Apple is all about music these days, which is why it makes perfect sense that the company would be keen to target the hip, young, presumably disposable-incomed revelers at this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Thanks to Square, Coachella’s official point-of-sale provider, attendees will be able to use Apple Pay to buy food, drinks and other assorted merchandise, while the festival is also building iBeacon support into its official app. iBeacons will be used to distribute “Surprise and Delight” rewards to Coachella fans who link their American Express cards with the official Coachella app. Depending on where they …

Gansha Wu was a veteran engineering manager at Intel Corporation and director of Intel Labs China when two events upended his world last year. First, he listened to the veteran technology writer Michael Malone tell an audience of Intel employees that if they were too cautious they would fail. Then he attended a leadership training session for Intel executives. The trainer told them that “to be a leader is to design a future that is unpredictable and which nobody bets on.” He couldn’t sleep at night, thinking about his well-ordered, 16-year career at Intel. So he decided to take a risk. …

Are you too lazy to open the door or switch on a light? Let Windows 10 and its Cortana voice-activated digital assistant do the job for you. Microsoft’s vision is to make home automation a breeze in Windows 10, and the company featured several related Internet-of-things announcements at its ongoing Build conference. Windows 10 will work with a wider range of devices and appliances by integrating new Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF) protocols, scheduled to be released in 2017. Additionally, Cortana will allow users to easily automate tasks using a Windows PC, mobile device, Xbox console or Raspberry Pi 3. Users will be able …

A flurry of interactive features on branded digital experiences show how marketers are broadly ramping up mobile-first utility by appealing to the key human senses of touch, hearing and sight.  Marketers are increasingly embracing Tinder-like swiping, image recognition and voice recognition for a variety of mobile-driven experiences that are easier and more convenient than ever. As opposed to the few standalone examples from previous years, there is a much bigger migration beyond desktop interfaces to embrace mobile-first approaches in 2016.   

Intel has its eyes on making self-driving cars, robots and industrial equipment safer with a new acquisition. The chip maker has acquired Italian company Yogitech, which provides circuits and software tools for IoT devices to automate decision-making based on data patterns. Intel declined to comment how much it paid to buy the company. Intel will put Yogitech's technology to work in its IoT products, with an emphasis on safety for automated devices. The technology is designed to keep circuits functional and prevent device failure.

Location-tracking technology in apartment buildings could be the answer to avoiding lines at the gym or knowing when it's a good time to head to the laundry room. Chicago-based Mobile Doorman, which makes white-label apps for apartment and condominium buildings, is rolling out beacon integration that it thinks will help residents live smarter and property owners manage better. "Our mission is for you to feel like this app on your phone represents your apartment building," said co-founder Bob Matteson. Mobile Doorman offers customizable apps that allow residents to manage deliveries, place maintenance requests and pay rent, among other things. The company charges properties $1 a month per …

Motley Fool contributor David Kline assembles a variety of sources -- IDC, Microsoft, McKinsey, Accenture, and yes, of course, Cisco -- to make the case and convince the less-than-connected.

Of all the improbable -- yet sublimely logical -- connected experiences, Italian ice marketer Rita's is leveraging beacon, mobile and social technology to target consumers individually when they enter one of the chain's 600 brick-and-mortar stores nationwide. App users seamlessly earn points that can be used for free items.

The valuation of the global Internet of Things (IoT) market is expected to hit $1.88 trillion (£1.25tn) by 2022, according to an analyst note from Hexa Reports. Growth in the Internet of Things (IoT) market is expected on account of a rise in internet connectivity and the pervasiveness of technology. Additionally, the venture-capitalist investments of technology companies in industry startups have created new opportunities of growth in the market. Industry growth is also set to be driven by the falling costs of internet enabled sensors, internet connectivity, and data processing. Additionally, futuristic concepts such as connected wearable devices, connected vehicles, …

BMW’s Vice President of Digital Life Services and Engineering Thom Brenner took the stage today at Microsoft Build to detail the first stage of its ambitious IoT project that aims to deliver “ultimate smart device connectivity that’s perfectly integrated into your digital lifestyle.” The concept video showed off some of what BMW is working on to better integrate your smart home and your connected car. It covers features such as a morning briefing by a holographic smart device that details weather, morning appointments and route guidance for the way to work, as well as allowing the selection of one of several connected BMW vehicles. …