A new mobility report from Ericsson projects that the number of net-connected devices will increase by three or four times over the next five years. There were some 200 million machine-to-machine devices online by the end of 2013 — a broad term that describes any device that exchanges information across a network without need for human intervention. These form the foundation of the “Internet of Things” phenomenon, and encompass everything from Internet-connected “smart meters” that keep track of energy consumption to cameras with built-in SIM cards to jump onto mobile networks. Patrik Cerwall, Ericsson’s head of strategic marketing, said these devices communicate information across slower mobile networks today, but that will change by 2016, when the majority of such devices use higher-speed 3G or 4G networks.