Top 10 Internet of Things Products of 2009
2009 has been a turning point for the Internet of Things, when real world objects (such as lights, cars and packages) get connected to the Internet. This trend has added a significant amount of new data to the Web, so for that reason alone it is an important development. Having said that, many of the following top 10 list are not yet mainstream products. But we expect some of them to become well known over the coming years.
Underlying the Internet of Things are technologies such as RFID (radio frequency identification), sensors and smartphones. Now let's look at the 10 products that stood out this year.
Pachube
A small UK startup particularly impressed us this year: Pachube. Pronounced "PATCH-bay," Pachube lets you tag and share real time sensor data from objects, devices, buildings and environments both physical and virtual. According to founder Usman Haque, Pachube is about "environments" more so than "sensors." In other words, Pachube aims to be responsive to and influence your environment, for example your home.
For more on this innovative company, see ReadWriteWeb's three-part analysis of Pachube:
- Pachube Adds Real-Time Notifications - More Power to The Internet of Things
- Applications From The Internet of Things - An Analysis of Pachube
- Business Models of The Internet of Things - An Analysis of Pachube's Open Source Platform
IBM's sensor solutions
One of the leading big companies in the Internet of Things is IBM, which offers a range of RFID and sensor technology solutions. IBM has been busy working with various manufacturers and goods suppliers this year to introduce those solutions to the world. For example, IBM announced a deal at the end of June with Danish transportation company Container Centralen. By February 2010, Container Centralen will begin using IBM sensor technology to enable companies in the horticultural supply chain to track the progress of shipments as they move from growers to wholesalers and retailers across Europe. It makes the travel process very transparent and data centric.
Arduino
Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform made up of open source hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments. For an example of the type of internet-connected object you can build with Arduino, check out this presentation where the author configured a child's toy ray gun to react when anyone posted the #barcampliverpool hash tag on Twitter.
Fedex SenseAware
International courier giant Fedex released a new tracking device and web service for packages in December. Called SenseAware, it keeps tabs on the temperature, location and other vital signs of a package - including when it's opened and whether it was tampered with along the way. Fedex is running a trial period of about a year with 50 health care and life science companies, for tracking delivery of surgery kits, medical equipment - and even live organs.
HP CeNSE
HP Labs has joined the race to build an infrastructure for the Internet of Things. The giant computing and IT services company recently announced a project that aims to be a "Central Nervous System for the Earth" (CeNSE). It's a research and development program to build a planetwide sensing network, using billions of "tiny, cheap, tough and exquisitely sensitive detectors." The technology behind this is based on nano-sensing research done by HP Labs. The sensors are similar to RFID chips, but in this case they are tiny accelerometers which detect motion and vibrations.
Next page: Top Internet of Things Products 6-10
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Richard,
Great list...I would count the MiFi Intelligent Mobile HotSpot from Novatel Wireless as being an equally worthy contender for this top ten list.
Not only did the device get Verizon to rethink their stance on sharing a 3G/ WiFi Connection , but it was a major leap forward in terms of form factor and functionality from any mobile access point before it's arrival.
The GSM version that launched with Telefonica at Mobile World Congress back in February featured an on-board Linux based processor capable of hosting applications on the device such as auto-VPN software or enterprise security apps like NLG from Alcatel-Lucent.
The combo hardware/software ecosystem is the reason MiFi came to mind.
There..now you have a comment ;-)
Cheers, MK
@Michael_Irie
These technologies will slowly seep into our lives and make things easier and most of us won't even know we are using 'Internet of things' stuff. For example, Vail Resorts is using this technology to scan ski passes-- so keep your your mittens on! A really interesting area with a lot of potential to change the world.
RFIDs in general have grown substantially. I am surprised FedEx is the first to do this with "vital signs" and medical materials. How much more expensive are these new tags?
BTW, wouldn't advances in Autonomus Drones also qualify in this new internet of things? I am particularly thinking of Pacman Roombas video.
-Scott
Richard:
Really interesting collection of companies and technologies, thanks for pulling this together!
One other piece that I think is really important is the **security** / device integrity angle of the INTERNET OF THINGS: if devices already outnumber PCs on the Internet by about 5 to 1 (soon to be 100:1 by 2014) what happens when our connected "things" are now the softest target - the easiest way into the rest of our networks. Most networked devices have no firewalling, encryption or firmware integrity checking at all, and this is going to be a big, big problem (witness recent attacks on smart meters, wireless access points being recruited into botnets, the rise of smartphone viruses.)
Harbor Research did an interesting paper on this last year that you should check out at http://www.mocana.com/downloads.html (left hand column).
Best
Kurt
It is good post to discuss some information which is foremost necessary aspects regarding the internet indexes and market.I like post very much and listing of several products which are used on-line and with the help of internet technology , this product ranking increases due to which marketing has build its own reforms and regulations on the internet server.As generation, it becomes the usage of internet every where in the field of the corners.
FedEx SenseAware is significant in that it shows the air cargo segment of the supply chain is finally taking the IOT seriously.
I did not see mention of any wireless technologies for enabling the IOT ... DASH7 was introduced in 2009 and boasts 10x the range of ZigB, 10x the battery life, and 10% of the total cost of ownership. Used extensively by the military around the world and it's an ISO standard. www.dash7.org
there is technology in every corner.thanks to their usage.
Sensor Solutions manufactures non contact magnetic sensors for the industrial, agricultural, solar energy, wind turbine, smart grid, automotive, off-road, mining, railroad, robotics, medical, exercise, and commercial markets.
Fedex SenseAware is really a great for us
One of the leading big companies in the Internet of Things is IBM, which offers a range of RFID and sensor technology solutions.
Internet and Web depend on open standards, and so will the Internet of things. All things have location, so standards from the Open Geospatial Consortium (http://www.opengeospatial.org) will be important. The OGC also has a suite of Sensor Web Enablement standards (http://www.opengeospatial.org/ogc/markets-technologies/swe) that provide a rigorous framework for publishing, discovering, assessing, accessing and controlling sensors. Many lightweight location and sensor APIs are emerging that skip the rigor of OGC standards. Internet of things hackers with an eye to the future can do themselves a favor by trying to get OGC focused on lightweight open APIs that 1) developers can use to quickly deploy services and 2) provide a degree of current or downstream compatibility with the OGC framework, which will greatly increase the value of the data provided by those services (or the amount of data available to those services).
Ive been very impressed with the Fedex SenseAware. Our lab has been using it for 2 months.
Great list! Now, if I can only think of ways that I can make some money on some of these great ideas. Sensors feeding information over the net for everything from delivery times to traffic monitoring. Got to be a way to get in on this.
These internet products definitely will make our life more convenient
These technologies will slowly seep into our lives and make things easier and most of us won't even know we are using 'Internet of things' stuff.
Great top ten, I love these technologies, definitely does make things easier!
Those tracking tags from FedEx and the RFID tags from IBM will really help alleviate the issues associated with international shipping. What I am interested in is to see how this technology will be adopted in more third-worldish countries....
Great post, just compiled a couple of articles on the Internet of Things HERE. I’m amazed at the explosion in intelligent devices and the growth of the hacker communities, lots of innovation there.
Page two of this post is broken. Thanks.