Connectivity changes everything. That’s the credo driving just about every corner of our day-to-day lives. As human beings, we are now connected to one another through not just our social networks but also our cars, the books we read, the albums we download and even our own health and wellness habits (to name just a few areas). With that in mind, GigaOM Pro has singled out certain areas in the technology industry where we see this shift to constant connectivity taking place most drastically. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Peddling home energy management gear and software successfully is harder than it seems, and big companies such as Microsoft and Cisco are ditching this market. EnergyHub is staying and on Thursday announced a $14.5 million round to help it sell products and services to consumers. Read more »
Throughout 2009 and 2010, Internet companies like Microsoft, Google and even router giant Cisco launched experimental software and hardware to help building managers and home owners monitor and control their energy consumption. But now these firms are abandoning those plans. Why? Read more »
Internet giants Google and Microsoft have officially given their web-based energy management tools the Donald Trump (as in You’re Fired!), and lannounced that they would be closing them down. But there are still over a dozen options trying to tackle this difficult market. Read more »
They’re dropping like flies: the big Internet companies’ online energy tools. Last week, it was Google pulling the plug on PowerMeter, and this week, it’s RIP for Microsoft and its Hohm energy tool. Here’s my assessment of 5 reasons why Microsoft Hohm didn’t take off. Read more »
In the wake of Google pulling the plug on its energy tool PowerMeter, Microsoft says it has now killed its energy service, Hohm, too. Microsoft writes on its blog that it will discontinue its Hohm service starting on May 31, 2012. Read more »
OPower, the startup that gets homeowners to cut energy use with out in-home dashboards and gateways, is looking at home energy automation devices. What are the pros and cons of high-tech automation versus smart behavioral science? Read more »
As consumers adopt smartphones and mobile broadband becomes more ubiquitous, smarter homes will become more common, with brains enabled by machine-to-machine network technologies, mobile applications for monitoring and control, and Internet connectivity to keep homeowners in the loop. I’ve been experimenting with just such a system. Read more »
Even with smart meters and home energy portals, customers want opt-out options for home energy management rather than plans that ask them to monitor energy use every day. Here’s how the opt-out concept can guide startups and IT giants in the home energy management ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Anticipating the roll-out of their new electrified line of cars and light-duty vans, Ford is partnering with utility Portland General Electric to make sure adequate charging infrastructure and electrical grid capacity are available in their service area. Read more »
The first wireless and web-connected gadget for Microsoft-Hohm is now available in the form of an electric meter sensor, a wireless LCD monitor and a Wi-Fi adapter. With this combo, I’m able to track my electric usage, determine my home’s carbon footprint and get green recommendations. Read more »
On Tuesday morning Microsoft is looking to kick its Hohm energy management and monitoring software aimed at consumers into a higher gear. It is announcing its first gadget partnership with Blue Line Innovations, a Canadian company that sells low cost gadgets for tracking electricity use. Read more »
Shame, guilt, and embarrassment are always good tools to change people’s behavior. This morning Microsoft added in a “score” functionality to its energy management tool Hohm which gives a Hohm score to every address entered based on how energy efficient the building is. Read more »
With Microsoft’s work with Ford and GM’s recent partnership with Google on the Chevy Volt, it’s looking like automakers are teaming up with various Internet giants. How will the unions play out? Read more »
Despite the build out of smart grid infrastructure, there’s still a variety questions that remain unanswered when it comes to just what will a next-generation smart grid network look like? Here’s 5 points of debate that we’ll be addressing at our Green:Net conference on April 29: Read more »
Ford and Microsoft’s move to use Hohm to minimize energy costs for electric vehicle drivers and limit strain on the grid represents a big step toward a “smart charging” ecosystem. But they say tools like Hohm need to go much, much bigger. Read more »
Ford is turning to Microsoft’s home energy management tool Hohm to enable smart charging for its electric vehicles. Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made the announcement this morning. Read more »
By this summer you can expect to find the first energy devices — smart meters, energy management dashboards, connected thermostats — that can link with Microsoft’s online energy management tool, Hohm. Troy Batterberry, a Microsoft product unit manager, told us more about the initiative. Read more »
Smart meters have been undergoing a bit of a consumer backlash lately — and that could open the door for alternative ways to bring energy data to homeowners. Certainly the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the federal entity setting smart grid standards, seems to want […] Read more »
The e-book seller that began life as Shortcovers is getting ready to explode on the e-book reading scene. Recently Kobo signed a deal with Borders to handle e-books for the chain, along with producing a reader for them. The folks at Kobo aren’t content to rest […] Read more »
We’ve seen smartphones for years but it seems that only recently is the software piece of the equation fitting into the puzzle. Useful mobile apps are surely helping drive sales of smartphones, and in turn, more smartphone sales deliver larger captive audiences to mobile app developers. […] Read more »
Super-thin notebooks are all the rage, but they invariably come at a big price premium. Dell proved that with the release of the swanky Adamo XPS, a notebook just 0.65-inches thick for $1,799. It was looking like super-thin notebooks would never be priced for the masses, […] Read more »
At this point, the number of creative ways that companies have developed to help home owners monitor and manage their energy consumption, seems to far surpass the volume of consumer interest. That’s OK, though, because the home energy management market is so new, and it’s still […] Read more »
On Friday Microsoft plans to announce that its energy management online tool Hohm is now live and available to utility Xcel Energy’s 3.4 million customers. Troy Batterberry, Microsoft’s product unit manager of its Energy Management & Home Automation division, plans to break the news at an […] Read more »
Over its 3-year lifetime, Cambridge, UK-based home energy management startup AlertMe has managed to develop a slick hardware design and become one of the first startups to sell its gear to customers. In the past several months since the company decided to focus predominantly on utility […] Read more »
If you pay attention to the energy sector, then you’ve witnessed the recent parade of home energy management software launched by startups, huge IT firms and veteran electrical meter companies. With firms like Microsoft, Google and, most recently, GE entering the home energy management software space, ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Are you ready to give Microsoft’s energy management tool Hohm a spin? On Monday morning at 6 a.m. (pacific time) Microsoft is opening up the doors on Hohm to the general public, about two weeks after the software giant revealed the idea behind its energy management […] Read more »
Updated: More than any utility on the planet, Germany’s Yello Strom has embraced the intertwining of energy and home broadband connections. The company manages its smart meter service directly via its customers’ broadband connection; it’s the first European utility to offer its customers access to Google’s […] Read more »
Among the utilities that have come forward lately to announce deals with energy management software makers — from San Diego Gas & Electric and TXU Energy (working with Google), to Xcel Energy and Sacramento Municipal Utility District (working with Microsoft) — one progressive utility has been […] Read more »
In the past couple of weeks startups and infotech giants have been racing to launch, or acquire, home energy management tools. Next will come, over the next year, a battle to see which companies can sign up the most utilities. Google, which already announced partnerships with […] Read more »
Microsoft’s energy management tool, Hohm, which launched this week, is a clear play to help consumers save energy. Log into the Hohm web site, enter your ZIP code and other details about your residence, and the service predicts your home energy use (or links to your […] Read more »
[qi:_earth2tech] As Earth2Tech pointed out earlier this week, everyone and their mother is building home energy management tools these days, including Google. Today, Microsoft unveiled its new home energy management software: Hohm (not to be confused with Sprint’s WiMAX network, Xohm). Announced this morning by Microsoft […] Read more »
Wireless networking gets all the love in today’s mobile world, but inside the home, wires will still play a key role in delivering entertainment and other content. Your set-top box may sport an Ethernet port, but it still connects to the wall via coaxial cable. Wires […] Read more »
