Abstract The Internet is continuously changing and evolving. The main communication form of present Internet is human- human. The Internet of Things ToT) can be considered as the future evaluation of the Internet that realizes machine-to-machine (M2M) learning. Thus, loT provides connectivity for everyone and everything. The loT embeds some intelligence in Internet- connected objects to te, exchange information, take decisions, invoke actions and provide amazing services. This paper addresses the existing development trends, the generic architecture of IOT, its distinguishing features and possible future applications. This paper also forecast the key challenges associ- ated with the development of loT. The loT is getting increasing popularity for academia, industry as well as government that has the potential to bring significant personal, professional and economic benefits. Keywords Internet of Things, ubiquitous computing, RFID, loT architecture, loT applications, IoT security.