NAB 2015

1. Why your TV should talk to your toaster: connected-TV and the 'internet of things'

One of the big draws at television technology shows such as NAB in Las Vegas is the "living room of the future", with its wall-filling, multi-image, interactive TV screen. Such "wallpaper displays" are still, largely, mock-ups, not demonstrations of real services.

But the "internet of things" (IoT) – the multiplication of connected devices, body-worn sensors and Cloud data services – could soon make such TVs a reality.

The NAB trade show, held every April in Las Vegas, used to bill itself as the place to see kit manufacturers parade their newest wares to broadcasters and producers. Headline-grabbing black boxes that perform cool, new tricks are, however, increasingly rare.

Today's production and post-­production tools tend, instead, to be software. They are, therefore, open to incremental and regular upgrades, and not tied to the cycle of trade shows.

Even the hardware is designed to evolve with tweaks to the central chip set, rather than a wholesale ­redesign.