New Innovations in Technology

Leslie’s photo of RED robotic dog

Hi it’s Leslie Harris. Last week, I checked out an event that was being hosted by Verizon, in partnership with Nokia. Even though I’m not a technical person it was really cool to see all of the innovations that are being used for business, as well as disaster relief.

Here are some of the highlights:

Verizon business assistant is for small and medium sized businesses to generate AI

It only costs about $30 a month, and it can be set up in about 15 minutes. You can also give it a name and a personality type. For certain businesses you would want a more casual personality, and for others you want a more formal one.

Nokia has a portable drone docking station, so you can take (and recharge) your drone to remote locations.

Large stadiums have a lot of RF traffic, so Verizon has installed private wireless at all 30 NFL stadiums. Coaches are using wireless headsets for secure, reliable communication. These types of networks are also available for businesses.

A component of Verizon’s Frontline team is THOR, an emergency vehicle that carries a Network on wheels. It operates in areas where cellular towers have been destroyed such as what happened in the California wildfires. It allows first responders to communicate with each other, and it also allows people in these areas to upload data to the vehicle. The vehicle travels to a secure location where the information is dispersed, letting people know that their loved ones are safe. Even though THOR is a Verizon product, it is compatible with other carriers. The servers are then wiped clean.

Being an animal lover, one of my favorite things was RED is the robotic ‘dog.’ RED also belongs to Verizon’s Frontline team. I’ve seen robotic dogs before, and I thought they were just toys for the ultra rich. Instead, they are used to investigate areas that are unsafe for people to enter, such as those with chemical leaks or structural damage. The units equipped with camera. They’re also really cute, and the guy who was operating it was having it do cute tricks like a real dog.

Verizon does not sell THOR or RED.

It was a fascinating look at many of the new ways that Verizon and Nokia are making our lives easier and safer.