Now that 2016 is coming to a close, it’s easy to see why this year has been THE year for making the Internet of Things a bigger part of our lives.
More and more connected gadgets have sprung up to make previously ‘dumb’ things smart. In no particular order (because ain’t nobody got time for that!) here’s our Big Fat List of IoT gadgets that caught our eye in 2016. It’s like the Big Fat Quiz of the Year, only for nerds.
So without further ado, let’s get stuck in.
- Talkies – These fun little connected monsters are apparently the new way to talk to kids. Each one basically has a built in smartphone that can contact other talkies or phones. Fantastic for grandparents and families who want their young kids to stay in touch, safely and securely without over exposing them to smartphones. They look pretty cute too!
- Google Home: Speaker with Google Assistant – this is Google’s answer to the Amazon Echo. You just start by saying ‘OK, Google’ and you can pretty much do anything you like.
- Cujo: Smart firewall for the smart home – a security device built especially for the smart home. It analyses things like network traffic and notifies you if there’s anything weird going on. Bad news for your WiFi-stealing neighbours.
- Prodigio: Connected Nespresso machine – is exactly as it sounds. Except you can set up brewing schedules, be notified when it’s time to order more capsules … and even enable automatic capsule ejection. It’s coffee, but for geeks.
- Samsung Gear VR: Virtual reality headset – the Gear VR has made virtual reality, well, a reality. The commercially available headset uses your phone to create a whole new dimension for films and gaming.
- Amazon dash buttons: a pretty cool way to stock up on groceries and ‘householdy’ stuff. You simply stick the buttons to your fridge or your washing machine, for example, and press them to order things like eggs or washing powder when you’re running low.
- Foobot: Indoor air quality monitor – this quirky little gadget monitors the air quality in your home or office and sends alerts via their app. Great for people with allergies!
- Click & Grow: Smart Herb Garden – yes, if you’re short on space (or have questionable gardening skills) and just can’t do without fresh herbs in your kitchen, this is the product for you.
- Tagg plus: Pet tracker collar – a smart collar that measures your pet’s activity levels and tracks their location, so they won’t get lost. Peace of mind for all pet owners in one handy device.
- Breeze: Wireless breathalyzer – a great idea to reduce drink driving incidents, however this is reliant on the driver remembering to use it. Although the fact that the device can lock your car doors until you’re safe to drive and order you an Uber instead is pretty cool.
- Tripper: Window and door sensor – you probably don’t need to invest in a costly home security system when these funky little sensors have got your windows, doors and cabinets covered. You’ll be immediately notified when their status changes.
- Roost: Smart battery – this battery makes your smoke alarms smart, and if anything changes you’ll receive instant notifications on your phone. Safety first folks.
- Drop: iPad baking assistant – a kitchen scale that connects to your iPad, offering interactive recipes, suggesting substitutes for ingredients you’re low on, and providing mobile alerts.
- Navdy: Connected driving system – this is GPS but smarter. Navdy’s heads-up transparent display projects information in front of you as you drive, plus it can be installed in the car your have now.
- Sproutling: Smart baby monitor – a baby’s wearable wristband, a smart charger and app work together to learn about your baby’s sleep habits and optimal sleep conditions. I just like the name to be honest.
- GoBe: Automatically measure calorie intake – this wearable measures calorie intake through your skin, by reading glucose levels in your cells. That’s pretty neat, yet potentially terrifying if you have a sweet tooth.
- Petcube: Stay closer to your pet – a home gadget that lets you watch your pet, talk to them and play laser pen games with them any time, anywhere.
- Kubi: Desktop robot – this nifty device turns your tablet into an interactive conferencing experience. Ideal for office and home use.
- CleverPet: A dog game console – yep that’s right, a game console for dogs. FOR DOGS. Educate and entertain your dog even when you’re not home.
- Sammy Screamer: Motion alarm – Place Sammy the Motion Sensor on any item you want to monitor. That might be things like a door, a cabinet, the fridge, a bag, or a kid’s buggy. You’ll get a notification on your phone if anything moves when it shouldn’t. Plus look how cute they are!
- Amazon Echo: Hands free, voice controlled speaker – no IoT list would be complete without the Amazon Echo, which can play music, answer questions, read a book to you, report news and traffic updates, control switches and schedule an alarm for you.
- Lively: Medical alert watch: when you have older relatives it can be difficult to find the balance between privacy and making sure that everything is ok. Lively gets to know your relative’s habits (like opening the fridge to make breakfast or taking their medication) and checks in when something is out of the ordinary.
- Under Armour: Smart running shoes – The Speedform Gemini 2 running shoes were debuted at CES this year. They do all the usual stuff like tracking distance and time but they have in built GPS. And the makers claim the battery life actually outlasts the shoes. Neat.
- Lifx Color 1000: WiFi LED smart bulb – never thought a light bulb could be so fascinating. These colour changing bulbs are a bit on the pricey side but they connect with Amazon Alexa so you can control them using your voice.
- Haiku: Clever ceiling fan – yes, it’s a fan with brains. Haiku doesn’t just turn on and off when you enter or leave the room, it automatically adjusts its settings according to temperature and humidity. And it can wake you up if you want it to.
- Smarter Coffee: WiFi enabled coffee maker – a must for caffeine cravers everywhere, this coffee maker really is as clever as it gets. It can start brewing as soon as you stop hitting the snooze button, send you a reminder when the water tank is low and even adjust the strength of your brew when you need a boost.
- August smart locks: Exactly as it sounds – with these little gadgets there’s no need to worry where you’ve left your keys … as long as you’ve still got your phone. You can let friends in remotely when you’re running late or answer the doorbell from the office.
- Nest: Smart thermostat – there’s nothing worse than coming back to a cold house when winter is making itself felt. But what if you could make your living room nice and toasty on your way back from work using your phone? You can do that with Nest, and also save money on energy bills as it adapts to your schedule.
- June: Intelligent Oven – whilst this kitchen gadget doesn’t look much bigger than your standard microwave, it certainly makes up what it lacks in size with brain power. You can do everything from toasting crumpets to roasting an entire pork shoulder, as the oven’s sensors figure out how best to cook your food.
- Robomow RS622: the robot lawnmower. The Robomow is like a Roomba, except it’s a lawnmower not a vacuum cleaner. You just set up the perimeters of your lawn and the Robomow does the rest, all whilst mushing the cuttings back into the soil so there’s no clean up either. Lazy gardeners rejoice.
With all this cool stuff floating around in the tech space and becoming part of our lives, it’ll be interesting to see where 2017 takes the Internet of Things.
We can’t wait.