Right off the bat, I know the title sounds like it\u2019s all connected but they are only slightly related so I\u2019ll give you the option of dropping out now. Still here? Cool. I\u2019ve been traveling over the last couple weeks and stories catch my eye along the way that I probably would\u2019ve written about but didn\u2019t. Until now. Besides it\u2019s always fun to roll up a few stories in one to get back on track.
\nTVs are becoming cutting edge multimedia devices that reside on your living room wall. You can stream movies, browse the web, check weather, plug in USBs for slideshows\/video, play games, home network along with simply catching the latest episode of your favorite program. This article from usatoday.com talks about many of the internet enabled TVs and their capabilities. For instance, some TVs are now including dual-core processors to make web browsing more enjoyable since many TVs don\u2019t have the processing power to load web pages quickly, or at least what we\u2019re used to on our computers. Also coming out are TVs with screen resolutions four times greater than full HD screens \u2013 these are the 4K sets. These new 4K sets apparently has dampened any lingering 3D enthusiasm, which seems waning anyway. In addition to TVs, other appliances are getting smart, so they say. There are new refrigerators, air conditioners, washers, and dryers which are all app-controlled. Users can turn them on and off from anywhere. I know there are mobile \u2018apps\u2019 but it would be a easy transition to start calling our appliances, apps also. Close enough. How\u2019s the clothes cleaning app working? Is the food cooling app running? I\u2019ve mentioned many times that while all this is very cool stuff, we still need to remember that these devices are connected to the internet and subject to the same threats as all our other connected devices. It\u2019s only a matter of time when a hacker takes down all the \u2018smart\u2019 refrigerators on the East Coast. I also think that TVs, cars and any other connected device could be considered BYOD in the near future. Why wouldn\u2019t a mobile employee want secure VDI access from his car\u2019s Ent\/GPS display? Why couldn\u2019t someone check their corporate email from the TV during commercials? <\/p>\n