thing

Sensor motes sniff out Google I/O data trends

We're all used to the idea that Google tracks what we do online. But if you go to Google I/O, you'll find that the data-hungry company, in partnership with the O'Reilly Data Sensing Lab, is keeping tabs on the physical world, too.

At its developer conference, the company has a set up a network of 525 sensor motes. Each small electronics board monitors temperature, humidity, ambient light levels, air quality, audio noise, and radio-frequency noise. And with footstep detectors, some monitor where people are going at the conference, too. … Read more

Qualcomm walks fine line between privacy, connected devices

NEW YORK--Qualcomm is walking a fine line between enabling the "Internet of Things" and protecting users' privacy, the chipmaker's chief executive said Tuesday.

Paul Jacobs, speaking at the Wired Business Conference in New York, said that nearly everything people interact with will be connected to the Internet in the future, but that also means companies have to figure out a way to make such technology less intrusive.

For example, department stores or restaurants can detect when someone is walking by and send them coupons, but not all people may want to receive those offers. So Qualcomm and … Read more

Cisco: 'Internet of Everything' to yield $14.4 trillion in value

SAN JOSE, Calif.--The value at stake for the "Internet of Everything" is $14.4 trillion that businesses and customers can capture in the next decade, according to Cisco.

In other terms, Cisco is projecting that the Internet of Everything has the potential to grow global corporate profits by 21 percent in aggregate by 2022.

"The opportunity here -- and the challenge -- is the next level of scale," said Rob Lloyd, president of sales and development at Cisco, while speaking at Cisco's second annual Editors Conference at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters here … Read more

CNET's Next Big Thing: Are we all too connected?

LAS VEGAS -- Pervasive Internet connectivity has changed the world, connecting people and objects and countries like never before. Data is the new oil. Sensors are ubiquitous. Electricity? Expected.

Is this trend healthy or harmful? Key players in the technology industry assembled here at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show to discuss just that. CNET's Molly Wood and Brian Cooley hosted entrepreneur Mark Cuban, LG Electronics executive James Fishler, Ford futurist Sheryl Connelly and Sprint executive Fared Adib in a rollicking, sometimes raucous debate on the connected revolution.

The discussion addressed three topics: how connected devices will evolve, how … Read more

CNET's Next Big Thing at 2013 CES: Join us Tuesday, 3 p.m. PT (live blog)

LAS VEGAS--Join us Tuesday at 3 p.m. PT for live coverage of CNET's popular Next Big Thing SuperSession at 2013 International CES 2013. This year's topic: the connected revolution -- or, put another way, the movement toward having many more devices and things connected to the Internet. Like the Nest Learning Thermostat shown to the right.

CNET's Molly Wood and Brian Cooley will sit down with an exciting panel: billionaire investor and entrepreneur Mark Cuban; James Fishler, a senior vice president at LG Electronics USA; Sheryl Connelly, Ford's in-house futurist; and Fared Adib, senior vice … Read more

The 'Internet of Things' gets a consortium

Buzzword Central, also known as the Consumer Electronics Show, is getting a new entry.

In the never-ending quest to hook up the physical and digital worlds -- as we wait for the world of networked computing to spread beyond the boundaries of computers and smartphones to just about anything -- a new consortium will hold its first meeting this week at CES to compare notes. The so-called Internet of Things Consortium is a nonprofit organization which says its mission is to spur "cooperation between hardware, software, and service providers, the ostensible goal being to pave the way for more … Read more

7 reasons to get excited about CNET at CES 2013

What happens when 90 editors, writers, photographers, and producers from CNET relocate all our operations to Las Vegas to cover the biggest U.S. tech trade show of the year? The most comprehensive coverage of 2013 CES, that's what.

If you live and breathe tech and you'll be at the show in Las Vegas next week, you'll want to park yourself at the CNET booth in the South Hall to watch the action. Our live stage show will include celebrities, live Always On torture tests, product demos galore, panels, interviews of top tech execs, and the best … Read more

CNET's Next Big Thing: The connected revolution

It's been called the Internet of Things, the connected future, the post-PC and even, in our minds, the post-mobile world: however you want to refer to it, the trend toward ubiquitously connected devices and people is inescapable and poised to change everything about the consumer electronics world.

At CNET, we're calling it the post-mobile future: mapping the next frontier of consumer electronics. Because let's be blunt: consumer electronics has been kind of a boring world for the past couple of years. It seems like all we talk about is smartphones and tablets, tablets and smartphones. Last year'… Read more

Episode 25: Le Web and the iPad Mini tortured in Paris

At the Le Web conference in Paris in December, the theme was a phrase I wish I'd thought of: the Internet of Things. The show was all about our connected present and future, a world in which all our devices are connected to each other, to us, and to the great Data Cloud in the sky. I interviewed entrepreneurs, futurists, designers, and big company names about what that future will hold and when it might come about for a special Future Tech package in this episode.

The most interesting thing to come out of those interviews, to me, was … Read more