What Can IoT Based Transportation Offer You?

Rapid technological advancements in the recent past have been successful in making life much more convenient for a common man. First, the evolution of the mobile phone made communication with any part of the world possible in no time. Furthermore, now smartphones have gone a step further by making video calling and Facetime interactions a living reality.

In fact smartphones fell short of providing 100% network coverage and uninterrupted communication. In certain places like the subway, basements, elevators, or underground tunnels it fail. Consumers complain of poor network connectivity and inaudibility in these areas. This is where the Internet of Things (IoT) can come in great use. The latest technology through which one can communicate with devices, or devices can communicate with each other, over the Internet. Through IoT, people could actually look forward to staying connected every minute of the day. Besides, there is no interruption in Internet connectivity, anywhere – in cars, buses, trains, and even flights!

And that’s not all. IoT in transportation can be effectively used to bring about several positive changes in this industry. Let’s take a look.

1. Location sharing on Whatsapp via IoT

   You share your current location with somebody on Whatsapp to let them know where you exactly are at that moment. Do you know how it’s possible? Through IoT. When your smartphone, which has GPS functionality, is connected with the Internet, it can actually transmit the GPS-tracked location data through your phone to another which is also Internet-connected. Now you can exactly know where your friend coming from the airport has exactly reached. As a result, you may estimate how long would it take for them to reach your place, thanks to IoT-connected phones.

2. Uber is using IoT too

   You need to reach somewhere in half an hour and book an Uber from your place. How does it work? Uber communicates with taxi drivers in that particular area over IoT-connected phones, finds out which driver is the nearest to you at that moment and is available to take you. It’s that easy.

3. Tracking transport inventory made easier

   To keep a track on the huge inventory stored in large transport warehouses requires staff, time, effort, and of course money (involved in hiring the staff which would manually perform tasks like prepare and maintain inventory reports, label, keep track of misplaced items, if any, etc). IoT has enabled automation for all these manual tasks by using sensors which are able to effectively report the movement of products in and out of the warehouse without the need for manual tracking. Even the delivery trucks can now be tracked through IoT to make sure that the delivery happens on time.

4. Happy employees and happier companies

   IoT has been able to considerably reduce the number of accidents in warehouses by automating tasks and ensuring worker safety. Moreover, with automation, the amount of time and effort involved in performing these tasks earlier manually has also lessened, meaning that employees can now focus on other productive work in the same time, thereby increasing revenue for the company.

IoT in transportation is soon converting transport into smart transport. With the above advancements already in place in private transport like connected cars, it doesn’t seem far when our public transport system would also be using IoT connected GPS sensors to track the real-time location of buses, trains, and taxis, helping users manage and even reduce their travel time.

Everything You Need to Know About Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency simplified

Very simply put, crypto currency is a digital form of currency. It is primarily used in online financial transactions and is based on the newly-emerged technology of blockchain. Now blockchain, as the term implies, literally refers to a chain of blocks containing transaction data secured by cryptography or encryption.

In other words, cryptocurrencies are those encrypted entries into a database which can only be read or altered upon fulfilment of specific terms and conditions. This is primarily done to ensure the security of all financial transactions online. Bitcoin and Litecoin are the two most popular forms of cryptocurrencies currently used. To proceed we need to have proper knowledge of cryptocurrency exchange.

Where can one trade in cryptocurrency?

The answer is in a cryptocurrency exchange – a website that facilitates easy buying, selling, and exchanging of cryptocurrencies with other forms of digital currencies such as Ethereum or Ripple, or even the conventional currency as in USD, AUD, or Euro.

These websites that help connect buyers of cryptocurrencies with their sellers are called trading platforms and they operate on the system of collecting a fee from each cryptocurrency transaction that takes place on the website.

Cryptocurrency trading is also possible on a direct person-to-person basis, wherein people from different parts of the world can exchange currencies on the basis of their own respective exchange rates rather than on a fixed market price. This is called direct trading.

And then as is the case with any other currency exchange system, there exists brokers for cryptocurrency too – websites which allow access to anyone for buying cryptocurrencies at a price that is determined by the broker. These brokers function in a similar manner as foreign exchange dealers.

Cryptocurrency in India – legal or illegal?

The answer to this is far from being simple, what with the Indian government having adopted a wait-and-watch policy on cryptocurrency in India. The year 2018 witnessed a huge blow to cryptocurrency investments as the RBI issued directives to all its banks and financial institutions to stop lending support to cryptocurrency exchange in the country. Now the reasons offered by the government for its decision might be valid: risk of money laundering, cryptocurrency used for financing terrorism, and weakening of government-authorized currency in light of cryptocurrency gaining momentum. Following RBI’s ban, investors can no more deal in buying, selling and exchanging of cryptocurrencies for Indian rupee though banks in India. Yet, the option of cryptocurrency trading on websites that serve as cryptocurrency exchanges still remains open.

Buy cryptocurrency with credit card

To facilitate easy trading in cryptocurrency, most of the cryptocurrency exchanges provide investors the facility of buying Bitcoins using their credit card. The process is fairly simple: you would first be required to create your account on the cryptocurrency exchange website, then verify your account by uploading some official documents such as a passport or any other national ID, before proceeding to buy cryptocurrency. Once you’ve been verified, you can place your order for cryptocurrency and pay for it using a credit card and you’re all done!