Susan Schreiner (susan@c4trends.com) is the founder and editor of C4Trends.com and a veteran journalist who covers developments in consumer technology. She is also a CE industry and events analyst.
Two of the latest buzzwords are Internet of Things (a.k.a., IoT) and machine-to-machine, or M2M. In most cases, these terms are increasingly interchangeable. What’s the relevancy of these terms to retailers and resellers?
What do wearables and fitness devices, a sports shirt, mattress covers, smart home/home automation, healthcare, connected cars, and more have in common? Unlike most products today that are largely stand-alone, all devices in an IoT universe will be outfitted with embedded communications technology to enable any device to be connected to and communicate with other devices – independent of human intervention. Make no mistake: IoT will disrupt our ways of living and working – and retailers will not just be selling a distinct device, but a more valuable user experience.
To support this ‘next big thing,’ a new ecosystem is unfolding that includes, for instance: applications, platforms, semiconductors, sensors, encryption/security, networking technologies and infrastructure, service providers, marketing and analytics.
Hyper-connectivity will become the new norm. As part of the back-end IoT framework, previously “dumb” objects will acquire unique identifiers, which subsequently allows the device to collect and exchange vast streams of detailed data, without human intervention. Objects will have an address, an increasingly detailed profile, and an Internet presence with which other devices can interact – to deliver optimized solutions and seamless ‘smart’ personalized experiences or solutions. Consequently, the physical and virtual sides of an object’s functionality will blend – including, for instance, toothbrushes, doorknobs… anything.
Security will be one of the challenges – and Symantec, a leader in security products and services, is planning to announce an IoT device security platform that will provide end-to-end protection and provide a company with telemetry about any attacks. It is working with organizations across the ecosystem, from chip providers such as Texas Instruments to the developers of the software that power IoT devices.