Move over Mother of Dragons, CES 2014 just introduced us to our new favourite semi-maternal figure-- "Mother," a motion-sensing device promising to be nothing less than the Mother of the Internet of Things.

Looking like a cross between a Russian nesting doll and girl robot EVE from Pixar's WALL-E, Mother does like mothers do and follows all one does. To do so she uses "cookies," small wireless motion and temperature sensors. The idea goes that users attach cookies to any objects, and in turn Mother keeps track of habits and warns of changes.

Among the examples developer Sen.se (founded by Nabaztag creator Rafi Haladjian) gives are checking whether a door is open or closed, keeping track of how much coffee is being drunk or even making sure one is brushing their teeth well. Cookies communicate with both Mother and to each other via wifi, and in turn the Mother unit does the digital equivalent of nagging through the medium of smartphone alerts.

BitWise Controls will demo its home automation product portfolio at ISE 2014, including the BC1, BC2 and BC4 automation controllers, all controllable via either the recently launched Room Remote or iOS and Android apps.

The BC1 is a top-end shelf- or rack-mountable (via included rack ears) 1RU unit suitable for both residential and commercial applications. It handles audio/video, lighting, HVAC, shades and security system controls, with a built-in astronomical clock providing event scheduling according to time of day, sunrise or sunset.

Further features include 8 IR ports (routable and attenuable), 4 SPDT relays, analog or digital signal sensing capabilities, 2 USB ports and customisable email notifications.

Google has a record of halfheartedly stabbing at home automation (remember Android@Home?), and appears to have no plans of stopping as it reportedly tests out Nest-style internet-connected thermostats.

According to The Information the Google thermostat project is called EnergySense, makes use of 3rd party hardware (such as Ecobee thermostats) and is being tested by Google employees and "trusted testers" in the St. Louis area. Its aims? To create a more efficient energy grid, as well as the building of applications and services with the collected data.

If it all sounds somewhat familiar, it should-- Google already flirted with a very similar concept a few years back with PowerMeter. A free monitoring tool users could pair with smart power meters and HVAC controllers, it provided energy usage statistics via web-based dashboard.

The approval of KNX as Chinese Standard (GB/T 20965) confirms the importance of the KNX technology on the Asian continent.

The high interest in China for compatible KNX products and the KNX technology has encouraged KNX Association to have the international ISO/IEC approved Standard 14543-3 translated into Chinese. The translated KNX Standard was fed into the Chinese standardization process via the standardization body SAC TC124 and approved by this committee as GB/T 20965, making KNX the only approved standard for Home and Building Control in China.

China will be one of the most prominent markets for intelligent building control in the coming years. There is a high need to drastically reduce energy consumption in China. A multitude of KNX member companies (including 20 Chinese members) have already been active in this market for years;

Belkin adds a smart(er) switch to its home automation portfolio-- the WeMo Insight Switch, a wifi-enabled number allowing customers to turn devices on or off, program custom notifications and remotely change device status.

In other words the Insight Switch is an updated, smaller version of the 2012 Home Control Switch. Like the previous model it connects to the internet via home wifi network, and provides full control via Android or iOS app.

An IFTTT.com channel provides users with a simple means of brewing up "recipes" providing additional functionality, such as switching on a heater when one wakes up or turning off a device after a certain amount of time.

Transparency Market Research reports the global home automation market will see strong growth during the 2013-2019 period, with CAGR reaching 24.5% as the industry shifts towards the mainstream.

According to the analyst the market is at a point of inflection characterised by a number of aspects-- chiefly complex solutions, high industry competition, large number of networking technologies, multiple and incompatible standards and expensive products. However consumer demand for universal, easy-to-install solutions will drive the market away from its current, luxury-dominated, standing.

Fueling the trend further are telcos, broadband providers, utilities and cable operators, among others, taking on automation. The result is vendors moving away from the luxury market towards development of manstream solutions.