The 10 Coolest IoT Products Of 2017 (So Far)

The Coolest IoT Products So Far This Year

This year, vendors are beginning to recognize the true opportunities in the Internet of Things market – from connected manufacturing applications to smart assistants that can go right in consumers' kitchens.

According to research firm Gartner, 8.4 billion connected devices will be in use this year – up 31 percent from 2016 – and with new products on the market, consumer adoption of and interest around these IoT products seems to be at an all-time high.

From the Intel Compute Card to Apple's new HomePod, here are some of the coolest IoT products that we've seen so far this year.

(For more on the "coolest" of 2017, check out "CRN's Tech Midyear In Review.")

Apple HomePod

Apple in June lifted the curtain on its new voice-controlled smart speaker, HomePod. HomePod, which will be released in December for $349, will feature a 4-inch woofer and seven tweeters, as well as Apple's A8 processor. The smart speaker, which will come in white and space grey, will also include built-in spatial awareness to automatically detect the spaces in a room and adjust its audio accordingly.

Buddy Ohm

The Buddy Ohm platform helps customers monitor the consumption of essential building resources in smart buildings. The device helps operators and building tenants who may just be starting out with IoT track data and drive down monthly resource spending. Buddy Ohm contains industry-standard sensors that track electricity, gas, water and steam consumption – and then presents the information through a simple visualization tool.

Buddy Ohm has built-in connectivity so that installers don't need to worry about network interruptions, a spokesperson told CRN. The platform costs $1,500 per month, which includes installation, portal management and ongoing updates of the device, according to Buddy.

Eurotech ReliaGate 10-12

In May, Eurotech unveiled the newest gateway in its product lineup, the ReliaGate 10-12. This IoT gateway is targeted at industrial-grade IoT applications, including remote capital assets, data collection, energy monitoring, or remote maintenance for field devices.

The gateway is powered by Everyway Software Framework, an enterprise-ready middleware that features advanced security, diagnostics, remote access and full integration with Everyway Cloud.

Eurotech's ReliaGate 10-12 is powered by a Texas Instrument AM3352 ARM Cortex A8 processor. It also features 1 GB of RAM and a MicroSD slot for storage, as well as Wi-Fi, BLE and LTE Category 1 connectivity options.

Intel Compute Card

Intel in January lifted the curtain on its Compute Card, a small form factor the size of a credit card that the chip giant says will bring the power of connectivity to any product.

Intel hopes this 5mm-thick device, which comes packed with memory, storage, wireless connectivity and flexible I/O options, will help power the next generation of Intel-based IoT devices, encouraging businesses to more quickly embrace IoT applications. The Compute Card comes packed with either a seventh-gen Core i5 vPro, Core i3, Pentium or Celeron processor. Intel said its Compute Card will begin shipping in August, but didn't reveal any pricing information.

June Smart Oven

With the June smart oven, which we saw at the Digital Experience showcase, consumers can now use IoT to make their dinner.

The countertop smart oven can be controlled with a complementary June app, enabling users to control the oven with their iPhone or iPad and monitor their cooking with a live video stream. The oven monitors the food's weight and temperature as it cooks with precision weight sensors and uses Wi-Fi connectivity to send notifications to the user's mobile device. June costs $1,495 and is on the market now.

Lenovo Smart Assistant

Lenovo took the wraps off a new smart home assistant, the Smart Assistant, during this year's CES. The Chinese company worked with Amazon for the speaker, which uses Alexa for its voice command and response skills. Similar to Google Home and Amazon Alexa speakers, users can give commands or ask questions to Lenovo's speaker. The cylinder speaker, which contains a volume on top and comes in an array of colors, is priced at $129 and is currently available.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 835

Qualcomm's newest processor in its Snapdragon line, unveiled in early January, is targeted at virtual reality and IoT experiences, and runs on the next-generation 10-nanometer technology.

Qualcomm says that its newest chip, which succeeds the Snapdragon 820, launched at last year's CES, has made vast improvements, most notably in battery life, virtual reality, machine-learning capabilities and IoT capabilities.

Samsung Artik 053 Module

Samsung in May unveiled a new module, the Artik 053, for connected home devices, building automation products, health-care devices and industrial applications.

This module, which packs an ARM Cortex processor and runs on Wi-Fi, is targeted at these IoT applications through its high-performance and security capabilities. The Artik 053 is available through distribution partners, including Arrow Electronics, Digi-Key, Mouser Electronics and Mujin.

Stringify

Consumers are increasingly putting IoT services throughout their homes – like Nest or Phillips Hue Lights – and Stringify wants to automate these different services. Stringify's automation service, which at CES unveiled support for Android devices, connects connected homes devices, wearables and others to create seamless automated experiences.

For instance, users can connect their smart thermostat to their smart lights so that the lights dim automatically when the thermostat reaches a certain temperature. So far, Stringify supports more than 500 smart products, including Nest, SmartThings and digital services like DropBox. The iOS and newly launched Android app are currently available.

Twyst Connected Retail Bags

Twyst created a connected shopping bag that helps customers have an easier shopping experience and skip long lines in grocery shops.

The smart bag's base contains a lightweight Bluetooth device that recognizes when items with radio frequency ID tags are placed inside the bag. When the bag leaves the grocery store, it sends a signal to the user's smartphone that triggers a mobile purchase – and the customer then pays digitally and gets a digital receipt. Avnet worked with Twyst to create a proof of concept for the smart shopping bags and helped the company bring its product to market. The product is currently being tested in several stores, although Twyst would not name any of the stores to CRN at this time.