When it comes to the smart home, big names like Nest and Dropcam have gotten most of the attention due to their product success and lucrative acquisition figures. But as impressive as these products have been, there are a multitude of other unknown products ranging from door locks to basic thermostats that require connectivity and back end cloud services. Stepping into this market niche are a wave of Internet of Things (IoT) platform providers that work with manufacturers to provide both hardware (modules with a processor and a wifi chip) and software services like iOS/Android integration, APIs, and cloud services. While big players like GE and Cisco likely will make a play for this space, particularly on the industrial side, the early startups include Electric Imp, Ayla Networks, Xively and Arrayent.