One of Google’s newest acquisitions, Nest is telling of where the next domain of connectivity lies. The connected house involves nearly every aspect of the home, using integration to make streamline household tasks. In this blog, the focus will be upon the importance of the smart thermostat and its impact upon the enterprise mobile industry.
The smart thermostat market has a variety of products available, ranging from an open source thermostat product like Spark, to Honeywell’s Prestige connected thermostat, to the well publicized Nest thermostat. Each of these products strives to fulfill a need in the market for efficient energy usage by handing the reins of control to the homeowner. Nest is a smart appliance that learns the preferences of the homeowner, and adjusts settings to make efficient use of energy. Google envisions home connectivity as an “Android Accessory”, where controls can be accessed by web applications and mobile applications.
The implications for the mobile application industry are tremendous. What each of the smart thermostats has in common is the requirement of mobile components with simple design and complete access to functions. This upcoming field presents itself as an opportunity for enterprise mobile companies to diversify the industries they serve. Early expansion into this market will allow enterprise mobile companies to establish themselves as the primary players in the smart home field, and can grow their repertoire of customers as well as services and solutions. The smart thermostat is just the beginning of a connected house that will be controlled by mobile devices, and this nascent stage is the right time to jump in.
