The iPhone 6 Will Save the Internet of Things | Hacker News Reader

The iPhone 6 Will Save the Internet of Things

medium.com

11 pointsgyakuzuki11 comments

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>Internet of Things

I don't know why but this phrase makes me irrationally mad, more so than other buzzword terms. Almost as mad as when a TV/webseries is referred to as belonging to the "slice-of-life" genre.

What would you call it? I like that word, it describe perfectly well the situation. You got a bunch of things, interconnected through the internet. Home automation/Domotics could be a good term but it's not broad enough, a smart watch wouldn't be included in it but it certainly can be part of the internet of things.

Of course the author is going to bash WiFi and Bluetooth - they're promoting the only tech they use, 433Mhz radio. But what about Bluetooth LE ? It's already present in all modern smartphones (iPhone 4s+, all Android flagships from 2013+), works great, the connection lag is less than the 2sec advertised for RF in the article, and was built for the IoT.

The IoT has been struggling to break the surface for a while now, and it's not just the ability to attach a communication and control device to your door lock. It's also your WiFi-enabled TV, sound system, or even thermostat. The IoT is evolving, growing, and doesn't need "saving". Of course the Apple will help, but not for the reasons the author thinks. The real helping hand is coming from iOS 8 and it's Home Kit, bringing a standardized (and user-friendly) way of connecting everything to your phone.

BLE is fine for very short range connections like body area networks, which is what it was designed for, but this is not the IoT for most of us and BLE is not truly an "IoT" technology in any meaningful sense any more than barcodes are an IoT technology. "Works great" is something most IoT developers have never and will never say about BT and due to its limitations, BLE as well. BLE also requires a cloud lookup in most cases so total connection times can many seconds or even minutes.

The IoT needs "saving" from the kind of thinking that says BLE is "all we need" for the IoT, not unlike the early days of TV where radio people said we don't need TV, etc.

I can't stand the eye-shut adherence to the "iPhone" in this article. What is so enabling in the iPhone 6 that isn't in other smartphones, heck even iPhone 5?

Apple just made NFC famous in a way Samsung, Google, and dozens of other OEMs never could. That's all. Also mentions that Apple was not the first to implement NFC ...

Internet of Things is a mediocre idea without a single convincing/exciting use case. With this technology users can remote control the lights/door/microwave/fridge, download recipe/timetable/schedule from mindless makers, it's freaking boring!

So many buzzwords. I stopped reading at the point where he claimed that NFC would become more important than WiFi and Bluetooth combined.

So the iPhone will save the Internet Of Things by being the last smartphone to implement nfc?

1. NFC was "DOA" until a month ago, according to many including the pro-Apple crowd 2. By turning NFC's fortunes around 180 degrees, more or less singlehandedly, it simultaneously enabled a generation of IoT solutions that are years beyond anything possible w WiFi or BT/BLE

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