Ushering in our new robot overlords, one appliance at a time

This year's International Consumer Electronics Show, which wrapped up Sunday in Las Vegas, was an orgy of smarts -- "smart" Internet-connected appliances, smart television sets, smart lawn mowers, smart … everything. The industry's vision of a world of interconnected, programmable devices has become a reality, thanks in part to the ubiquity of broadband Internet connections and the availability of inexpensive chips, sensors and batteries. And the devices do more than just talk to each other. They collect information about the world around them, they learn, they adapt. Robot vacuum cleaners that learn your house's floor plan.