Forget the phone booth beacon scandal for a moment, because you might be surprised just how many inanimate objects are getting fitted up with radios in NYC these days.

For instance, Light Reading has spotted Big Belly solar compactors in New York's Times Square:

Figure 1:

We've seen these sophisticated garbage receptacles before: Verizon Wireless was showing them off at its Innovation Center in Waltham, Mass. (See Pics: Verizon Innovation Generator.)

Keep up with the latest M2M developments on our dedicated IoT channel here on Light Reading.

As you can see below, the trash compactors are equipped with a solar panel on the top and an LTE radio at the front. The radio lets the trash compactors can alert cleanup crews when they get full.

Figure 2:

Like the Bluetooth beacons, these M2M radios are just another one of the expected millions of new devices that will get connected as part of the Internet of Things. As far as we know at least, however, this bin brother isn't watching you... yet. (See Does M2M Need LTE?)

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading