One of the biggest hurdles for a truly smart home is that your appliances and devices don't really talk to each other, so to speak. There are competing protocols and proprietary ecosystems by different companies, which make it hard for the devices to communicate, if they aren't from the same brand. But some big tech brands are banding together to hopefully solve this issue. The Open Connectivity Foundation includes members like Microsoft, Intel, Samsung, Qualcomm, Cisco, and GE Digital, to name a few. They want to create open-source protocols that can be implemented by any manufacturer, regardless of chipset or operating system. So, in an ideal world your different appliances from different brands can talk to each other.
A big challenge for the alliance though is that key players in the industry like Apple, Google, WeMo, and Philips are not members. Apple is pushing its own HomeKit system, which, of course, only works for iOS devices. Google hasn't gotten Brillo off the ground yet but it has its own implementation, too. We can't really say if these companies will even be willing to consider to partner up with OCF, it would be quite helpful though if they do.
Source: Engadget