The Internet of Things at CES

Tim Bajarin has a follow-up to his trend predictions for CES in which he identifies the Internet of Things as another (perhaps overarching) trend. (Then there's Google's acquisition of Nest.) 

This piece presents a few nice vignettes illustrating the internet of things. 

The Big Theme of CES: The Internet of Everything

Given how this year's CES played out, 2014 likely marks an inflection point for the Internet of everything.

Tim Bajarin

In a column before CES I outlined 8 trends likely to come out of the show. But I omitted a key trend— the Internet of everything (IOE)—because it was implied throughout some of the trends listed. Having now digested the events of the show I should have called it out as a trend in its own right, because ultimately that became the true theme of this year's CES.

Click to enlarge http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/25/making-sense-of-the-internet-of-things/

This became very clear to me during a meeting I had with the CEO of Cisco, John Chambers, where he outlined Cisco's thinking on IOE. Chambers predicts the impact of IOE in the public sector alone will be worth $4.6 trillion(!), and believes it will have a dramatic impact on everything from city planning to first responders and health. When I hear numbers in the trillions I become skeptical. However, when you look at the ultimate idea of what IOE is, these numbers could be on the mark.

The Internet of Everything has become a catchall phrase to describe adding connectivity and intelligence to just about every inanimate object and giving it specific functionality. At the show there was a crock-pot connected to the Internet, so that even if you are in Katmandu you could control when it came on and adjust the settings even if you are in Katmandu. Various car vendors introduced the next generation of connected cars; all referred them as part of IOE. Smart cars, smart appliances, smart watches; they gain the "smart" moniker in front of them as they become tied to the Internet and part of an ecosystem of software and services. Sleep Number even announced a smart bed that monitors sleep patterns.

Article continues at link.