There has been a lot said and heard about this new era of computing technology - 'Internet of things'. In fact this concept is gaining a lot of momentum.

Internet of Things (IOT) was initially suggested by Kevin Ashton in the year 1999. It defines a sphere, where just anything can be connected and communicated in an intelligent manner. Internet of things facilitates proactive data access with the aid of any connected device.

As per the technocrats & IT visionaries, IOT refers to a network of physical objects that can be easily accessed through the medium of the Internet. These objects comprise of imbedded technology to communicate with internal or external environment. It is a computing concept that describes a phase where every physical object will be connected to the Internet and will be able to recognize themselves to the other devices.

Everything around us, at home, work, factories, hospitals, on the streets, in the car, on plane is all interconnected and a continuous communication and exchange of data, information keeps on happening among them. With passage of time, it is believed that the nature of these connected services will also evolve. Currently, connected devices comprise of mobile phones, tablets and laptops that get connected to the Internet. In times to come, the devices will be directly connected to the Internet, without any human interference, or they will simply be connected to each other (machine to machine).

Such devices will add a certain amount of smartness to both industrial and consumer devices, which will be facilitated through tiny sensors and processing power embedded in these devices.

According to IDC, 'The number of connected devices globally is pegged to grow from 12.5 billion in 2013 to 212 billion in 2020. This means that there will be approximately 27 connected devices for every human being in the world by 2020'.

Industrial Context: In industry, Internet of things supports the connectivity of intelligent devices to ensure higher efficiency with the aid of enhanced visibility, collaboration, automation and optimization. This is enhancing the industrial efficiency.

There are sensors being deployed in the major automobile and aircraft sub components to keep a track of their real time performances and fix issues if any. Cities are installing smart sensor street lights to curtail power consumption in case of less or no traffic. Even the garbage containers are being enabled with sensors to show that they are full and thus need to be emptied.

Consumer Context: There are numerous fascinating products that have already been introduced and launched in the context of Internet of Things. In fact, there are many companies that are producing consumer products, in sync with the IOT technology.

Consumer oriented products such as smart watches, smart thermostats, smart home security systems, smart white goods, and smart TV's are getting manufactured on lines of Internet of Things. These devices are enriched with user experiences that address real world, day to day situations.

Thus, it can aptly be said that these Internet On things oriented products will soon emerge as an essential part of our lives and thereby will become inseparable.