On this assignment of IOT i have gone through all of the points mentioned on the assignment brief and ensured to receive the Distinction Grade. This assignment uploaded covers these point:
- D1 Evaluate the purpose, applications, principles and characteristics of
IoT systems and/or services fro...
The Internet of Things
The use of IOT in different industries
The Internet of things (IOT) describes physical hardware objects that are embedded with futuristic, and smarts features inside them like, cameras,
sensors, voice recognition, data scanning and etc. Those hardware work by being connected to the internet and from there they can exchange
information and data with smartphone devices and other IOT hardware near them. Over the past few years this type of technology has grown
expediently and has spread into different industries and personal use as well.
IOT Devices in the Home Industry
Amazon Alexa
Amazon Alexa is a smart home device that can play music, deliver news, set reminders, process and information, tell the weather and also control
other devices directly from your voice. In total Alexa possesses over 25,000 skills and they are advancing everyday thanks to the updates made by
the developers. It is estimated that at least 25% of the US homes own the Alexa Device.
How it works?
To be able to connect to Alexa and speak to it you will firstly need to connect it to the internet but before that you have to make sure that the
device is charged up. After that you can turn on Alexa and from there, she will instruct you on how to use it. To make Alexa respond to a command
you give you will firstly need to say her name and from there she will turn into blue colors and be able to speak to you.
Amazon Alexa App Purpose
The Amazon Alexa app is the official app released by amazon on which you can use it to control Alexa via your phone. The app can be downloaded
from any phone app store. The app will serve the same function as it will do when speaking to it from a voice. You can also make amazon orders
from there.
How the app works?
Before you can use the app, you will obviously need an internet connection for it. After connecting to the internet, you will need to set up an
account and login. Once that is all done you can connect the app to the Alexa device. You need to make sure that both the app and the Alexa
device are connected to the same WI-FI network. The app will send signals and commands to the Alexa device via the internet and from there you
can do many things just as mentioned before.
,Characteristics of Amazon Alexa
Risks
There is many characteristics that make Alexa stand out of other similar IOT devices in the same industry. Alexa is well equipped against threats
like hacking, remote connection, data theft and many more. The developers of the device have made sure that only person can be connected to it
at the same time and that person is authorized to use it. Even in case someone manages to connect to Alexa remotely there is nothing much a
person can steal from it other than the music choices and frequently asked questions made by the owner. The second risks to worry about is that
the materials that the device is made from are very weak and can break at a snap of a finger so it is important that you be careful with the device
and do not put it in a high place where it can be dropped easily. Another possible risk that people are talking about its how safe their data is and if
Alexa is listening to the people when they talk 24/7 for advert-based purposes.
Privacy and legal Considerations
Alexa is a helpful device that has proven to help in many different occasions and can do a job no one other can since no person can be staying up
24/7 answering questions. The device does indeed need to collect data about you and personal information like names, addresses, number, credit
card information and etc. Since all this data is being collected it is important that the device follows the government rules about the GDPR and
protect that data from theft. As previously mentioned before Alexa is owned and developed by Amazon which is a huge company and has very
little to none GDPR breaches which makes Alexa very safe to use from the data protection aspect.
Sustainability
Alexa device comes in one piece and in case you break something from it you will need to replace the whole device since spare parts are not
available for it which makes it not sustainable for the environment and also for financial situations since not everyone can afford buying a new
Alexa every time they drop it. At the end of its lifetime Alexa will need to get put in the bin but the main issues with it its that it has 0 recyclable
parts and has harmful components inside of it which when exposed to an environment it can cause damage to it.
The main benefits you can get from Alexa is that you will find almost every answer you got for every question you ask and you don’t even need to
sit up or be close to it. Alexa can order online for you just by you saying the name of the products.
of Alexa is that it humanly. The developers of the device have made sure that Alexa is and sounds as humanly as possible. By doing that they can
gain the customers trust and make them feel comfortable with the device. She will respond quick to any questions even if the questions are silly or
funny. Alexa knows over thousands of jokes which never fail to make the user laugh.
, Power Consumption
It is also energy efficient, the battery of it can last up to 10 hours in a single charge (charging takes about 6 hours) and it is featured with a
4800mAh battery, it lasts this long due to the fact it uses low power consumption during standby times.
Alexa is very smart IOT device which can do over 90,000 functions like playing music, answer questions, create reminders, create calendars, tell
the weather, order online and etc. It is also very high mobile since you can move it all over the house and fit it in tight spaces.
Benefits
There is many benefits that make Alexa stand out of other similar IOT devices in the same industry. The most common and likeable characteristic
of Alexa is that it humanly. The developers of the device have made sure that Alexa is and sounds as humanly as possible. By doing that they can
gain the customers trust and make them feel comfortable with the device. She will respond quick to any questions even if the questions are silly or
funny. Alexa knows over thousands of jokes which never fail to make the user laugh.
Evaluation for Amazon Alexa
Risks
The risks that come within owning an Alexa device are slim to none. A lot of people have tried to hack Alexa remotely and in person and they fail at
most times since the device is always updated with latest security features which make it impossible for anyone to breach it even for experienced
hackers. Even if you managed to break into the device and steal the data you will need to decrypt everything on it first which could take up to
decades to even decrypt a single word. The materials the device is made from are very cheap plastic which can be very fragile to even a small drop
which can result the whole device breaking apart. As for the last risk about Alexa hearing people talk 24/7 I have explained it more below.
Privacy and legal Considerations
Since Alexa is always on 24/7 and responds anytime you say its name it means that its listening to you talk all the time, big concerns about this
issue have been raised recently and a lot of people are saying that amazon is purposefully making Alexa stay on all the time so it listens to what
you say and use your words to display relevant ads. For example, if you mention dog food the amazon app will display dog food on your main page
when browsing the amazon app or even when browsing your favorite social media. This tactic is widely used by other companies like google who
tract your activity and interest online so it can give your relevant adds for you to buy. This has made a lot of people be very skeptical against the
device and try to avoid it at all cost. Amazon has already made it clear that the data collected from the device is only used by Alexa to process it
and the developers cannot access that data for personal or advertising reasons which gives us no reason to worry about. The amazon company
always complies to the full extent of GDPR rules and respects data and customer privacy at all times.
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