Now is the time to weigh in on what you want to see atSXSW 2015 by voting for the panels you want featured at next year’s interactive conference. Voting ends September 5th so be sure to vote for your favorite sessions before then!

Smart Home: What's Really Holding It Back

Smart Home has been touted as the “next big thing” for the past 50 years. Companies have promised homes filled with smart devices worthy of the Jetsons since, well, the show debuted in 1962, and even before with the 1957 RCA-Whirlpool Miracle Kitchen. So what’s the hold up? While smart devices – light bulbs, door locks, thermostats – are rapidly entering the market, today’s connected home remains gridlocked. It’s not the technology holding us back; it’s the expensive, closed business models that prevent the connected home from scaling up and reaching its full potential. Consumers don’t want a recipe for a limited ecosystem with costly, complicated installations and rigid service provider contracts. This panel of experts will discuss the evolution of home appliances and devices, the barriers and challenges preventing home automation from reaching its full potential and what’s needed to bring convenience, efficiency and security of Smart Home to the masses.Vote for this panel here

Finding the Fitbit for the Smart Home Market

Just like wearables needed a Fitbit to move from a small group of self-trackers to the mainstream, the Smart Home needs a killer app. The thermostat makes sense, and clearly there are several companies wagering that is the device that will take the Smart Home from a DIYers paradise to the promised $51B market we have all been talking about for years, but what if that is just another singular device that fails to inspire the masses. Are we still looking for the killer app for the Smart Home? Is it the kitchen? The security system? The entertainment center? What is the secret for taking a product from idea through development and releasing to market in such a way that it moves an entire industry from on the cusp to next big thing? Let us tell you. Vote for this panel here