Brendan James: a tech gold rush

With 5G internet connectivity just around the corner, smart household appliances are a ballooning market that’s a wellspring of untold potential.

The Internet of Things. Or IoT for short. Are you familiar with that term? If not, no matter. When opportunities to trade these new-fangled objects of desire present themselves - and they will, given that the market started with one million appliances shipped in 2014 and will blossom to hundreds of millions in just a few short years! - you will make it part of your everyday vocabulary and be singing its praises.

The IoT, referring to a network of computers, devices, and objects that help them work together in a home or business, is a concept that will become more self-evident once 5G mobile technologies become available. The moment of their release is imminent, with the world’s largest telecom companies promising availability by the end of 2018. Once in place, the wide-open smart appliances market will be a mad dash for prestige, profitability, and pursuit of the sale. What appliances will make up the IoT? Look around your home, and what you see is what it will be. Daily staples such as refrigerators, stoves, ovens, and washing machines will coexist on home networks alongside other essentials such as thermostats, lights, and your car. Even your running gear is currently being designed to connect with the internet!

IoT-connected smart home appliances are about more than just being able to control your home from your phone, even though this is a key feature. Smart devices of the near future will also be able to communicate with each other through machine-to-machine (M2M) technology, acting in tandem to keep the status quo of a given environment.