“An entirely new way of interacting with our world is emerging,” writes Matt Turck from FirstMark Capital. “The Internet of Things is about the transformation of any physical object into a digital data product.” The 2016 Internet of Things is occurring in five areas: the connected home, wearables, healthcare, robotics/drones, and transportation.

Meanwhile the security of IoT devices looms, with Linux founder Torvalds reminding us that “security plays second fiddle.” For instance, an Amazon Echo got confused and hijacked a thermostat after NPR was left on.

If you think that’s amusing, remember that with Alexa, Cortana, Siri, Google Now, and others, “you have a personal digital assistant that knows you,” Microsoft’s Satya Nadella says, “knows your preferences, has the ability, in a privacy-protecting way, to go and look at your information and your organization’s information and help you with your tasks.”

Plus: Learn how to build a motion sensing security camera with a Raspberry Pi. That reminds us of our own hack: a front desk AI inspired by Mark Zuckerberg’s New Year’s resolution.

Onfographic courtesy Mobile Future.