AI, What Is It Good For? With Curt Schacker of TrackVision

Ismail Hamdad, Co-Founder of Adsum Networks, joins Mr. Beacon to explore how AI can accelerate IoT firmware development from months to hours. We discuss Adsum’s IoT Decoder, giving AI coding agents the tools and context to work with physical hardware, the future of open IoT development, and Ismail’s journey from telecom engineering to entrepreneurship.Ismail’s Top 3 Songs:“Hurricane” by Bob Dylan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpZvg_FjL3Q“Pourquoi Cette Pluie” by Idir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlShQr3yO-E“Not Afraid” by Eminem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5-yKhDd64sMister Beacon is hosted by Steve Statler, CEO of ambientChat.ai — Using AI to connect people with places and products with an app that puts you in control of YOUR data.Our sponsor is Identiv https://www.identiv.com, whose IoT solutions create digital identities for physical objects, enhancing global connectivity for businesses, people, and the planet. We are also sponsored by Blecon http://www.blecon.net. Blecon who delivers asset tracking and condition monitoring using the devices your team already carries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt Maupin of Silicon Labs joins the Mr. Beacon Podcast to discuss the evolution from Zigbee to Matter over Thread, the company’s concurrent multi-protocol technology, and its collaboration with Philips Hue. We explore interoperability, wireless reliability, commercial IoT, chip integration, Bluetooth Channel Sounding, and how these technologies can make connected devices easier and more dependable.Mister Beacon is hosted by Steve Statler, CEO of ambientChat.ai — Using AI to connect people with places and products  with an app that puts you in control of YOUR data.Our sponsor is Identiv https://www.identiv.com, whose IoT solutions create digital identities for physical objects, enhancing global connectivity for businesses, people, and the planet. We are also sponsored by Blecon http://www.blecon.net. Blecon who delivers asset tracking and condition monitoring using the devices your team already carries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rob Tiffany, Research Director at IDC and author of “Saving the Earth with the Internet of Things,” joins Mr. Beacon to explore how IoT can tackle real-world challenges in agriculture, water, food and sustainable cities. We discuss his 100 practical IoT recipes, pioneering work connecting vending machines, his definition of digital twins, and why combining IoT, automation and AI could unlock enormous opportunities.Rob’s Top 3 Songs:“Don’t Stop Believin” by Journey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k8craCGpgs“Mysterious Ways” b y U2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxcDTUMLQJI “Summerbreeze” by Emiliana Torrini: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB3WrodLKCg Mister Beacon is hosted by Steve Statler, CEO of ambientChat.ai — Using AI to connect people with places and products  with an app that puts you in control of YOUR data.Our sponsor is Identiv https://www.identiv.com, whose IoT solutions create digital identities for physical objects, enhancing global connectivity for businesses, people, and the planet. We are also sponsored by Blecon http://www.blecon.net. Blecon who delivers asset tracking and condition monitoring using the devices your team already carries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when IoT finally gets the connectivity infrastructure it has been waiting for?In this episode of the Mr. Beacon Podcast, Steve talks with Alper Yegin, CEO of the LoRa Alliance, about LoRaWAN and why he believes it has become a fourth pillar of wireless connectivity alongside Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cellular.Alper explains what makes LoRaWAN different: long range, deep indoor coverage, extremely low power consumption, unlicensed spectrum, and infrastructure that can be deployed through private, public, community, and satellite networks. Devices can operate for more than ten years on a single battery, opening the door to applications where conventional connectivity simply does not work.The conversation explores where LoRaWAN fits and where it does not. It is not designed for streaming video or other high-bandwidth, real-time applications. Instead, it targets the enormous world of massive IoT, where sensors may only need to send small amounts of data regularly. That makes it particularly powerful for smart buildings, metering, industrial monitoring, agriculture, asset tracking, smart cities, and more.Alper also explains why he believes LoRaWAN's open-standard approach has been central to its success, and how an ecosystem of hundreds of companies has enabled the technology to evolve from a single protocol into a broader end-to-end architecture.The conversation then turns to the future: satellite connectivity, geolocation, digital product passports, plug-and-play infrastructure, and the emerging concept of physical AI. Alper describes IoT as the bridge between AI and the physical world, the "digital nervous system" connecting AI's intelligence to physical assets.Finally, Alper shares the career path that took him from TCP/IP development at Sun Microsystems and decades of standards work to leading the LoRa Alliance, along with three songs that have shaped his journey.A wide-ranging conversation about connectivity, standards, IoT, AI, and the infrastructure being built for the physical world.Alper’s Top 3 Songs:“Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzOdm9w3J94“Rocket Man” by Elton John: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOWCoRr-wqc“Storm” by Vanessa Mae: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOSIAKbXzE8Mister Beacon is hosted by Steve Statler, CEO of ambientChat.ai — Using AI to connect people with places and products with an app that puts you in control of YOUR data.Our sponsor is Identiv https://www.identiv.com, whose IoT solutions create digital identities for physical objects, enhancing global connectivity for businesses, people, and the planet. We are also sponsored by Blecon http://www.blecon.net. Blecon who delivers asset tracking and condition monitoring using the devices your team already carries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Just a few weeks after the European Union finalized the first Digital Product Passport standard, JTC 24 Chair Thomas Knothe returns to the Mr. Beacon Podcast to explain what it means for manufacturers, consumers, and the future of AI-driven commerce. We discuss batteries, circular economy goals, product transparency, repairability, security, and how Digital Product Passports could become foundational infrastructure for AI agents operating in the physical world.Thomas’ Top 3 Movies:“Dirty Dancing” directed by Emile Ardolino: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIcmQNy9FsM“Amadeus” directed by Miloš Forman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7kWQj9FCGY“Shining Through” directed by Davbid Seltzer: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ChujSmX8KDU Mister Beacon is hosted by Steve Statler, CEO of ambientChat.ai — Using AI to connect people with places and products  with an app that puts you in control of YOUR data.Our sponsor is Identiv https://www.identiv.com, whose IoT solutions create digital identities for physical objects, enhancing global connectivity for businesses, people, and the planet. We are also sponsored by Blecon http://www.blecon.net. Blecon who delivers asset tracking and condition monitoring using the devices your team already carries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the Mr. Beacon Podcast, I talk with Art Tkachenko about enabling Bluetooth devices to communicate directly with satellites. We explore Hubble’s hybrid terrestrial and satellite IoT network, ultra-low-cost global asset tracking, beamforming technology, AI-assisted engineering, and the future of Ambient IoT. It’s a fascinating look at how space-based connectivity could dramatically expand what’s possible for connected devices worldwide.Art’s Top 3 Songs:“Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHi9mKq0slA“Mushroom Jazz” by Mark Farina: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6k0FlHGrZE “Bicycle” by VAVAN: youtube.com/watch?v=9HNorccyEno&feature=youtu.be Mister Beacon is hosted by Steve Statler, CEO of ambientChat.ai — Using AI to connect people with places and products  with an app that puts you in control of YOUR data.Our sponsor is Identiv https://www.identiv.com, whose IoT solutions create digital identities for physical objects, enhancing global connectivity for businesses, people, and the planet. We are also sponsored by Blecon http://www.blecon.net. Blecon who delivers asset tracking and condition monitoring using the devices your team already carries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is AI actually good for? Curt Schacker, Co-founder of TrackVision, joins me to answer that question with a real-world example that will resonate with anyone who has ever stared down a mountain of pre-project groundwork. The conversation explores where AI genuinely delivers, what it still cannot replace, and why the hardest part of any implementation might soon get a whole lot easier.Curt’s Top 3 Movies“It’s a Wonderful Life” by Frank Capra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLR3gZrU2Xo“The Shawshank Redemption” by Frank Darabont: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLl99DlL6b4“Notting Hill” by Roger Michell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RI0QvaGoiI Mister Beacon is hosted by Steve Statler, CEO of ambientChat.ai — Using AI to connect people with places and products  with an app that puts you in control of YOUR data.Our sponsor is Identiv https://www.identiv.com, whose IoT solutions create digital identities for physical objects, enhancing global connectivity for businesses, people, and the planet. We are also sponsored by Blecon http://www.blecon.net. Blecon enables physical products to communicate with cloud applications using Bluetooth Low Energy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Mr. Beacon Podcast, Dr. Karsten Königstein of Sinfosy explains how ambient IoT is transforming manufacturing by turning smartphones into powerful tracking tools. Using Bluetooth and QR codes, his team delivers real-time, precise visibility into assets and workflows. The result is a scalable, cost-effective system that replaces “search” with “find” across modern industrial environments.Karsten’s Top 3 Songs“Eye Of The Tiger” by Survivor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qDML_BCju8 “We Are The Champions” by Queen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5GkgVhFeZY“Who Wants To Live Forever” by Queen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxn_5Barsk0Mister Beacon is hosted by Steve Statler, CEO of ambientChat.ai — Using AI to connect people with places and products  with an app that puts you in control of YOUR data.Our sponsor is Identiv https://www.identiv.com, whose IoT solutions create digital identities for physical objects, enhancing global connectivity for businesses, people, and the planet. We are also sponsored by Blecon http://www.blecon.net. Blecon enables physical products to communicate with cloud applications using Bluetooth Low Energy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dominique Guinard returns for his fifth appearance to explore C2PA, a rising standard for verifying digital content in the age of AI. As synthetic media becomes harder to detect, C2PA acts like a “nutrition label” for images, video, and text, revealing provenance and authenticity. We discuss how it works, who’s adopting it, and why it matters for misinformation, trust, and the future of digital media.Dom’s Top 3 Movies“Cube” by Vincenzo Natali: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esjc0rPj3K4 “Asteroid City” by Wes Anderson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FXCSXuGTF4 “Inefficient joy” by Laurent De Martin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NHPriQIduI Mister Beacon is hosted by Steve Statler, CEO of ambientChat.ai — Using AI to connect people with places and products  with an app that puts you in control of YOUR data.Our sponsor is Identiv https://www.identiv.com, whose IoT solutions create digital identities for physical objects, enhancing global connectivity for businesses, people, and the planet. We are also sponsored by Blecon http://www.blecon.net. Blecon enables physical products to communicate with cloud applications using Bluetooth Low Energy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andy Ellwood, Founder & CEO of Stretch, joins the Mr. Beacon Podcast to discuss reinventing grocery shopping with AI-powered insights. By turning shopping lists into smart comparison tools, Stretch helps consumers save time and money. Andy also shares lessons from building in public, the power of shopper-first design, and his vision for AI agents that advocate for consumers in retail.Andy’s Top 3 Songs“Difference Maker” by NEEDTOBREATH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2LtB9KLf98 “My Little Girl” by Tim Mcgraw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZVsGVE1qCg “Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing” performed by Chris Rice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax_NMWLEb6U Mister Beacon is hosted by Steve Statler, CEO of ambientChat.ai — Using AI to connect people with places and products  with an app that puts you in control of YOUR data.Our sponsor is Identiv https://www.identiv.com, whose IoT solutions create digital identities for physical objects, enhancing global connectivity for businesses, people, and the planet. We are also sponsored by Blecon http://www.blecon.net. Blecon enables physical products to communicate with cloud applications using Bluetooth Low Energy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.