Samsung, Qualcomm, AT&T lead IoT push at CES 2015

The Internet of Things continues to play an increasingly prominent role at CES, the consumer electronics show that typically sets the tone for the tech year. Giant industry players such as Samsung and Qualcomm were keen to show their IoT credentials as connected devices establish themselves as the future of consumer electronics.

Head of Samsung Electronics, BK Yoon, issued a rallying cry to the broader industry that collaboration is key to making IoT a reality for the mass market. “The Internet of Things has the potential to transform our society, economy and how we live our lives,” he said. “It is our job to pull together – as an industry, and across different sectors – to make true on the promise of the Internet of Things.”

While this is undeniably sensible advice, IoT will doubtless have to go through a period of competing proprietary platforms before consolidating, as is generally the case with new CE trends. Samsung itself is at the forefront of this with products like its Tizen TVs, so it will be interesting to see how keen Samsung is to ditch some of its own initiatives in the name of pulling together.

Yoon also announced all Samsung hardware will be ‘IoT-ready’ by 2020. “Expanding the devices in the IoT ecosystem and the components that power them is the first step in fulfilling the promise of the Internet of Things,” he said. “Last year, Samsung delivered more than 665 million products, and this number is set to increase. We have already begun to unlock the value hidden in connected devices and all the everyday objects around us.”

Qualcomm’s CEO is set to deliver his customary keynote later today, but his company’s revelations thus far point to a distinct IoT bias. These include a couple of concept cars on show to demonstrate the full Snapdragon Automotive Solutions experience, the announcement of a partnership with drug retailer Walgreens to showcase Qualcomm’s 2net mobile health platform, and another partnership with LIFX to demonstrate some AllJoyn-enabled smart lighting.

AT&T traditionally has a big developer summit prior to the start of CES and IoT initiatives were thick on the ground there. The giant US telco announced the commercial availability of the M2X Data Service – an IoT managed service for developers, launched commercial support for WebRTC and announced plans to expand its Digital Life home automation platform through collaborations with, among others, Samsung and Qualcomm.

IoT is a tech megatrend that will take years, if not decades, to play out, but shows like CES are a good opportunity to check on its progress. Every year more consumer electronics products will be connected and ‘smart’, and if Samsung’s pledge is anything to go by they will all be within five years.