In today’s recap of the week’s top stories in the Internet of Things: Amazon’s voice-activated personal assistant device, Echo, gets entirely disoriented while listening to an NPR radio program, Swiss watch makers get serious about the smartwatch market, and details emerge on the dark truth of government surveillance.

Every week we round up the latest developments in the Smart World, from new developer platforms to smart city initiatives around the world. Here’s what you missed in the Smart World:

Network problems? WiFi smartplug resets routers

If you’ve ever gotten frustrated with your Wi-Fi going out, then you’re probably aware a simple power cycling was the solution. The new ResetPlug can hit the reset button on behalf of frustrated internet users everywhere, as it monitors the Wi-Fi network to automatically power cycle the router when the Wi-Fi goes down.

Read more about this handy little device here.

Myzone enters smart garment world

MYZONE Worldwide Ltd. tapped Sensoria, Inc. to bring fitness tracking closer to a user’s skin for a more accurate reading. The partnership will deliver a new sports bra and t-shirt that are able to track the wearer’s heart rate more accurately, plus the fitness tracking device won’t get in the way of the user’s workout routine.

Read more about these new apparel here.

Alexa! What the hell are you doing?!? 

Consumers may be mesmerized with Amazon Echo, but it seems like the personal assistant Alexa’s voice search has flaw that can allow others to activate the always-listening gadget. During a segment on National Public Radio’s (NPR) station where the topic was Amazon Echo, whenever the wake word ‘Alexa’ was mentioned in the program, listeners noticed that their Amazon Echoes reacted and performed the requests, or even glitched out.

Read more about this issue and what Amazon Echo users can do to fix it here.

The surveillance of tomorrow will be self-installed

The dark reality we are facing today is that the government is spying on us. The more devices being built with cameras, and are able to communicate to the Internet, the smart world is just making it easier for the government, and malicious attackers, to spy on people and access personal information.

And it’s not just camera-equipped devices we have to worry about, as devices now have motion and heat sensors that can be used to track whereabouts of people, and even voice-activated devices such as the Amazon Echo can prove troublesome as it is always listening for commands, meaning it’s always potentially susceptible to prying surveillance methods.

Read more about the dark truth of surveillance here.

Smartwatch race: Swiss take on Apple Watch in style

Swiss watch makers have changed how they view smartwatches as sales of traditional watches continue to decline. More consumers are now interested in purchasing smartwatches that are able to do more tasks than just telling time, opting for wrist pieces that also deliver notifications, send messages and double as a fitness tracker.

Read more about the shift in strategy here.

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