Use IFTTT to power IoT

The the scale of the Internet of Things is mind boggling. With several billion connected devices in the market IoT is poised to be one of the biggest and most disruptive innovations of this young century. In 2014 the International Data Corporation reported that the IoT market would inflate to $7.1 trillion by 2020. Cisco anticipates 50 billion global IoT devices by 2020, and General Electric expects that by 2030 the total industrial connected device market will exceed $60 trillion.

SEE: The Power of IoT and Big Data (Tech Pro Research)

IFTTT brings the mind-boggling potential of IoT down to human scale. An acronym for ‘if this then that,’ IFTTT is an automation service that integrates hundreds of web services, mobile applications, and hardware devices. Developers use the IFTTT API to create applets, single-purpose lines of code that tether services together. Users then add “ingredients,” custom code and other elements, to create personalized triggers and actions. For example, IFTTT can automatically post a log of fitness data in Google Docs, adjust the thermostat, and start the laundry.

SEE: IFTTT: Cheat sheet (TechRepublic)

The platform is a good barometer of IoT growth, and IFTTT is working with large hardware vendors to integrate actions and triggers with industrial machines and enterprise services. IoT services on IFTTT have hit an inflection point. Wemo Switch, a smart home power plug, joined in 2012, Fitbit in 2014, Amazon Alexa in 2015, and last year Tesla’s Eve dashboard integrated with IFTTT.

IFTTT is both simple and powerful. These are 10 of the top IoT services available on the platform.

Use the green arrows above to scroll between services or use the left and right arrow keys.

Read more

• 9 IoT global trends for 2017 (TechRepublic)
• The 5 IoT products a smart city needs in 2017 (TechRepublic)
• Here are the biggest IoT security threats facing the enterprise in 2017 (TechRepublic)
• Infographic charts history and potential risks of the Industrial Internet of Things (TechRepublic)
• How IFTTT is taking a big swing at being a connective tissue for IoT (TechRepublic)
• Make business travel easier with these 4 IFTTT recipes (TechRepublic)
• IoT control in the palm of your hand: does Stringify or IFTTT do it better? (TechRepublic)
• Video: 4 IFTTT recipes for business travel (TechRepublic)
• Microsoft leaks Flow, its IFTTT-like tool for automating actions across apps (ZDNet)
• Alexa tricks: From helpful to amusing, here are 25 things to ask your assistant (ZDNet)
• Connect with these 35 IFTTT-friendly smart devices (CNET)
• The complete list of Alexa commands so far (CNET)
• CBS News – download the official app in the Microsoft Store (CBS News)