"There's not a single OEM (original equipment manufacturer) on the planet, that I've talked to, that's not all over this," Lurie said.

The iPhone has helped convince device makers they should wirelessly connect their products, Lurie said. Watching what application vendors achieved in products on the iPhone's App Store inspired manufacturers of devices that they can build useful, easy-to-use software for their own small screens, he said.

AT&T's iPhone deal with Apple, which Lurie negotiated, also jogged the mobile operator out of its staid ways. Critics objected to how much AT&T was giving away to Apple, but the success of the phone and App Store taught the carrier a lesson, Lurie said.

"We have to start with a clean sheet of paper," he said.

Faster networks, nearly 100 percent penetration of cell phones in the U.S., and the need for a new selling point for consumer electronics have all contributed to the move toward connected devices, according to Lurie. One other emerging technology, cloud computing, is also playing a role. With their low processing power and small storage capacities, portable devices will rely on cloud-based resources on networks, he said.