Internet of Things – What will we be talking about after wearables are being worn by everyone? Many think it will be the Internet of Things. This term describes the connection of everything in our homes to the internet and our mobile devices. As a simple explanation, you can turn on the lights before entering, or you can adjust the temperature setting to avoid entering a cold house.
All this control and monitoring means that you have your eyes on things while being far away. This will have an effect on how we use mobile devices in the future. Display requirements will have to reflect the functionality needed by these devices, such as watching videos from cameras, having alarm settings for the various alarm settings in your home, etc. One can easily see how this may effect the design and functionality of future mobile devices.
Source: Best Buy
Best Buy sees the Internet of Things already taking off with 13% of broadband homes having at least one smart home device. The company also expects the total industry for such devices to double by 2018.
Best Buy will roll out new ‘home departments’ to 400 stores in the US by Thanksgiving of this year. These departments will feature, of course, smart home devices like video monitoring, smart thermostats, smart lighting, smart locks, garage door accessories, motion/water/door/window sensors, smoke/CO2 detectors, automation/control hubs, light and appliance controls, and energy monitors.
Another part of this department is the network solution to support the broadband networking products that Best Buy calls the ‘plumbing’ of the smart home., which is a very interesting concept.
In addition, Best Buy is going to offer set up services as well as advice on external services to run such devices at your home. Best Buy will be offering specially trained employees to help the consumers with these devices. From the wording it seems that Best Buy is not offering any control services themselves, but the company will help to select appropriate service partners. – Norbert Hildebrand
