ReadWriteWeb

Yesterday we analyzed some of the applications being built with Pachube, an open source platform enabling developers to connect sensor data to the Web. We at ReadWriteWeb think that Pachube is an excellent example of one of our Top 5 Trends of 2009: Internet of Things. So we're exploring Pachube in-depth in a 3-part series.

This is Part 3, where we'll look at Pachube's business model and delve into its platform. I spoke at length to Pachube founder Usman Haque to find out how Pachube intends to make money, how it will compete against big vendors such as IBM and Microsoft, and why it chose to be an open source platform.

Last week we reported that Pachube, an open source platform enabling developers to connect sensor data to the Web, had released a real-time notifications feature. We at ReadWriteWeb think that Pachube is an excellent example of one of our Top 5 Trends of 2009: Internet of Things. So we're going to explore Pachube in-depth in a 3-part series.

This is Part 2, where we'll look at what applications we can expect to see in the coming years from Pachube. I spoke at length to Pachube founder Usman Haque to find out what developers - and Haque's company itself - will build on the platform.

Two of the more interesting products in the 'Internet of Things,' a.k.a. real world objects connected to the Internet, are Pachube and Arduino. We profiled Pachube (pronounced "patch-bay") in May; it's an open source platform enabling you to connect sensor data to the Web. Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform, which we briefly profiled in February. So far both services have spawned some geeky and quirky - and in truth not overly useful - trial apps. For example Pachube has been used to monitor house plants and a recent Arduino creation monitors a teapot's tea level. However this is not to undersell the potential of either service - it's just that both are currently in the experimental stage.

It's fun to look at what is being developed now, because it gives us a glimpse of the Internet of Things of the future. For example a site called The Daily Duino recently experimented with a project involving two light sensors.