HOBI Weekly Blog Recap 4/15-4/15
Provided is a weekly snapshot of the recent battery, technology and electronic waste related news that HOBI’s blog reported during the week 12/03-12/07.
Electronic recyclers avoid costly proposed fire code amendment
HOBI’s president, Craig Boswell, discusses how the electronic recycling industry dodged a bullet after proposed amendment F18-18 was rejected during the most recent ICC annual conference in ISRI’s eScrap Beat newsletter. Its approval would have forced electronic recyclers to reconfigure service, repair and transportation operations concerning lithium-ion batteries. Now that the proposal has been dismissed, the industry must focus on collaborating safety practices of battery storage and handling. Boswell comments, “Moving forward, the industry needs to act proactively to share best practices and ensure the safety issues related to battery flammability are addressed across the industry as a whole.”
Google is one step closer towards becoming a phone company
Three years after it first launched, Google is making its cell service a little more official today. Previously known as Project Fi, the new Google mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) provides users with wireless service without actually owning the network infrastructure behind it. And with the rebranding, the updated service will now support iPhones as well as the majority of Android phones. Technically, Project Fi supported Apple devices but it required adjusting data settings. Now, Google will be supporting iPhones directly for new customers and will provide a new Google Fi iOS app to help ease the process along.
The potential e-waste nightmare in your child’s toybox
In 2018 so far, the U.S. toy industry has bumped its annual sales of $264 million to $11.6 billion. This major jump in sales more than likely is due to the appeal of the numerous tech toys on the market. In fact, youth electronics is by far the fastest growing toy category. And as the holiday season quickly approaches, we’re likely to see many old electrical and electronic toys kicked to the curb to make room for newer tech toys. But these devices pose as a potential hazard due to the difficulty of recycling various materials.
Using the ‘Internet of Sound’ in the IoT
While most have heard of the Internet of Things (IoT), many have not heard of the ‘Internet of Sound’ (IoS). Essentially, the IoS encodes inaudible, nearly-ultrasound sound wave that transfer data to connected IoT devices, such as smartphones. An IoT startup, Trillbit believes that this process could rapidly scale IoT adoption. According to the company, one of the key applications is targeting customers that happen to be passing through environments like shopping malls with the use of Bluetooth beaconing. The startup believes that the IoS could be extremely useful seeing as how the IoT doesn’t have a standardized communications protocol just yet.
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