The Internet of Things

LeWeb is one of the major annual dates in the Web industry, attracting around 3,500 professionals, investors, bloggers and internet fans. The theme this year was “The Internet of Things” or how objects interconnect and communicate. One of the most popular ideas at the conference was “Nest”: a thermostat which learns your habits. It was developed by Tony Fadell’s company Smart Things. Like other thermostats it can be remotely controlled from your Smartphone. It has sensors which monitor temperature, humidity, light and movement, so it knows when the house is occupied and immediately goes to the prefered temperature and can be “educated” so according to the company, it can lead to important energy savings. A Wi-Fi Plant Sensor developed by Phillip Bollinger’s company Koubachi monitors the health of pot plants, both indoors and out. The data is sent to a cloud, and the user can access it from anywhere via a Smartphone or a computer. The device can help people learn to grow plants but more importantly, help people who are away from home know if their plants are thriving or not. How often have you seen something in a catalogue, but been unable to imagine what it would look like in your home? Well, an augmented reality application can help. You can virtually detach the object, and turn it into 3D in your house or office. You can also test paintings on your walls and architects can see in advance how a building will relate to its environment once it is finished. And what about a device which lets your neighbour in to feed the cat? A Smartphone can use a technology called Lockitron, which is a keyless lock that you can install on your door, replacing the traditional lock. It means you can remotely enable a friend to enter your house via Smartphone, without having to physically give her the keys. There is also a detector which can warn you via sms if an unauthorised person tries to open the door. Nokia was at the conference to launch the latest Lumia 620, based on the Windows phone 8 system, competing with the Android operating system. It costs around 200 euros and has a series of dual-colored shells which are exchangeable and available in seven different colors. Also the camera has been improved so that it automatically takes multiple photos with a single click. Could this be the end of photos of people taken just as they blinked?