Thanks for taking a break from a record day of Cyber Monday shopping, where total purchases should hit a new high of $11.2 billion. This follows a new record of $9.1 billion on Black Friday. The good news is these hot newsbits are free, and you don’t have to worry about porch pirates.

Amazon announced its Alexa division will get trimmed, sharply, with many of the job cuts and red ink blamed on the smart home assistant. This Guardian essay dives into how Amazon can’t make money from Alexa interactions like, “What time is it?” Watch for ripples hitting other smart home players.

Are you tuned to the “proptech” market? Parks Associates’ research tells us property developers and managers for multi-dwelling units (MDU), meaning apartments and townhomes etc., prefer partnerships with smart home product and services providers.

For smart home builders and the utilities they connect to, the top three benefits of integrated IoT are energy efficiency, security, and convenience, according to new research from Parks Associates.

Powering small IoT devices with less energy remains a constant goal, and the upcoming Sony Semiconductor ALT1350 chipset, designed to use ultra-low power for 5G and LPWA connections, will help slow battery drain.

Here’s a nice primer on the differences between IoT and Industrial IoT, followed by the top 6 security risks with IIoT, both from TechRepublic.

Continuing the trend of what to watch, here are the top 5 trends in IIoT.

Security matters for both IoT and IIoT, of course, to prevent an “Internet of Compromised Things,” according to Security Boulevard.

There’s always another security exploit, and here’s a blast from the past. Microsoft researchers warned that the Boa web server, discontinued in 2005 because of security concerns, is a gaping threat vector since over a million devices still run some Boa services.

The boffins at Hackster.io took a look at a new beginner-friendly IoT bundle from Arduino. Still time to order before Christmas!

Now we’re getting security tips from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada for consumers on securing web-connected security cameras.

It seems fair to call “IoT and the edge – an evolving relationship,” so TechNative from England does so.

Singapore has about 1.5 million more trees than people, a total of around seven million leafy occupants, and the National Parks Board wants to track the majority of them using sensors and digital twin technology.

For balance, here’s an article on how WiSAR Lab in Ireland and S2AQUAcoLAB in Portugal are using IoT to track water quality for shellfish farmers.

Finishing our world tour, a biz publication in India estimates there are more than 1,000 agritech startups in the country, using IoT, AI, and machine learning.

From our friends at Hackster.io:

Tired of hunting for the remote when you want to pause your TV for a bio break? This “person sensor” built on the Adafruit Circuit Playground Express board will monitor your face and pause the TV when you disappear from the couch.