How Nest and Opower quietly morphed into competitors
The leading energy data startups Nest and Opower have quietly started to look more like competitors, though with some significant differences. Read more »
Early results: PG&E customers like controlling thermostats with iPhones
According to early results of PG&E’s trial with smart thermostats from Honeywell and Opower, customers really like controlling the thermostat remotely with their iPhones. Remote control could prove to be one of the first smart grid applications that is a clear benefit to consumers. Read more »
10 things to be thankful for this year in cleantech
photo: Flickr/ VincciWincci
Despite the difficult year in cleantech, there’s quite a few things that excited me this year. Here’s 10 things to be thankful for in cleantech. Read more »
Utilities embracing smart thermostats to help manage grids
American utilities are slowly starting to embrace using smart thermostats to help manage the energy consumption of their customers. Startups like EnergyHub, EcoFactor, Nest, and Opower are offering these tools. Read more »
Yahoo email users spend more on energy than Gmail users
Here’s a weird bit of energy data courtesy of energy software startup Opower: people that use Yahoo email spend $110 more a year on electricity — or 11 percent more — than Gmail users. Why? Read more »
Amazon starts selling Nest learning thermostat, too
Following the news that startup Nest began selling its smart thermostat through Apple’s online store, the company announced on Thursday that its device is now available via Amazon, too. Read more »
Round 3 in the Honeywell vs. Nest fisticuffs
The bare-knuckle boxing match between thermostat giant Honeywell and smart thermostat startup Nest Labs entered round three on Monday, with Honeywell’s official denial of Nest’s counterclaim. Read more »
Today in Green IT: Solar & smart thermostats in 2012
The Green IT section of our GigaOM Pro service has been cranking out a lot of rock solid research and long form reports in 2012. Come check out our new 30-page state of solar report, our smart thermostat research and new analysis on batteries. Read more »
The details behind the Honeywell, Nest lawsuit
Thermostat giant Honeywell has slapped startup Nest, and retailer Best Buy, with a lawsuit over patent infringement for smart thermostat technology. I read the lawsuit so you don’t have to and here’s the details you need to know: Read more »
Honeywell hits Nest with a law suit over smart thermostat
Thermostat giant Honeywell has filed a lawsuit alleging patent infringement by the buzzy Silicon Valley startup Nest, which makes a smart learning thermostat. Read more »
Opower hires CFO, considering IPO down the road
Energy software startup Opower has hired a chief financial officer, Thomas Kramer, and is mulling over a potential IPO down the road. Kramer was previously the CFO at Cvent, and created the eCommerce strategy for Boston Consulting Group. Read more »
Best Buy making a bet on home energy gear
Retailer giant Best Buy is launching a modest push into home energy products, planning to sell gadgets that can help home owners cut their energy consumption, and lower their energy bills, via dedicated sections of some of its stores and through a new online portal. Read more »
Opower & Honeywell launch a smart thermostat
Earlier this year we reported that energy software startup Opower was considering adding a home energy device to its portfolio. A half year later here’s Opower’s first foray into hardware: the company announced it has partnered with building automation giant Honeywell to sell a connected thermostat. Read more »
Light Bulbs Move Into the Internet Age
Along with our latest gadgets, cell phones, electrical meters and cars, light bulbs and lighting systems, are increasingly getting embedded with chips, connected to wireless networks and moving into the Internet age. Here are some examples from the annual lighting convention Lightfair this week. Read more »
EnergyHub Launches Direct to Consumer Home Energy Strategy
On Sunday, at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, EnergyHub, for the first time, plans to start offering its home energy device directly to a consumer beta group, and one day soon plans to start selling its product directly to consumers. Read more »
EnergyHub Raises Funds, Brings EnerNOC President on Board
Startup EnergyHub is raising funds to help make the transition from small-scale utility pilots to commercial deployments over the coming years, and has also brought on a high-profile new independent director onto its board: EnerNOC President and Co-founder David Brewster. Read more »
The Evolution of Labor Day
The origins of Labor Day, which takes place the first Monday of September in North America, are somewhat uncertain. The holiday originated in Canada, born out of the worker’s rights movement there in the 1870s. By the 1880s, it had spread across the border, and the […] Read more »
Air New Zealand Takes Off With Jatropha Biofuel
Air New Zealand has completed what it says was the first commercial test flight using biofuel made from the jatropha plant. Jatropha, which produces seeds that contain inedible lipid oil, can be grown on land that’s not usable for food crops, making it a potentially more […] Read more »
