The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Monday, January 5

Will 2015 be the year that the “connected home” hyped at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas finally establishes itself in reality?

What’s significant this time around is the role played by the Internet of Things, says Mark Hachman at PC World. He names some names to look out for: EchoStar in home automation, Intel with new Broadwell PCs, Ford’s new entertainment system, and Samsung in “just about everything.”

Google’s play in the connected home space is getting a boost at CES, where the company—which acquired net-connected thermostat startup Nest a while back—said it has added 15 new products to its third-party “works with Nest” program. Those include smart door locks, lighting controls, sleep monitors, IP telephones and even a ceiling fan, reports Hachman’s colleague Michael Brown. Google says that there are more than 5,000 developers working on connecting their products to Nest.

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