CES 2024: Building the glue that holds the smart home together

LAS VEGAS – CES 2024 – Artificial intelligence came off as the major theme at this year's big gadgetfest, as the various show floors around the convention center seemed wall-to-wall with products that featured at least some root elements of AI.

But this year's show also amplified the fact that (almost) everything is now connected – or wants to be connected. And this onslaught of IoT naturally flows into the smart home and its evolving network of connected doorbells, cameras, lights and thermostats. A big challenge there is managing all of those disparate devices, enabling them to work together under a unified system, and knowing what to do when one link in the chain is broken.

A company that appears to be on the cusp of solving this issue is OliverIQ, which debuted its smart home-as-a-service approach at CES 2024. We covered some of the high points in this story, but learned a few more details about the company's plans during a visit with Glen Mella, OliverIQ's chief revenue officer.

OliverIQ demonstrated its new smart home-as-a-service platform at CES 2024.

In addition to targeting its subscription-based platform at cable operators and other broadband service providers, OliverIQ is also exploring partnerships with security companies, consumer electronics retailers and home builders.

The company is making some progress. Mella said OliverIQ expects to announce agreements later this year with partners that serve "hundreds of thousands of homes," and is in talks with some that serve "millions" of them.

Elsewhere, a pilot is being planned with a major retailer across four markets and about 16 stores, he said.

Hitting on categories such as video streaming, mobility and smart TVs, here's a roundup of our other coverage from CES 2024: