Consumer electronics on track to total Internet connectivity

Pretty soon, it may be all but impossible to get away from the internet.

Net-connected PCs are already ubiquitous, and net-loving smart phones are quickly becoming so. But whole new classes of products will be connecting to the internet in the near future, if the announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show are any indication.

Among the new classes of connected products shown off here are televisions, car stereos, refrigerators and even ovens and washing machines. And that's not to mention all the new tablet computers companies are introducing at the show.

"We're approaching a point where not having an internet connection in a consumer electronics product is becoming conspicuous. It's just an inherent assumption that these devices will be connected," said Van Baker, an analyst who covers consumer technology for research group Gartner.

Televisions are likely to be one of the first new net-connected products to hit the mainstream. Manufacturers have been offering online-capable TVs for about three years now, but mostly these have been high-end sets. That will soon change.

The Consumer Electronics Association estimates that last year US consumers purchased 3.2 million televisions that could be connected to the internet, about 9 percent of all those sold.

This year the industry's trade group expects that 15 percent of televisions sold will be able to connect to the internet, and that by 2014 more than half the sets sold will be internet-enabled.

Some major electronics companies are aggressively pushing to lead the way. Eight of the 13 new LCD television lines that LG is unveiling at CES will offer net connectivity. Two-thirds of the televisions offered by Samsung will be able to access the internet.

The new TVs will run a variety of applications, allowing users to access such things as Facebook, online video from Netflix and Hulu, and internet radio from Pandora.

These types of services will also be available for older TVs through new internet-connected set-top boxes. Some are already on the market, such as Apple TV and the Roku digital player.

But more are coming, including one from LG that will offer access to the same applications available for its internet TVs. Another, from Cisco, will be offered through pay TV providers and will allow users to access video from traditional cable channels, internet sites such as YouTube, and computers on the same home network.

But internet connectivity is going beyond the living room. Samsung this year is introducing its fourth generation of digital cameras that have built in Wi-Fi antennas to upload pictures directly to websites such as Facebook.

Cisco's John Chambers talked about adding a similar capability to the company's popular Flip line of small video cameras.

Meanwhile, Parrot showed off a new after-market car radio that, via a 3G wireless connection, can access the internet for maps and tune into internet radio stations. Similarly, Pioneer is introducing a line of car stereos that works with iPhones to allow users to tune into their personal Pandora stations.

Perhaps the most surprising new net devices in the works are appliances.

Samsung showed off a new refrigerator that includes a touch-screen display right above the ice dispenser that can access online calendars and photo albums.

LG is developing smart appliances such as washing machines and ovens that can use internet connections to download new, customised applications, such as a special wash cycle for particular types of clothes or special cooking settings for particular recipes.

Internet connectivity may or may not be a boon for consumers, but it could prove to be a headache for manufacturers, Baker said.

Consumers are likely to expect manufacturers of net-connected devices to provide frequent updates and new features long after the device has been purchased. That's something manufacturers haven't had to deal with in the past.

"Basically it means that they're not going to be in the hardware business anymore. They're going to be in the hardware plus software plus services business," he said. "Most have no idea how to do that."