TIME's Best Inventions of 2008

The Other 49 Best Inventions

Illustration for TIME by Christoph Niemann

30. The Internet Of Things

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In September, a group of high-tech companies that includes Cisco and Sun formed the IP for Smart Objects Alliance. Simply put, the organization intends to create a new kind of network that will allow sensor-enabled physical objects — appliances in your home, products in a factory, cars in a city — to talk to one another, the same way people communicate over the Internet.

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