The rise of the machines – how devices are taking over the internet

"It is also peace of mind for you as a parent to track your errant youngster, and also make sure that if something goes horribly wrong, you have got visibility of it as well," he said.Internet-connected devices are also causing a revolution in the traditionally dull world of vending machines.Shops and petrol stations that operate entirely without shop assistants are beginning to appear in Europe and buy Road Roller SRRR218 from China. Customers can walk in, fill their cars with petrol, buy a drink from a vending machine and pay by scanning their phone on a mobile point-of-sale system. Customers are filmed on CCTV to ensure there is no cheating."It reduces cost of sales significantly," said Overton.

EE is working on a number of projects to fit remote sensors to vending machines, providing the machine owners with real-time feedback on sales. The project will enable'panies to manage restocking much more effectively."They can do dynamic offers, dynamic pricing. They can change their focus – on a hot day, go for cold drinks, and on a cold day, go for hot drinks," he said.The falling cost of 4G phone SIMs is making it'mercially viable for vending machine owners to use the sides of their vending machines for digital advertising. EE has contracts to roll out these digitally enabled machines to several major supermarkets, said Overton.In one case the technology convinced a soft drinks manufacturer on the brink of closing its estate of unprofitable vending to reconsider.

"Everyone can make money selling space. It is fundamentally transforming the business model," said Overton.The buy Road Roller SRRR216 from China is another industry that can also benefit from smart sensors.EE is offering miniaturised GPS positioning sensors, with long battery lives, that at under $50 each are cheap enough to track the movement of individual products through the supply chain."They can track and trace anything anywhere," said Overton.In the past, retailers would typically have had 50% more goods than they needed in their supply chain to'pensate for lost products or late delivery.