CES brought a flood of exciting technology, and one thing is clear- the future is in the Internet of Things.
After last week’s whirlwind of bombshell announcements, amazing displays of technology, and buzzing projections about the industry, we have some awesome new insights about what is to come throughout the rest of the 2016. CES has a special way of firing up the industry and tech fans alike. The trending topic of 2015 was IoT, and in 2016 it seems to have gone beyond trending to land itself as the gold standard for all new technology.
Whether it is personal accessories, home appliances and functions, drones, health products or even automobiles, every popular developing market will have a major element of connectivity and IoT functionality.
Home is Where the Hub is
The IoT market that has matured the most so far is that of home automation. Connectivity between devices is essential to the overall benefit, and the apex of home automation will be when appliances can communicate seamlessly with one another across languages. While there are still limitations on the present communication capabilities, 2016 will be the year that all changes. For now the remedy to this problem lies in using master hubs to convert the different signals from various devices, bridging the gap between different protocols.
Samsung’s SmartThings hub was a 2016 Innovation Award winner, and helps connect everything from smart light bulbs to thermostats and security cameras for access from your mobile device.
Smarter Surveillance
Another big splash at CES was the Netatmo Presence, which took an Innovation Award. More than just a surveillance camera that has an integrated floodlight, this device incorporates new smart features. It can detect the difference between people, animals, and vehicles and behave accordingly. You can set customized zones and notifications for immediate information to any device, and receive both live streaming and daily event recordings only when it matters.
Talking the Talk Beyond the Hub
While hubs do provide a great way to help connect various devices across protocols and centralize the communication, they are still another hurdle to complete automation. Enter Apple HomeKit – taking a big stab at the connected home; this eliminates the need for a hub. HomeKit works in the background of all the individual automation product apps, and communicates with them from your mobile device. So your water monitoring sensor that operates on Z-Wave and your lighting system that uses Bluetooth can be operated from one source, even with voice commands through Siri. The whole point of automating devices and functions is to make having more control easy, and this does just that.
While this is a huge step towards the cohesive smart home of the future, there is still one minor hang-up. HomeKit does not allow communication with Wi-Fi devices that are not specifically HomeKit-enabled (sorry, no Nest). Apple says this is for security reasons, so this does limit the amount of products available; not to mention all Android users are excluded.
Not to be left out, Google’s open-source platform for the development of IoT products Brillo, and their protocol Weave had some action on the show floors this year. This will be version of HomeKit for the Android users, and while the products that operate on these are few, more will surely come later in 2016. This week there were these announcements:
·Asus smart home bridge, along with other home automation product updates built on Brillo will roll out this year
·Kwikset smart door locks that use Weave to communicate, and completely ditch the key
·A Marvell Wi-Fi chip that uses the Weave protocol, which should make it easier for other companies to adopt the Brillo platform for production
·Harman will work with companies to help build Brillo and Weave devices, which may have some place in the automated vehicle push that Google is pursuing
Home automation is just the tip of the IoT iceberg, and the way that cell phones revolutionized our daily lives, the Internet of Things will be the cornerstone of future life. Whether connecting our home, automobile, phone, health, and entertainment, the next few years will explore a new level of what is possible with technology.
What aspect of the IoT do you find most interesting?
