There’s no place like home, especially if it’s a smart home and CES 2019 proved that almost everything can and will be connected in our pads of the future. Some won’t break the bank either!

Viewing pleasure

The TVs of the very near future are getting bigger, have ultra-high resolution, respond to your voice commands and can even roll away out of sight!

Most of us have heard of 4K – the current pinnacle of display resolution. Well, now 8K is coming, doubling the number of horizontal pixels and creating another evolutionary leap in image quality. Considering a standard 4K movie is an estimated 100 gigabytes, you can only imagine how big an 8K movie will be to stream or download, which of course will require a fast connection.

More TVs, at all price points, are also including support for connected voice assistants, like Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Apple Homepod, allowing you to change channels and search for content just by talking. Great for when you can’t find the remote!

We flagged this in an earlier blog but it’s worth another look. Who would’ve thought – a TV that actually rolls away out of sight when you’re not using it. LG made a huge splash with their first rollable TV, which is expected to hit the market later this year. They even use these new versions to create an amazing TV tunnel.

Our not-so-humble homes

Our humble home appliances and fixtures keep getting smarter, even the toilet.

A number of big name brands unveiled updated connected fridges, washing machines and ovens. Fridges can now write to-do lists, which can then be shared to all of your family’s devices, check the contents of your fridge remotely and ask for cooking tips. Your phone will even get a ping if you’ve left the door open. Many now come with voice assistant support for when your hands are full of dirty laundry or dishes.

Meantime, Kohler unveiled a voice-enabled throne at CES 2019. Using Amazon Alexa, you can tell it to raise or warm the lid and play music. Most importantly, you can tell if to flush afterwards.

Smart shade

Even Ikea got in on the act at CES 2019, unveiling a series of low-cost smart blinds which allow you to raise or lower them using your home voice assistant, smartphone or provided remote control.

Now, if only they could find a way to make their flatpacks build themselves.

Immersive gaming

Our PCs continue to keep powering up to handle the size and complexity of the latest games, and new accessories are hitting the market to create even more immersive experience.

Audeze will soon release its motion-aware headphones for first-person shooter fans. They detect and recreate the movements of your head. For example, you’ll be able to peek around a corner just by moving your head.

More “reality” is being added to virtual reality games too, with Cybershoes showing off shoes that allow to walk yourself through the virtual world.

Just imagine all of these things in one home. It’s a lot of connected tech and, as we continue to add more things to our home networks, fast and reliable connections will be a must.