Smart Tangibles News Digest #2606
- Yoel Frischoff
- 12 minutes ago
- 10 min read
February 9, 2026
Global smart tangibles news from around the world - connected hardware, IoT infrastructure, edge intelligence, standards, and the business models behind long-lived products.
This week’s theme looks at how “plain” connected devices are being pulled into autonomous operations and infrastructure scale deployments.
Enterprise IoT is treated as given, energy systems are using IoT as a core planning assumption, edge compute looks more like modular data centers than devices, and our supposedly universal smart home standards are being stress tested in real living rooms.
Together, these stories show how connectivity, compute, and regulation are reshaping what it means to ship hardware that stays useful for a decade or more.
Cross-Cutting Signals
IoT is now infrastructure, not a side project. New market data on IoT in energy and enterprise IoT maturity frame connectivity, telemetry, and analytics as baseline capabilities baked into grids, factories, and fleets, not optional experiments.
Autonomous operations are pulling AI into the device bill of materials. IoT Analytics highlights a shift toward “agentic” and physical AI, with edge accelerators moving from niche add ons to expected features in industrial hardware.
Hybrid connectivity is becoming invisible plumbing. Vodafone IoT and Skylo’s NTN NB IoT work shows how satellite and cellular will increasingly look like one network to both devices and operators, with roaming handled in the core.
Standards only matter when they survive the living room. Ikea’s Matter over Thread rollout demonstrates that spec compliance is not the same as real world reliability - commissioning flows, diagnostics, and support still decide whether ecosystems feel “ready”.
This Week at a Glance
IoT and smart tangibles are entering a phase where autonomy, infrastructure scale, and real world UX matter more than raw connectivity counts.
IoT maturity shifts to autonomous operations – IoT Analytics’ State of Enterprise IoT 2026 report argues that enterprises are moving into an “agentic and physical AI” phase where IoT is assumed infrastructure and the next battle is intelligent, self optimizing operations.
IoT in energy forecast accelerates to US$285.9B by 2033 - Astute Analytica projects the IoT in energy market to grow from US$38.1B in 2023 to US$285.9B by 2033, driven by smart grids, renewable integration, and real time analytics.
Vodafone IoT and Skylo advance NTN NB IoT - A new partnership allows NB IoT devices to roam between Vodafone’s terrestrial network and Skylo’s satellite NTN using a single SIM, turning “anywhere connectivity” into a more realistic design assumption.
Ikea’s Matter over Thread rollout hits onboarding friction - Reports of failed pairing and unstable devices show that Matter and Thread still face reliability challenges once affordable, mass market products hit diverse home networks.
ARBOR’s COM HPC and edge AI lineup previews modular industrial compute - New COM HPC modules and rugged edge systems with Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA silicon illustrate how OEMs can slot data center class AI into medical, transportation, and smart city applications.
News In Detail
1. Enterprise IoT 2026: From Connectivity Projects to Autonomous Operations
Enterprise IoT is fading into the background as companies design for autonomous, AI driven operations.
IoT Analytics’ State of Enterprise IoT 2026 report pegs enterprise IoT spending at US$324B in 2025 with 14 percent growth expected in 2026, but the headline is not only the volume, but the shift in focus. The report frames IoT as a mature baseline and highlights a move into an “agentic and physical AI” wave where the goal is autonomous, cross ecosystem optimized operations.
Three technology shifts matter for smart tangibles teams: hardware, connectivity, and software:
Hardware is steadily adding AI accelerators into devices that used to be “just” connected sensors, making edge inference and local decision making practical. Connectivity is becoming more ubiquitous and more abstract, with new cellular and satellite options treated as plumbing behind APIs and orchestration layers rather than as separate technology silos. On the software side, IoT platforms are evolving into assistive and eventually self optimizing systems that can recommend or execute actions on fleets of devices, not just display dashboards.
For OEMs and platform builders, this maturity curve changes how you plan roadmaps. Designs that assume “add IoT later” risk missing the moment when customers expect connected, AI enabled operations out of the box. The report notes that today fewer than 1 percent of IoT devices have true edge AI components, but that share is forecast to rise quickly - suggesting that decisions made on 2026 hardware platforms will shape competitiveness for years.
Signals to Watch
Device and module roadmaps that treat NPUs or GPUs as standard options in industrial form factors, not premium SKUs.
RFP language that frames requirements around “autonomous” or “self optimizing” operations rather than generic IoT platforms.
Vendor messaging that de emphasizes “IoT” branding in favor of “connected operations” or “industrial AI” narratives.
New pricing models where customers pay for outcomes (uptime, throughput, energy savings) enabled by autonomous stacks, not just connectivity and licenses.
Key Links
IoT Analytics - State of enterprise IoT 2026: The shift from IoT to autonomous connected operations
2. IoT in Energy: A US$285.9B Market Built on Smart Grids and Renewables
Fresh forecasts show IoT becoming a core pillar of energy system planning rather than a bolt on pilot.
A new market update from Astute Analytica projects the global IoT in energy market to grow from US$38.1B in 2023 to US$285.9B by 2033, implying a 25.1 percent CAGR from 2024 to 2032. The drivers are familiar but now quantified at scale: smart grids, remote monitoring, predictive maintenance, and integration of distributed renewables such as solar and wind. IoT enables real time monitoring, analytics, and control of energy consumption, pushing utilities and large consumers to treat it as core infrastructure.
The report highlights that deployment and integration services form the largest and fastest growing revenue segment, reflecting the complexity of retrofitting IoT into existing grids and facilities. North America leads adoption, supported by smart grid programs and high smart meter penetration, with about 71 percent of US electricity customers already equipped with smart meters. Connectivity spans cellular, satellite, and radio networks, underlining that energy operators are assembling heterogeneous stacks for resilience and coverage.
For smart tangibles teams, this means product decisions increasingly intersect with regulated infrastructure. Meters, sensors, inverters, and control hardware are expected to live in the field for 10–20 years while staying patchable, secure, and compatible with evolving analytics platforms. Hardware choices around LPWAN vs cellular vs satellite, local compute, and update mechanisms are no longer just cost decisions - they shape regulatory compliance, cyber risk, and the ability to participate in new flexibility markets or demand response programs.
Signals to Watch
Utility and energy RFPs that bundle IoT deployment and integration services with hardware and software, not treating them as separate projects.
Increased use of satellite and private LPWAN links in rural or offshore energy assets where resilience is critical.
Regulatory initiatives tying decarbonization targets to installation of smart metering, sub metering, and grid edge IoT devices.
Vendor portfolios that package end to end energy IoT stacks (hardware, connectivity, analytics) for specific segments like commercial buildings or industrial campuses.
Key Links
Astute Analytica / GlobeNewswire - IoT in Energy Market to Reach US$285.9 Billion by 2032
3. Vodafone IoT and Skylo - Hybrid Satellite / Cellular NB IoT Moves Toward Reality
A Vodafone IoT / Skylo partnership makes NTN NB IoT look like a practical default option for global fleets and remote assets.
DataCenterDynamics reports that Vodafone IoT is partnering with Skylo to integrate satellite non terrestrial network (NTN) narrowband IoT connectivity into its global IoT services. NB IoT devices will be able to roam between terrestrial networks and Skylo’s satellite coverage using a single Vodafone SIM, with the trial positioned as a precursor to broader commercial rollout. The framing is explicit: this is about “anywhere connectivity” for IoT, delivered via standards based 3GPP NTN rather than proprietary satellite stacks.
This move sits against a backdrop of bullish satellite IoT forecasts. Precedence Research estimates the satellite IoT market will grow from US$1.82B in 2025 to roughly US$15.77B by 2035, at a 24.1 percent CAGR, driven by integration with terrestrial networks and demand from logistics, agriculture, and utilities. The Vodafone / Skylo integration essentially offers those sectors a way to access satellite coverage without redesigning hardware: existing NB IoT modules, firmware, and SIM management workflows can remain, while the network decides when to route traffic over satellite.
For device makers and fleet operators, this reduces design and operational friction. A single SKU can serve both coverage rich and coverage poor geographies, with connectivity policies managed centrally. It also raises questions about pricing and data discipline: occasional satellite messages for safety or compliance can be justified if priced as an overlay to existing IoT plans, but “always on” satellite telemetry may still require careful event design and edge filtering.
Signals to Watch
NB IoT module and modem vendors marketing 3GPP NTN support as a standard feature rather than a roadmap bullet.
Commercial Vodafone IoT tariffs that expose satellite traffic as a usage tier on top of existing plans, not as a separate contract.
Case studies where asset tracking, energy, or environmental monitoring customers report measurable reductions in coverage gaps after enabling NTN.
Competing operators announcing similar hybrid NB IoT partnerships, indicating the emergence of a broader category rather than a single operator experiment.
Key Links
DataCenterDynamics - Vodafone IoT and Skylo announce partnership to integrate satellite NB IoT
Precedence Research - Satellite IoT Market Size to Hit USD 15.77 Billion by 2035
4. Ikea’s Matter over Thread Rollout - Standards Meet Real Homes
Ikea’s new Matter compatible devices show how fragile “it just works” can be when standards collide with messy home networks.
The Verge documents weeks of testing in which Ikea’s new Matter over Thread devices - including smart bulbs, a smart button, a temperature sensor, a motion sensor, and an IAQ monitor - consistently failed onboarding or fell off networks across Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, and Home Assistant. Of six devices tested, only one bulb and one IAQ monitor could be made to work reliably, with repeated pairing failures and devices refusing to reconnect even to Ikea’s own Dirigera hub. Similar reports from Reddit and Ikea’s own reviews suggest this is not an isolated lab environment issue.
Thread and Matter are designed to simplify this world: Thread provides a low power mesh, Matter a common application layer across ecosystems like Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung. Wired’s recent explainer underscores the intended benefit - IPv6 based mesh networking for low power devices without proprietary hubs, with Matter using Thread for low bandwidth endpoints and Wi Fi / Ethernet for higher bandwidth use cases. But Ikea’s rollout highlights practical gaps: commissioning flows that are brittle across platforms, immature firmware, and limited diagnostics for users and support teams.
For smart product teams, the lesson is not that Matter is broken, but that spec compliance is only the starting point. Real world success depends on how devices behave on noisy networks, how gracefully they recover from failed joins, and how much observability and remote support you build into low cost hardware. Multi admin scenarios and cross ecosystem promises add further complexity - especially when low price points constrain BOM and processing budgets.
Signals to Watch
Retailer support pages and return data referencing Matter / Thread connectivity issues, especially for mass market brands.
Chip and module vendors releasing improved commissioning toolchains, logs, and diagnostics specifically for Matter over Thread stacks.
Platform updates that refine commissioning flows (e.g., better QR code flows, fallbacks, or in app debugging) for multi admin Matter setups.
Vendor roadmaps that sequence Matter / Thread adoption after a period of controlled field trials, rather than big bang consumer launches.
Key Links
5. ARBOR at embedded world 2026 - COM HPC and Edge AI as the New Device Baseline
ARBOR’s embedded world lineup shows how “devices” at the edge increasingly resemble modular data centers tuned for AI workloads.
Embedded Computing Design previews ARBOR Technology’s “From Edge to Action” booth for embedded world 2026. The company will highlight COM HPC modules like the COMX A300, which uses Intel Core Ultra processors and up to 96GB of DDR5 memory to handle demanding AI workloads in manufacturing and logistics. On the higher end, systems like the EdgeX 6000 with AMD EPYC Embedded 8004 CPUs target genomic sequencing and medical imaging, while the AEC 8000 industrial edge AI computer, featuring NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs, is designed to process over 64 HD video streams for smart traffic analytics.
This is not just about raw performance. ARBOR also showcases ruggedised systems such as the ARTS 7670, an IP69K and MIL STD 810H compliant in vehicle computer aimed at fleet management and transportation AI, and sustainability oriented solutions like a “Smart Factory ESG Carbon Management Solution.” These products embody the hardware shift that IoT Analytics highlights - integrating AI accelerators and high performance compute directly into edge nodes rather than centralising everything in the cloud.
For OEMs and solution providers, COM HPC and similar modular formats offer a way to decouple compute from mechanical design. Chassis and I/O can stay stable over long lifecycles while compute modules are refreshed to follow AI roadmaps. That in turn demands more disciplined software layering (containers, orchestration, remote update pipelines) and closer coordination between hardware and IT teams, because an “edge device” might now host dozens of microservices and ML models with data center level security expectations.
Signals to Watch
Design wins where COM HPC or similar modules become default in industrial PCs, medical devices, and transportation systems that previously used fixed SBCs.
Reference architectures from major cloud and industrial automation vendors that assume high performance edge AI nodes as part of standard deployments.
ESG and carbon accounting solutions that explicitly rely on edge AI compute for real time monitoring and optimization in factories and logistics.
Procurement language that treats edge compute as a modular, upgradable asset class rather than a one off device purchase.
Key Links
Embedded Computing Design - “From Edge to Action”: ARBOR Technology Highlights COM HPC and Edge AI at embedded world 2026
ARBOR Technology - Edge AI and COM HPC product portfolio
From TheRoad / Smart Tangibles
Previous issue: Smart Tangibles News Digest #2605
Deep dive and case submissions: Smart Tangibles case study submission page - share real world examples of connected products, smart infrastructure, and service backed hardware.
Smart Tangibles book progress: The manuscript is incorporating new chapters on edge orchestration, domain specific IoT platforms (like smart retail), and security baselines for long lived devices.
How to Use This Digest
Treat these stories as prompts for roadmap reviews - where should your next generation hardware assume edge AI, higher security baselines, or Matter and Thread as default plumbing.
Use the “Signals to Watch” bullets as inputs to risk registers and opportunity maps, especially around lifecycle management, platform dependencies, and standards adoption.
Bring one story per week into cross functional discussions between product, hardware, security, and operations to stress test assumptions about stacks and partners.
For strategy and finance teams, map the market and standards trends here against your own unit economics and portfolio bets to see where assumptions are shifting under your feet.
If you find this useful, share it with a colleague or subscribe for future issues at theroadtlv.com.
This news digest is compiled weekly. Register here to receive it in your inbox.
Comments