Disclaimer: This article is taken from blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

These are very exciting times indeed. We are at the beginning of the Internet of Things (IoT), a "new wave of hardware innovation" fueled by the progress of smart, sensors, robotics, artificial intelligence, big data, cloud, and the crowd. Wave objects are as big as, if not larger than mainframes, PCs and cellular waves in the past. The opportunity for objects is huge with tens of billions of units of volume and billions of dollars in value. More importantly, it opens up the possibility of creating new companies and global brands. For example, the first wave of Internet with PC created companies such as Google, Yahoo and Amazon, etc. and gave growth opportunities for companies such as Intel, IBM, Dell and Microsoft, etc. The second wave of the Internet with smartphones enterprises created as Facebook,


Smartphones will continue to evolve and always become more autonomous and smart in managing our lives whether it be at home or in the office or on the road. Smartphones will change from being mere extensions of our brain to being real brains. There is a huge space for innovation in the areas of materials, batteries, sensors, connectivity and big data. However, the future is beyond smartphones, from wearables such as smartwatches and vitality / health bands to stand-alone devices and systems like drones and automobiles driving smart home with smart things like security cameras, climate control, lighting, appliances , etc., for intelligent farming for smart cities at SMART governance.

Some objects are already in place and redefine the way we lead our lives. Smart phones begin to tell us what we need and what we should do as it tells us the best time to leave the office based on traffic congestion on the roads or we remember a television show based on our past history of viewing. Smart watches and fitness bands start monitoring our health and we connect to our doctors 24/7 to provide timely diagnosis and prescriptions. We are able to better monitor our homes. You get to know if there is a gas leak at home through reports from our phones. We can remotely manage energy consumption at home while we are away. Unmanned or autonomous aircraft such as drones are already here and early versions of self-driving cars are already on the roads. The same with companies. The combination of smart devices, sensors, cloud computing, cloud storage, huge bandwidth, sophisticated analysis software will help companies better manage themselves and offer more products, solutions and services to their customers.

The next generation of devices and systems will talk to each other in the background and provide us with highly personalized choices and timely solutions. Some objects will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of people, homes, businesses, cities and nations that lead to a better life, productivity, safety and security.