As 2014 slowly winds down it’s time to gear up for the holiday shopping rush. As in recent years the Consumer Electronics Association reports tech gifts will again be high on everyone’s list this holiday shopping season. A new addition to the list this year are numerous Internet of Things (IoT) must-have gizmos.

The wifkettle is the perfect gift for those who can’t bear the idea of getting out of bed without a cup of hot tea awaiting them. The iKettle is a Wi-Fi-enabled device that communicates with your iPhone or Android device. You control when the kettle starts boiling and can set the temperature you want the water to be when finished.

For those who prefer their caffeine in coffee form, there is the Mr. Coffee® Smart Optimal Brew Coffeemaker with WeMo®. You can now brew coffee from anywhere so it is fresh and hot whenever you want it.

For today’s road warriors, there is the Trakdot™ luggage-tracking system. Once your bag is checked, kick back and relax. Trakdot tracks your luggage from takeoff to touchdown. Once you get to your destination, Trackdot notifies you about its location and where you can pick up your bag from the conveyor belt.

Every day the network of interconnected things grows. From everyday objects like coffeemakers, to large industrial machines, the ecosystem of sensors and devices stream data back and forth. They communicate with each other and can make decisions or send notifications without human intervention. In a blog post back in May, SAS VP Jim Davis wrote about this and the importance of adding predictive capabilities to the Internet of Things.

For businesses looking for opportunity in this vast sea of IoT data, advanced analytics makes it possible to identify and examine patterns of interest as the data is being created. With advanced analytics techniques, data from these trillions of devices can enable businesses to move beyond simply monitoring existing conditions and evaluating thresholds – to assessing likely future events and planning for countless what-if scenarios.

We're all connected - Analytics and the Internet of Things

Want to know more about how SAS can help you harness the power of the Internet of Things? Visit our website and learn why the IoT matters.