IFTTT, a clever acronym for ‘if this than that’ is a startup that on August 28th reported that they had raised $30 million in its latest round of funding from venture capital firms Norwest Venture Partners and Andreessen Horowitz.
Available on Google Play and IOS, IFTTT can connect two different services on your mobile device using a simple formula or “recipes”, as they are called. The idea is to repurpose disparate apps on your device to a function that is usable for your purpose. For instance, you might want your email to notify you each time that your preferred news service posts a story about technology.
Co-founder Linden Tibbets says the idea is to give people more creative control over the many online services they use on a daily basis. Mr. Tibbets and his brother, co-founder Alexander believe that people deserve to be able to create the kind of interactions that will be most beneficial and informative to them. Already, folks are using more that 15 million recipes per day and that number will only increase as more services connect to IFTTT’s platform.
The next phase of services that will be coming to the platform is internet-connected hardware devices and this is what the Tibbets brothers are really looking forward to. As manufacturers like SmartThings and Phillips make more Wi-Fi connected devices, using your smart phone to control specific products within your home by setting triggers with IFTTT will become more and more useful. Timers can turn lights off and on; set the thermostat to a desired temperature, etc.
Unlike companies like Apple, which wants users to control things only through their services, IFTTT and at least some of its partners are hedging their bets on a different philosophy, where interconnected devices are ultimately good not only for consumers, but also for the companies involved. Andrew Rosenthal of Jawbone says, “We lean on platform partners like IFTTT to build for that last extra mile that we haven’t focused on.”
In my mind, when I hear, “the internet of things” IFTTT is the type of service that makes the phrase come alive. Let’s hope that more of these types of innovative ideas keep showing up.
Source: The New York Times
Began writing for Bane-Tech August 2014, due to an ever-growing passion for mobile and Android in particular.
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