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ADVERTORIAL News Welcome to The Connected World As the world “gets smart” – everything will communicate with everything… almost IoT, connected devices, smart homes, and now smart cities… Where is it all going? In any case, when it comes to Vestel – long standing exhibitors at IFA, the concept is a broad one. We asked Vestel's CEO Turan Erdogan (former IFA Keynoter) to tell us more… Our Smart City concept is actually a provision of the future smart cities where everything will be connected and talking to each other as in the rapidly rising technology platform; the Internet of Things. We believe that smart cities in the future will have anything connected from the traffic lights to the electric cars and from the smartphones to the digital signage screens. In this not so distant future, the sole purpose of this technology will be to make your life more convenient. With the data collected from these connected devices, companies will have a better understanding of the cities and will provide much better services and products for the people. As a company, we will be there to provide the best services and products to the consumers. What are your main “connected” products at IFA and how do they fit into the plan? As a consumer electronics and household appliances company, we have TVs, smartphones, tablets and white goods that connect to each other as well as digital signage and lighting products. This year, we are also presenting an electric car charger which is also connected and can be controlled and monitored through the user’s mobile device or TV. Think about all the household appliances in one’s home - the TV, A/C, oven, refrigerator, washing machine, and dishwasher - all connected and smart. This is what we offer. For instance, you can monitor the energy consumption of your washing machine or you can turn on your air conditioner before coming home. Since the smart home will be connected to the traffic data center, it can also notify you to leave the house earlier than normal due to an accident on your route today. All these features and functions are here to make peoples’ lives easier and more convenient, it’s all about serving the people better. In order to do this, we believe there will also be new business models and business areas, in which we are already investing. Everyone is talking about compatibility. How does what you are doing fit-in with other companies? Compatibility and interoperability are the biggest obstacles standing in front of the IoT market. Today there are many different standards in the market, which is making it difficult for the IoT concept to expand further. We believe that there should be unification in the market in terms of the communication standards and consumers should be able to use any connected device in their smart ecosystem regardless of the brand and the manufacturer. The day that a platform for connected devices became as common & universal as the USB port you have in your laptop, we’ll see the full potential of this technology. We are fully supporting the idea of compatibility and interoperability through a common standard and an open platform. Until such platform becomes available, our devices must support as many current standards as possible. Our priority will be to become a member of a number of alliances in the market. When and where will the smart grid begin to kick-in first? The smart grid should kick in very soon. The earth’s energy resources are diminishing day by day but demand continues to increase. So while designing a product, energy efficiency is one of our top priorities. Indeed, all the world’s major companies are investing to make their products more efficient. The smart grid is a simple and high impact solution that will aid this cause. Through smart grids, we will use energy when it is at its cheapest and the utility companies will better handle peaks in demand. It will change our daily habits without our even noticing it. Considering these benefits, we believe it should kick-in very soon, probably by 2017. How important is this as a topic in your discussions with retail distributors? The global IoT market is growing very fast and the research studies are suggesting that there will be 50 bn connected devices worldwide by 2020. We'll see compact, connected sensors and actuators make their way onto everyday consumer electronics and household appliances. Thus, it is expected that retailers will also be a part of this huge potential. Even today, smart systems and home automation packages can be found on retailers’ shelves and this will be a growing trend. As for everyone else in the market from utility companies to telecom operators, IoT has a huge potential and importance as well. Enis Turan Erdogan Chairman of the Vestel Executive Committee We believe that smart cities in the future will have anything connected from the traffic lights to the electric cars and from the smartphones to the digital signage screens Hall 8.2 Stand 101 www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Friday 4 th September 2015 11
