We are still in the early days for smart home devices. While products like the Nest thermostat have attracted some consumer interest, the concept still hasn't broken into the mainstream. To help this process along, Google-owned Nest, Samsung, and others are creating a new wireless IP protocol called "Thread" to help connect various smart devices together. Other Thread backers include Yale Security, Silicon Labs, Freescale Semiconductor, Big Ass Fans, and ARM.

Current smart home devices use Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or other standards to communicate with other devices, but the Thread Group believes these standards are insufficient. Bluetooth in particular is called out for its current "inability to carry IPv6 communications" (though Bluetooth 4.1 lays the groundwork to support IPv6), and the group criticizes both standards for their high power consumption and their "hub-and-spoke" models in which multiple devices rely on one centralized device to communicate with one another.

By contrast, Thread is designed to be a "mesh" network that doesn't rely on a single router, and its power consumption is apparently low enough that devices can last "for years using even a single AA battery." The group claims that up to 250 devices can be connected together in a single Thread network. Products that use other 802.15.4-based protocols like ZigBee or MiWi can apparently be upgraded to support Thread via a software update.

The biggest challenge to the Thread standard is that technology like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are both entrenched and universal. Most laptops, phones, tablets, and connected accessories already support one or both, and those standards could evolve to do most of what Thread does before it can gain a foothold in the majority of homes. Competition from other warring 802.15.4 protocols and things like Qualcomm and Microsoft's "AllSeen Alliance" will also affect adoption. The backing of big names like Google, Samsung, and ARM may help Thread, but a big name isn't always enough to establish a new industry-wide standard.

Members of the Thread Group will be given access to the standard later this year, and device certification will begin in 2015. For more information about Thread, you can check the Thread Group's site.