Equipped with a new addition to Cradlepoint’s NetCloud management platform called the NetCloud Edge Connector for Azure IoT Central, the solution aims to help users without specialized skills quickly deploy and integrate IoT solutions.

Anything big happen in the last few days? Oh, yeah, a bunch of new commercials appeared during a punting exhibition by the Los Angeles Rams. Yes, Super Bowl LIII came and ended the same way six of the last 17 have, with the New England Patriots hoisting the trophy. Biggest surprise?

About half of all IoT sensors can’t be plugged into an electrical outlet. That means Plan B for Battery.

This is a good week to “shelter in place” for two reasons. First, weather patterns seem to have mistaken the middle and eastern parts of the U.S. for Siberia. Second, Super Bowl LIII (53 in modern numbers) hype has started on all media platforms.

IoTPlaybook insight: Canonical, the makers of the Ubuntu Linux operating system software, made their pitch to the IoT and embedded systems community with Ubuntu Core 18. Based on Ubuntu 18,04 LTS (Long Term Support) from April 2018, the cut-down OS includes a decade of support.

What a “great” way to start a week—a hundred million folks in the Northeast buried under snow, frigid temps across most of the middle of the country, and football.

Microsoft has two IoT training events worth checking. On February 4 and 5, the IoT in Action Virtual Bootcamp takes place in your computer. Aimed at engineers, software architects, and practice owners, a few pieces of hardware from Arrow turns this into real, hands-on training.

Smart lighting technology from AT&T, smart car technology from Sprint, and smart toilet technology from Kohler were among the many IoT-related products announced last week at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Grindstone and nose should be in tight proximity since we’ve had a full week of non-holiday time.

IoT Playbook Insight: Spending in the IoT market keeps going up and up and up, especially when consumer products bump the dollar tally. IDC predicts consumers will pony up $108 billion, the second largest figure after discrete manufacturing ($119 billion).