The Internet of Everything – global connectivity of digital devices and all things electronic – is set to offer consumers a mobile world of personalisation and convenience that transcends smartphones and handsets.
This is the key prediction from a futures study undertaken by ZenithOptimedia and Performics. Published at the beginning of the Mobile World Congress and following on from ZenithOptimedia’s ‘2038’ futures study, The Mobile of Everything: What does a Hyper-Connected World Mean for the Smartphone? says that the new era of the internet will be profoundly mobile. However, it predicts that the term mobile will shift from referring specifically to handheld devices, to focus on the behaviour of people, the multitude of devices they have access to and to the myriad of connection points integrated into the world around them.
ZenithOptimedia and Performics argue that Internet of Everything, could be better termed as the Mobile of Everything, as our focus will shift to the consumer who will be able to connect online wherever they are through objects and electronic hardware around us and through devices that are wearable, attached to our clothing and even embedded under our skin.
As we approach the era of the Mobile of Everything, the study says that the smartphone will reach the peak of its global adoption. ZenithOptimedia and Performics have identified five key developments that will drive the growth of the smartphone in the coming years, as we get ever closer to hyper-connectivity.
First, we now expect more and more from our smartphones as they become intuitive and are increasingly connecting with devices around us. Second, our smartphones are becoming ‘intelligent’ devices able to detect changes in our moods and behaviours though biometric technology. Third, the smartphone will continue to become the key device through which we control and organise our lives. Many new apps now enable the smartphone to be the single device that we use to manage digital functionality throughout the home.
Fourth, we are increasingly using smartphones to facilitate our purchases and this is only set to increase. And, fifth through advances in automotive technology, cars are becoming mobile devices in their own right, providing us with a range of mobile computing functionality as we drive.
The Mobile of Everything: What does a Hyper-Connected World Mean for the Smartphone? goes on to argue that once we reach hyper-connectivity, and come to enjoy a data-fuelled world, powered by millions of sensors and screens embedded into surfaces around, the smartphone as we know it, will evolve into a multitude of different devices. ZenithOptimedia and Performics believe that at this point we will see a shift for smartphones to ‘smartcities’. Our cities of the future are set to embrace wireless sensor networks that will deliver data to everybody and enable us to control our lives in a way that is truly mobile. In the era of the Mobile of Everything, the focus will be on consumers and the content that is curated and customised for them. In this mobile, consumer-centric world, the media and marketing industries will inevitably move away from the concept of ‘media channels’.
Fred Joseph, CEO EMEA at Performics and Global Mobile Lead at ZenithOptimedia said: “There is no doubt that the smartphone will become more sophisticated and central to the lives of a greater proportion of the world’s population over the coming years. However, we believe that as technology develops, enabling a world of hyper-connectivity, fuelled by data and powered by sensors, mobile will transcend the smartphone. This new world will offer many exciting consumer engagement opportunities for brands that are prepared to invest in partnerships, technology solutions and importantly ‘owned content’.”
