The Relationship of the Iot and the Smartphone

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people and the IoT (Mattern and Floerkemeijer, 2010; Yared, 2013) because a smartphone can use third party applications to act with its surrounding. A clear example is Philips Hue lighting, a smartphone controlled light bulb than can be configured to automatically match your wishes concerning light temperature, intensity and color (www.meethue.com).

The adoption of IoT enabled services is taking a leap and this could be because of the adoption of smartphones. In order to understand why and how the IoT is adopted by the market, we should investigate the model of diffusion of innovation by Rogers (1958).

Rogers summarized five categories, separated by time to adoption: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. The following distribution was discovered by Rogers:

Simon Sinek explained in his TEDtalk (2009) that, in order to get adopted, a great innovation must reach a tipping point between fifteen and eighteen percent adoption in the market, only then will the early majority (and the late majority and laggards after it) fall for the innovation. For the IoT to gain adoption, to get trusted, it must get adopted by at least this percentage.

Smartphones are well-adopted already; by the start of 2015, an estimated 2 billion smartphone users will be roaming the world (Brown et al. 2014). For the IoT, the relationship with the abundant smartphone could bring adoption levels to the tipping point very fast.

Rogers later found five perceived characteristics that can influence the rate of adoption. These are: Relative advantage, Compatibility, Complexity, Trialability and Observability (Rogers, 2010). Because of the smartphones’ integration in the IoT, it becomes apparent that compatibility with smartphones (and other devices) is a main driver for users willing to adopt IoT applications. As more and more people own a smartphone, the positive relative advantage of having a smartphone transforms into using your device with IoT applications in opposition to those who do not. Also, because so many own a smartphone, users should be prone to experiment with the possible applications the smartphone houses and, in turn, should be able to experiment with IoT applications easily. Using a smartphone as a gateway to IoT could also decrease complexity in use of IoT applications and cause observable positive experiences from early adopters.

The smartphone

Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, the new standard for mobile computer-integrated technology was set. The success of the iPhone instigated a revolution in mobile technologies that now already are widespread and common (Islam & Want, 2014). Since the beginning, the smartphone was set out to become an integrated device. It seems that technology and this vision are finally getting in line with each other(Islam & Want, 2014; Jara,

Lopez, Fernandez, Castillo, Zamora, Skarmeta, 2013). Cellphones have transformed in function from making calls to computing devices that give us constant access to information and others (Islam & Want, 2014). The generation we are in is the Smartphone generation (Jara et al., 2013), where services and interaction with the world are built around smartphones.

How is the smartphone influencing user’s lives?

From the beginning on, the mobile phone industry was a fast paced and innovative industry. since 1992, mobile phones were equipped with loads of different sensors, capabilities and communication technologies (Daponte, De Vito, Picariello, Riccio, 2013). The device was shaped around many other technical innovations such as MP3 players and digital cameras. These improvements of the mobile phone’s capabilities made it a more and more common attribute for people to use, taking over applications of a broadening range of other devices. It is trivial to say that the device has shifted from its initial mere application as a phone. As mentioned above, the smartphone industry really took off after the launch of the initial iPhone in 2007. The smartphone has revolutionized the way we communicate in many different ways, one of these changes is the social connectivity powers that lie within social networks, connecting users via their smartphones (Islam & Want, 2014). The next step in changing life might concern the IoT.

As explained earlier, the IoT can dissolve media breaks (Fleisch, 2010). The smartphone could be an actor that takes over these media breaks from its user. There is reason to argue that in such a scenario, Interdependencies would shift towards the capabilities of our smartphone and the whole ‘phone’ part in smartphone should be replaced by ‘device’. A mobile device that acts for us in an integrated system of sensors and actuators could be very real as Fleisch (2010) argues.

How is the smartphone changing in respect with the developments in IoT?

Goldman Sachs investment report on IoT (2014) has identified the smartphone and the price drop in processing power as main enablers for the IoT. The price drop in hardware components is also affecting the accessibility of smartphones to the masses. Developing countries are more and more defined as growth opportunities for smartphone companies (Tesla, 2014). Besides greater affordability, Chuck Tesla (2014) defines the IoT as one of the three major demand drivers for smartphones. The smartphone is a complementary good to almost everything concerning internet, sensors, data and components.

The capabilities smartphones have to offer are increasing rapidly. This is partly due to changes in the environment, like the IoT, and partly because of the increases in processing power, accessibility to faster mobile broadband and the cost reduction mentioned earlier (Islam &Want, 2014; Daponte et al. 2014).

Daponte et al. (2014) elaborate further on the future developments in smartphones and especially on measurement applications. The research presents the smartphone as a handheld measurement device and it points out a change in usage of the smartphone. In this paper, the notion of a mobile device instead of a mobile phone is argued.

The increasing arsenal of sensors equipped in the current and future smartphones transform the device into a unique measuring tool. All these sensors generate a lot of data and when connected with each other, the network of devices produce highly interesting data on physical quantities (Daponte et al. 2014).

Because of the changing applications for smartphones, the term smart device or mobile computing device should be argued. Islam & Want (2014) already speak of mobile devices instead instead of smartphones, showing their depreciation of the original function of the cellphone.

With another name could also