With Belkin's WeMo gadgets finally set to take orders from Apple's Siri, the smart home giants are vying for the coveted position of household butler – acting as liaison between the lord of the manor and your digital servants.

A smart home is supposed to make life easier but things soon become complicated when you're trying to juggle a dozen different smart gadgets using a dozen different smartphone apps. It's worse if you don't live alone and your loved ones are also trying to navigate your smart jungle, especially youngsters who might not have a smartphone in their pocket.

The smart home needs a smart butler, although preferably not as in-your-face as Tony Stark's Jarvis.

Initially it looked like the easiest solution was to swear your allegiance to a single smart home ecosystem, ensuring all your tech played nicely together, although this can limit your options and become expensive compared to taking a best of breed approach.

This where a smart assistant can come to your rescue, like Tony Stark's AI-powered butler Jarvis. Rather than commanding each gadget in your home separately, you simply tell the butler what you need and it ensures that your will is done, regardless of which gadgets are required and what brand names they bear.