Sometimes you go to an industry event and you happily realize that you’re smack dab in the middle of the zeitgeist. That pretty much sums up my experience at the NAB Show last month.

I fearlessly jumped into the brilliantly-named “Broadband Pit” twice to pitch our CloudTV apps platform and vision to the assembled broadcasters, developers and programmers. I called my wife to tell her all about it, but unfortunately my cell connection was noisy. When I called her back, she wanted to hear all about how I got to hang out with Brad Pitt. I didn’t want to disappoint her, so if you run into her, just play along.

Anyway, after I spoke, lots of people came up to me personally to show me love. Not because of my always snazzy appearance or my PowerPoint skillz, either; it seemed were very excited about my call to the smart TV ecosystem to join the cloud.

I was perplexed.

Could be that the TV industry is beginning to realize that the device-based smart TV direction is not sustainable or efficient. They see that the cloud offers unlimited functionality. It could be that they see that it futureproofs end-user devices like TVs and set-top boxes. It could be that they see that it offers endless revenue opportunities. It could be that they love the ability to write once for the cloud, as opposed to writing over and over again for each model of every device out there.

It could be all those things. Needless to say, I hope it keeps up. Cuz I like the free drinks.

CES 2011 was a true breakthrough for connected television or, in the emerging vernacular, smart TV. All of the big names in the TV space announced their connected TV plans. And they pretty much all said the same thing: Platform A strikes agreement with CE Manufacturer B to bring you the same content as any other connected TV. Except for one: Funai Electric is the first CE manufacturer to embrace the cloud as a smart TV platform—using ActiveVideo’s CloudTV™. Here’s our joint press release about this landmark agreement.

Many people outside of the consumer electronics industry may not have heard of Funai, but they certainly purchase a lot of Funai televisions. That’s because if you walk into a store like Target, Walmart or Sears, chances are you’ll see Funai brands like Philips, Magnavox, Sylvania and Emerson prominently displayed. Target, Walmart and Sears are all ahead of Best Buy on the Top Global Retailers list, with Walmart being the number one retailer in the world. That’s a lot of TVs.

To put this in perspective: When you add these new CE consumers to the 5 million cable subscribers who already get CloudTV, that’s more than the reach of Google TV, Apple TV, Roku and Boxee combined. Just think, to achieve the same kind of reach, Netflix develops applications for over 250 devices.

That may be impressive to all of us tech cognoscenti, but the average person might ask: So what? What’s the big deal if my smart TV or Blu-ray player is cloud-based, and not device-based? Here’s the big deal:

When people buy TVs, they expect them to last seven years or longer. Will the device-based platforms be able to run the latest and greatest apps in seven years? Will developers even be developing for those old platforms? And even if they are, will people use up the paltry memory on these devices, and have to start deleting apps to make room for new ones? Will consumers get tired of the constant downloads and updates?

With a cloud-based device, the TV’s horsepower is never an issue. The cloud handles all of the heavy lifting. There’s no limit to the number of apps that may be available, and you get the latest version every time you connect—streamed, not downloaded.

So while everyone else at CES was talking about their slice of the connected TV pie, ActiveVideo® was talking about making a bigger pie—one that everyone can enjoy.

At last year’s CES, the hype was all about 3D TV. This year’s CES promises similar hype surrounding connected TV.

A lot of people right now are focused on who has the best standalone connected TV box (e.g., Google, Apple TV, Boxee, Roku). Of course, Google TV can say something its competitors can’t: In addition to its incarnation as a standalone box from Logitech, it’s also built into Sony TVs, with more brands on the way.

And I think that’s the connected TV trend to watch at CES, and for 2011: Connected TV platforms will be built into more devices that consumers already plan to buy, like TVs and Blu-ray players. Sure, the press will be enamored every time a new gadget comes out, but if the devices people already buy have similar Web-connected content, they have no reason to buy another box.

I’ll take it a step further, though. What the market needs is a connected TV platform that can exist in all TVs, not just the top-of-the-line models (a la Google TV). ActiveVideo’s CloudTV™ platform is the most lightweight platform in the connected TV space because it uniquely leverages the processing, memory and storage of the cloud, rather than the end user device. That keeps TV prices (and the cost of manufacturing them) down. And in this price-sensitive economy, that’s just what consumers want to hear.

I’m really looking forward to CES. All those connected TVs will get the media’s attention. All that media attention will get the consumers’ attention. And when consumers finally see what’s there, they’ll start to realize that TV as we know it is about to change forever—and for the better. Connected TV may still have a long way to go, but the flag has been planted.

All of this excitement almost makes a trip to Las Vegas in January worthwhile.