8 STEPS TO GUIDE YOU

THROUGH THE WORLD OF

Apps of Things

AC

Table of Contents
Chapter

Page Number

Introduction

01. Your Thing Becomes Aware

02. Your Thing Grows Smarter

03. Your Thing Goes Social

04. Your Thing Becomes Interactive

The app taps into the users smartphone sensors, providing location, action and
interaction.

The app goes on the World Wide Web to access relevant, contextual data.

The app taps into the users social networks.

The app talks with your users.

05. Your Thing Gets Personal

The app is designed specifically for its owners needs, and not only for your
thing.

06. Your Thing Reports Back

07. Your Thing Constantly Improves

10

08. Your Thing Does the Selling For You

11

Conclusions

12

The app tells you everything about your users, permanently transforming the
way you view and manage your business.

The app and the thing change, adapt and gain more functions over time.

The app now enables you to sell consumables, services, functions and content.

INTRODUCTION

How Apps Are Revolutionizing the

World of Things
If your company sells a thing or device and
you perceive your mobile app merely as a
way of controlling and adjusting some of
its settings, think again. You are probably
missing out on some of the more significant advantages of placing a mobile device
between your thing and your users. These
features will fundamentally transform the
function, surroundings and lifetime value
of your thing forever.
Derived from the much-hyped Internet of
Things (IoT), comes the world of AoT, or
Apps of Things. AoT is all about new ways
to connect: connecting people to their
things, things with their surroundings, and
more significantly, connecting you with all
those people, your users.
A common problem with much hyped new
trends is figuring out whats in it for you.
Among the questions that any company
selling a physical thing asks itself these
days are: What does turning our device
into a connected device mean for our business?; What benefits can this connec-

tion provide? And so we ask ourselves,

can an app be more than just a remote
control?
This white paper will explore some of the
more exciting possibilities the world of
AoT has brought to life. For your reading
ease, we will refer to a thing as a device or
a connected device. We decided to use a
rather mundane thing, an air-conditioning
(AC) unit, to illustrate the revolutionary
impact that apps can have on connected
devices. The principles illustrated using
this example are easy to grasp and are
applicable to many manufacturers selling
different physical things.
Clearly, the mobile app will replace the
physical buttons and levers on your device and your devices remote if it has one.
But, this is only the beginning! What will
change your business forever is what
the app will do when it evolves beyond a
simple remote.

STEP 01

Your Thing Becomes Aware

The app taps into the users smartphone sensors,

providing location, action and interaction.
Putting a mobile device between your user
and your thing grants you access to all
of your users actions and surroundings.
Through the mobile device, your thing can
communicate in real time with your users
and respond to them. This communication
can improve users experiences and offer
added benefits from the very same thing.
The app can learn and interact with nearby devices using its built-in Bluetooth and
Wi-Fi connections. It can determine the
users location via the GPS, get a sense

of orientation through the compass and

tell you where the user is going and how
fast via the accelerometer. It can also gain
access to the mobile devices camera,
microphone and speaker in order to see
and hear the users environment.
Remember that all these tools are at your
disposal in the world of AoT, and you can
use them to create a better experience,
enhance functionality and offer benefits to
your users.

The Connected AC Unit

Turn the AC on when the users are on their way home, turn it off when they leave.
Increase the power and lower the temperature when the user returns from a jog.
Allow the user to scan a QR code on the unit to access explanations about specific functions.

AC

STEP 02

Your Thing Grows Smarter

The app goes on the World Wide Web to access

relevant, contextual data.
In the world of AoT, your physical thing is
now connected to the internet, allowing it
access to the vast abundance of information available on the Web.
The remote control approach some manufacturers take when designing an app for
their thing focuses on the direct communication between the two. Limiting your
app to simple remote control capabilities
leaves an immeasurable amount of untapped potential. AoT must offer much
more.
Utilizing third party data available on the
internet, your thing will grow smarter. Today, its virtually impossible to think of an

app that doesnt have a server side. Apps

constantly transmit and receive data from
their server, and a significant part of the
business logic is implemented there. This
makes apps more dynamic, responsive
and content-rich. The app-to-server connection creates an independent, self-sustained ecosystem between the user, data
on the web and the thing.
Think of a connected device that has access to the weather forecast, pollution
levels and recent news, or has constant
access to content that you can dynamically
change in real time. This data enables the
app to offer higher value to the user and
constantly improve their experience.

The Connected AC Unit

The AC knows the current temperature and can adjust itself automatically.
The AC can access the weather forecast for the coming days and can prepare a climate plan
accordingly.
The AC app can present weather-related or other information, such as pollution levels, to the user.

AC

STEP 03

Your Thing Goes Social

The app taps into the users social networks.

The reason that most people panic when
losing their mobile device is not because
of lost internet connectivity or their inability to make a call or send a text message.
Its because their whole social life is embedded into their personal mobile device.
Contact lists, Facebook friends, recent
chats and communications with their
family and friends all take place on their
mobile devices. In the world of AoT, your
users entire social infrastructure is within
your reach.

now be shared with their social networks.

When accessing your users social networks, you add value not only for your users, but also for yourself, the manufacturer. You can actually control and design the
way your thing is exposed to your users
family, friends and entire social network.
Its a completely new way to reach out to a
valuable target audience of potential customers, with at least one strong advocate:
the person who already purchased and is
using your thing!

Relevant properties of your connected device or your users interactions with it can

The Connected AC Unit

Share information and promote yourself directly from your app: Its freezing outside, but nice
and warm in here.
Offer your user to share a discount with five selected friends.

AC

STEP 04

Your Thing Becomes Interactive

The app talks with your users.
Your connected device turns your former
one-sided communication with your users
into a two-way street. This means you can
now plan and tailor your conversations
with them. These communications no longer have to reflect a one-size-fits-all approach. You can fine tune and target your
messages according to a users location,
age, gender and usage patterns. You can

control the exact timing of the communications and address users specific needs
or business requirements. You can set
push or app notifications triggered by certain events, such as your users reaching a
specified usage goal, or you can increase
retention by reminding users of some features or functions that they havent used
in a while.

The Connected AC Unit

If the AC has been working for a long time and the temperature in the room isnt changing, you
can send a notification saying, Maybe you should check if all the windows are closed?
Time to clean the filters? Guide your user with an interactive video or animation.

AC

STEP 05

Your Thing Gets Personal

The app is designed specifically for its owners

needs and not only for your thing.
Unlike a traditional remote control or the
physical buttons used to operate your thing,
building an app in the world of AoT is as far
from one-size-fits-all as you can imagine.
Consider your user. Think about the main use
cases that you want to address. These factors
will determine your apps features, functions
and user interface, not the other way around.
Manufacturers have invested considerable
thought in creating traditional physical interfaces and remote controls, because of the limitation of providing a one-size-fits-all product.
You also should invest a considerable amount
of thought, but for the exact opposite reason:
you should cater to each user individually!
The challenge lies in the fact that a mobile
device provides virtually endless possibilities
for building an interface. When building the

ultimate interface, think about your users first,

not about your thing.
Through their mobile device, you learn your
users gender, age, location and many other
personal properties. Furthermore, you also
know their physical locations, current time,
temperature outside and a lot of other environmental properties, as we already discussed. Your AoT remote should be highly personalized and change according to your users,
their environment and their context. One more
important element to look at is the users
device. Because iOS and Android users expect
different user experiences and user interfaces,
you should seriously consider developing an
individual app for each platform to meet those
expectations.

The Connected AC Unit

You should have a different AC application for iOS and Android users.
The app can be different for adults and children. Children who cant read will be presented with
symbols, simplifying their usage.
The app can remember the preferences of each user.
Its operation can be as simple as having a big button that says: Make it pleasant or Im cold.

AC

STEP 06

Your Thing Reports Back

The app tells you everything about your users, permanently

transforming the way you view and manage your business.
Physical devices are manufactured, boxed, and
shipped to distributors. They are then sold to
resellers and finally to anonymous end users. All
the manufacturer receives are sales figures, which
usually arrive with some delays and inaccuracies.
The only way a manufacturer can learn more
about their target markets and specific users is to
run expensive market research which suffers from
limited accuracy and reliability.
The world of AoT and connected devices radically transforms these traditional approaches. For
manufacturers that decide to convert their device
into a connected one, AoT is a true game changer. The users are no longer anonymous and the
manufacturer can now have a name, phone number, e-mail address and physical address. Today,
with AoT, you can know so much more about your
users: their gender, age and numerous additional
characteristics. Furthermore, by utilizing analytic

tools, you can follow their every move and usage

patterns, even in real time!
This can potentially revolutionize the way you develop your products roadmap and devise your goto market strategies. Every user and every move
can be closely followed and analyzed. Big data
tools and processes can be applied to help you use
this newly available data to adjust and improve the
product in ways never before possible.
When information from connected devices and
user interaction is aggregated on your server side,
you can also share it with your users, thus offering
them additional value. You can tell them how they
rank compared to other, anonymous users, or create different collaboration or knowledge-sharing
strategies. The wisdom of the crowds is a big part
of the AoT world.

The Connected AC Unit

You know at what time your users turn the AC on and off.
You know to what temperatures AC units are being set across the world.
You know which features and functions users use or dont use, and how often.
You can show your users how efficient they are compared to other nearby users.
The user can share favorite settings with other users.

AC

10

STEP 07

Your Thing Gets Better

The app and the thing change, adapt and gain more
functions over time.
The days of fixing bugs and problems only
in the next batch of devices are over. If you
properly design your connected device,
you can run a firmware update, enhance
the devices functionality, add features,
change usage flow and even change the
user experience and interface in real

time. Since a significant part of the things

experience is encapsulated in the app,
the world of AoT allows you to correct and
change your thing on the go, maximizing
the value you can now deliver to your users in ways that simply were not possible
before.

The Connected AC Unit

Improve the AC app over time with better user interface and experience.
Update the app and add enhancing capabilities, such as a timer or night mode.
Update your AC firmware to make it better, more efficient.

AC

11

STEP 08

Your Thing Does the Selling for You

The app now enables you to sell consumables,
services, functions and content.
Traditional app developers, such as software companies, especially in the gaming
industry, have devised, improved and perfected innovative mobile app monetization
models. Many have drastically changed
their go-to-market strategies and business models to accommodate and take
advantage of new possibilities.
Subscription models and in-app purchase
upgrades have replaced high-initial costs

or freemium models. The world of AoT

brings these monetization possibilities to
the realm of physical, now-connected
devices. The fundamental business model
of the one-time purchase or transaction
can be substituted with a long-term relationship subscription model, utilizing the
fact that you can add benefits, such as
content or additional functions, on the go.

The Connected AC Unit

Users can contact the technical support directly from the app.
Users can unlock functions, such as a timer or night mode, for a fee.
Create a marketplace for AC app themes.

AC

12

CONCLUSIONS
The AoT revolution is all about enhancing physical devices by connecting them to the
world of their users via users always on and personal smartphones. As we have demonstrated in this paper, AoT is far more than a substitute for a physical interface or remote. AoT actually taps into the environment, accessing data on the internet, entering
the users social worlds and creating its own social network. It changes your business
by sending you complete and accurate information in real time. By enabling you to react
with tailored messages and device changes, AoT opens a new dimension of commercial
possibilities. We hope that this paper has inspired and expanded the horizons of people,
and will help them build better products, better apps and better experiences that will
change our lives for the better.

ABOUT US
Zemingo Group leads the emerging field of Apps of Things (AoT), providing design, development & analytics services for enterprises, turning devices into connected devices.
Zemingo Group was founded in 2008 and rapidly grew into the largest and most successful mobile agency in Israel, servicing clients worldwide. Over the years, Zemingo professionals designed, developed and brought to market more than 500 applications in all
leading categories including: video, security, social networks, games and utilities.
Working with some of the most cutting edge companies Zemingo Group has accumulated significant experience in the world of Apps of Things (AoT) - applications that transform physical things into connected devices. Leveraging its unique and broad experience
in this specific and budding niche, Zemingo Group now positions itself as a global leading AoT mobile agency.

Contact us to start revolutionizing your business

Contact Us
AoT@zemingo.com