The Internet of Things Comes to the Smartphone

Infrared Sensors for iPhones

For sometime now I have been pondering how the use of additional sensors on smartphones might be useful.  Today many smartphones contain the following sensors:

• Proximity sensor
• Motion sensor/accelerometer
• Ambient light sensor
• Moisture sensor
• Gyroscopic sensor
• Magnetometer

Those listed sensors are incredibly valuable, but there are more coming.  I read today about 3D photo sensors that Google is testing for smartphones, and other sensors like barometric sensors to help determine what floor of a building you are on, and biometric sensors to recognize finger prints for security purposes.  The 3D sensor would enable intelligent applications to understand the shape and layout of a room, the barometric sensor would help identify the floor of a building and the magnetometer to help an application to understand the direction the room is facing.  All of these sensors could contribute to interesting indoor retailing apps. They convert the physical into digital.  They represent the tip of the spear for digital transformation.  Once that is complete, software algorithms can be programmed and intelligence added to support revolutionary new business processes.

Evolution in Sensor Sizes

At the Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona last week I discovered more interesting sensors.  I saw a sensor, the size of a pin head, for monitoring and reporting humidity and temperature (Sensirion). It connected to smartphones via bluetooth.  My favorite though, was the Thermal Imager sensor from Flir that connects to an iPhone via a sled (with extra batteries).  It let's you, among other things, point at a person walking by to see their body temperature (a must for determining the living from the dead and the human from an android), plus you can see warm blooded animals and warm objects light up your iPhone screen even in complete darkness.

Imagine you hear a loud noise in your backyard at night.  Reach for your thermal imager enabled iPhone and scan your backyard.  The mountain lion hiding behind your shrubbery is instantly exposed.  This can be useful in my neighborhood (see http://magicvalley.com/news/local/mountain-lion-killed-in-idaho-neighborhood/article_7b8e91ce-902a-11e3-a505-001a4bcf887a.html).  You can also scan your hardwood floor to see if a giraffe or anyone has walked across it in the past few minutes.

These sensors are just the tip of the iceberg.  There are hundreds of sensors that are being miniaturized today (see the Evolution in Sensor Size photo above I took at MWC14).  They capture information about your physical world and can wirelessly transmit this information to your smartphone or enterprise server.  How fun!

The Internet of Things is already massively increasing the amount of data flowing into servers from the physical world.  Our big task in 2014 is imagining all the ways this data can be used to make our world a better place.

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Kevin Benedict

Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant

View my profile on LinkedIn

Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Browse the Mobile Solution Directory

Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Interview: SAP's Adam Stein on Enterprise Mobility Strategies

Last week I had the opportunity to interview SAP's Adam Stein at the Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona, Spain.  In this interview we discuss mobile strategies, mobile platforms, cloud mobility, app development, HTML5, enterprise mobility and what SAP has to offer.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWs6nBTnCdI&feature=share&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw

*************************************************************

Kevin Benedict

Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant

View my profile on LinkedIn

Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Browse the Mobile Solution Directory

Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Interview: SAP's Martin Heisig at MWC14

Last week I met with and interviewed SAP's Senior VP of Infrastructure Services, Martin Heisig at the Mobile World Congress 2014. Martin manages how SAP runs SAP products and is responsible for SAP's internal mobile strategies.  In this interview I ask him to share advice on how to support over 70,000 mobile devices.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz_VIzjUuiM&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw&feature=share

*************************************************************

Kevin Benedict

Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant

View my profile on LinkedIn

Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Browse the Mobile Solution Directory

Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Interview: SAP's Dinesh Sharma at MWC14

All this week we will continue to publish interviews that I recorded from the Mobile World Congress 2014.  In this interview SAP's Dinesh Sharma, VP, Product Marketing, Internet of Things shares the latest developments and work that SAP is doing around M2M/Internet of Things.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDl7j-pRfaY&feature=share&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw

*************************************************************

Kevin Benedict

Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant

View my profile on LinkedIn

Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Browse the Mobile Solution Directory

Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Interview: SAP's Mimi Spier on Big Data, Analytics, IoT and Enterprise Mobility

I had the privilege this week to interview SAP's Mimi Spier on data strategies for IoT and enterprise mobility.  She also demonstrates how connected stadiums and 3D filming of live sports events can revolutionize professional sports.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kjqHIAyTTU&feature=share&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw


*************************************************************

Kevin Benedict

Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant

View my profile on LinkedIn

Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Browse the Mobile Solution Directory

Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Interview: Microsoft's Rob Tiffany on Mobile Strategies for Device Management

It is not everyday that I get to interview a mobility expert from Microsoft, but I got lucky at Mobile World Congress 2014.  It was with great pleasure that I cornered Rob Tiffany, Worldwide Technical Lead for Windows InTune, a mobile device management and services platform.  I follow Rob Tiffany on Twitter so recognized the honor. I have to admit I was ignorant of all the mobile device management services and solutions that Microsoft has.  No excuses now though!  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv6kDfnUYNY&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw&feature=share

*************************************************************

Kevin Benedict

Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant

View my profile on LinkedIn

Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Browse the Mobile Solution Directory

Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Interview: Micron's Michael Rayfield on the Latest Developments in Mobility

I felt like buying stock in Micron after this interview I recorded today at the Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona, Spain.  Disclaimer - I don't have any investments in Micron, but after Michael Rayfield helped me understand where Micron's products could be found in mobile devices today, I am second guessing my portfolio.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFNbb_HRmRg&feature=share&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw


*************************************************************

Kevin Benedict

Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant

View my profile on LinkedIn

Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Browse the Mobile Solution Directory

Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Interview: VMware's Sanjay Poonen on Their Acquisition of AirWatch

I had the privilege of interviewing VMware's EVP and GM of End User Computing, Sanjay Poonen today on the strategy behind their recent acquisition of mobile device management and security vendor AirWatch.  In this interview we talk about enterprise mobility strategy, the future of mobility, cloud, social platforms and content.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC7pchre3sE&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw&feature=share



*************************************************************

Kevin Benedict

Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant

View my profile on LinkedIn

Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Browse the Mobile Solution Directory

Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Interview: Moshe BenBassat CEO of ClickSoftware

I surprised Moshe BenBassat at the Mobile World Congress 2014 with an ambush interview, but we have known each other for many years so he agreed to it.  In this interview we talk about artificial intelligence, ClickSoftware's latest acquisition and developments in the enterprise mobility market.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN43jSvK1ao&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw&feature=share


ATTENTION!  Cognizant is hosting a lunch and learn in Santa Clara, CA on February 27th from 12-2 PM on the subject of Beyond Digital Asset Management: An IT Roadmap for Next Generation Digital Marketing.  Forrester Analyst Anjali Yakkundi will be sharing from her research there as well. If you would like to attend, here are more details - http://app.certain.com/profile/web/index.cfm?PKWebId=0x5873675f2e.

*************************************************************

Kevin Benedict

Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant

View my profile on LinkedIn

Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Browse the Mobile Solution Directory

Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobility is Good for Humanity - MWC 2014

Enterprise mobility is changing the world and transforming the way business is done today.  It is also changing politics, societies, education and cultures.  In this short video, recorded in Barcelona before the start of the Mobile World Congress 2014, I discuss a few of the ways mobility is good for humanity.  Enjoy!

P.S. You may notice several video clips this week that feature me wearing sunglasses.  It is not a fashion statement.  You would not benefit from any fashion statement received from me.  I had a "Bob Costa" eye thing going on for a few days.

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv-I8AJKBic&feature=share&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw

*************************************************************

Kevin Benedict

Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant

View my profile on LinkedIn

Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Browse the Mobile Solution Directory

Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.