Nest, ARM, Samsung, and a handful of other companies have teamed up to create new and interesting products involving the Internet of Things. They are working on new standards to incorporate your home and home appliances with your connected life on the internet. Called the Thread Group, the entity is a non-profit group that launched last Tuesday. In addition to the companies mentioned above, other companies like Silicon Labs, Yale Security, and Freescale have joined up.
This isn’t the first Internet of Things group to join forces and put their minds to the IoT problem. The ultimate goal is to connect your home, office, and electronic devices to each other and to the internet. Nest is a great example of a company at the forefront of this movement. The Open Interconnect Consortium is another such group, as it AllSeen Alliance. Apple and Google are also throwing their weight and brain power behind the problem, looking for new and innovative ways to keep us connected to all of our devices and appliances. There are already companion apps for devices like the Nest thermostat, and apps that will connect you to your washer and dryer and send you alerts when they are finished doing their jobs.
Analysts are projecting that millions of devices will soon be connected to the internet, from large household appliances to alarm clocks and garage door openers. If it’s in an electronic device in your home or office, it will soon have an internet connection. This presents the opportunity for billions of dollars to be made in the coming years, but it also presents problems. Security issues arise when your home appliances can dial out to the internet. This type of an always-on connection means that privacy is more important than ever. Other hurdles include developing languages and platforms to allow all of these different devices to talk to each other.
The Thread Group is working on a wireless network protocol that could allow low-power devices to connect to each other without requiring much power. This is essential for smaller appliances like thermostats and lighting systems. Thread’s objective? “Thread was designed with one goal in mind: To create the very best way to connect and control products in the home.”