The Tech Tape

CES Delivers On Tech That Brings The Smart Home To Life

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This year’s Consumer Electronic Show (CES) was loaded with smart home gadgets and discussions on AI for more intelligent places to live. And, while there were too many to see in the short time of the show, there were some discussions and technologies that stood out.

Much of the discussion on AI was around regulating it and managing it, but not removing the human element. I moderated a session on AI and sustainability and during that session one of the panelists, Ellie Graeden, the chief data and product officer at Metron, spoke to how ubiquitous AI is in our daily experiences today.

“Consumers are already using AI all day everyday whether they realize it or not,” she said. “It’s here. It’s not going anywhere. So, the question is how do we most effectively use this new tool to help more than it hurts.”

She gave the example of a day of an average middle-class homeowner that starts with them waking to a wearable device that tracked their sleep. Then, using an app to get metrics from a morning workout. A doorbell alert notifies them of a delivery based on video analysis, and the delivery driver can use an app to close out the order from the driveway.

The homeowner’s water utility company can track the length of the shower to make sure there isn’t a leak. The owner sends their first email from their phone that has been autocorrected and translated on the spot for German colleagues. As they back the car out of the driveway, it slams on the brakes to avoid running over a kid’s bicycle on the sidewalk.

All of that happens before 8 am, and is followed by even more AI-powered, smart home technology throughout the rest of the day. So, technology is advancing its role in our every day lives, whether we realize it or not, and there are great reasons to welcome it with open arms.

Collaboration Needed In Smart Home Ecosystem

Samsung emphasized that the true value of home AI emerges when devices, services, and partners work together to create experiences that are seamless, safe, and genuinely put people’s needs first.

Part of that initiative is a partnership with IKEA. IKEA announced 21 new Matter smart home products including bulbs, plugs, remote controls, sensors, and switches. The user can create routines that collaborate with Samsung or Matter-compatible smart home devices and products, such as setting the lights to dim and curtains to close when the Samsung TV is turned on.

One of the most appealing features of these new products is affordability, a key icon of the IKEA brand. Lowering the price points allows any household to benefit from the conveniences of smart home technology, especially those who need it most to save time and money.

The ALPSTUGA air quality sensor measures CO₂, humidity, PM2.5 particles, and temperature and retails for just $30. There also is a water leakage sensor for $8, a motion sensor for $8, and a humidity and temperature sensor for $10.

IKEA also is competing with Philips Hue lightbulbs with a new line of smart LED bulbs that come in several shapes, sizes, lumen levels and styles, including color and white spectrum options, and dimmable features. These also are priced affordably, sold between $6 and $16.

In a session on the latest smart devices and integrations, panelists spoke to what the smart home will mean in the next year.

“Smart home technology is about simplifying the experience for the homeowner and cooperating with brands to do storytelling,” a panelist said. “It’s a home that takes care of you and also itself. It’s creating a frictionless system where different products and brands can work together and not have issues. After taking orders from you, your home will start talking back to you in 2026.”

This conversational AI was apparent in more and more new products at the show.

The HLD&I Halla AI smart home platform is indirectly having user conversations through its products to learn user behavior that it then uses to create personalized experiences that deliver convenience, energy efficiency, and a smart life experience.

The integrated system includes an AI Smart Mirror, an ultra-fast heat exchanger that can deliver hot water in 10 seconds, ZEB-based AI lighting, and the HL AI Hood. The platform also works with vehicles, IoT sensors, and home appliances.

During the session Beyond the Buzz: AI Impact and Revenues in the Smart Home, Colin Cureton, a vice president at Silicon Labs emphasizes the need to create a smart user experience that doesn’t have complex integrations or too many apps or interfaces.

“To drive adoption, it has to be cost effective and power efficient,” he said. “The architecture needs to be tuned and optimized for specific functions.”

Robin Crawford, the chief business development officer at OriginAI spoke to how cloud-based technologies and services will help provide a seamless, continous experience for homeowners.

“Consumers don’t want technicians in their house,” she said. “Visual AI can help identify issues, and can diagnose the problem directly. Ease of use is important. People will pay more and it will work more effectively. No one wants to wait a week for a fix.”

Smart Home Energy Savings

In another session, Darcy Clarkson, North America CEO of BSH Home Appliances Division at Bosch said that smart home technology with efficiency features can save a home up to 26% in energy costs at a time when those costs are quickly rising.

A startup, Superheat, has a water heater that uses excess heat generated from bitcoin mining to heat running water in a home, offsetting up to 80% of electricity and water costs with the earnings from the process. The product can be controlled and managed with an app.

I had a private tour of the dcbel home energy system. Marc-André Forget, the CEO, showed me how the intelligent system can power a home for 18 hours and is fully compatible bidirectionally with all electric vehicles. By learning a homeowner’s behavior, it can reduce energy costs for a home within days after it is installed.

And, it takes nothing for the system to learn about you. Forget says the motto of the company is “Let’s make energy simple and live a life without compromise.”

This is important because even if a consumer gets recommendations from a device, they don’t take advantage of them. So, he says, “With dcbel, it just works.”

He used the system in his own home with his family as a beta to see how they could develop trust with it. He says it took them 10 days to trust it had their backs. It was automating energy demand to avoid high prices around dinner time when rates were more than six times lower demand hours. dcbel would shift to stored energy instead of buying from the grid during those peak hours.

Dcbel units start at $10,000, and most homeowners are adding on solar and storage, but the payback time varies between three and seven years, depending on the jurisdiction. The company also is working with new home builders and creating partnerships with car manufacturers for retail.

CES also showcased new products made it easier to bring renewable energy into the home. For instance, Blue Device launched a Nanoparticle Solar Smart Window that is easy to install because it does not require wiring or external electricity, cutting installation costs by more than 50%. A liquid nanoparticle layer can generate power while it adjusts tint without internal electrical connections.

The self-powered windows get energy from sunlight along with indoor LED lighting. The company reports reducing energy consumption by up to 40% by limiting heat gain and glare. The windows are fully self-powered, harvesting energy from sunlight and even low-intensity indoor LED lighting.

Panasonic’s Perovskite solar cells are still in research and development phase, but also provide a peek at the future of solar technology. The solar panel is part of the window that has a number of layers including the solar film that can be customized to its level of transparency and even include designs for a pleasing aesthetic.

As the product’s lead Yukihiro Kaneko explained, the solution is good for urban areas where rooftops are used for HVAC equipment so there isn’t space for solar panels. The company’s testing has shown the windows to be nearly as efficient as a solar panel. The install requires an electrician to support the wiring that runs inside the window frame that goes to a power connector and then sends energy to a storage unit.

When installed, the windows have the same efficiency as conventional windows. Keneko added that there could be other unique applications of the technology, such as on large surfaces where the energy could be directed to single family homes.

Windows also were used for a wellness feature. The startup DeNoize can convert regular windows into smart sound barriers. It offers retrofit packages with active noise cancellation to block traffic and city noise for improved wellbeing, without replacing a single window.

Speaking of sound, Sonic Fire Tech Wildfire Defense takes a new approach to preventing wildfire destruction by using acoustics. The core of the defense is infrasound technology that uses powerful low-frequency sound waves to disrupt the combustion triangle, and to interrupt the chemical chain reaction for a fire to sustain itself.

Smart Home Kitchen Tech

Kitchen technology is evolving quickly. GE Profile launched an amazing smart refrigerator that can help plan, shop and prep to reduce food waste and decision fatigue. The fridge has a feature to scan bar codes to be added to a digital grocery list or even sent to Instacart for delivery.

The scanner recognizes more than four million products with brand, flavor, and size. If an item doesn’t have a barcode, it can be added with voice or text to the app.

“It builds on our legacy of kitchen breakthroughs by delivering solutions that adapt to real lives and solve universal stressors such as meal decision fatigue and grocery shopping,” said Jason May, executive product director of French-door refrigeration at GE Appliances.

Plus, the GE Profile fridge has a camera that can help see inside while shopping to check on bad produce that may need to be replaced, to see if something is missing, or to not purchase a duplicate item. The fridge and app also have meal planning and recipe assist features.

The fridge also can use sensors to release an exact amount of filtered water, so you can fill a container hands free. It will be available in April 2026 for close to $5,000.

Samsung presented products that move toward proactively delivering experiences tailored to users’ lifestyles and needs with AI built across its connected product and service portfolio to support everyday life.

The company unveiled a refrigerator that can recognize and track food automatically, to help with meal planning and food management. It also can recommend recipes based on available ingredients, along with insights into eating habits and items to restock.

wan AIChef introduced an AI-powered cooking system. The user only has to load ingredients that will be automatically identified by the system, which also then determines the right cooking method.

The unique aspect of wan AIChef is the ability to create personalized meal plans with long-term nutrition management to marry cooking convenience with wellness outcomes.

Smart Home Trust

Underlying all of the technology is the need to build trust with the consumer. It’s inherent that the technology doesn’t compromise someone’s sense of home as a private, comfortable place. And, everyone is going to use the technology at their own pace, so the experience is unique and personal.

“It’s important to bring new customers into the experience, to have tidbits and guidance to understand the capabilities of the technology, but to recognize they are on their own journey,” said Greg Fyke, president and CEO at Ecobee. “Some are going to use it differently, so you have to deliver value in the early days of engagement and then more on their journey. Then you have to create trust with the consumer if they are using the devices that their data, pictures, etc. will not be used in other ways.”

I have full trust in LG’s soon to be launched home robot CLOiD that is designed to help with a variety of household tasks. LG calls the robot an “Affectionate Intelligence” technology and claims it is designed to interact in a neutral, user-friendly way.

CES was a great platform to see the latest and greatest technologies, but as Ellie Graeden pointed out, smart home technology is now integrated into every part of our daily living and is only going to increase. CLOiD can fold my laundry any day!

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