The Connected Home in 2013 and Looking Forward

2013 has been another exciting year for the connected home we have seen many changes and developments. I would say this year was the year for new comers (mainly start-ups), introducing solutions to the market.  Service providers have done a lot to expand their services to the home thus creating new revenue streams. Overall, I think the idea of the connected home has received a lot of mixed press from the general media.

I would say the biggest achievement for 2013 was Control4 being listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, the first pure connected home business to reach this milestone.  I would give them the prize for the most outstanding business, because they raised the profile of the sector.

There were many businesses getting additional financing and forming strategic partnerships. There were GE and Quirky and Perceptive and FortrezZ.

Microsoft made a big statement when they sold Mediaroom to Ericsson to focus on Xbox, read my thoughts here Xbox One. By becoming a bigger player in home entertainment space, you can expect to see more added feature to the Xbox as we go through 2014.

The connected home products that got the biggest attention were the smart thermostat and smart lighting we have seen many releases especially the Philips Hue.  Accessing you home via the internet received a lot of coverage from the general press questioning the security of the products that allow remote access and management.

Strategic partnerships and acquisition, I am expecting to see a lot of these in 2014 and Google acquiring Nest is just the beginning of many more. Many start-up will get gobble buy some of the bigger players. I am also looking to see another connected home business become a listed business.