The Internet Of Things Comes Home, Bit By Bit

The connected world's tendrils are expanding far and wide to gear like farm equipment and parking meters, yet most consumers' homes remain a simple endpoint of connectivity whose intelligence is limited to its corporeal inhabitants. However, the technology enablers have arrived, which is why the battle for entertainment in the digital living room is fully underway. The battle for the rest of the house is just starting, where two types of offerings have emerged: Service providers are pitching smart-home service bundles with monthly fees, while myriad specialized vendors offer individual smart products that bring intelligence to a specific home need. Consumers show interest in home automation but find that fee-based solutions are still too complex and expensive. As a result, the connected home will evolve incrementally, in bite-sized products that service providers will then pull together and orchestrate.