank wanted to get out with no other bank willing or able to take their place.

In early 2015 a credible and capable management team

“The directors were left with no option but to place the company in administration.”

were brought in to turn round the company and extensive progress was made to bring the company back to profitability in the first year.

Actions taken included: rightsizing the company, gaining bank support, sharpening the strategic focus, reducing cost, bringing in talent, increasing governance and changing auditors. Yet the head winds were too much with the loss of two critical vendor contracts, reduced credit, persistent attacks from exstaff leading to the lack of support from the bank who 4 | PCR June 2017

massively shrank the amount we were able to borrow.

What were the reasons behind the company going into administration?

Although Entatech had over £2.5 million in shareholder funds, the signs were that the

company could become cash flow insolvent by mid-May. Thus the directors decided that Entatech should be offered for sale. Entatech was extensively marketed (under the codename Bachus) by two corporate finance companies to over 160 parties, resulting

in over 20 expressions of interest. NDAs were signed with 20 confirmed parties who were all given access to the data room and extensive company information.

After reviewing the information and agreeing terms one party [Beta

Distribution] went through to contract finalisation, but ultimately pulled out at the very last minute prior to exchange of contracts. This left the directors with no option but to place the company in administration.

I cannot explain what a www.pcr-online.biz

ENTATECH

Entatech’s iconic headquarters in Stafford Park, Telford

traumatic week it was. I had to stand up in front of about 50 loyal staff who had just lost their jobs through no fault of their own and make a speech.

I broke down in tears twice.

It’s so sad.

Why did no buyer come forward?

Each interested party has their own reasons. For some it was the wrong size or shape, others the wrong sector, for almost all it was the historical risk and unquantifiable exposure from the Changtel/ VAT issues. Some it was the wrong time – those firms were too occupied in existing or upcoming integrations, or focussed on saving their own businesses. Even in administration there have been no serious offers but a few lowball bids for the stock.

Why did you decide to make a bid at this point and why not earlier?

Prior to administration I was dedicating all my time to

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assist with the sale of Entatech and provide lots of information for the prospective buyers through the due diligence process. As a director of a company in administration it is also a legal duty to work in the best interests of the creditors and thus to maximise the amount available to unsecured creditors. We all soon realised late on Friday May 6 when the last bid had disappeared that the significant returns for the creditors would be massively depleted in the event of a close down scenario – actually between £1-2 million lower. Thus it felt like the ‘morally right thing to do’ but the question was could I set up a company, would it be viable and could I raise the funds in time.

Why does it over-maximise the value for the creditors?

The directors realised that continuation of trade creates the maximum value for unsecured creditors, and

“I had to stand up in front of about 50 loyal staff who had just lost their jobs through no fault of their own and make a speech. I broke down in tears twice. It’s so sad.”

figures suggests an extra £1-2 million will be returned to the unsecured creditors compared with the alternative scenario of a close down.

Continuation of trade would deliver a higher realisation of stock, significantly larger debtor book collection and no further redundancy costs relating to the remaining staff, coupled with less administrator’s fees. The sum of these parts is estimated to significantly exceed an extra £1 million, maybe even £2 million compared with the close down scenario.

Protecting the remaining 29 jobs and having the chance to back a talented management team were another reason. Maintaining Channel integrity for our vendors opposed to seeing the stock purchased by an inventory auction house and sold cheaply online, coupled with the chance to keep working with some great vendors and customers.

Naturally, every professional advisor told me that there was a good business in Entatech struggling to get out from the legacy issues.

I love challenges. This is an amazing challenge and one that I am looking forward to taking immensely.

So what is happening next?

You are going to have to wait and see, The strategy is very emergent since we have not had the luxury of time.

We will hard launch as soon as we can, but we are starting with a soft launch with reduced functionality immediately. The Channel needs a passionate and experienced distributor – hopefully the readers of PCR will fully support us.

Stevinson’s new company is called GNR Technology and is designed to be a narrow line trade-only distributor of technology with a focus on independent retailers.

PCR June 2017 | 5

ANALYSIS

Held to ransom

In the wake of the WannaCry global ransomware attack, Rob Horgan asks industry experts what needs to change to prevent it from happening again and what the Channel’s role is in ensuring that cybersecurity awareness is improved…

IT CAN’T BE ignored. And it shouldn’t be swept under the carpet. In the words of Microsoft vice president Brad Smith, May’s global WannaCry ransomware attack must be a ‘wake-up’ call for governments and security officials around the world.

Smith went so far as to describe the attack as the equivalent of ‘the US military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen’. It must – as Smith argued – be the catalyst to changing the current internationally accepted blasé attitude towards cybercrime.

And governments can rightly be criticised for not providing adequate funding.

Education schemes can be rolled out to provide greater understanding, but the Channel also has a responsibility and an important role to play.

Developers, vendors, distributors, security experts 6 | PCR June 2017

and all facets of the Channel beyond have a duty of care to its consumers to convince the world to take cybersecurity seriously. Never before has the consumer needed looking after as much as now.

But how do you go about solving a problem that hit an estimated 200,000 victims in at least 150 countries over just one weekend? In reality a number of things need to happen now.

The main thing is a change in attitude. A survey by SolarWinds recently revealed that 87 per cent of IT executives consider their cybersecurity robust. That is despite 71 per cent of those same executives suffering a security breach in the last 12 months that resulted in a ‘tangible loss’. In the current state of play, financial loss at the hands of cybercriminals is seemingly considered inevitable. And yet, only 16

“This attack should not come as a surprise to the security community.”

Jean-Frederic Karcher, Maintel

per cent of those surveyed consider training staff in cybersecurity as a priority.

As BulldGuard CEO Paul Lipman explained, the speed at which the WannaCry bug wormed its way into the NHS and then across the globe demonstrates the staggering number of organisations that simply do not take cyber security seriously. “If anything the attack has revealed that an awful lot of organisations simply don’t take cybersecurity that seriously. You have to ask why? What is required before organisations understand the risk?

“It exposed the government’s willingness to compromise on security to save money by pulling the plug on a Microsoft support contract and hand over the responsibility to cashstrapped trusts.”

The problem with many organisations – including the

NHS – is that they are running on outdated, unsupported Windows XP systems.

For many, the cost of updating their systems was seen as an unnecessary expense and so security took a back seat to revenue. As Jean-Frederic Karcher, head of security at Maintel, said: “Organisations are continuing to rely on aging computer systems that do not use the latest security features.

Indeed, NHS hospitals are using very old legacy systems – often Windows systems over 10 years old that have not seen any patches and are therefore extremely vulnerable to such attacks.

Honestly, this attack should not come as a surprise to the security community.”

Lipman believes that it is this cost-cutting attitude that needs to change in order for organisations to take cyber security more seriously. www.pcr-online.biz

ANALYSIS

“One of the consequences of living in a world that is overwhelmingly driven by commercial imperatives is that revenue and the bottom line is king. This means all else is subsumed in the drive for profit including cyber security,” he said. “It’s only when organisations realise that cyber-attacks can inflict damage on the bottom line and destroy reputations and careers will it be given the focus it needs.”

A staggering two-thirds of UK businesses have no official Ransomware policy in place, according to research by Timico and Datto. By this time next year, new General Data Protection Regulations will be in effect across Europe to hold company’s to account for losing customer data. If the security risk wasn’t enough to put organisations in gear, then the threat of fines may do the trick. www.pcr-online.biz

Tom van de Wiele, security consultant at F-Secure Cyber Security Services, believes that organisations need to be greater incentivised to increase security measures.

“While there are merits to claim governments could do more to force security on vendors, providers and operators, there is also need to carefully consider what failures in the incentive models have led to this present situation,” he said. “Is it commercially rewarding for companies to pay little attention to IT and automated security? Is it a pure compliance issue? Has the buyer and outsourcer any responsibility whatsoever?”

Another school of thought is that organisations simply don’t know what cyber security really is. John Pagliuca, SolarWinds MSP general manager, said: “People are confusing IT

“People are confusing IT security with cybersecurity.”

John Pagliuca, SolarWinds

security with cybersecurity.

The former is what companies are talking about when they think about readiness.

However, what they often don’t realise is that cybersecurity protection requires a multi-pronged, layered approach to security that involves prevention, protection, detection, remediation, and the ability to restore data and systems quickly and efficiently.” He added: “The overconfidence and failure to deploy adequate cybersecurity technologies and techniques at each layer of a company’s cybersecurity strategy could be fatal.”

After pouring more money into cyber security, raising awareness and understanding what cybersecurity actually is, the final piece of the puzzle is enforcing regulations. Smith wants connected products (be it laptops, computers or

smart watches) to pass through a security test mark, similar to industry standards set within the toy or food industries.

Cyber security expert Mark Skilton at Warwick Business School believes that a cyber equivalent of the UN needs to be established to deal with the threat of online crimes.

“This attack has shown there needs to be a cyber police force at a global level to help manage these escalating threats,” he said. “My research has found a need for a global legal system to govern the internet.”

Whether a cyber police force is the answer, or even feasible, remains to be seen.

What is for certain is that a change in attitude from governments, organisations needs to be supported and promoted by the Channel in order to tackle the evergrowing rise in cybercrime.

PCR June 2017 | 7

PEOPLE & EVENTS

Channel appointments TP-Link: Networking vendor TP-Link has promoted Ben Allcock to commercial director and head of B2B. Having influenced the strategic direction across all major channels over the past six years, Allcock will now focus on developing B2B channels with particular emphasis on the SMB range.

MY1LOGIN: Management solutions company My1Login has announced Eamonn Doyle as sales director.

Over his career he has been instrumental in achieving 10 Deloitte Fast 50 Awards and in 2009 he was a finalist in Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year competition.

Latterly he was VP of sales Apadmi: Mobile technology group Apadmi has appointed Marcus Hadfield as chief strategy officer.

Hadfield joins from McCann Manchester, where he was managing partner. He previously held roles at MRM Meteorite and Omnicom.

Marcus said: “I love working with innovative clients to help Agent42: Agent42 has announced Linda Hassall as senior director. Linda will oversee a number of clients, as well as look after the new business pipeline. This is Hassall’s first move into agency following a career that has included stints at Warner Bros, Acer and Nintendo.

Hassall said: “Agent42 is an Target Components: Distributor Target Components has announced a number of new hires.

Adding account managers Mani Atwal, Peter Masefield, Richard Dey, Paul Baker and team leader David Bingham, to the sales team, Beth Lockett has joined the purchasing team as a buyer.

www.pcr-online.biz

EVENTS The UK’s channel calendar is full of important events. Here are some highlights for upcoming dates…

Ben Allcock

Ben said: “I’ve had the privilege to be part of TPLink’s exponential growth to become market leaders across the UK and Europe. As with any successful vendor it fundamentally starts with great products and great channel support, TP-LINK has always delivered on both accounts.”

Eamonn Doyle

and marketing at Avvio.

Doyle said: “My1Login has secured numerous enterprise customers and is in the perfect position to leverage the huge potential in the marketplace. I believe My1Login is one of the few companies offering a solution that really works to eliminate the security risks.”

Marcus Hadfield

find creative solutions to their business problems. It’s no secret that mobile has permanently changed the way that organisations and customers do things, so to be part of the team who I think have the best mobile talent and experience in the UK to deliver new kinds of solutions is really exciting.”

SYNAXON CONFERENCE 2017

Linda Hassall

agency that I have always admired, I am excited to be part of Agent42’s next steps as we make strides into new channels and look to have a bigger presence across EMEA.” Agent42’s clients currently include Acer, Veeam, Tech Data, Slush Puppie, Tango Ice Blast and others.

SYNOLOGY 2017 WORKSHOP

Atwal, Masefield, Bingham, Lockett, Baker and Dey

“It’s exciting for us to have an influx of fresh energy and enthusiasm,” said sales manager Sonya Cubbage “This allows us to keep improving the level of support we can offer.”

The recruitment drive follows a substantial six-figure investment in a new ERP system as Target expands.

INFOSECURITY EUROPE Olympia, London JUNE 6TH - 8TH Infosecurity Europe is the region’s number one information security event featuring Europe’s largest and most comprehensive conference programme and over 360 exhibitors showcasing the most relevant information security solutions and products to 13,500 visitors.

LONDON TECH WEEK Various venues, London JUNE 12TH-16TH London Tech Week showcases and celebrates the best of tech while providing networking, social, learning and business opportunities.

New for 2017, KNect365 joins forces with London & Partners and Tech London Advocates to bring you a mega-tech festival.

ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO Los Angeles Convention Center, California, USA JUNE 13TH-15TH The world’s biggest video game conference returns in 2017 in a big way. Expect to see power gaming, virtual reality and 4K high up on the agenda along with all the latest gaming releases. If you have anything to do with gaming, E3 is a must.

June 15th-16th PARK INN, HEATHROW Following on from the success of the 2016 event last year, Synaxon is back with its seventh annual conference.

Taking place at the Park Inn at Heathrow, the event will bring together the biggest names in the IT and technology sector.

Royal Garden Hotel, London JUNE 29TH The Synology 2017 Workshops are for all channel partners, IT administrators, and advanced business users. This is a paid for event and you will receive hands on practical training, opportunities to ask questions and the chance to network with Synology, peers and chosen third party vendors.

PCR June 2017 | 9

OPINION

We are in it together Collaboration and interoperability are key drivers towards meeting customer expectation in the IoT market says Paul Routledge, country manager at D-Link Europe…

contact sensors, motion sensors and FROM BLUE sky concept to mass smart plugs as well as having access market solution, the Internet of to the Nest Learning Thermostat and Things (IoT) is gaining momentum at Yale’s keyless smart locks. an incredible pace. This is to the Such initiatives highlight how these extent that, in a few brief years, we’ve already reached a tipping point where markets are led by big brands with massive influence when it comes to customer expectation and demand what customers buy. IoT developers are beginning to shape future also need to collaborate with those direction. Especially in the consumer brands in order to maximise their market, where the connected home, fitness trackers and other IoT products chances of success.

The true capabilities and are now firmly at the top of the opportunities for the IoT are clear to technology charts. By its very nature, see via vendors working with one the IoT has to be about another. This increased collaboration interoperability and seamless and interoperability is certainly ecosystems supporting IoT products evident in the smart home arena, with regardless of who they’re from. big players entering the market. It’s a The good news is that it is already scenario that’s ripe for potential, with happening, with vendors increasingly interoperability keen to work with the driving solutions that big brand names best sync with others, while positioned to both boosting accessibility deliver and support “The true and operability, a those ecosystems. capabilities and cohesion which is less Companies like to be achieved Amazon, Apple and opportunities for likely by a disparate range Google are able to the IoT are clear of apps. deliver both the Indeed, integration building blocks to see.” and interoperability vendors need to Paul Routledge, rapidly develop new D-Link are reoccurring themes that will soon and innovative IoT become common products and the place for the IoT market. However, the supporting back-end services in the opportunity and demand for wireless cloud required to take full advantage and IoT devices, also throws up one of of them. the market’s biggest challenges: But it’s not all about working with security. Ensuring solutions are robust the big IT service providers, with the and watertight, while delivering what IoT impinging on a variety of markets the customer expects is paramount. which previously had very little to do Security measures have to begin with with IT. Take for example the the router, the gateway and the collaboration between energy enabler to any smart device in the provider Npower, D-Link and Yale to home. It’s a balancing act of driving deliver a fully integrated smart home innovation, while containing the risk experience, capitalising on this posed by increased accessibility, and growing appetite for connected one that the entire Channel will have living. Here, consumers are able to to negotiate as it gears up to connect wirelessly via the Npower capitalise on a market buzzing with app to an array of D-Link devices, potential opportunities. including cameras, door and window Paul Routledge is the country manager for UK&I at D-Link Europe www.dlink.com

10 | PCR June 2017

Truth on zeroday attacks There’s still a lot work to do in cyber security and Greg Sim, CEO at Glasswall Solutions, believes that big vendors have a tendency to oversell their services…

detection of previously unknown ANYONE WOULD think zero-day threats decreased from around 80 attacks are unpreventable following per cent to between 67-70 per cent. a recent claim from one leading But what really shoots the wheels cyber-security vendor. FireEye this off the anti-virus industry, is the year claimed to have discovered ‘29 survey’s revelation that some of the last 53 zero-day attacks’. vendors achieved better testing Some 24 exploits remained results with their free products than undetected, yet this was still they did with their premium. celebrated as a monumental Whatever the figures they say, it achievement. Such a statement only takes one attack to devastate leaves little comfort for the an organisation. Innovation and businesses who found themselves new approaches to security are victims, so is it time to just give up available that will lock out all completely and let the cyber malware. The fact is that email criminals take over? attachments are now the main Though businesses are finally vector for attacks on businesses for waking up to the realisation that the the simple reason that there are big players in anti-virus technology billions in circulation every day. can no longer fully protect us, many Research from organisations seem Webroot has found 97 to regard extortion per cent of malware is via cyber-attack as unique to a an inevitable cost.

“It only takes one now specific endpoint. This There is no need for attack to renders signaturethis defeatism based security given the level of devastate an virtually useless protection now organisation.” because such heavily available from Greg Sim, customised malware more innovative Glasswall Solutions is extremely difficult vendors using fileto detect. regeneration Instead, file regeneration technology. technology keeps every form of Zero-day exploits, lest we forget, malware at the door. It checks that are unrecognised attacks that come common file-types used by criminals in a form not previously detected, to hide their zero-day exploits more often than not hidden in email conform to the manufacturer’s attachments until some unfortunate standard, conducting deep member of staff unwittingly clicks inspection of every email one open, triggering the download attachment. of ransomware or a massive theft of Organisations can use this kind of data. One version of the CryptoWall technology to regain control, ransomware is reckoned to have setting their own policies and levels generated $325 million in 2015. of risk in relation to the Unfortunately, evidence is growing that conventional anti-virus requirements of departments or employees. It is a question of defences are simply redundant as hackers become more sophisticated. allowing the known in and being fully confident that the main source Analysis by threat intelligence of zero-day threats has been experts Virus Bulletin, for instance, completely blocked. shows that between 2015 and 2016, Greg Sim is the CEO at Glasswall Solutions www.glasswallsolutions.com

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OPINION

Europe’s IoT evolution Andrea Siviero, research manager at IDC and Lionel Lamy, associate vice president of IDC’s European Software and Services Group discuss IoT consumer habits… one-third of them collecting and THE IOT market is evolving rapidly in processing data at the point of Europe, with a lot of moving pieces creation. and companies able to give a new On the ecosystem side, IT hardware value to objects and data, opening vendors lead the way in terms of different business scenarios and suppliers who are currently discussing creating amazing market IoT with end-users, although most opportunities.

European respondents expect According to the IDC Global IoT analytics specialists and more generic Decision Maker Survey 2016, IoT is software vendors to become the having a strategic role within market leaders in the coming years. organisations for more than 50 per Looking at the IoT market, cent of European IoT adopters, European spending is forecast to allowing them to compete more reach $168 billion in 2017 as effectively by adding value to the organisations expand or start their products and services they currently investments in the hardware, offer, while reducing cost and software, services, and connectivity improving productivity. At the same that enable the IoT. According to the time, more than 20 per cent of latest IDC Worldwide Semiannual respondents indicated how IoT is Internet of Things Spending Guide, transforming their organisation European spending towards new products will show a compound and service areas. annual growth rate of Improving business “IoT is having a 19.8 per cent over the productivity and strategic role 2015-2020. process automation Manufacturing is are the top IoT drivers within the leading industry in among European organisations for terms of market share, companies, although security and privacy more than 50 per immediately followed by utilities and concerns, together cent of European transportation. The with high upfront industries that will see costs, still hinder IoT adopters.” wider IoT adoption.

Andrea Siviero and the fastest spending Security remains a key Lionel Lamy, IDC growth are expected to be consumer, aspect, with 40 per insurance, and retail, all showing a cent of European IoT adopters 2015-2020 CAGR above 25 per cent. expecting IoT to increase company From a technology perspective, security concerns and threats and hardware will remain the largest more than two-thirds of respondents spending category, followed by designing IoT security policies. services, software, and connectivity.

Two additional topics reshaping Software will grow faster than other the IoT market are the role of the line categories, driven by application of business (LoB) and edge software and analytics. Connectivity computing. For a quarter of European follows for market growth, showing a respondents, IoT decision making sit very dynamic scenario in terms of the within business units, with LoB that is different standards involved (wired, assuming a key role in company IoT cellular, LPWA and other wide area strategies and investments. Edge wireless, Wi-Fi and other short-range computing is already a reality for wireless, and satellite).

European IoT adopters, with almost Andrea Siviero and Lionel Lamy are the research manager at IDC and associate vice president of IDC’s European Software and Services Group respectively. Uk.idc.com

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CCTV and IoT James Wickes, CEO and cofounder at Cloudview talks about how connected devices are breathing new life into the CCTV market and ultimately making security easier… adapter is attached to existing THE INTERNET of Things has analogue or IP CCTV cameras, tremendous potential to transform providing IoT connectivity and how businesses operate. In fact, it’s security as well as accurate date and already making an impact in video time stamping of footage that is surveillance and monitoring. Not an then stored in the cloud. area traditionally associated with One organisation already using the rapid adoption of new the IoT for video surveillance and technology, but the IoT is monitoring is housing association reinvigorating the CCTV market.

Family Mosaic. It uses CCTV at many Organisations both large and of its sites to assist in protecting small are beginning to use IoT residents and property from technology in conjunction with antisocial behaviour such as cloud services to improve the vandalism and fly tipping. When effectiveness of their existing CCTV there was a recent issue with hardware in order to comply with someone accessing one of its the General Data Protection properties to try and steal mail, the Regulation (GDPR) due to come into neighbourhood manager was able effect in May 2018. These to send CCTV footage to the police technologies enable visual data to immediately so that be captured and the culprit could be stored securely offidentified. In the past, site for as long as “In the past, it it would have taken required, and could take the the police as long as viewed by any two weeks to collect a authorised person police up to two USB stick. from any location weeks to collect a Being able to using their access the system smartphone, tablet USB stick. Now it remotely also means or PC. Footage can that individuals who be emailed directly is immediate.”

James Wickes, may be carrying out to the police if Cloudview the antisocial required so it can behaviour do not be used straight realise that CCTV footage of their away rather than it having to be activities is being reviewed. In some collected. Another advantage is that cases, it can be dangerous to go on criminals often damage or destroy site to access CCTV recording CCTV equipment when committing equipment as the offenders may a crime. Using the IoT and cloud want to prevent the organisation devices ensures that the evidence is obtaining the evidence. Now Family out of reach.

Mosaic can look at the video from It’s vital to ensure that visual data any location, or provide access to is protected, both when it is in the police if appropriate. transit and when it is stored.

In my view, this type of Solutions are available that provide application is what the IoT is all encryption, ensuring it remains about and where it can help secure in all parts of the process improve society. Smart fridges are meeting the requirements of the all very well for looking after your Data Protection Act (DPA) – and the food but when it comes to crime no upcoming GDPR. One such solution one likes a cold case. is the Cloudview service – a smart James Wickes is the CEO and cofounder of Cloudview www.cloudview.co

PCR June 2017 | 11

THE BIG INTERVIEW

Home is where the heart is Over a relatively short period of time, the smart home has emerged as a category that is taking the tech world by storm with Nest leading the charge. Jonathan Easton speaks to Nest Labs EMEA general manager Lionel Paillet about the company’s journey from a Californian garage to creating a home that cares‌

12 | PCR June 2017

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THE BIG INTERVIEW

T

ell us about how Nest got to where it is.

Nest was co-founded by two ex-Apple execs – Matt Rogers and Tony Fadell. Both worked on a number of iconic Apple products. Tony was actually called the godfather of the iPod and he worked with Steve Jobs on the first few generations of iPod and the first three iPhones as well as the start of the iPad. When they left Apple they created Nest in a garage in California with a few people.

They were asking ‘why do we carry a smartphone in our pocket while our homes are so dumb? Products that look the same, beep the same, behave the same’. The thought was to make these products more intelligent while creating a new vision.

Years before, there had been multiple attempts from the industry to work with ‘home automation’, and it wasn’t a great success. The reason was that it came with a need to build a dedicated part of your home for it to work together. It was more ‘B2G’ – business to geek – than

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selling to consumers. I’m a geek myself so that’s perfectly okay for me, but it would not appeal to millions.

In terms of attraction, home automation (or domotics as it was called in other places) was a failure. The degree of obsolescence of those products was really high because there were new products every month and the old ones couldn’t survive.

What did Nest do differently to combat that problem?

As a result of the failures of home automation we had to establish a vision of a ‘home that cares’. We wanted to design a home where the product will build a smart home, not as a package.

Consumers don’t buy the package – you don’t ‘buy’ a smart home – you buy products that address real problems of your every-day life, one product at a time.

The first product was the thermostat with the idea of creating a product that programs itself. So rather than having to programme a thermostat all the time, we

“We continued on the path of building products that are not just connected, but are intelligent on their own.”

have to be geniuses with a ‘crystal ball’ design to guess what the weather will be tomorrow and adapt to your behaviour and also the characteristics of your home.

That’s really really high tech.

We continued on the path of building products that are not just connected, but are intelligent on their own. A product that is just connected is a different philosophy, it’s the connected home, but it doesn’t necessarily mean ‘smart home’. Connected simply means that you can have an app for that. Our business was that each of the products will have to work entirely on their own.

The second product came out which was all about safety – Nest Protect. Nest Protect is a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm. These products were already in your home. They beep at you, they have been behaving the same way since they were invented, and we took the same approach. We decided that we should have a product with sensors that can tell you that the batteries need to be

changed a long way in advance without having to beep so it tests itself 400 times a day. It has a military grade design, is constantly updating and – most importantly – is smart on its own and live on its own.

The third category is one we recently added with the camera and that’s about security. Some customers use it for security, some use it for watching their pets or kids, and even to watch, listen or talk to them.

We can now record to the cloud all the time – it’s like the security guard that never sleeps. The video is in the cloud for not just storage but also computing. We use the cloud to compute the data, to make sure that we provide a service that is meaningful. It’s very different from getting an alert from most cameras on the market that will give you 25 notifications about a shadow that moved on the wall because there is a tree outside. It’s all about looking to build smart alerts using deep learning and the computing power of the PCR June 2017 | 13

THE BIG INTERVIEW

cloud and that’s where we work closely with Google.

So that’s how we have built three independent categories which are all still connected to the idea of a home that cares, and a home that cares about the people inside it.

Is the Nest platform just restricted to those three product categories?

As we were building our categories, questions started to open up with privacy and security being a big concern.

With security we started to say “how can we use the cloud to share status of ‘there is a fire in my home’ with another product?”. Because we aren’t going to build every product in the smart home, we decided to open it with what we call ‘Works with Nest’ – it’s on our website – there is a free developer programme that we started about a year and a half ago.

More than 20 per cent of our customers use it every day and more than 20,000 developers working on apps that work with Nest. These include Phillips with Phillips Hue and Bosch with their 14 | PCR June 2017

refrigerators. Just connect your Nest account from the app to, for example, your Philips account and say ‘if I’m away from home then share the ‘away’ status to the Phillips account to create an artificial presence when I’m away’. Then your lights will simulate a presence.

‘Works with Nest’ has been a way to have more products participate into the idea of having a smart home, and then link this into our online capabilities and explain to all of our channels that there is a way to make your home smarter one product at a time.

If it says ‘Works with Nest’ it works with Nest. Simple.

We feel that there is still a lot of work to do in these areas, so we’re going to continue to push boundaries on them. I think we can go a lot deeper and there are some products in those categories that are ripe for makeovers.

Where is Nest headed over the next year?

Going into more countries is a part of that. Recently we launched into Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain. And

“We have built three categories which are all still connected to the idea of a home that cares about the people inside it.”

you will continue to see us adding more territories progressively and carefully.

There will also be more collaboration with Google.

We are separate from Google, but we work with them on a couple of things such as algorithms and people detection along with voice, which is one of the ways that you interact with your home with things like Google Home and Amazon Echo. In 2017 we are going deeper into our loyalty channel strategy, more countries and continuing to innovate both our hardware and our services.

So it’s an exciting time to be in the industry?

Absolutely. We’re seeing traction and maturity. If you look two or three years ago you’d say it was early days, but in the UK our multichannel strategy has really helped us build the market brick by brick.

Who would have thought that John Lewis in the UK would sell a thermostat? Most people probably wouldn’t have spent a lot of money on something like this previously,

but now they are, and that’s a smart part of the retail strategy. You can go to John Lewis on Oxford Street and it’s one of the places where you can see the smart home set up in the store across 1,000 square feet and it’s magnificent. They explain technology not in a ‘B2G’ way, but to consumers in simple terms what it does. That’s been really helped by multiple voices in the market that we work with – John Lewis being one of them, energy suppliers another.

You’ve got British Gas in the UK and they’ve helped educate consumers and accelerate the market as well as got plumbers and electricians. When we started in the UK three years ago I think we had 200 ‘Nest Pros’, who trained themselves in how to work with our products. Today we’re closer to 9,000 people who are trained around the UK. ‘White glove’ services have really helped get the first, second or third smart product into homes and starting the journey of the home that cares. It’s still early days and www.pcr-online.biz

THE BIG INTERVIEW has tremendous potential, but it’s really exciting.

In the past three years we’ve seen well over 50 per cent year on year growth every year. We’re in millions of homes now saving billions of kilowatts in energy.

Today, our whole belief is that we should design these products for consumers: make them beautiful, give them a life of their own and ensure they have upgradeable software. These products will stay in your home for 10 years. That’s the difference between this and many other products that often go to your tech ‘graveyard’ of stuff that was interesting on paper but forgotten after six months.

How much of the role of educating customers is up to you as a brand and how much is down to the retailers themselves?

The internet really helps educate consumers to get them to understand what the smart home is all about. We feel we have a responsibility

to first educate the professionals (i.e. the people in the shops selling the products) but also the user online and to work with our partners to relay information.

In the store it’s a continuation of that. You take the information learnt online and then go into the store to see what they’re like and physically touch them. From there you can have different conversations with experts.

Are the physical store demo setups more successful?

We’ve tried different types of execution on the merchandising sides. For example, one thing that has been really successful with John Lewis is the ‘shop in a shop’ – the smarthome set up inside the shop. That is working well because it also assists the sales people in explaining the tech.

You can’t always rely on having someone who knows about the products, or there might be someone who’s only been trained on one or two

products. So the display should tell the story. In many places we decided to put live demo units in and we’ve seen a relationship created between the products and the consumer. It’s bizarre, but when people are touching a piece of stainless steel in the store they get what it’s about.

These set ups are great.

Three or four years ago, you’d find the security cameras in a store next to the router section which is next to the PC section. These days it’s completely different. Go into a Dixons store and you will now see an entire smart home category. You look at John Lewis and it’s the same. Same story for Screwfix which is an entirely different type of shop.

If you take the professional distribution Channel it’s exactly the same.

These categories have come from non-existence in two or three years. They all need to be amplified by the online messaging because that’s where we can tell the full story about what the

product is all about. From there, people can go into the shop and get a hold of the product. We spend a lot of time at Nest focussing on the end-to-end experience and making sure it’s really good.

Maybe that’s a part of our Apple origins. Everything from the unboxing to the welcome email. It’s all a part of the customer journey.

Nest’s main business is selling to consumers, but are you finding many building developers or contractors going to Nest to for new builds?

It’s starting. It’s back to the multichannel strategy. In the UK we have started doing pilot homes because some building developers are questioning if it could work?

The reality is that consumers really, really get it.

You get them inside the home and you can control

your home from your phone. So that was about a year ago and now we’re starting to see homes that come with Nest fitted. It’s not everywhere, but we’re seeing testing and trials where it’s really working.

Consumers are super engaged with it. They aren’t going to buy a home because of it, but it’s like air conditioning in a car.

Why wouldn’t you want it?

Nest co-founders Matt Rogers and Tony Fadell.

Rogers (left) is still at Nest as chief product officer while Fadell (right) stepped down from his role as CEO in June 2016

www.pcr-online.biz

PCR June 2017 | 15

INTERNET OF THINGS

A market connected The Internet of Things was once a niche area for geeks and the ultra-rich but now thanks to products like Amazon Echo it has become a huge corner of tech retail. Jonathan Easton examines the market and asks the Channel about the state of play…

C

ONNECTED DEVICES that were barely even imaginable a few short years ago are now commonplace, if not in homes then at least in stores.

Connected products are certainly very visible in the retail space, but is that visibility converting into a profitable market?

According to the figures, that definitely is the case.

“The market for smart home technology saw another bumper Q4-Q1 across Western Europe,” says Context UK and Ireland country manager Jonathan Wagstaff. And the UK is leading the way, according to Wagstaff. “In Q1 2017, the distribution channel in the UK grew 79 per cent year-on-year in terms of revenue, ahead of both Germany and France,” he added.

This confidence in the connected devices market isn’t just financial though,

16 | PCR June 2017

with customer demand reflecting the figures, according to Dixons Carphone director of connected home Steve Moore: “We’re seeing strong demand for connected devices across the board.

Customers are getting used to the flexibility of connected solutions.”

While it’s all well and good to say that the connected devices market is doing well, the IoT is such a catch-all term that it doesn’t entirely tell the whole story of what types of products are selling.

“Streaming products from Sonos to Chromecast are selling well. We’ve done well with connected cameras like Canary and Ring. We’ve also launched Google Home, and we’ve been selling the Amazon Echo and Dot for a while and these voiceenabled home products are really fun and easy to use, they are catalysing the smart

“Voice-enabled products are fun and easy to use.

They’re catalysing the category in general.”

Steve Moore, Dixons

home category in general,” adds Moore.

This is a sentiment which is seemingly shared not just by retailers but also by analysts.

“The consumer market for this technology is slowly but surely gaining traction,” notes Gekko business development director Rupert Cook. “This has been led principally by wearables, home automation/ security brands and more recently the intelligent personal assistant devices such as Amazon’s Echo.”

Wagstaff agrees, asserting that Amazon’s Echo is ‘by far the most important product the IoT has seen over the past two quarters’.

Positive sales figures would suggest that consumers are very much aware of the IoT and connected devices, but Cook says that might not necessarily be the case, with brand awareness superseding technological nous.

“Consumers may not be

particularly aware of the IoT and connected technology specifically, but they are becoming increasingly aware of the certain brands and products that are based on such technology.”

So, as ever the tech industry is boiled down to marketing. It’s not all about having the best or most sophisticated product, but conveying what your product does to customers in a palatable way that makes it seem vital and allaying any skepticism about entry that consumers may have.

Solving the problem of perceived product complexity, and – as a result – inaccessibility is a hurdle that needs to be leapt over in order for mainstream viability.

“Some customers still have worries about the complexity of setting these products up,” says Moore, with Wagstaff agreeing that ‘for many consumers, setting up the

www.pcr-online.biz

INTERNET OF THINGS

devices is still a big barrier’.

Making the tech seem essential is also a key factor for the market to succeed.

While tech enthusiasts may be determined to connect everything under the sun, the majority of average punters are likely to ask ‘what is the point of connecting this?’

“Shoppers are likely to be wary of products where connected capability is seen as perhaps unnecessary,” states Cook. “If a consumer has happily used a non-smart product for years then the challenge is for brands and retailers to convince them that they really need to upgrade to a smart version.

“A good example is white goods. It’s very clever that your fridge can monitor what

products you’re running low on and re-order automatically but is this something that the average consumer will use on a day-to-day basis?”

With this healthy dose of caution in check, it begs the question of how close we are to the fabled ‘smart home’?

That really depends on who you ask. At one extreme you’ve got Dynamode’s Nick Beer who thinks that ‘we are at least 20 years away’, while on the other side is BullGuard CEO Paul Lipman who states that ‘it’s already here’.

Realistically, we are somewhere right in between.

While sales of smart home products from companies such as Hive and Nest have been positive – “In the past three years we’ve seen well

“The challenge is for brands and retailers to convince consumers that they really need to upgrade.”

Rupert Cook, Gekko

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over 50 per cent year on year growth every year,” notes Nest EMEA general manager Lionel Palliet. “There are not many product categories that do that” – it’s safe to say that the majority of adopters are keen enthusiasts, and they are just now entering into the wider public discussion.

But while smart home products are just now becoming a major factor in the technology market in 2017, wearables, for example, have been around for years and are a well-established force. And that’s the problem of trying to talk about the Internet of Things market.

We’re seeing so many different categories and products popping up that are blurring the lines. Everything

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One thing for certain is that – for better or worse – there won’t be a shortage of connected products in the future. But for the market to flourish, products need to be presented as essential to consumers and not be overcomplicated.

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INTERNET OF THINGS

Juicero’s connected juicer became a bit of an industry joke after it turned out its refill packs could be squeezed by hand

Internet of too many things?

From smart condoms and AI-equipped bins to printing toasters and even rectal thermometers that can post your temperature to Facebook, Rob Horgan explores the possibility of a world that’s too smart for its own good…

F

OR MORE THAN a decade, the number of connected devices has outnumbered the number of humans living on earth. That disparity is only set to rise, with the number of connected devices expected to hit 50 billion by 2020. And with more and more smart technologies being rolled out all the time, the IoT explosion is perhaps in danger of going too far (that is, if you don’t think it has already).

Now, to put this into perspective, no one is bemoaning the smart phone, or the ability to print wirelessly or even the ability to adjust the temperature of your radiator on the way back from work. These are all useful, understandably beneficial, advances in technology that ultimately make life better.

However, alarm bells start ringing when products such as the iCon (a ‘smart’ condom that measures performance) begin to surface. Jon Harrison from Platinum Components believes that a growing desire

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for connected devices, combined with the technology already being in place will lead to a barrage of gimmicky products being developed simply for the sake of being branded as ‘smart’.

“Looking at IoT, I believe there will naturally be some products developed just because they can be developed,” Harrison said.

“With the technology available it’s important to focus on what benefits humankind rather than what can just be another measurement tool for the sake of measuring something.

Of course this comes down to individual as well as corporate needs, however because something can be built, doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea to build it.”

Harrison believes that vendors have a duty of care to stem the possibility of a never-ending pointless production line. In fact, he is urging all manufacturers not to be sucked into the honey pot of connecting devices for no real purpose.

“Just because something can be built, doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea to build it.”

Jon Harrison, Platinum Components

He continued: “Vendors have a responsibility to ensure the right products are developed for beneficial purposes. There are so many areas IoT will fit into that the general public will not even be aware of, it’s only when you start looking into the vendor’s new technology and what it will do within any industry you start to realise the real growth.”

Another area in which the IoT market is set to expand is within the workplace.

Everything from smart printers to app-driven coffee machines are already on the market, as the office space undergoes a 21st century make-over. Jordan O’Connor, Technical Lead EMEA at SOTI believes that companies need to wise up or risk wasting time and money by ‘overconnecting’. “Companies must adopt a strategic approach to IoT, by connecting some things rather than the internet of every thing,” he said. “Only devices that are critical to the business need to be

connected. Unnecessary IoT adoption will result in time and resources being wasted and won’t provide any asset to the business. The possibilities for IoT are endless, but companies need to avoid becoming lost in the ever-growing IoT explosion.”

A recent high-profile example of a public backlash to a ‘pointless’ IoT device gives reason to believe that if a product isn’t worth its weight then it will be found out. The Juicero – a $400 appdriven juice machine – was dragged through the mud when it was proven totally irrelevant, because squeezing the refills alone can dispense the juice packages. It sparked an anti-Juicero campaign with even Ivanka Trump tweeting out about it in anger.

On the back of the Juicero lambasting, a series of ‘pointless product’ articles are doing the rounds online, proving that criticism still holds the key for whether these apparently frivolous and unnecessary connected products sink or swim.

PCR June 2017 | 19

Microsoft’s Alex Montgomery shows off the firm’s future city vision

Tech in the City Technology experts and government officials from around the world descended on London to discuss the smart cities of today and the future cities of tomorrow. Rob Horgan was in attendance to see how it played out…

I

T IS TIME TO smarten up.

With IoT devices popping up where we live, work and even eat, the future cities of tomorrow are being ushered in today. What exactly that city should look like was up for debate at the two-day ‘Smart to future cities’ conference in London.

While speakers disagreed on what a successful smart city is, how it should be implemented and what it can achieve, the buzzword on everyone’s lips was ‘efficiency’ – for citizens first, and then the economy second.

Karl-Filip Coenegrachts, chief strategy officer in Ghent, explained that a shift in mindset around seven years triggered the smart cities of today. “Before 2010, the smart city concept was all about economic development, 20 | PCR June 2017

bringing in new money for cities,” he said. “Citizens were not thought of in the early days of smart cities. That mindset changed in 2010.”

One city that has found a way to improve citizen experience while turning a profit is Moscow. Eldar Tuzmukhamedov, head of Moscow’s smart city lab, explained how his city combined 200 public services in one place to make the city more efficient while generating money for public coffers at the same time.

“Smart measuring systems have changed the services Moscow can provide its citizens and has increased revenue for the city,” he said.

“Having all vehicles connected, for example, allows us to tell when there is a free parking space in the city

“There is a great opportunity do an unbelievable amount, but there is a fine line and it is important to ensure citizen approval” Chris Pennell, Ovum

and we can tell citizens that to optimise their experience. It also allows us to know which roads are used the most and therefore we can work out which roads need clearing first when it snows.

“From an economic standpoint we can use the same technology to keep a watch on services. For example, our CCTV cameras will take a picture of waste disposal units at the time they are supposed to be collected.

If the bin men are not there when they are supposed to be, then we can fine the subcontractor for failing to meet their contract. This is not to control citizens but to increase service efficiency.”

There is, of course, a fine line between increasing efficiency and creating a Orwellian nanny state. As

Chris Pennell, practise leader at Ovum said: “Being connected does of course throw up security issues.

There is a great opportunity do an unbelievable amount with data obtained from smart solutions, but there is a fine line and it is important to ensure citizen approval.”

In Moscow they have introduce an E-voting app to allow citizen’s to decide on local issues. They have also implemented an app to report damage to public property. The point is to drive up citizen engagement, so that they not only see the benefits but actively contribute towards them.

Helskini has come up with an interesting concept to increase citizen engagement.

As Veera Mustonen, head of Smart Kalastama explained: www.pcr-online.biz

INTERNET OF THINGS “We have to engage people in the concept of smart cities.

We do this by allowing our citizen’s to design and develop their smart city. We have a panel of designers from all walks of life. It is very important to get the feedback of people using the solutions and technology.”

The GDPR guidelines which come into play on May 25, 2018, will help ease security fears by outlining what can be done with smart data. As ETSI board member Kevin Dickerson said: “The most important test for smart city technology is whether or not citizen’s trust it. GDPR is all about how to use the data and how to keep it private.”

Ghent city strategist Coenegrachts thinks that the GDPR ‘is an opportunity to take data back’. “Before the citizen was a user, in the

future, the citizen will be an actor. That has to be the change in smart innovation over the next decade.”

In terms of innovation, Coengrachts – among others – believes it is time to stop rolling out new tech and implement what we’ve already got. “There is no point talking about new technology developments, until we know how to best implement what we already have,” he said.

“Fibre for example is an old technology, and yet, there are many cities in Europe that still don’t have fibre.”

Microsoft UK business lead in IoT and Ai Alex Montgomery added: “The main thing now is building on what we already have. There is no point making new technology if we are not exploring what we already have.” In particular he wants

“The predictive capabilities that data can provide is what the future city is about.”

Alex Montgomery, Microsoft

to see smart technology used for ‘predictive purposes’.

“Right now we have systems in place that react to data,” he said. “Data will come into its own when it is able to predict when streets light are going to need changing. The predictive capabilities that data can provide is what the future city is about.”

Michael Mulquin, of the British Standards Institution, believes that the way to build on what we already have is to borrow the best bits from what has gone before. “There is no one plan for every city,” he continued. “So far, each city has done its own thing, which is great. It means future smart cities can pick and choose which part of existing smart cities to replicate and tailor it to there needs.”

However Nick Chrissos, chief technology officer at

CityVerve, believes creating a ‘blueprint’ for smart cities is the future. “A successful model has to be sustainable, replicable and scalable,” he claimed. “What we want is to see a city completely replicate exactly how another smart city is set up, using the same vendors, the same services and products.”

What exactly a successful smart city blueprint would look like is hard to imagine.

And perhaps Chrissos’s vision is an unrealistic one. After all, no two cities in history have been exactly the same. The ‘pick and choose method’ certainly inspires more flexibility, and in an everchanging market it is the more exciting – and feasible – prospect. Ultimately however, the citizens of each city will determine if smartening up is a success or failure.

Boyd Cohen’s Smart City Wheel was unveiled in 2012 and shows the different factors and smart services needed to make a smart city

www.pcr-online.biz

PCR July 2017 | 21

THE INTERNET OF THINGS

1999

1989

Kevin Ashton coined the phrase ‘Internet of Things’, while IT researchers Andy Stanford-Clark and Arlen Nipper of Cirrus Link created MQTT, the world’s first machine-to-machine (M2M) protocol

Often labelled as the ‘first IoT device’, John Romkey created an internet-powered toaster for the ‘89 INTECOP Conference

2005

1998 The INTEGER Millennium House, the first smart home, was revealed, featuring intelligent heating, security systems, irrigation, closed-circuit TV and automatic locks

A precursor to the Amazon Echo and Google Home, the Nabaztag rabbit was able to alert and speak to users about stock market reports and news headlines, as well as connect to other Nabaztag rabbits

The history of Things Most people will now own an IoT device, however it is only really in the last few years that people have begun talking about it. PCR delves into the history books to see how the IoT was born and how the smart device boom began…

T

HE INTERNET OF THINGS – as we know it today – is a relatively new concept. With the explosion of Smart TVs, intelligent kitchen appliances and home assistants (think Amazon Echo and Google Home), the general public has signed up to the IoT movement without even realising it. No wonder then, that one of Google’s most searched terms in 2016 was: ‘What is the Internet of Things?’.

But the truth is that the IoT has been around for longer than most people think.

Officially recognised as a term in 1999, the move towards the IoT has in fact been ongoing since the 1800s.

Since the first wireless

22 | PCR June 2017

telegraph was developed in the 1830s, machines have been providing direct communications with one another. Radio signals, TVs, satellites, computers and then the birth of the internet itself; in one way or another, all these major technological innovations have been leading towards the IoT. As Darren Ridge, CEO at Onecom, explained: “Connecting people is, of course, a huge part of the IoT story. But we’re already a long way down the road when it comes to the personal and social applications of the internet. Where super-fast connections really come into play, particularly for businesses, is in connecting

“We’re already a long way down the road when it comes to social applications of the internet.”

Darren Ridge, Onecom

systems, devices and objects.

Although the Internet of Things is often thought of as a futuristic concept, it’s already here for anyone who’s linked a fitness tracker to their smartphone, or set their heating timer on an app.”

And while the concept of the IoT has been around for perhaps longer than many thought, the products themselves have only really become Channel relevant in the last few years. As Paul Harman, solutions director at Westcoast Solutions said. “We first became aware of IOT by talking to our key vendors.

We have seen huge growth in this space over the last year or so which is creating new opportunities right

across our business from smart home in our accessories business to security, big data and mobility in our enterprise and cloud business.”

Jonathan Wagstaff, manager at Context, is singing much the same tune, with big name brands giving the IoT a big push. He said: “The smart home market has been growing well, albeit from a small base, in Europe over the last few years, with Amazon Echo giving it a much needed boost.”

Where the IoT goes next remains to be seen, but where it has come from is more interesting – and goes further back – than most people could ever imagine.

www.pcr-online.bizw

THE INTERNET OF THINGS

2006

May 2012

Sony Ericsson teamed up with Fossil to release MBW100, the first watch to connect to phones via Bluetooth. The watch notified users when receiving calls and text messages. It the same year Nokia introduced Bluetooth smart technology service Wibree

Pebble raised $10.3 million on Kickstarter for the development of the Pebble Smartwatch – the most raised for any product on the site at the time

2008

2012

Cisco declared the ‘birth of IoT’ as the number of connected devices in the world outnumbered the global population for first time

November 2014

August 2015

Amazon introduced Alexa, its intelligent personal assistant, and with it brought IoT integration to the living room through straightforward voice input

Ecovent, a smart venting system that allows room-by-room temperature control via a smartphone app went on sale

April 24th 2015 Apple entered the growing smartwatch market with Watch

www.pcr-online.biz

Nest – founded in 2010 by two former Apple engineers – was purchased by Google parent company Alphabet for $3.2 billion

September 23rd, 2016 Snap launched Snapchat Spectacles

PCR June 2017 | 23

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INTERNET OF THINGS

The internet of everything?

Jonathan Easton asks the Channel to gaze into its crystal ball and predict what is coming next for the world of connected devices as vendors, retailers and consumers alike gear up for the possibility of the internet of everything…

I

F YOU HAVE BEEN reading the features in this magazine up until now, then you will be acutely aware of what the Internet of Things is and where it’s come from, but you might be wondering where it’s all headed in the immediate – and long-term – future.

“It is commonly stated that we overestimate the impact of technological change in the short term and underestimate it in the long term,” says Steve Moore, director of Connected Home at Dixons Carphone. That is to say the IoT will see more growth over the long haul, with only minor changes to the state of play right away.

“In 10 years time, IoT devices will be as widespread and accepted as today’s smartphones.”

Paul Lipman, BullGuard “In 2017 we will see an increasing emphasis on If This Then That (IFTTT) technology/ compatibility,” says Gekko business development director Rupert Cook. “Put very simply, it means that smart devices can ‘talk’ to other smart devices to trigger a particular response or action.”

This might seem like only a minor alteration of the tech, but what will emerge are systems that are far more sophisticated, complex and – most importantly – human in how we interact with them. “ A simple example would be a smart doorbell that when used, activates a smart outdoor light,” continues Cook. “Additionally, the doorbell could use facial www.pcr-online.biz

recognition technology to verify the caller and if appropriate, activate the smart lock, opening the door and admitting the visitor.”

Having all these fancy devices and functions is one thing, but the main focus in order to see IoT products or connected devices have any

continued viability is what Dynamode’s Nick Beer describes as ‘seamless integration’.

Indeed, some of the big challenges at this current moment in time to people getting invested in an IoT ecosystem are down to accessibility, or a lack of it to

be precise. “Some customers still have worries about the complexity of setting these products up,” says Moore.

Context’s UK and Ireland country manager Jonathan Wagstaff shares a similar concern: “For many consumers, setting up the devices is still a big barrier.”

On top of the problem of getting people in the door is calming any fears that their purchase will be made redundant by new technology. And this is more important than pretty much any other tech that a consumer will purchase. You might have an old iPod dock that is a bit useless these days now that your phone has a sleek lightning port, but it’s an entirely different equation when your whole house is built around it. If you have a CCTV system intricately wired up around your home that somehow finds itself becoming useless then that will likely have a knock-on effect on any associated products. Or if you decide that you don’t like that smart thermostat it’s not as easy to replace as, say, a smartphone.

However, this is an area that many companies are already aware of and are looking to rectify. “We expect to see the expansion of the ‘Digital Plumber’ offering in 2017 and for the market to continue its steady growth,” says Wagstaff.

With platforms like Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Assistant growing in sophistication, functionality and adoption, and likely becoming something of a ‘gateway’ into the IoT space, more and more people will be warmed into the world of connected devices.

“In 10 years time, IoT devices will be as widespread and accepted as today’s smartphones,” says BullGuard CEO Paul Lipman. And that’s the thrust of it; in order for the Internet of Things to become the ‘Internet of Everything’ as Michael Dell called it at the 2016 EMC World the concept will have to be made easy to get into in terms of cost and accessibility, clearly explained by vendors and accepted by the masses.

PCR June 2017 | 25

INTERNET OF THINGS

Security starts The Internet of Things has exploded on to the market and into our homes. Rob Horgan asks the Channel what security risks arise from the rapid desire to be more connected anxd what solutions are being offered…

Ian Marsden, Eseye, CTO

T

HE FEAR OF hackers accessing our personal data has never been so prevalent. High-profile data leaks, numerous TV programmes (think Mr Robot or Black Mirror) and an abundance of C-list celebrities’ nude selfies doing the rounds on Twitter has only fuelled the legitimate fire of internet security concern. In fact, a recent report by Gigya recently found that as many as twothirds of UK consumers are worried about the security of connected devices.

However, despite the genuine desire to keep hackers at bay, most people usually only think about propping up their PC and laptop defences. But with all manner of new technologies being rolled out with smart capacities, the hacker’s way into the home has become multifaceted. Be it smart TVs, 26 | PCR June 2017

cameras, printers, or even boilers and kitchen appliances, if it is hooked up to the internet, then a hacker can use it as a key into a consumer’s private data, if it is not properly secured from the point of installation.

Ian Marsden, CTO at Eseye believes that the ‘cyber threat has never been greater’ than right now. “The simple fact is that more ‘things’ are now connected to the internet than ever before. The continuing spate of attacks have therefore shone a bright spotlight on IoT security – highlighting it to be both weak and ineffective. It’s an issue which the industry has taken seriously for some time, but a sharp rise in both incidents and media headlines will naturally propel the problem up the chain.”

He added: “The crux of the problem stems from the

Lino Notaro, TP-Link UK, retail sales director

physical time and associated cost involved in IoT deployments around the secure provisioning of devices, and how we get a device onto the network. This has historically been a

“The inability to defend against security threats simply cannot be allowed.”

Ian Marsden, Eseye

daunting task, often to the point of impossible.

“In an industry which is at the forefront of innovation, the inability to defend against security threats

simply cannot be allowed to hold back the potential benefits which could be yielded from the development of creative IoT prodcuts and services.”

The varied nature of devices that are connected to the network poses a real security threat if not addressed properly. A large part of the problem stems from the fact that a large number of smart (or connected) products aimed at the general public lack any kind of sufficient built-in protection. Many connected devices arrived quickly to market without meeting a rising demand for security features such as encryption or even basic password settings.

And with most users unlikely to have any technical skills or knowledge of how to buff up their own defences, this lack of security has

presented a gateway for cybercriminals.

The answer to the IoT problem is now being tackled by security experts. As Paul Harman, director at Westcoast Solutions explained: “The security risk the IoT creates through vulnerability in many of these low-cost connected devices, creates huge upside for the Channel to sell services and solutions in this space.”

Principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab David Emm believes that both consumers and manufacturers need to be aware of security threats to IoT products in order to tackle the problem.

“Unfortunately, if smart devices aren’t secure cybercriminals can take control of them,” Emm said.

“Until recently, this seemed like the stuff of sci-fi movies.

There are some basic www.pcr-online.biz

INTERNET OF THINGS

at home

Paul Harman, Westcoast Solutions, director

practices that should be followed by everyone, from individual consumers to the largest global enterprises.

These include: using strong passwords, regularly checking for and installing software updates, and implementing appropriate security software.

“There is also a role for the manufacturers of connected products and the security industry. We need to work together to ensure that strong protection and patch management is designed-in from the very start. Once a product is on the market, it is already too late.”

He added: “There’s also a role for governments, in developing security standards for IoT devices.

We’ve all come to expect that everyday objects – children’s toys to furniture – come with certification marks indicating that they are physically safe. www.pcr-online.biz

Paul Lipman, BullGuard, CEO

In future, this will have to extend to digital objects and IoT products also.”

Consumer security company BullGuard is one such firm working to secure IoT devices within the home market in particular. CEO Paul Lipman, said that it is ‘focused on protecting the smart home’ from malicious hackers. He said: “We are set to launch in the US Dojo by BullGuard very soon, followed up by a release in Europe which will revolutionise the market.

“When it comes to IoT, consumers absolutely need protection given the parlous state of device security. But it is not just device security that is a concern, privacy is also a major issue for consumers. Hackers can run a rail road through privacy in the home and some device manufacturers also think it’s OK to cull all sorts of private

David Emm, Kaspersky, principle security researcher

data without user consent.”

Lino Notaro, retailer sales director at TP-Link UK, also sees the rise in IoT breaches as an opportunity to create better security packages for consumers to feel more

“If smart devices aren’t secure cybercriminals can take control of them.”

David Emm, Kaspersky

comfortable with connected home devices. However, instead of securing each device with personal security settings, TP-Link is working on securing the network as a

whole to prevent attacks.

“Connectivity isn’t new but IoT devices are,” Notaro said.

“This presents new opportunities for hackers and there is currently no security software available on the market for your household devices. One alternative is to put the security onto your router. The TP-Link’s mesh router, Deco M5, launching in the UK in June, has a feature called HomeCare.

“This is built in anti-virus protection from Trend Micro which means that within minutes of going live malicious urls are blocked from entering your home. In other words, you no longer need to purchase separate AV solutions for each of the devices in your home, the router blocks threats at your front door. As home owners buy and install more and more smart devices, we expect to see a lot of demand

for a single router to streamline what can be a complex network.”

Notaro also believes an IoT standards committee should be put in place to ensure unsafe products are not rushed to market. “IoT encompasses so many devices and the industry has yet to ‘settle’ on one IoT standard,” he said.

Whichever way you look at it and whoever you talk to, the growing IoT market is most certainly going to lend itself to the need for greater online security. As consumers continue to connect their toasters and dishwashers to their iPads and iPhones, it will be up to the security firms to keep up with growing innovation. Security companies could perhaps benefit the most from the IoT revolution, with millions – if not billions – to be made over the next five to 10 years.

PCR June 2017 | 27

CHANNEL EVENTS

‘Rip up the rulebook’ Software giant Canonical discusses ‘big software’, the changing role of the office’s IT team and the future of technology innovation over a coffee and a fry up with Rob Horgan…

WITH BACON and eggs tucked away and everybody suitably fixed with caffeine, the team at Canonical delved into their vision of the future workplace. Hosting a breakfast at London’s Duck & Waffle with views over the city, the firm presented a ‘big software’ vision of the future that looks far beyond the capital.

Coined by founder and open source pioneer Mark Shuttleworth, the concept of ‘big software’ is still new. But to put it as simply as possible, big software is an idea which will overhaul legacy products developed over a decade ago to allow integration of thousands of on-premise and hosted physical and virtual machines (unfortunately that’s as simple as it gets).

The challenge of building and maintaining complex

micro service-based solutions in the cloud is a permanent headache not just for IT teams.

As the dawn of ‘big software’ is ushering in the next era for cloud computing, Canonical believes that businesses need to overhaul their thinking.

“We have reached the point that technology has changed the way that we do our work.

IT has given us a platform that we can do more ourselves,” said the firm’s EVP and GM Cloud Anand Krishnan. “We’re living in a time where software is all around us. Never has everything been so readily available to everyone.”

He added: “Companies have to be set up with expandability in mind from day one. It’s like setting up a restaurant to feed 50 meals a day and then going up to 100 meals a day. You can react by

buying one or two more kitchens as demand increases, but before you know it you can be in a position where you need to serve 500 meals out of three kitchens. In a world of big data if you are

“We’re in an extraordinary period of creative disruption.”

Chris Kenyon, Canonical

thinking of expanding your DPA then you are back in a world where you are trying to feed 500 people out of three kitchens.”

CONNECTABILITY CONNECT ALL YOUR DEVICES WITH A SINGLE CABLE

Krishnan believes the way to optimise business is through a team of dedicated team of disruptors. “Invention and innovation now mean disruption. Gone are the days of IT being about cost cutting.

There is no longer an IT department and a business, they’re now the same thing.”

Senior VP Chris Kenyon sees disruptor departments as being small teams that are left to their own devices. “The real skill now is having engineers who will know how to choose multiple pieces of software and implement them in a working environment.

He added: “In most companies these guys already exist but are being held back.

We have made an environment where developers and engineers can achieve more from home than

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they can in the office. Firms need to select a few devs to break away as disruptors.

“Small teams work faster.

Getting a small team to work efficiently is the best way to progress business. It’s about finding 15-20 people and tearing up the rulebook for them. We’re in an extraordinary period of creative disruption.

Organisations that think it is acceptable to do 18 month procurement procedures are not in the real world.

Alongside disruptors, Canonical believes that collaboration is key in big software development.

“Increasingly, we are seeing companies sharing how their open stacks operate. If one customer improves the system then it will improve for everyone,” said Kenyon.”

The likes of Google or Microsoft will have their own in-house system, but the way software and big data works means that businesses are no longer trying to get one up on each other and are instead working together for better results for all.“

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As a highly regarded information hub for the industry, PCR is perfectly placed to provide guidance on the current challenges and opportunities facing the industry in 2017 with the aim of creating a bespoke event around your products and services.

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New Products Dedicated monthly product coverage

The latest tech Editorial planner

Full spherical filming capabilities

The GoPro Fusion captures stunning 5.2K30 video GoPro’s first-ever VRready device

GoPro fusing VR and filming THE POWER OF filming virtual reality is being put in the hands of the people. Merging its action cams with VR capabilities, GoPro has revealed its first consumer product with the ability to record VR content. Unveiling the GoPro Fusion, the camera will allow users to capture ‘fully immersive virtual reality content’, record non-VR video and even snap the good oldfashion photograph.

Announced by Jess Foley, GoPro’s senior product

manager of spherical solutions, on the company’s blog, a Fusion pilot programme has also been launched to give budding content creators the chance to be among the first people in the world to use the new VR-enabled camera.

“I am so proud to introduce Fusion, the new GoPro that packs a huge punch,” she said.

“Fusion is the ultimate capture device for fully immersive virtual reality content, non-VR video, and

“I cannot wait to see how content creators use Fusion to help tell their stories.”

Jess Foley, GoPro

even photos. It captures stunning 5.2K 30 FPS video and breath-taking photos in full spherical—but that’s not all. Thanks to Fusion, our users will be able to record their moments in all directions and then go back and choose the composition they want.”

She added: “As the Senior Product Manager for Fusion, I have been looking forward to this day for some time. We have a pilot program starting soon, and I cannot wait to see how innovative content

creators will use Fusion to help them tell their stories.

The goal of Fusion is to distill the best of GoPro—quality, mountability and durability— into a pocketable product that will wow our professional customers.”

The Fusion will be compatible with all existing GoPro mounts, as well as a number of handheld accessories. Expected to be launched before the end of 2017, pricing is yet to be revealed.

Contact: GoPro | http://gopro.com | Price: TBA | Out: TBA

www.pcr-online.biz

PCR June 2017 | 31

NEW PRODUCTS

AOC’s designer display FOR ALL of the beauty on screen, computer monitors have a tendency to be unsightly things with awkward designs and cables getting in the way.

Enter AOC’s new range of monitors: the 24-inch PDS241 and the 27-inch PDS271.

The new monitors have been designed by Studio F.A. Porsche, with the agency’s focus on sleek and timeless design very much being on show here. While the specs aren’t really much to write home about – 1080p and a max refresh rate of 76Hz – design is everything and the way the whole package looks more than makes up for the lack of 4K resolution.

Tiny bezels and an ultra-thin screen are complemented by what the company refers to as the first-ever modular design on a monitor. What this means is that there are not any visible

cables coming from the back of the monitor.

How this witchcraft is achieved is by combining the

HDMI input and power into one single cable that comes out of the display’s asymmetrical stand which is

all neatly channeled through a nicely designed box that can be tucked away. The only downside to this is that you’re

only getting a single HDMI input, meaning that you are unable to have multiple sources plugged into the monitor at once. While that might be a hinderance for people looking to switch between, say, a PC and a games console, with its design-first looks, the PDS will likely find its home in design agencies and receptions where it won’t be a problem.

Both monitors will be available in June, with an MSRP of $219 and $299 for the 24- and 27-inch displays respectively. We are awaiting UK pricing, but we imagine it’ll be around the same figure.

It might seem a bit pricey, especially considering that it doesn’t have a higher resolution or refresh rate, but when it comes to visual impact in an office there are few better looking monitors on the market.

Contact: AOC | http://www.aoc.com | Price: $219-$299 | Out: Now

The world’s first squeezable phone THE HUMBLE mobile phone has undergone quite a transformation over the last decade.

And now HTC has taken it in a new – perhaps odd – direction.

Introducing the world’s first-ever squeezable phone, HTC has launched its U 11 phone as the flagship for its new top-range brand of products.

Unveiled on May 16 , the firm teased up the ‘squeezable’ element of the handset in a teaser video in April.

Controlled by squeezing the sides of the device, 11 pressure sensitive buttons are also dotted around the screen and the sides of the phone to provide various functions such as launching an app or taking a photo.

In keeping with the ‘U’ brand –

which saw the HTC U Ultra and U Play hit the market before the U 11 – the smartphone has a pearlescent rear borrowed from the two existing toprange devices. At 5.5-inches, the display comes in at 1440 x 2560 with a 16MP camera strapped on to the back.

Unlike other recent launches, the HTC has retained thick black bezels, not following the ‘unboxed’ trend set by Samsung earlier this year.

Contact: HTC | http://htc.com/uk | Price: £249 | Out: Now

32 | PCR June 2017

Holographic headset LENOVO IS nearly ready to launch its Windows Holographic-powered immersive device. The MR/ VR headset is set to hit the market in August and will run on a set of APIs integrated into the Windows 10 operating system.

With Microsoft also working with Asus, Acer, Dell and HP, Lenovo has beaten the pack to be the first

Windows Holographic product to get to market. With two onboard cameras to drive its inside-out tracking system, the headset also sports dual 1440x1440 OLED displays The new headset will join the company’s new Legion PC hardware too, with the VR-capable Y720 laptop due later in the year.

Contact: Lenovo | http://lenovo.com | Price: $300 | Out: August

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NEW PRODUCTS

Palm reader Hammerhead hearing

WE’VE ALREDY SEEN finger print sensing, retina scanning and facial recognition but now you can add palm reading to the list of security features built into smart devices.

Launching a wide-range of products, Fujitsu’s Arrows Tab Q507/P-SP has literally grabbed the headlines for its unique unlocking system.

A 10.1-inch Windows-powered tablet, the slide-style palm vein

authentication system sets it apart from other Windows tablets.

Scanning and recognising the vein pattern on the palm of a user’s hand, the tablet is the first of Fujitsu’s devices to incorporate the new technology.

Built with the office in mind, the latest Arrows Tab features both water resistance and dust resistance technology.

Contact: Fujitsu | http://futijsu.com | Price: £600 | Out: August

A PAIR OF brand new headsets have been launched by Razer.

The Hammerhead BT and Hammerhead Lightning in-ear audio line headsets come with Bluetooth and iOS connectivity.

Engineered to deliver clear and cordless audio, the new Razer Hammerhead BT is a Bluetooth 4.1 in-ear headset that features the Qualcomm aptX codec for low-latency, high-quality audio.

The Lightning edition allows iOS-powered device users to personalise listening experiences through its app with customizable or pre-configured equalizer settings. It also comes with an in-line control and mic that allows users to make use of Siri, as well as take calls or skip music tracks.

Both Razer Hammerhead models are fitted with customtuned 10mm dynamic audio drivers, an aluminum acoustic chamber and ear tip sizes to ensure fit and sound isolation.

Contact: Razer | http://razerzone.com | Price: £99 | Out: August

How big is too big?

Optoma performance DESIGNED TO GIVE businesses, schools and universities ‘brighter, higher resolution presentations’, Optoma has released it 400 and 400+ series of portable projectors. Set to replace the Legacy LCD range, the six new projectors offer 4,000 lumens and longer lamp life for an overall cheaper running cost.

With a range of resolutions (1080p, WXGA and XGA) the projectors have

been made to be suitable for use at any time of day. Compatible with HDMI and MHL inputs, the projectors are ideal for connecting to laptops, PCs and Blu-ray players.

The 400+ series features two HDMI inputs and two VGA inputs, making switching between sources as simple as pushing a button. Weighing in at just 2.52kg, the compact models are also built to be transported easily.

Contact: Optoma | http://optoma.co.uk | Price: £800-£1,000 | Out: Now

34 | PCR June 2017

TAKING BIG television screens to ‘unprecedented levels’, Panasonic has unveiled its new 77-inch EZ1000 OLED TV. Claiming to have the ‘best OLED range’ available, Panasonic’s 4K TV is fitted with the firm’s black filter for sharp image quality and an integrated technics dynamic blade speaker for inbuilt, high-quality audio.

As well as the supersized 77-inch model, Panasonic will also be releasing 65-inch and 55-inch OLED models to add to its new line of 4K devices. Compatible blu-ray players are also set to be released by the end of the year and are designed specifically to compliment the OLED models.

Contact: Panasonic | http://panasonic.com | Price: $8,000 | Out: July

www.pcr-online.biz

NEW PRODUCTS

Look into the Mira HAVE YOU EVER wished your phone was just that bit bigger when you were playing Angry Birds? Or, have you wished you had an actual keyboard when tapping a note onto your smartphone? Well, now you can. Utilising the power of a smartphone to be used as a laptop, the Mirabook by Miraxess is a new piece of hardware, that optimises smartphone capabilities.

Developed by a team based in Lyon, France, the Mirabook smartphone-laptop has been designed to enable users to connect their smartphone to a

larger screen using the power of the mobile device as its very own portable processing engine. Raising its $50,000 target on crowd-funding site Indiegogo, Miraxess is offering early-bird special offers on their device. Currently on sale for $180, the actual RRP will be $299 once the initial early-bird stock goes.

A full-sized QWERTY keyboard and a larger screen effectively turns your phone into a laptop. A touchpad, extra storage and a high-capacity battery life are all built-in to the Mirabook. Features such as Samsung Desktop Experience or Oxi provide Desktop mode interfaces, while the Mirabook offers its own storage for extended mobility and privacy.

With consumers increasingly depending on smartphones, Miraxess has tapped into an interesting market – almost offering a half-way-house alternative to the tablet and 2-in-1.

Contact: Miraxes | http://miraxess.com | Price: $299 | Out: Now

Building towers

Chipping in AMD HAS launched its new mobile graphics chip, the Radeon RX 540.

Based on Polaris GPU architecture, the RX 540 has been quietly slipped into the market as AMD continues to develop its Radeon RX 500 series of processors.

Designated to be the mobile version of RX 550, the Radeon RX 540 is equipped with three core technologies that will deliver a fast performance comibined with high-

quality graphics. The chips use the adaptive power saving feature called Radeon Chill.

Lightweight game capture Radeon ReLive will be built in as well as new AMD DirectX 12 technology that will deliver a faster graphics performance and higher frames per second. The latest DirectX technology also has the capability to reduce hardware latency.

Contact: AMD | http://amd.com | Price: £79.99 | Out: Now

www.pcr-online.biz

CORSAIR has launched its Graphite Series 760T full-tower PC. Developed to provide ‘stunning performance potential’, the tower has two massive 140mm intake fans surrounded

by LED lighting. A total of eight fan mounting locations keep the device cool and there is room for multiple radiators for selfcontained liquid CPU coolers. There are also clever touches like modular drive cages and laterally mounted SSD bays to maximize interior volume.

Compatible with Mini-ITX, MicroATX, E-ATX and XL-ATX motherboards, the tower has three 5.25inch external drive bays and 6 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch internal drive bays. It also

comes with 2 USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, a 3.5mm headphone port and microphone port.

Contact: Corsair | http://corsair.com | Price: £179.99 | Out: Now

PCR June 2017 | 35

NEW PRODUCTS

Walk this way FACEBOOK HAS laid down a massive gauntlet in the virtual reality space.

Updating its Surround 360 VR camera – which was launched last year – Facebook has revealed two new systems (the x24 and x6) that combine multiple cameras in order to create the illusion that the user is walking around a VR scene.

“The new systems are built to make the camera available to a wider group of filmographers.”

Most 360 VR cameras currently on the market essentially keep a user’s head on a fixed point, allowing them to look up, down, left and right (even behind them) and hopefully in 3D. However, Facebook’s latest systems

go one step further, giving the user the ability to physically move around a constructed VR scene.

The new cameras achieve this by overlapping camera streams for additional depth information. New software has also been built into the headsets to integrate CGI effects and improve frame transition.

Of the two systems, the x24 is the larger model, running with 24 cameras. As its name suggest the x6 only has six cameras in comparison but has been designed as a ‘more portable’ option. Unlike the original Surround 360, the new systems are built by hardware makers to make the camera available to a wider group of budding filmographers.

The price for the x24 and x6 remains to be seen but if it’s predecessor’s $30,000 price tag is anything to go by then it is set to be a pretty penny. When exactly the cameras will be released is also up for debate with Facebook refusing to be anymore specific than ‘later this year’.

Contact: Facebook | http://facebook360.fb.com | Price: TBA | Out: TBA

Editorial Planner

A look at the biggest features coming up in PCR over the next few months...

July 2017

August 2017

September 2017

EDUCATION

SECURITY

GAMING

This month we look ahead to the ‘back to school’ period and pick apart how best to sell IT equipment to schools.

In August we look into the pressing security issues that are affecting the Channel and what’s being done to solve them.

In September we look into eSports and how to make the most of gaming hardware.

Elsewhere in this issue, we review Computex and reflect on 2017 at its half-way point.

We’ll look at the state of the security landscape and get tips from experts on how best to sell security soltions.

Elsewhere in September we preview the evolution of PC gaming market and the future.

Advertising Deadline

Advertising Deadline

Advertising Deadline

June 14th

July 13th

August 16th

www.pcr-online.biz

PCR June 2017 | 37

SECTOR GUIDE

(Smart)home comforts The smart home is here to stay. PCR collates the latest internet connected devices improving home life…

TP-LINK SMART COLOURCHANGING LED BULB

TP LINK SMART DIMMABLE LED BULB

NETGEAR ARLO PRO WIRELESS IP CAMERAS

D-LINK DCH-107KT HOME STARTER KIT

Distributor: CMS, Exertis, Spire, TechData

Distributor: CMS

Distributor: Exertis, TechData, Ingram Micro

Distributor: Exertis

This bulb enables control of lights from anywhere with a tablet, smartphone or the TP-Link Kasa app (iOS, Android). It dynamically adjusts light intensity and temperature to mimic natural light patterns.

The LB100 bulb can be controlled from anywhere. The smart bulb installs as easily as a standard light bulb, and connects to home Wi-Fi. The Kasa app can be used to adjust brightness, set schedules and change scenes.

The next generation of the Arlo wirefree smart cameras, the Arlo Pro takes up minimal space and does not require an outlet for power. Arlo Pro wire-free cameras can be easily and discreetly placed anywhere inside or outside.

The D-Link Smart Home Security Kit comes with D-Link’s central smart home hub, a monitor HD camera, a siren plus a single window or door sensor.

Suitable for a studio or small twobedroom flat.

Specs: Wireless type 2.4GHz, 1T1R, operating temperature of -15ºC to 40ºC, 25,000 hour bulb lifetime

Specs: No hub required, remote access via app, dimming option

Specs: 1280x720 video resolution, H.264 video format, adjustable motion sensors, 2440mAh rechargeable battery

Specs: Monitor HD camera, siren and window sensor included, Cloud storage support

SRP: £44.99

SRP: £19.99

SRP: : £259.99

SRP: £179.99

SENGLED PULSE SOLO

SEN.SE THERMOPEANUT SMART THERMOMETER

SEN.SE GUARDPEANUT ANTI-THEFT ALARM

SEN.SE SLEEPPEANUT SMART WAKE UP ALARM

Distributor: CMS

Distributor: CMS

Distributor: CMS

Distributor: CMS

Pulse Solo is the world’s first combination of LED light and multichannel stereo sound. Integrated with a JBL speaker system, Pulse Solo combines dual 3-watt speakers with modern LED lighting technology.

ThermoPeanut is a smart wireless thermometer that measures temperature and sends it to a connected phone using Bluetooth 4.0.

The current temperature can be checked with the SensePeanut App.

GuardPeanut watches over belongings and sends alerts if they are moved.

Guardpeanut connects to a smartphone using Bluetooth Smart. Using the SensePeanut companion App, alerts are sent when something is moved.

SleepPeanut is a smart wake up alarm clock that wakes users up at the right time, refreshed and energised. Placed under a bedsheet, SleepPeanut seamlessly monitors sleep quality and cycles.

Specs: JBL speaker system, app for iOS and Android, Bluetooth-ready

Specs: Bluetooth Smart (low energy), three months battery life, up to 30m range

Specs: Bluetooth Smart (low energy), three months battery life, up to 30m range

Specs: Bluetooth Smart (low energy), three months battery life, up to 30m range

SRP: £29.99

SRP: £29.99

SRP: £29.99

SRP: £29.99

38 | PCR June 2017

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SECTOR GUIDE

SAMSUNG SMART HOME CAMERA HD INDOOR PRO

SAMSUNG SMARTCAM FULL HD WI-FI

D-LINK HD 180° PANORAMIC CAMERA

MYDLINK HOME SMART HOME HD STARTER KIT

Distributor: CMS

Distributor: CMS

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Distributor: Ingram, Exertis, Tech Data,

Designed for optimum performance with Full HD 1080p, the SmartCam HD Pro provides high calibre video. The SmartCam HD Pro can be easily customised to deliver real-time notification of activity.

The Samsung SmartCam records video in full HD. Wide dynamic range provides great video quality even in challenging lighting conditions. Users can monitor their home or office, at night, using night vision with infrared LED.

The HD 180 degree Panoramic Camera is the world’s first 180-degree Wireless AC Wide Eye camera, offering a horizonwide view, in high-quality 720p.

Offering Wireless AC connectivity, the device is easily connected to Wi-Fi.

The Smart Home HD Starter Kit gives users the ability to set, control, monitor and automate their home from anywhere. The kit includes a Smart Plug, a Wi-Fi motion sensor and a Home monitor HD.

Specs: 1080p, full HD video streaming, motion zone detection

Specs: Full HD video streaming, pan and tilt, auto tracking, motion zone detection

Specs: 1/2.7” Megapixel progressive CMOS sensor, 5 metre IR illumination distance, 8X digital zoom

Specs: 802.11b/g/n wireless with WPA/ WPA2 encryption and WPS button, smart remote control

SRP: £139.99

SRP: £139.99

SRP: £134.16

SRP: £146.99

INTELLINET OUTDOOR NIGHT VISION HD DOME

DYNAMODE WIRELESS INDOOR IP CAMERA

AUDIO PRO ADDON C5 C-SERIES SPEAKER

HAUPPAUGE MYSMARTHOME CAMERA

Distributor: Meroncourt

Distributor: Meroncourt

Distributor: Hama

Distributor: Tech Data, Thames Distribution

The Intellinet IDC-757IR Pro-Level Outdoor Night Vision Megapixel Network Dome Camera is designed for indoor, day and night security surveillance and comes fully equipped with state-of-the-art features.

The IP Camera is designed to provide an extra layer of security. This device uses an advanced CMOS imaging sensor, combined with high quality manufactured lens technology to give you the best image quality possible.

Audio Pro C-Series Connected Speakers allow you to wirelessly control and play high-quality audio across multiple locations throughout the home from a single mobile device. C-series speakers can be linked to other speakers.

The mySmarthome Camera is ideal for home security system, with night vision.

The mySmarthome Camera can be integrated into the mySmarthome Home Automation system to create new/ follow existing smart rules.

Specs: Image resolutions up to 1280 x 720 (720p), IP66-rated weather-andvandal-proof housing

Specs: CMOS sensor, 1080P, LAN Port: 10Base-T/100Base-TX, 11pcs IR LEDs

Specs: Powered stereo speaker with bass reflex, digital Class D amplifier, 2x8W + 25W, textile dome tweeter

Specs: Built-in motion detection sensors, SD slot, Infrared for night vision, wide angle lens with 720p HD

SRP: : £399.99

SRP: £101.99

SRP: £229.99

SRP: £91.99

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PCR June 2017 | 39

SECTOR GUIDE

Keeping track of things From heart monitors to fitness watches, smart devices are providing us with unprecedented levels of data. PCR rounds up what is out there to help consumers keep track of their increasingly self-conscious actions…

DOG TRACKER NANO GOLD EDITION

DOG TRACKER NANO SILVER EDITION

FITBIT CHARGE 2

FITBIT BLAZE

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Dog Tracker Nano will show you where your dog is with maps. The Gold edition comes with Black Dog Tracker Nano, two year subscription, two year roaming SIM upgrade, two year speed track upgrade and security collar.

Dog Tracker Nano will show you where your dog is with live maps on your mobile. Made with ruggedized plastic, the silver edition comes with Black Dog Tracker Nano, one year subscription and one year roaming SIM upgrade.

Track heart rate continuously on your wrist to maximize workouts, better track calorie burn and get a clearer picture of your health. The Charge 2 tracks steps, sends active reminders throughout the day and automatically tracks sleep

Connect Fitbit Blaze with GPS on your phone to map your routes and see run stats like speed and distance on the display. Fitbit Blaze uses SmartTrack to automatically recognise and record exercises for you.

Specs: Ruggedised plastic, up to 25mm wide, compatible with iOS8 and above / Android 4.0 and above, waterproof

Specs: Ruggedised plastic, up to 25mm wide, compatible with iOS8 and above / Android 4.0 and above, waterproof

Specs: 14cm-17cm strap length, waterproof, splash proof, GPS able

Specs: Accelerometer, active minutes tracker, calorie counter, pedometer, heart-rate monitor, alarm clock

SRP: £386.00

SRP: £195.00

SRP: £119.99

SRP: £229.00

SKAGEN HAGEN

JARV WIRELESS HEART RATE MONITOR

WAHOO TICKR HEART RATE MONITOR

HUAWEI WATCH

Distributor: Thames Distributors

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Distributor: Thames Distributors

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The Hagen Connected hybrid smartwatch connects to Android or iPhone. Via the SKAGEN app, the watch automatically updates to the correct time and date and sends you discreet notifications.

Wireless heart rate monitor fully compatible with both Android and iOS. Chest strap is waterproof and has a comfortable fit that tracks heart rate, distance and pace. Compatible with Google Play and App Store fitness apps.

The Wahoo TICKR Heart Rate Monitor uses dual band technology (Bluetooth/ ANT+) to connect to your smartphone so you can track your heart rate, calories burned, time plus distance and pace throughout your workouts.

Compatible on Android and IOS, the Huawei Watch is powered by Android Wear. On-screen and voice technology updates social media notifications as well as tracking fitness regimes and measuring heart rate.

Specs: Activity Tracker, sleep monitor, Bluetooth enabled, compatible with iOS8+ and Android 4.4+

Specs: Compatible with android fitness apps using BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) Technology

Specs: Bluetooth 4.0 and ANT+ compatibility, compatible with iPhone 4S and later, and select Android devices

Specs: 42 mm diameter, Hear Rate monitor, motion sensor, 316L coldforged stainless steel face

SRP: £185.00

SRP: £25.00

SRP: £39.99

SRP: £229.00

40 | PCR June 2017

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SECTOR GUIDE

PRODIGIO CONNECTED NESPRESSO MACHINE

SONOS: PLAY:5 SMART SPEAKER

ROOST: SMART BATTERY FOR SMOKE ALARMS

WITHINGS BLOOD PRESSURE MONITOR

Distributor: DirekTek

Distributor: Exertis

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Your phone can now make a perfect coffee. The first Bluetooth connected Nespresso machine and its app, offer additional benefits such as capsule stock management, schedule brew and machine assistance & care.

Sonos’ updated Play:5 adds touch controls and Trueplay to the flagship speaker. Trueplay fine tunes the sound of the speaker to any room. The Play:5 also packs two microphones for voice activation.

Roost is the affordable approach to connecting your smoke alarm. The Roost smart battery can connect any smoke alarm to send notifications to smart devices when there is an emergency or when the battery is low.

Simply slip on the cuff, turn on the Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor and the Health Mate app will automatically launch. Following a brief set of instructions, you are ready to take your blood pressure.

Specs: Bluetooth ready, IoS and Android compatible

Specs: Six Class-D amplifiers with six dedicated speaker drivers, two microphones

Specs: Five-year battery life, Wi-Fi enabled

Specs: Health Mate app stores all BP readings, syncs with the Withings Health Cloud

SRP: £169.99

SRP: £499.00

SRP: £60.00

SRP: £140.00

TAGG PLUS PET TRACKER COLLAR

FLIP 2 WEARABLE FOR KIDS

FLIC SMART BUTTON

MIMO SMART BABY SLEEP TRACKER

Distributor: Exertis

Distributor: Thames Distribution

Distributor: CMS

Distributor: Thames Distributors

An all-in-one GPS location and activity tracker for dogs and cats, the Tagg Plus pet tracker collar combines GPS, cellular and Wi-Fi technology to give you the most comprehensive and accurate tracking nationwide.

Wearable phone and locator for kids.

Parents can call, text and locate their child right from their phone, giving kids the freedom to be kids and parents a little extra peace of mind.

Flic is a simple and stylish wireless button that acts as a shortcut to your favorite actions on your phone. With one Flic, you can call a cab, text your loved ones of your location, or just turn the lights on.

Mimo uses proprietary sensor technology to keep parents updated throughout the night to changes in their baby’s activity. It can even be connected to multiple caregivers smartphones at once.

Specs: GPS enabled, cellular tracking, Wi-Fi ready

Specs: GPS, GSM, and WiFi tracking enabled, call and SMS capable

Specs: weight, 0.2 ounces, Product Dimensions: 1.1 x 1.1 x 0.3 inches five-year CR2 battery life

Specs: Ultra low-power Bluetooth Low Energy, compatible with Nest products

SRP: £85.99

SRP: £169.99

SRP: £29.99

SRP: £199.99

CONTACT

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PCR June 2017 | 41

SECTOR GUIDE

Networking necessities From super-fast WiFi routers to smart plugs and antennas, PCR rounds up the networking devices on the market…

ASUS LYRA AC2200 HOME WI-FI SYSTEM

TP-LINK SR20 SMART HOME ROUTER

TP-LINK DECO

TP-LINK WI-FI SMART PLUG

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Distributor: CMS, Exertis, Spire, TechData

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Lyra uses three interconnected Wi-Fi nodes to deliver a fast, reliable and secure signal. It gives users the freedom to roam anywhere around the house, automatically connecting to the best signal without interruptions.

The TP-Link SR20 is a central intelligence hub for smart or IoT home devices. Consumers can use their smartphone, tablet or the router’s touchscreen to monitor and customize interactions between their devices.

Deco is a home Wi-Fi solution that delivers fast, uninterrupted Wi-Fi for up to 4,500 sq ft of coverage. Deco also has built-in adaptive routing technology that automatically chooses the clearest path for all devices on the Deco unit.

Control devices connected to the smart plug via the TP-Link Kasa app on a smartphone or tablet. Users can schedule the smart plug to automatically power electronics on and off as needed.

Specs: Tri-band, tri-node system, smart antenna design, commercial-grade security with AiProtection

Specs: AC1900 class Wi-Fi performance on 5GHz (up to 1300Mbps) and 2.4GHz (up to 600Mbps) bands

Specs: Quad core CPU, wireless speed of 400 Mbps on 2.4 GHz and 867 Mbps on 5 GHz, two gigabit ports

Specs: Wireless type 2.4GHz, 1T1R, requires Android 4.1 or higher, iOS 8 or higher

SRP: TBC

SRP: TBC

SRP: TBC

SRP: £34.99

INTELLINET 5-IN-1 CABLE TESTER

DYNAMODE NANO-SIZED 600MBPS USB ADAPTER

INTELLINET OUTDOOR RANGE EXTENDER

DYNAMODE 24 PORT ETHERNET SWITCH

Distributor: Meroncourt

Distributor: Meroncourt

Distributor: Meroncourt

Distributor: Meroncourt

The Intellinet 5-in-1 Cable Tester is a MIS tool that tests five common LAN and computer cables up to 600 ft. It checks for continuity, crossover and shorting. Testing is completed with the press of a button.

The new WL-AC-600M is the next generation of compact, nano-sized USB adapters for Windows, MacBook and Linux computers. Featuring dual-band, 2.4 and 5Ghz frequencies, it is ideal for congested wireless areas.

The Intellinet Wireless 150N Outdoor CPE/ Access Point is a long-distance wireless bridge solution, combing a wireless access point, an WISP client, a 10 dBi high-gain antenna and an IP65 weatherproof enclosure.

Compatible with existing Cat5E and Cat6 cabling, enjoy reduced return-toapplication times on client/server applications, fast backup and restores from your SAN. A robust, aluminium outer case enhances RF shielding.

Specs: For Cat5/6 network and ISDN connection tests, USB AB and IEEE1394 6 pin FireWire cable tester

Specs: Dual-band 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz WiFi, 600Mbps Wi-Fi performance, Plug ‘n’ Play USB2.0 interface, Soft AP

Specs: Connectivity to 2.4 GHz Wireless ISP (WISP), built-in 10 dBi antenna, suitable for long-range PtP connections

Specs: Gigabit ethernet, 24 ports, auto sensing 10/100/1000 Mbps, Plug ‘n’ Play, works on all TCP Operating Systems

SRP: £34.99

SRP: £19.99

SRP: £79.99

SRP: £119.99

42 | PCR June 2017

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SECTOR GUIDE

INTELLINET 100-PACK CAT5E RJ45 PLUGS

NETGEAR ORBI HOME WI-FI SYSTEM

NIGHTHAWK X10

TP-LINK RE305 WI-FI RANGE EXTENDER

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A 100 pack of Cat5e RJ45 modular plugs for solid wire, on unshielded twisted pair applications. These networking accessories are compatible with all RJ45 connections and use standard 8P8C design.

Netgear’s Orbi WiFi System covers up to 4,000 square feet. An industry first, the Orbi is the only system to utilise Triband Wi-Fi and has the capability of providing a wireless channel between router and each Orbi satellite.

The Nighthawk X10 Smart Wi-Fi router combines a 1.7GHz Quad Core processor and Quad-Stream Wave 2 WiFi architecture with next generation high speed 802.11ad Wi-Fi. Wireless speeds reach up to 7.2Gbps.

The RE305 lets users keep more devices connected at the same time with its 2.4GHz 300Mbps and 5GHz 867Mbps dual bands. The 2.4GHz band is ideal for sending emails and browsing the web, and the 5GHz band for gaming.

Specs: Cat5e RJ45 modular plug, 15 Micron gold plated contacts, threeprong terminal for solid wire

Specs: WiFi speeds: AC3000 (1733 + 866 + 400Mbps), one 2.0 USB port per device, 4GB flash memory

Specs: Wi-Fi speeds of 7.2Gbps, seven 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet ports, two USB 3.0 ports

Specs: Two external antennas, 2.4GHz and 5GHz, combined speed of up to 1.2Gbps, intelligent signal light

SRP: £14.99

SRP: £349.99

SRP: £409.99

SRP: £44.99

D-LINK EXO AC1900 ROUTER

LINKSYS WRT 3200 ACM

SYNOLOGY RT2600AC

ASUS RT-AC88U

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The EXO AC1900 (Dir-879) router has antennas with signal amplifiers that will send multiple Wi-Fi streams for a reliable connection. Ideally suited to a smart home environment with a multitude of connected devices.

Equipped with innovative Tri-Stream 160 technology, the WRT3200ACM delivers untouched Wi-Fi speeds that never lag. Tri-Stream 160 effectively doubles the bandwidth of the 5 GHz band for faster speeds.

SRM’s Smart WAN capability on the RT2600ac supports 2Gbps Dual WAN combined bandwidth when multiple connections are established. If one connection goes offline, traffic can fall over to the other interface.

RT-AC88U uses the latest NitroQAM technology to boost the Wi-Fi speeds for everything connected to the network. It also comes with wide Wi-Fi coverage, lighting-fast USB and WAN/ LAN speed plus AiProtection.

Specs: 10/100/1000 gigabit Ethernet WAN port, four 10/100/1000 gigabit Ethernet LAN ports

Specs: One Gigabit WAN port, four Gigabit LAN ports, one USB 3.0 port, four detachable antennas

Specs: 1.7GHz Dual-core processor, 4x4 802.11ac wave 2 radios with MU-MIMO and 2.53Gbps breakthrough speeds

Specs: 802.11ac dual-band Wi-Fi router, boosts speeds up to 3167 Mbps, 4K UHD video playback,

SRP: £149.16

SRP: £199.99

SRP: £260

SRP: £250

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PCR June 2017 | 43

OUT OF OFFICE

IN THE

MANO’S 100KM CHALLENGE FOR CHARITY

HOT SEAT

James Fitzgerald, Optoma Europe We caught up with Optoma Europe’s UK channel manager who has a big confession to make…

What was your first job?

Paperboy for the morning paper in Hatch End, Harrow. It was awful!

What’s your favourite TV show?

Game of Thrones (obviously).

If you could go back in time what would you do?

Check the lottery numbers before I go.

What is your pet peeve?

Waiting and queuing!

Tell us something not many people know.

It was me that threw the stink bomb into the Hatch End Tandoori in 1990.

What is the funniest or most memorable experience in your career?

Being voted Best Account Manager for BT Business in 2010 and receiving the award from Jimmy Carr.

What’s going to be the next thing in tech?

4K home projection. We will soon be launching an affordable 4K home model. I think this is going to be a game changer in the projection market.

Your favourite cheesy joke.

What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear.

44 | PCR June 2017

MANO PARMAR, one of MMD’s UK Channel managers, is currently training to complete the 100km distance from London to Brighton within 24 hours for charity. The challenge, which takes place on July 1-2 2017, is called the military tab, and the participants have to carry all their own water, food and extra clothing in a

backpack. This special charity supports vision-impaired veterans to discover a life beyond sight loss.

For this race, Mano has teamed up with Stewart Honeywill from Exertis, one of Europe’s largest and fastest growing technology distribution and specialist service providers. Mano and Stewart will both be wearing

a Philips branded running shirt to promote the brand during the event.

Help Mano collect donations for this great cause by visiting www. justgiving.com/fundraising/ ManoParmar JustGiving sends your donation straight to Blind Veterans UK and automatically reclaims Gift Aid if you are a UK taxpayer, so your donation is worth even more.

Mano and Stewart will try to run together with Alan Lock, who works for BT – one of MMD’s key clients in the UK. Alan is a blind adventure athlete and speaker. A former Royal Navy officer, he lost much of his sight in 2004. He has completed some of the world’s toughest endurance feats, holding multiple world records, including a Guinness Record for rowing the Atlantic (2008). He is currently training to swim the English Channel.

ELLIE COMPLETES LONDON MARATHON FOR ACTION ON ADDICTION ELLIE CHILDS, who was recently appointed as head of sales at specialist broadband and hosted voice distributor, DMSL, raised more than £3,500 for Action on Addiction by running the London Marathon last month.

Action on Addiction, which was formed as a national charity in 2007 and enjoys the patronage of the Duchess of Cambridge, works to provide treatment and support for families and children.

Its SHARP (Self-Help Addiction Recovery Programme) helps people engage with mutual aid groups such as AA. Ellie stated: “Sadly, most people know someone who is affected by addiction. It ruins lives and breaks up families, but it’s the biggest preventable killer in the UK. I was really proud to run for the charity and raise money for their amazing centres, which help people who suffer from addiction and their families.”

She completed the 26.2-mile run in a very credible four hours, 23 minutes and 32 seconds.

You can still donate to Ellie’s fund at https://www.justgiving. com/fundraising/eleanor-childs

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OUT OF OFFICE

LOUD AND CLEAR IF YOU thought your multiroom Sonos system was impressive you’ve seen nothing. Harman’s JBL audio brand is now a Guinness World Records title holder after it successfully simultaneously played audio out of 1,000 of its Flip 4

Bluetooth speakers from a single media source.

The event, taking place at the trendy Village Underground music venue in Shoreditch in conjunction with O2, saw speakers displayed on a circular structure to create a

360-degree wall of sound.

Carsten Olsen, vice president and general manager of Harman Consumer Lifestyle EMEA, commented: “JBL’s music heritage has ensured that both our CONNECT+ technology and recently

launched Flip 4 are superior offerings within the market. It therefore, only seemed fitting to celebrate both with a landmark event that has secured our place in Guinness World Records history.

“We are a brand that thrives on innovation and

also love to party so it was great to celebrate in style last night with industry members, press, fans, ambassadors and retail partners. The event was the perfect kick-off for our jam-packed calendar of live events taking place throughout 2017.”

here,” said Jeremy Davies, CEO and co-founder.

“We want people at Context to be motivated to be the best by working in a company that strives for excellence in everything it does: both internally for its employees, and

externally for its clients. That will continue into the future as we look to move even higher up the rankings going forward.”

Tom O’Byrne, Great Place to Work CEO said: “We are delighted to see Context on our Best Workplaces list this year. It is a validation of the strength of their leadership and their commitment to creating the kind of culture which attracts and retains the best talent and where people have pride in what they do and where they want to do their best.

“The hallmark of a great workplace like Context is that their policies and practices are designed around the employee; this employee focus helps attract and retain the talent essential for driving and sustaining competitive performance. It is no coincidence that high trust organisations like Context also tend to perform better than many of their peers.”

Many congratulations to Context. We hope to see more UK Channel firms recognised as great places to work in the future going forward.

WHAT A WONDERFUL PLACE TO WORK

WE MAY often talk about Context for the studies they put out, but the company recently has been celebrated for a different reason: as one of Britain’s leading workplaces.

Great Place To Work, the consultancy that identifies (you

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guessed it) great places to work, named Context as one of the country’s top firms to work for in its medium category (organisations with 50-499 employees) in its annual Best Workplaces rankings. The company was ranked 50th and

recognised for its high trust and engaged workplace.

“We always knew Context was a good place to work, but to be nominated as one of the UK’s best is fantastic news and testament to the high levels of trust and engagement we have

PCR June 2017 | 45

OUT OF OFFICE

In our Team of the Month section, we highlight some of the important faces from across the industry who perhaps aren’t always in the public eye. This month, we speak to…

Cooler Master

Who’s in your team?

Katie Pinnock, UK country manager, Adrian Liu, EU online business manager, Ronil Bhimjiani, channel marketing executive, and Gavin Lau, online content executive.

What have been your biggest successes of the past 12 months?

We have had involvement in many projects over the past 12 months, but to pinpoint a few of the highlights, it would have to be: the Cooler Master Eco Systems (case, PSU, cooling, peripherals) powering Intu’s Virtual Winter Wonderland. This was a VR experience that was free for Intu customers to use at the Nottingham Victoria branch, where they were able to decorate a Christmas tree in virtual reality. We worked closely with Apache (VR/AR developers), and HTC Vive to make this happen and it was a huge success.

Another would be a few collaborations we have executed with the likes of NVIDIA with the

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MasterCase Pro 5 NVIDIA Edition case (which will be present at the upcoming NCC Conference), and MSI with the brand new MasterBox 5 MSI Dragon Edition. This has allowed us to reach out to more SI partners and create brand related builds that have worked really well.

Lastly, it would have to be our successes at the many events we have already done in 2017 including the Maker Faire UK that we were the headline sponsor of and showcased two of our famous modders, Photon Storm from US Battlebots. There was also Insomnia 60 and the Virtual Reality Show London.

What’s the funniest or most memorable moment of working in your team?

Day to day work is fun but we spend a lot of time out of the office separately, visiting customers and flying up and down the motorway. So when we all get together to do an event, and execute it together, by the end while

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46 | PCR June 2017

we’re packing down, preparing to come home, it’s a proud moment we share as we can see all our hard work and team efforts in one place.

What’s the best part of working in your team?

It has to be the banter. We all get along so well that our office chats turn in to banter which turns into mick taking which is always fun, even if you’re on the receiving end of it!

What’s the hardest part of working in the tech industry?

Every day can be different which is not necessarily a hard thing, but we have to deal with so many different factors such as current country situation, Brexit and the dollar rate fluctuating, end user demand, direct competition and more. Tech changes so quickly and is constantly improving so we have to ensure that our products reflect this and most importantly that the market can see we are moving with the trends.

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What is the team working on at the moment?

We are currently planning for Computex, where we will have some industry changing, innovative product launches to wow everyone.

We are ensuring that the launches that happen over in Taipei are reflected to our UK customers to the best of our ability, ready to get the stock into the Channel and let the demand take its share of the market that it rightly deserves.

What are your thoughts on the current state of the UK tech retail space right now?

The beginning of the year was slow for most in the industry. It is now picking up and we are on the right road to really connect with the end users and show them what we have.

The industry is tough therefore it’s vital that you have the right team, right products, and right attitude to play the industry games, show off your brand and be the best.

Who makes the best cuppa?

Despite being Northerners, we don’t drink cuppas that often, and when we do, we have a little Nescafe machine that does it for us, so our mechanical friend makes the best cuppa!

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Adaptive Sync Technology VGA, DVI-D, dual HDMI, MHL & DisplayPort inputs Fast 1ms response time 4 x USB 3.0, fast charge

QUAD HD 144HZ GAMING MONITOR

Adaptive Sync Technology VGA, DVI-D, dual HDMI, MHL & DisplayPort inputs Fast 1ms response time 4 x USB 3.0, fast charge

Our promise to you.

VIP will always deal with you professionally and courteously | VIP will never leave you with a problem of our own making VIP will always be informative in our communications | VIP will look to support you and grow your business VIP will help educate you about our channel | VIP will always be fair to you Not kept our promise? Please tell us because your feedback will help us to deliver a better service.

You can speak directly to our Managing Director, Rich Marsden on 07554 455 439 or rich.marsden@vip-computers.co.uk

THE SEARCH FOR OUR TOP WOMEN IN THE UK PC AND TECH INDUSTRY IS ONCE AGAIN UNDERWAY FOR 2017 Venue: Sway Bar, 61-65 Great Queen St, London, WC2B 5BZ Date: Wednesday, 18th October 2017

Our aim is to shine the spotlight on some of the most inspirational and influential female execs in the PC tech industry. And we aren’t just looking for Managing Directors or CEOs either – we want to showcase the full range of roles within the business.

For more information contact Maeve Nicholson: mnicholson@nbmedia.com For sponsorship opportunities contact Sarah Goldhawk: sgoldhawk@nbmedia.com

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