Life on apps - one could be connected to more than 100 services daily by 2017, Gartner estimates

According toanalytics behemoth Gartner, by 2017 the app craze will break out fromthe smartphone-tablet domain to spread onto home appliances, cars,and more of those wearable devices that flooded this year's CES.Furthermore, cognizant computing, which the analysts consider a "keyenabler in smart home solutions", will ensure that we becomeeven more app-dependent in the long run. As Gartner's predictionspells, one could end up connected to more than 100 services and appsdaily by 2017.

Whew! So, what is it about apps,wearable devices, and smart vacuums that will make us question how weever got by without them? According to the analysts, the answer iscognizantcomputing - the algorithmic wonders that givedevices like the Moto X, and services such as Google Now, theirabilities to assess our daily routines, discover common patterns, andrespond contextually with relevant actions and data. Sandy Shen,research director at Gartner, says that cognizant computing willeventually evolve to predict user needs and complete tasks without usinitiating anything. Appliances featuring the same embeddedtechnology that powers our smartphones will automate our homes,reacting to our presence.

Or, in the case of wearables, if yoursmart wrist-band detects trouble with your heart rate, it will makeyour phone dial 911 while sending your coordinates to the medics.Gartner believes that cognizant computing can play a "meaningfulrole" at home, where the technology is mostly fixed in one placeand doesn't change very often, while our behaviour is (usually)routine and predictable. Once smart home and device technologyevolves to a stable, working state, a lot of people will want toembrace it.

Another driving factor in ourapp-powered future life will be the brands whose products we consume.As mobile applications are platforms both for interaction andcognizant computing, brands and services will increasingly rely onthem not only for sales, but for retrieving valuable consumer data,too. Thus, they will give apps a significant push, which willinevitably make them even more popular. Gartner estimates that mobileapplications will reach more than 268 billion downloads, making morethan $77 billion by 2017.

With more and more apps serving our needs from all kinds of consumer devices, it's not out of proportion to predictthat we'll become increasingly connected. Up to a point where, eventually, a hundredapps and services operatingwith one's data, collected by smart-devices on a daily basis, willnot seem unreasonable. OK, perhaps just a little?

source: Gartner