You Are the Device in 2016
… and the controller and data generator. Were you surprised with that new car in your driveway sporting a huge bow this holiday season? Yea, me neither. But we did get a new gaming console that doesn’t require you to hold a controller in your hand. You know The One. It has a camera that picks up your body movements and turns that into action on your screen. It’ll even scan your face and create a digitized, animated You right in front of your eyes. You can then choose your You to play games. Now I realize some of you have had these for several years but we’ve been stuck in 2010 at our house…at least with gaming consoles. For 2016, You are now the device, controller and data generator. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is this week and plenty of new gadgets are being unveiled to interact with our lives. Starting at the bottom, smart shoes might be the next big thing to hit stores this year. According to the manufacturer, you’ll be able to control the temperature of the shoe with a mobile app and it’ll count your steps more accurately than the thing you wear on your wrist or carry in your pocket. The temperature control idea is interesting since one of the ways to stay comfortable in the summer heat is to keep your feet cool. There’s also self-lacing shoes on display. A fitness company also unboxed smart footwear that tracks time and date, duration, distance and splits, without a runner having to carry other devices. As we move up the body, a smart belt called Belty is grabbing people’s attention. Like any other belt, it fits through your pant loops but the motorized insides will adjust loose when sitting and tighten up when you stand. You can also have it vibrate to remind you to stand every so often if you’re on your bottom too long. It keeps track, via a smartphone app, not only of your steps but also your expanding or diminishing waistline over time. Will it shame you come next Thanksgiving? Maybe not, but the sounds and sights of a roomful people unhinging their pants after a big meal might become an era gone by. There are also new fitness trackers, smart shirts, smartwatches, gesture controlled cars, grocery shopping fridges, and even a digital laser hair treatment that you put on your scalp for 90 seconds every night and the company claims that it’ll restore thinning hair. Home hubs will be built into smart televisions and fridge cams will allow you to see if the light really goes out when you close the door. Sensors in our society have become commonplace and while in the past they’ve been used to track weather, traffic conditions and how much we weigh, they are now attached to our bodies gathering information about us and reporting back. Forget about BYOD, we’re back to the old, ever popular BYOB – Bring Your Own Body. ps Related: Wearables Head to Tail Oh, Is That The Internet You're Wearing? The Digital Dress Code Connecting the Threads IoT Influence on Society Our Five Senses on Sensors Hacking the Internet of Things looms over CES Technorati Tags: f5,iot,things,ces,sensors,wearables,silva Connect with Peter: Connect with F5:OK 2015, Now What?
Once again after a couple weeks off and the calendar odometer flipping another year, I'm sitting here with a blinking curser wondering what to write about. And the thing that pops into my head are Things. The Everythings. While 2014 was the hype year for the Internet of Things (IoT), according to many 2015 will be the year that IoT...and really the Internet of Everything, becomes mainstream. It is occurring this week at CES where tons of smart cars, smart kitchens, smart watches, smart televisions, smart wearables, smart appliances, smart healthcare devices, smart robots, smart belts and anything else that has a sensor, a chip and is connected to the internet will be on display. I wonder if terms like smart aleck and smarty pants might soon be in vogue. While the Hover skateboard originally slated for 2015 is still in the works, there is a massive amount of info related to Things and how they are going to change society, change how we live and change us, as people. Business Insider has a fascinating slide deck showing the most important ways the Internet of Everything market will develop, the benefits newly connected devices will offer consumers and businesses, and the potential barriers that could inhibit growth. IoT will be the largest device market, by far, and will soon be larger than the PC, tablet, and smartphone markets combined. The software to run IoT along with systems to make sense of all that data will be huge. Areas like enhanced customer service and improved use of field assets have already been realized by early adaptors. Moving forward, new business models will blossom and services will become more important than simple products. How they all work together will be key. IoT is not without it's challenges. Threats to data security, physical security, the security of devices, regulations, privacy, encryption, authentication and a host of other issues all need to be addressed before this can really take off. Anyone remember the Cloud a couple years ago? Themes are the same. While consumer devices seem to be the focus today, businesses will benefit with greater operational efficiency along with helping them manage plants, property and equipment. Trend Micro also has a good IoE 101 article with 5 easy steps to explain IoT and IoE to folks. Over on LinkedIn, Jeremy Geelan has put together a great list of the many various, although not exhaustive, IoT events for 2015. He's revised it once already and just might again as more arrive. Over on Computer Business Review, they have their Top 6 Wearable Predictions for 2015 and Gartner is predicting that by 2017, 30% of the wearables will be invisible to the human eye. No matter what, all these things will need a robust, scalable and intelligent infrastructure to handle the massive traffic growth. If you thought our mobile phones & tablets generated a lot of traffic, our Things will be a multitude of what mobile contributed. Get ready now... ps Related: The Internet of Everything: 2015 Slide Deck Top 6 Wearable Predictions for 2015 The 40 Most Important Internet of Things Events in 2015 How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Competition IoE 101: How to Explain All Things Smart, Wearable, and IoE A Third Of Wearables To Become Invisible by 2017 Is IoT Hype For Real? Internet of Things OWASP Top 10 The Top 10, Top 10 Predictions for 2015 CloudExpo 2014: The DNS of Things Technorati Tags: 2015,iot,things,sensors,ces,f5,infrastructure,security,silva,wearables Connect with Peter: Connect with F5:OK 2014, Now What
So I've been staring at this blinking cursor for the last 5 minutes wondering what story to tell. 'Once upon a time, there was a....' No that won't work. 'It was a dark and dreary night as our protagonist grudgingly dragged his feet toward the impending...' No, not that either. How about, 'The waves were big, mean and fast that day...the kind of day where Eddie would go.' Nah, too local boy. After a few weeks break and with so much going on within information technology, I sometimes find it difficult to zero in on something interesting with so many choices. So I decided to do a mini blog buffet....the best in town, I say! The big news this week seems to be the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). From connected and driverless cars to interactive kitchens to wearable technology to the massive ultra HD televisions to even toothbrushes, the internet of things is certainly posed to take over the world in 2014. There are, of course, risks with all these embedded systems. There was the Target breach right at the height of the holiday shopping season nailing 40 some million (now 70 million) credit and debit cards in the process. I had a browser tab The 10 Worst Data Breaches of 2013 saved since before the new year for an article but this most recent debacle will certainly make all of 2014's lists. I was in Target a couple days ago retuning something and the person in front of me was asked, 'Do you want cash or credited back on the card?' He dryly answered, 'Well, I got a letter from my bank this week saying they are replacing my card due to your breach, so I'll just take the cash.' Mine was an even exchange. There was the FireEye - Mandiant deal struck slightly before the ball dropped and announced after the 12th ding. Interesting blend of attack detection along with attack response. The timing seemed perfect in the wake of the Target news. There was the Snapchat breach, the Yahoo malware, the WoW attack and certainly all the 'national security' news. And finally, our very own John McAdam earned Puget Sound Business Journal Executive of the Year for 2013. I first met John when I joined F5 in 2004. We had less than 1000 employees at the time and our sales conference that year was at a local Seattle hotel. During one of the breaks, Ken Salchow took me over to introduce me to McAdam, who was sitting in a chair fiddling with his blackberry. Now you'd think that the first time meeting your CEO you'd be all proper, business-like...Sir. Not me. As Ken did the formalities, the first words out of my mouth were, 'What's your high score on brick breaker?' John's face lit up with a smile, a determination in his eye and without missing a beat, shoved his phone in my face and taunted, 'Can you beat that?' It was wonderful and crushing at the same time since his score trounced mine. This was well before internet on planes and playing brick breaker was a way to pass time in the air. For the next several months as we did our individual business travel, we would send each other our high score(s) wrapped in a bit of bragging. There was actually a few of us on the thread, all hoping to blast the others. Then one day, one of the competitors (who had been on an overseas flight if I remember correctly) sent a score that blew everyone away. That was it, game over. But I'll never forget how the CEO included a relatively new guy into a fun little group of folks trying to one up each other. I've been here ever since. Welcome to the Year of the Horse! ps Related: Top 10 products revealed at CES 2014 so far Customers paying the price after Target breach The 10 Worst Data Breaches of 2013 The Internet of Things and DNS Looking to 2014 Executive of Year: F5 Networks CEO John McAdam strikes the perfect balance Technorati Tags: 2014,breach,security,target,mcadam,f5,malware,ces,IoT,silva,attacks Connect with Peter: Connect with F5:
