Research conducted in the United States is projecting that the sales of autonomous vehicles is set to explode exponentially in the next eight years. The increase in sales is expected to be primarily propelled by aggressive investment from the likes of Google subsidiary Waymo.

Linksys are celebrating 30 years of networking and Wi-Fi innovation for the home and business this year, and it has announced that there is rapid adoption of IoT in the Middle East with a growing number of people investing in smart devices for their home, according to latest study by Linksys on consumer Wi-Fi usage trends, ahead of GITEX Technology Week.

The possibilities of IoT in the home are endless, from smart lighting and thermostats to smart fridges to machine learning devices. Linksys’ study shows there is growing use of voice assistants and TV signals that are primarily internet based.

"The number of people using smart devices in the home is increasing rapidly, which means there is also a growing need to upgrade to bigger, faster home Wi-Fi systems," says Amanulla Khan, Managing Director Linksys Middle East, Turkey and Africa. "People may not realize that even if they only stream Netflix on a smart TV, it affects the overall Wi-Fi experience for others in the household by using bandwith."

Smart TVs lead the way:
According to the Linksys study, 85.4% of respondents from the Middle East own at least one smart TV, out of which 27.9% respondents own multiple smart TVs. UAE ranks above Saudi Arabia in the adoption of smart TVs, with 86.6% and 84.2% respondents respectively.

Watching TV through the internet is very popular in the Middle East, with internet-based entertainment being the primary source of TV for 22.3% of respondents. This is widely seen in the UAE, among 26.8% of respondents, and 17.8% seen in Saudi Arabia. Subscribing to TV services is still big in the Middle East and the study highlights about 25.5% of Middle East respondents using their smart TVs for subscription-based TV services. Of this figure, 52.1% use it to download TV series and movies, and 31.4% use it to live-stream sport events.

Voice Assistants on the rise:
The use of chatbots and virtual assistants, commonly called voice assistants, is rapidly increasing. The use of voice assistants such as Amazon Echo, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home is on the rise, with 35.7% ownership amongst respondents.

Other smart devices that have reached the 40% adoption barrier include connected security cameras and smart lighting, with 39.3% and 39.6% of Middle East respondents owning such devices respectively. While the use of smart doorbells is very popular - they are owned by almost half of the Middle East respondents (46.5%) -thermostats by Nest and Netatmo lag behind, with only 24.6% of respondents owning such devices.

The numbers by country:

UAE
Most likely (24%) of all to be classified as smart home adopters
Most likely of all to own a smart or connected TV (87%), and smart plugs (43%)
Most likely of all to consider purchasing a smart or connected TV (88%), and smart plugs (64%)

Saudi Arabia
Most likely (38%) of all to be classified as extreme smart home adopters
Most likely of all to own smart doorbells (48%), smart lighting (42%), smart switches (41%), connected security cameras (40%), voice assistants (38%), and smart thermostats (27%)
Most likely of all to consider purchasing smart lighting (68%), connected security cameras (67%), smart doorbells (63%), smart switches (63%), voice assistants (62%), and smart thermostats (47%)

Living in the digital age, the internet is increasing a part of our daily lives and a new normal for all. Linksys’ study forecasts that 58.5% of respondents who don’t own any smart home devices are keen to adopt IoT in their homes, with UAE at 55% and Saudi Arabia at 62%. Adoption of smart lighting was higher, at 58%, and 52% of respondents are considering investing in this by 2020. The Middle East will see a steady adoption of voice assistants such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, with 28.5% of respondents considering such a purchase by 2019.

Khan explains: "While we are now talking smart lighting and voice asistants, in the next couple of years we’ll move to even smarter connected devices in the home driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Solutions include Phyn, a smart water management system that protects your home from leaks by learning from your usage, and Whirlpool’s smart kitchen range, which automatically preheats the oven and cooks dishes based on recipes. These innovations will accelerate the number of IoT devices in the home and also the need for up-to-speed Wi-Fi.

Whoever wants a smart home needs to be smart and futureproof his or her home network too."

During GITEX, visit the Linksys stand at Hall 1 of Dubai World Trade Centre - the trade fair will run from 14-18 October 2018. Visitors will be able to experience a smart home with Intelligent Mesh™ technology brought to reality by Award Winning Velop Whole Home Wi-Fi system with entry-level Dual-Band offerings. Linksys will also showcase a range of disruptive intelligent business solutions for SMBs.

Uber made a move into electric scooters, as the ride-service giant agreed to a strategic partnership with Lime, one of the major players in the fast-growing segment.

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A South Australian water utility firm has said that integrating smart technology into its underground water network system has proactively identified and repaired potential leaks and breaks before they escalated which would ultimately affect thousands of customers and commuters.

A Silicon Valley startup working on self-driving delivery vehicles announced nearly a billion dollars in fresh funding from the SoftBank Vision Fund. The $940 million in financing from SoftBank brought the total amount of funding raised by Nuro to more than $1 billion, with investors including Greylock Partners and Gaorong Capital, according to the company.

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South Korean multinational conglomerate Samsung has announced its intentions to open three new AI research centres. It officially announced its expansion plans via a statement - and disclosed that the new AI research facilities will be opened in the UK, Canada and Russia to add to the AI centres it already has in South Korea and the United States.

Japanese car manufacturing colossus Nissan has announced that it has embarked on an innovative project which will see it deploy its Nissan LEAF batteries in a Japanese town.

Internet of Things investment will support Lebanon's IT market growing to LBP 820 billion by 2019, and will transform daily lives and businesses, industry experts announced during the recent SmartEx Lebanon exhibition.

WISeKey, a digital information security, authentication and identity management company based in Switzerland has announced that its Internet of Things blockchain technology is set to be deployed in a number of selected 'smart cities' in China.

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Telenor announced the establishment of two new points of presence (PoP) in North America to meet customer demands in a high traffic region by enabling Voice and IPX based services, including LTE based signaling and data roaming. The two US PoPs add to the Telenor network which now includes 14 locations across North America, Europe and Asia.

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Toyota has invested 42.5 million yen into a project to develop a 'flying car' which they hope will be subsequently used to light up the Olympic flame for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games. Engineers showcased a demonstration of its 'flying car' at an event last week -and expressed their confidence that it will be able to design a model that will light the Olympic torch.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) revealed that the number of data systems provided in cooperation with the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority and other government entities on bayanat.ae has reached more than 500 systems, covering various educational, health, environment and other fields. TRA said that this achievement is the result of cooperation with the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority and more than 36 federal and local entities, to enhance the UAE strategic direction towards digital transformation, keep pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and utilize data in finding innovative solutions to future challenges.