The phrase "Internet of things," used prominently in conjunction with the concept of the connected home and lifestyle, represents the idea that all devices will eventually be connected to the Internet. Each hardware object in the real world will have an accompanying virtual object in the cloud, which represents the current state of the end device and retains its operational history. With this setup, a user can operate the device in the home remotely through an interface like a smartphone or tablet computer that connects through the virtual object.
The Internet of things will multiply based on the continuing convergence of multiple technologies. Functionality will expand in waves as groups of different technologies become available.
While this process will not necessarily be linear, the functionality of each successive grouping of technologies is largely dependent on the results of the prior group. For example, there must first be broadband ubiquity before there can be multidevice control from a single, integrated user interface on any significant scale. However, future solutions may leapfrog current approaches, removing obstacles and reducing dependencies on prior groups of converged technologies.
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