Spanish Telefónica has launched a new line of ‘smart buttons’ that are fully functional without other sources of connectivity.
Apparently tapping screens is becoming too laborious for the human race, so companies are coming up with tactile buttons to make everyday activities even easier.
SMART BUTTONS USING CELLULAR NETWORKS
Telefónica has teamed up with several international companies to create new smart buttons for immediate access to their services. What’s interesting is that these smart buttons use cellular networks, not home WiFi, and thus could be placed anywhere in a city or even country.
The devices will eventually be offered on a white-label basis to allow different companies to tailor–make the smart buttons according to their specific needs.
PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE
Telefónica first introduced its smart buttons last November, when it started collaborating with Spanish restaurant chain Telepizza. The Click&Pizza service, gave customers the ability to order their favorite pizza at the push of a button.
Shipping company SEUR is now using the button to enable the automatic generation and sending of a package collection order. It will be making these available for customers that use standard services and frequent collection requests.
Similarly, the cab company Cabify will enable its customers to choose the vehicle type and receive details of the car and driver assigned to collect them just by pushing this smart button. If a global SIM is inserted, this new technology could work anywhere in the world, which is why Cabify has plans to expand the service across the Latin American countries in which it operates, including Chile, Mexico and Peru.
Telefónica recently teamed up with the Spanish R&D division of Samsung Electronics to generate innovative technologies.
THE NEW ADDITION TO THE “INTERNET OF THING”
Several other smart buttons initiatives have flooded the market in recent months following Amazon’s Dash Button, used for one-click ordering consumables such as washing powder and printer ink.
Smart buttons represent the newest product added to “The Internet of Things,” which is used to describe approaches, software architectural styles and programming patterns that connect everyday, real-world objects, to the web.
