CES - Overview

As always, CES is an incredible and overwhelming experience. As I begin to sort through the huge amount of information, I'll start with this insight: connectivity. The connected home is here. Your appliances, healthcare and/or home entertainment are getting intraconnected. Yes, "intra" as in "intrastate" or within a certain space. Devices which serve a particular purpose can now talk with one another. Some devices cross the borders and "talk" to dissimilar devices, but many do not. The iPhone and other smart phones already cross these the boundaries, allowing you to manage your home energy, your entertainment and your health all with the swipe of a finger. Your TV and your stove still need an intermediary.

GE shows that you can create an interface (thanks Dave Bingham!) and give consumers insights into how their home is using energy. With these insights, consumers can make smart decisions on when and how to run their appliances. This saves money on the consumer side and doesn't overtax the infrastructure on the power company side (a growing issue)

Sample of GE's Home Energy Dashboard

Ideal Life and HealthTunes.com both offer connectivity for health care devices, primarily for the chronically ill. In addition to gathering data on weight, blood pressure, temperature and pulse oximetry, these devices upload your information to a secure site where your doctor can access the information and see longitudinal data. Having a more complete picture of your daily life and not just from the 5 minutes you sat in his/her office creates a richer picture of a patient's health.

As a final example, though there are no doubt many more, entertainment is more connected. Apple leads the pack with Airplay, allowing movies and music to stream to your iPhone or iPad. Movies can be quickly pushed to the television set and manipulated with either your phone or tablet.

More CES photos here.