As expected, Verizon offered a little more detail on their planned FiOS home automation system this week at CES, noting that the "Home Monitoring and Control" system will come with a "nominal" fee, and will be "priced for broad usage." According to CNET, the company will sell two different starter kits -- one focused on home security and the other focused on energy monitoring -- and will then sell various add ons for additional cost. The Z-wave embedded hardware will effectively create an in-home mesh network, all controlled via the Verizon portal:The company plans to launch a trial this month in New Jersey, with broader deployment later this year. ISP executives tend to think that since they have this massive embedded customer base, it makes sense to sell them every and any service. But there's risks and high costs in trying to be all things to all people, and there's a reason these systems haven't taken off despite a decade of ISP talk. It's not clear if consumers really want their local incumbent ISPs' help turning on and off the lights, nor is it clear if remote thermostat adjustment is really very high on most consumers priority list.

Still, Verizon appears intent to find out later this year. This Verizon video offers a little more detail, but is more promotional than informative.