Potential users include maintenance engineers in remote locations, construction workers, architects and warehouse staff pulling stock off the shelves following complex computerised schedules.

BBC: Motorola unveils a computer that straps onto your head

Enterprises can deploy M2M technology now to reduce the cost of field service management through remote maintenance, they can optimize fleet scheduling with real-time location and traffic data and they can tap into new business models such as usage-based (or pay-as-you) go billing.

FORBES: The Massive M2M Business Opportunity (Part 3)

"The Earth's hot deserts -- such as the Sahara, the Gobi, the Sonoran and the Lut -- are climatically harsh and so remote that access for routine measurements and maintenance of a weather station is impractical, " said David Mildrexler, lead author of a recent study that used NASA satellites to detect the Earth's hottest surface temperatures.

CNN: Think it's hot? Imagine living here