When will the Internet of Things really start delivering on customer experience?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a buzz word describing the connectivity of devices such as homes, cars & people. In effect it means that connected devices will not be limited to phones, tablets and computers but opened up to everything from your fridge to your heart rate monitor. This explosion in connectivity is expected to mushroom over the next decade and depending on who's research you care to believe we could be looking at tens or hundreds of billions of devices all uniquely connected sharing data and status details. Brilliant - customers receive amazing experiences without having to lift a finger. But when will this "tomorrow's world" actually start to make a difference?  My 8 year old car doesn't currently let my garage know when it needs a service and books it in for me nor does it keep records of my commute comparing speeds and delays to suggest alternate routes to optimise my journey. Home heating systems seem to be demonstrating the most obvious lead in this field allowing your boiler to be wirelessly enabled allowing heating adjustments remotely which is great but hardly revolutionary. Arguably the TV anywhere services from Sky and Virgin media that allow remote viewing and trigger of recording services is more significant but still in its infancy. Expect to see big things soon but the real winners in this space are yet to emerge and grasp real value from this technology. From a customer experience perspective we  await with anticipation. 

The 4G mobile network change in customer experience

Each of the major mobile networks are now offering personal contracts using the latest 4G mobile networks. With numerous boasted improvements and compelling figures what is the experience really like for customers taking this next step in the mobile world?  4G offers improvements in data streaming to rival most home broadband speeds but has not reached significant coverage to ensure you can enjoy this wherever your mobile needs take you. Certainly in most of the major cities across the UK 4G is available but depending on which network you are on will depend on how much you really feel the improvement over 3G speeds. In simple terms 4G should be able to deliver 10mbps+ of download speed when in use which is plenty to stream video or download music or even movies in reasonable time. For most therefore as an experience that is likely to be plenty and against the 3G speeds a great improvement as that network has really started to show its age as the demands on it mean often people see poor capacity. Travelling further afield with 4G however and you are likely to see your handset switch to 3G or worse as coverage isn't 100%. So is 4G enough and worth having?  Increasingly yes is the answer as coverage improves and the 3G network shows its age. And what of 5G?  The next generation of network is due with us at the end of the decade and likely to deliver even faster speeds but it is not just focused on speed but on reliability and "sufficient" speed to meet needs so intelligently allocating bandwidth. Maybe with this reliability and speed will come dependable epic customers we all search for from our mobile.