Together, the two firms hope to transform yet more mundane household goods into technology-rich marvels.

ECONOMIST: Consumer goods

Several utilities are conducting pilot programs that use Home Area Networks (HAN), the household-facing layer of technology, to provide customers with real-time information on electricity usage and prices.

FORBES: Human Behavior: The Hot Spot in Energy Efficiency

To really capture the opportunities of Consumable Technology, we need to make our play before the latest technology becomes the newest household name.

FORBES: Hitching a Ride with the Next 'Angry Birds' Before Take-Off

Technology spending as percentage of household income has increased.

FORBES: Gartner: More iPads Than Blackberries In Business In 2 Yrs

The business world by contrast, thanks to a century of automation and increasing productivity, probably has an order of magnitude more technology per employee than the typical household has, per resident.

FORBES: Can You Use Big Data? The Litmus Test

The washing machine or vaccum cleaner as examples of the technology that have freed women from household drudgery, the contraceptives that have continued their economic emancipation are also on the list.

FORBES: The Greatest Invention of All Time: Two Candidates

It is starting to expand into voice telecoms and even the home, with technology that will let all sorts of household appliances connect to each other.

ECONOMIST: Cisco��s reluctant evangelist

People could be also be shown how to leverage public online computer programs to build technology skills while simultaneously increasing their efficiency performing routine tasks such as household budgeting.

FORBES: Connecting marketers to the Forbes audience. What is this?

Until the technology gets a lot better, people aren't going to buy household robots because they need them.

FORBES: Aibo Scoots Ahead

With the progress in robotic technology, the humanoid automaton R2D2 featured in the Star Wars films could soon become a regular household feature.

BBC: Robots: Brave New World moves a step closer