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Consumer Electronics Show Abuzz With Connected 'Everything'

By KYW tech editor Ian Bush

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The week-long gadget frenzy that is the annual Consumer Electronics Show continues in Las Vegas, and just about everything on display looks to take advantage of your Internet connection.

"This is the ideal utopia of the connected everything," says tech expert Darren Murph.

With sometimes flaky WiFi, how much of a paradise it is in practice remains to be seen. Murph, the senior VP of editorial strategy at Weber Shandwick, checks out home air conditioning and a washer/dryer tied to your ride: pull out of the driveway...

"The thermostat would turn the air down to save on energy, and the load of laundry that you'd put in there would start up so the noise wouldn't bother you and it would be done when you got back home."

There's the Parrot Pot, which tells you when to water houseplants. Mercedes is showing a concept car that's more like a lounge, with seats that rotate to face each other as the Benz drives itself. Pacif-I is a Bluetooth pacifier that keeps parents abreast of baby's temperature. Belty's motor tightens or loosens its cinch around your waist -- depending -- and vibrates if it senses you've been sitting too long.

TVs are always a big part of CES, but this year, they're taking up less real estate: Sony's 65" Bravia is a fifth of an inch thick -- thinner than your smartphone.  4K screens show about four times the detail of current 1080p models and some no longer are priced in the stratosphere.

As soon as the studios start making available more content, "it's going to be tough to look at the old 1080p after you've had 4K," Murph says. "It's going to look like standard def compared to high def -- and for people who see it, they're just going to get it."

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