The five key emerging trends are:
Adoption of cloud-based technologies
Growing use of wearable devices
Partnerships among vendors
Emergence of IoT
Increase in development of smart cities
Adoption of cloud-based technologies
Residential users are increasingly adopting cloud-based security systems that provide self-monitoring and remote service solutions. These systems offer a user-friendly interface that help homeowners arm, disarm, and check the security status of their homes from a remote location. A cloud-based service is used to store images captured by surveillance systems. This service ensures low cost of ownership and on-demand scalability without any additional cost for homeowners, the report said. Cloud-based services reduce the complexity of software issues in systems and enable interoperability. The smart home cloud center platform is grouped into three divisions namely cloud service market, carrier market, and smart IoT gateway. It provides features such as high-speed gaming, mobile app downloads, content transfer across regions, and multiple wireless user interfaces.
Growing use of wearable devices
Wearable devices are being widely used in hospitals and connected homes to provide better healthcare facilities to people. These devices work on M2M technology as data exchange takes place between two devices. A wearable device, for example, can capture the movements of a patient with mental illness, and the data can be directly sent to a physician's tablet or any other handheld device. Wearable devices such as activity trackers, smartwatches, glucose monitors, heart rate monitors, health monitors, and pedometers are used to track activities of doctors, staff, and patients.
With advances in technology, wearable devices like Nymi can authenticate identities of users based on their heartbeat patterns and create personalized preferences and profiles for users, the report said. These devices enable smart homes to adjust room temperature, lighting, and music as per the set preferences automatically.
Partnerships among vendors
In APAC, a large number of vendors are forging partnerships to develop smart home ecosystems. Zeewave and China Unicom launched the first smart home (automation) IoT service in China, which is delivered to all the subscribers of China Unicom via the Smart Home Gateway service of Zeewave, the report said.
In addition, Intel partnered with China's Smart Energy Technology Innovation Strategy Union and developed a smart energy lab in 2015. The objective of this partnership is to promote smart energy management for the optimum usage of energy.
Vendors are also investing millions of dollars in smart home start-ups. For instance, Singapore-based cyber surveillance start-up Foxconn and SingTel have invested $3.2 million on KAI Square. These developments are anticipated to usher an immense growth phase for the market, the report noted.
Emergence of IoT
People are increasingly using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets for remote monitoring. M2M, an integral part of the IoT, enables remote monitoring and ensures proper communication between wireless and wired devices, according to the report. Safe and secure data transfer between devices requires a number of protocols that require regular monitoring by Wi-Fi protected access (WPA) systems. In addition, increased usage of wireless networks from remote locations has triggered the need for network management station (NMS) to avoid instances of cyber-attacks.
The Chinese Government has planned to invest heavily in the IoT market as per its Twelfth Five-Year Plan, the report said. It is likely that the government will invest more than $600 billion in IoT projects by 2020. High investment in IoT will fuel the demand for M2M services over the next four years.
Increase in development of smart cities
Government organizations across regions such as China, Japan, Singapore, and India have pledged to develop advanced smart city. The government in India has allotted close to $1.15 billion for the development of smart cities, the report said. The five-year plans implemented by the government of China emphasizes on urbanization and the development of smart cities, which includes identifying an urban area, and facilitating economic growth and improved quality of life by using technologies such as M2M.
Databases and network systems in a smart city are connected to cameras, sensors, and control systems in which M2M technology is meant to be utilized for allocating services, managing traffic and inventory, and handling and transferring information. M2M is also slated to play a key role in managing energy, water, transport, noise, pollution, and water disposal in a smart city.