Lower prices, openness will bring Internet of things to the masses

We hear a lot about the connected home. Well-heeled people in tech enclaves like Silicon Valley have already bought into the notion of controlling their lights, music, video and home security with their phone, computer or other device of choice. Everything’s connected and everything’s controlled. But what will push true, cool internet of things adoption into the mainstream? Affordability and ease of adoption.

Face it, not a lot of middle-class folks will pay $200 for three connectable Philips Hue lightbulbs. Price will come down, George Yianni, head of technology for Philips’ Connected Lighting group, said. The availability of more targeted solutions as opposed to components will also help, he said. Additionally, there are now APIs to help people connect stuff together in the ways that are most useful to them. One trend that could boost adoption of technologies like connectable lightbulbs is better and more ubiquitous wireless connectivity.