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Everyone likes to talk about smart homes, but it's going to take about three years to move them from pilot projects to mass markets.

That's the view of Adrian Tuck, CEO of home energy management startup Tendril Networks, which makes software and devices to give homeowners a view into their moment-to-moment energy usage. That can help consumers save 10 percent or more on their energy use, according to utility trials that have put such devices in people's homes.

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Imagine a refrigerator smart enough to cut your electricity bills.

Smart-grid start-up Tendril and General Electric later this year will test a smart-grid system that will allow GE's networked home appliances to take advantage of cheaper electricity rates, the companies announced Wednesday.

The joint development deal calls for GE to speak to Tendril's smart-grid software in a range of GE appliances--dishwashers, washing machines, refrigerators, and water heaters--over Zigbee wireless networks.

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Or so your correspondent believed until he attended Demo 09 in Palm Desert, California, earlier this week. The event, where selected startups are each given six minutes under the spotlight to pitch their product to an audience of investors and industry veterans, is one of the leading launch pads for emerging technologies.

Three presentations at Demo 09 lifted his spirits. One, in particular, made him feel the smart grid might even enter the home before the decade was out.

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