Hmm, I recall reading a couple articles about it a year or so ago but nothing is coming up in searches.

I'm not sure if that means it was vaporware, misinformation, or coming soon to a Google TV near you. Anyone that's more familiar with network capabilities is free to correct me, but as far as I'm aware if your TV even has Bluetooth it's already capable of doing this at some level.

Either way you'll catch a smart appliance in my house when I'm dead.

Because the range could include things like the apartment, condo, or even house next door.

Unique IDs are a privacy concern. Best you can tell by randomized MAC addresses is who the manufacturer of the device is and the type of device if you're lucky (like when the manufacturer's departments are internally split into separate companies), but that's not guaranteed.