Smart city, tech, mobility and such is very much part of our world at Fluxx, and part of this interest I wrote up this list from A to Z of smart things in our world.

Our smart world — A-Z

Alphabet Google’s Parent Wants to Build a New City From the Ground Up. The Department of Transportation announced it is working with Sidewalk Labs, Google’s smart-cities research unit, under its Smart City Challenge (Wired)

Blockchain the new touted technology that will lay changes to every industry and area, from medicine, finance, ecommerce, supply chain, to governments. Learn more about blockchain

Cheaters beware. A new ‘smart mattress’ uses motion sensors to detect whether your other half is being unfaithful. It’s called the Smarttress, and it’s literally a smart mattress that when synchronised with an app can tell you if someone is knocking boots in your bed. (Maxim)

Dubai’s smart city status is evolving. In January 2016, the Dubai Design District (d3) revealed 21 smart initiatives, including Smart Parking Meters, Smart Energy Meters, and Smart Waste Management, d3 CEO Mohammad Saeed Al Shehhi says they’re not adopting these initiatives to simply be a ‘smart district’. (Wamda)

‘Electrified S’ bike is a smart, internet-connected electric bike created by Amsterdam-based VanMoof. There’s a touch screen flush with the bike’s body at the top for controlling speed, locking up or getting a boost, but it gets even better when paired with a phone. (The Next Web)

Ford got some smart plans to help them disrupt and guard them from disruptors. “Our approach is to first disrupt ourselves,” Fields said in a recent interview with The Verge. His plan is to create a new subsidiary called Ford Smart Mobility LLC. Based in Tesla’s hometown of Palo Alto, the new company will house Ford’s work on ride-sharing and self-driving cars. (Vox)

Google Engineer Max Braun was in need of a smart mirror for his home, but lacking in options he decided to develop it himself. (Medium — Max Braun)

High-tech scalpel makes brain surgery less risky. It can differentiate between tumors and healthy brain tissue. The “smart scalpel” developed by a researcher named David Oliva Uribe has a sensor-rich sphere at the tip, and instead of having the capability to cut people open, it can differentiate between cancerous tumors and normal brain tissue. (Engadget)

IFTTT your Tesco shopping. Now Tesco have figured out a way for you to use IFTTT to help automate parts of the weekly shop. Anyone with a Tesco online account can now connect it to your email to, say, alert you when the price of something has hit a certain level. (Live-smart)

John Lewis to launch ‘UK’s largest’ smart home experience in flagship store. The retailer is opening a 1,000 sq ft space showcasing smart home products at its flagship Oxford Street store, which it believes it is the largest of its kind in the UK. (Marketing Magazine)

Kansas City Living Lab. An innovative Public-Private partnership to develop the Internet of Things and Smart Connected Cities. KCMO is proposing a public-private partnership that will enable this city to build out the largest smart city network in North America. (Kansas lab)

LoRa-based wearable technology for tracking cattle helps improve animal welfare and productivity on feedlots. The tracker is part of a complete health monitoring system for livestock in which sensors in each ear tag constantly monitor livestock temperature, movement and other vital signs. (Business Wire)

Melbourne sees rapid population growth and climate change as driving forces towards Melbourne’s adoption of smart city solutions. “Our mandate for the City of Melbourne is to start with the perspective of our users or customers of the city — our residents, rate payers, students, workers, visitors, business owners — by saying, ‘what can smart cities do to improve the liveability, prosperity and sustainability for our city for them?” (IoT Hub)

New York City’s most high-tech gym, which uses ‘smart’ equipment to help you craft the perfect workout. David Barton, the fitness entrepreneur best known for his health clubs that resemble nightclubs, opened what may be New York City’s most high-tech gym on Tuesday. (Business Insider)

Ohio State’s woven-in antennas take us one step closer to smart jeans. Clothes that receive and transmit digital information are closer to reality. With further development, the technology could lead to shirts that act as antennas for your smartphone or tablet, workout clothes that monitor your fitness level, sports equipment that monitors athletes’ performance. (Oso)

Paper Skin is a simple paper-based platform that detects changes in electrical conductivity according to external stimuli. The paper skin’s low cost and wide array of capabilities could have a huge impact on many technologies. (Spectrum)

Quell, the wearable leg band that provides systemic relief from a whole host of bodily aches and pains by zapping them with super-smart electric pulses. From chronic back, foot and leg pain to fibromyalgia pain and arthritic aches. (Live-smart)

Ramallah Palestine’s first ‘smart city’? In 2011, Ramallah lacked almost the entire basic technological infrastructure required to build a smart city. Today, Safaa Aldwaik, director of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for the Ramallah municipality, is working hard to change that. In 2011 Aldwaik electronically mapped all of Ramallah, including its public infrastructure, and integrated GIS into almost all of the municipality’s departments. (Al-monitor)

Santander hailed as global pioneering ‘smart city’. The northern Spanish city of Santander has become the testing ground for “smart cities” around the world. (The Local)

Twyst a US startup has developed a RFID chip-enabled bag, which markets them as “Smart Internet Connected Bags,” the bags automatically inventory any items put in them, and then charge a customer’s credit card when they exit the store. (Twyst)

Ulla is your smart hydration reminder. Ulla makes your water bottle smart, reminds you to fill-up and glows to keep you hydrated throughout your busy day. (Ulla)

Vodafone and Philips Lightning has signed a global partner agreement to develop a wireless integrated street lighting project for cities. The system signals where and which lamp is out of order. The lamps also adjust the degree of light produced to their surroundings — the time of day, the season, the area where the lamps are located. (Eurobuild)

WikiHouse is an open source building system. Many designers, collaborating to make it simple for everyone to design, print and assemble beautiful, low-energy homes, customised to their needs. (Wikihouse)

Xerox Research Center Europe’s computer scientist Adrien Gaidon is testing a his thesis, that for AI’s to get truly smart it needs to play more video games. (Technology Review)

Yokohama — Home for a new Smart Town. Panasonic and Nomura Real Estate Unveil Concept Plan for New Smart Town in Yokohama. Yokohama City supports this smart town project as a FutureCity. (Business Wire)

ZOE, the smart home hub who’s taking on Amazon Echo. “With the ZOE, we will bring one of the smartest and most aesthetic Smart Home Hubs to market. Our clear goal is ‘The Home of the Free made smart’ because people should be able to choose how to live with modern technology, even at home,”. (IndieGoGo)