Companies are teaming up to establish standard ways for household devices to talk to each other, but it seems that once again there will be not a single camp to define the future of the connected home. Like the rivalry between Blu-ray and HD DVD optical disc formats decades ago, Silicon Valley is far from agreement on what standards should rule.

Currently, Qualcomm is leading the AllSeen Alliance, a group that promotes protocols for how smart devices should work together in a so-called 'Internet of Things' trend. Qualcomm led the development of a connection standard called AllJoyn and made it free for other companies to use in their products.Microsoft, Panasonic Corp, LG Electronics Inc and Sharp Corp have all joined the AllSeen Alliance.

Howevwr, chipmakers that compete with Qualcomm plan to launch a rival standards consortium as early as next week, Reutaers reports, citing unamed sources.

The quick establishment of standards across home-connected gadgets, cars and wearable computing devices will accelerate the introduction of new devices by manufacturers. But failing to do so would result in new smart home products that would be incompatible with each other.

Apple in June announced plans for HomeKit, which will integrate control of devices like garage door openers, lights and thermostats.

Last week, Google said it partnered with Mercedes-Benz, Whirlpool and light bulb maker LIFX to integrate their products with Google's Nest thermostats and smoke detectors.

Intel has still to decide whether it would support AllSeen Alliance or any other group.