Top 10 Internet of Things Products of 2009

Usman Haque, Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino and Rafi Haladjian, Council members, are listed as Top 10 Internet of Things Products of 2009 by RICHARD MACMANUS of ReadWriteWeb (December 8, 2009)

"2009 has been a turning point for the Internet of Things, when real world objects (such as lights, cars and packages) get connected to the Internet. This trend has added a significant amount of new data to the Web, so for that reason alone it is an important development. Having said that, many of the following top 10 list are not yet mainstream products. But we expect some of them to become well known over the coming years.

Underlying the Internet of Things are technologies such as RFID (radio frequency identification), sensors and smartphones. Now let's look at the 10 products that stood out this year.

ReadWriteWeb's Best Products of 2009:

Pachube
A small UK startup particularly impressed us this year: Pachube. Pronounced "PATCH-bay," Pachube lets you tag and share real time sensor data from objects, devices, buildings and environments both physical and virtual. According to founder Usman Haque, Pachube is about "environments" more so than "sensors." In other words, Pachube aims to be responsive to and influence your environment, for example your home.

Arduino
Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform made up of open source hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments. For an example of the type of internet-connected object you can build with Arduino, check out this presentation where the author configured a child's toy ray gun to react when anyone posted the #barcampliverpool hash tag on Twitter.

Mir:ror
Mir:ror is a device from French company Violet that detects the objects you show it and gives them powers. As you wave a device over the USB-attached mirror, you can trigger applications and multimedia content automatically. The "magic" mirror isn't actually sensing the object itself, but is reacting to an RFID tag placed on the object which then tells your computer what to do. Those tags are embedded in the company's Ztamps, colorful RFID stamps that you stick on the objects you want to connect. They also work with the company's other more well-known internet-connected object: the Nabaztag, an adorable rabbit that can deliver anything from ambient information through lights and sounds to verbal information - like when he reads your email or RSS feeds to you. Unfortunately, in August Violet filed for bankruptcy. However, in October it was saved by videogame publisher Mindscape.

See also:

You'll utter the phrase web 3.0 ( in 2010), source

See also

"The Internet of Things will take hold (in 2010). An open-source based interface will be the default for televisions, refrigerators, cars and so on. Geolocative, augmented-reality games will become popular. Kevin Slavin will be the Time Web site's Man of the Year in 2018. As mobile network usage continues to grow, network neutrality will become more of an issue until a challenger (maybe Google, maybe not) comes to the scene with a huge amount of bandwidth at its disposal. Fears about Google will rise and by the end of the decade, antitrust hearings will be well-advanced." The Decade Ahead, by  Kazys Varnelis.

See also, through Jorge Barahona

"IBM CEO Palmisano noted one of the key points about Internet of Things early in his speech - it puts computational power into "things no one would recognize as computers." Things like "cars, appliances, roadways and rail lines, power grids, clothes." He also mentioned processes and global supply chains, non-sexy markets that have proven to be early commercial successes for the company in Internet of Things. Finally, Palmisano pointed to implementation in "natural systems, such as agriculture and waterways.""

See also, Arrayent

"Arrayent is a new Internet of Things company being billed as the "Cisco of small things." It is basically middleware for companies wanting to connect their products to the Internet. In particular it's targeting smartphones, which is a trend we're closely tracking too. Arrayent made its first public appearance earlier this month at CES."

See also, MEMS Group: Sensors Everywhere, CENSE

"HP has received recent attention for its aim to create a “Central Nervous System for the Earth” (CeNSE), a massive, worldwide network of MEMS sensors that will pump in data, analyze it and deliver it to the end-user in real-time.  HP mentions infrastructure and earthquake monitoring as two areas that could benefit from this kind of on-demand information gathering and analysis."

See also: Google joins IPSO

"The IPSO Alliance, which promotes the use of internet protocol (IP) for smart object communications, has added a new heavy hitter to its lineup. Google has joined the organization-with the end goal of connecting not only cars, phones, and computers but even mundane appliances such as smoke detectors and microwaves. With the addition of Google and four other companies (FUJITSU, Echelon Corp., the Elster Group, and Augusta Systems), the alliance totals 53 member companies." (source)