And what would a connected appliance be without some remote control functionality?

ENGADGET: iPod fathers unveil their next project, the Nest Learning Thermostat (hands-on)

Still on the block, some analysts say, are GE's appliance, lighting, industrial controls and water chemicals businesses.

FORBES: Companies, People, Ideas

In the future, refrigerators may use some type of tagging technology to alert the appliance automatically to the presence of food that might go bad, he said.

CNN: When refrigerators tweet and washing machines text

In turn, the utility can offer its ratepayers a package of some two dozen consumer services, including Internet access, appliance protection, satellite television, long-distance telephone service, carbon-monoxide protection and security.

ECONOMIST: Electricity marketing: Not as billed | The

"We're hoping to make some money at that time, " he says, probably on small cement makers, aluminum producers and appliance manufacturers.

CNN: HE WINDOWS LEAK, PIECES FALL OFF THE FACADE.