Last month GE expanded its partnership with Quirky, the creator of WINK, a connected device communication platform that makes it easy for us to access a range of connected devices anytime from our mobile devices. GE participated in Quirky’s $79M series D financing by investing an additional $30 million and holding a minority equity stake in Quirky. The partnership between both businesses started back in April and since then they have developed a number of connected home solutions which are now available in leading retail stores such as The Home Depot, Amazon and Best Buy.

iControl is celebrating the reception of another Patent and another one in the pipeline, thus taking their overall world wide total to 24 home technology patents. The company said today that they have received US Patent Number 6,624,750, "Wireless Home Fire and Security Alarm System", a solution that will help them develop products that will better protect customer who use Z-Wave  and ZigBee wireless solutions.

With a market value over US$9 billion, the Asia Pacific (APAC) region is ripe for smart home solutions and services.   This is according to a new study by MarketsandMarkets; which estimated the region’s smart home market to grow at a Compund Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.73 per cent over the next seven years.  The global market is estimated worth over US$51 billion and a CAGR of 17.74 per cent.

NETGEAR UK is offering the UK home owners the opportunity to setup their own DIY home video monitoring solution, called VueZone.  The VZSX2800 NETGEAR VueZone motion detection video monitoring system is easy to setup and works with your existing wireless router to send you video feed and pictures of your home.

OEMs have been given the opportunity to reduce the time-to-market their smart meter designs, with the release of the industry’s first smart meter System-on-Chip (SoC).  ST said the chip combines precision metering with flexible, programmable processing and PLC (Power-Line Communication) subsystems along with advanced security in a single device.

In anticipation of the converging  technology between the home and utility grid, Panasonic has developed a new residential distribution panel board called “Smart Cosmo”. The Smart Cosmo, according to Panasonic, will play a central role in the distribution and information management in future homes.  Thus, allowing users to better understand their energy use.

Media storage solutions for the home have come a long way from the days of floppy disk, burning CDs, USB flash drive or just leaving your data on your computer.  So now you want to buy a NAS drive but not sure where to start.  The first thing to is that a NAS drive is a long-term investment and therefore, need lots of thought before you go out and buy one.  I would not recommend you popping out to the shop and buy a NAS drive as you would a case of CDs.  Like a business you might have to think about how your data is going to grow, because we are downloading and saving than we used to.

At this month’s Connected Car Expo (part of the LA Car Show), Sprint Velocity, a business unit within Sprint announced that they have expanded their Sprint Velocity platform to offer more features for vehicle manufacturers.  Renamed Sprint Velocity Connect, the solution makes it easier for automotive manufacturers to tap into the US$25.2B connected vehicle market and meet regulatory requirements.

The advance in communication technology has seen a convergence in home and car entertainment systems. As an indication the to this growing area of collaboration the CEA (Consumer Electronics Association), said they are expecting a record number of car manufacturers at 2014 CES showcasing their latest car technologies both inside and out.  A total of nine manufacturers are expected: Ford, Kia, Toyota, Audi, Chrysler, General Motors, BMW, Mercedes and Mazda.

Utilities wanting to setup their own Automatic Meter Reading solution (AMR) can save themselves he cost, time and hassle it will take.  eMeter a Siemens subsidiary has launched a cloud base subscription service through their energy platform for this same purpose.  The manage service is ideal for small to mid-size utilities wanting a platform that will support the flexibility of the modern grid.