Tech giants prepare for IoT platform competition as they battle for developers

According to foreign media reports, the Internet of Things is still in its early stages of development, but there are already many connected devices, from home automation tools to wearable tracking products. The industry is about to start growing at a faster pace.

According to the latest survey by market research firm Evans Data, 17% of software developers worldwide are already working on IoT projects, and another 23% plan to launch IoT projects within six months. What are the most popular related devices? Security and monitoring equipment, connected cars, environmental sensors, smart light bulbs, and other office automation tools.

The world’s largest technology companies are already competing fiercely for developer talent for their connected device platforms. This is not surprising, after all, whoever wins the new platform war will define the future of computing, and the loser will have to send their “waste” to the electronics recycling center. In addition, choosing the right platform to stand on is just as important to developers as it is to platform vendors. No product can support every standard, and no application can run on every platform, so developers must plan carefully, embrace the winners, and stay away from the losers.

Google, for example, wants to extend its dominance of smartphones and tablets to other connected devices. Last month, it launched Android Wear, a wearable operating system that has been adopted by LG, Motorola and Samsung. Of course, developers have other platform options, such as the Pebble smartwatch. Just this week, Lenovo and Vuzix also launched "smart glasses" similar to Google Glass. Although Samsung has developed Android Wear smartwatches, it has also been working hard to promote its own Tizen operating system in the field of wearable products and other devices. Of course, Apple has also been gradually advancing into the market, successively unveiling products such as iBeacon and HealthKit. At the same time, the industry has been rumored to be building an iWatch smartwatch.

App developers aren’t the only ones facing this decision. IoT device makers also face a multitude of platform choices: multiple board options, from Arduino to Tessel to Spark, each with its own strengths and use cases; a variety of wireless standards, including Bluetooth and Zigbee; and a variety of communication protocols, such as those advocated by AllSeen, the Open Interconnect Consortium, and MQTT.

While competition benefits consumers, conflicting platforms can also be a headache. When shopping for IoT products, you need to consider which products will work with the devices you already have and which ones will have the staying power to be forward compatible with future technologies.

The next few years will be both exciting and exciting, but also frustrating and difficult to handle. At least, from a developer’s perspective.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.