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Hold Your Horses, Jane Jetson

Word this morning of an AllJoyn-based common platform that could connect smart household appliances regardless of brand is welcome news for an industry that’s ripe for home automation.

But according to a special report in this week’s print edition of TWICE, the white-goods biz, and its over-zealous engineers, may be putting the cart before the horse.

While the technology for a “Jetsons”-like kitchen is well established, consumers are still not keen on the costs and benefits it will bring, industry executives caution. Samsung appliance chief John Herrington for one, who cited his company’s $100 million investment in the Internet of Things [IoT], believes widespread majap connectivity is still five years away.

John Riddle, his counterpart at LG, similarly sees “tremendous potential” in smart appliances, although getting consumers on board and achieving scale remains a high industry hurdle.

A key stumbling block: the use-case scenario. As Whirlpool’s Brett Dibkey observed, “A lot of people are connecting a lot of ‘things,’ but very few are creating true consumer value.” 

But once the industry connects with consumers the floodgates will open, predicts smart-home analyst Michael Wolf, who forecasts a $10.1 billion market for connected appliances by 2020.

Our report on the roadmap to kitchen connectivity appears here.

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