Welcome to the post-normal age of work
In today’s world of work, companies that want to thrive need to shift from a business-process defined culture towards a more social network-shaped, cooperative one. Read more »
Flash analysis: the Fisker debacle and its implications on investing, innovation, and government incentives
Electric car startup Fisker Automotive, along with its plug-in sports car, is turning out to be one of the worst venture capital bets of all time. We asked GigaOM readers a variety of questions about what they think will happen to Fisker and what they think will be the broader implications of and lessons learned from Fisker’s high-profile crash and burn. Here are the results. Read more »
A look under the hood: why electric car startup Fisker crashed and burned
We bring you the behind the scenes story of how electric car startup Fisker Automotive spent over a billion dollars, took down a government loan and ultimately delivered about 2,000 cars, a small fraction of what it originally promised. Read more »
How energy data will impact the smart grid
The deployment of smart meters combined with the growth of cloud computing infrastructure has created opportunities to build business models around the volume of emerging energy data. Those who use data to solve customer problems and leverage decades of software development and advances in big data will attract investment dollars. Read more »
2013 Toyota Avalon jump-starts wireless phone charging in cars
Toyota’s 2013 Avalon Limited has an integrated charging pad that fills up a phone battery simply by placing the device on the pad. Hopefully, other car manufacturers follow and this jump-starts a wireless power movemet because the scenario is perfect for charging without wires Read more »
BMW backs electric car charging startup Coulomb
BMW’s venture fund, BMW i Ventures, has invested in electric car charging company Coulomb Technologies, according to a release. BMW launched its $100 million fund — its first to date — last year to focus on “mobility,” including mobile apps, in car services and auto navigation. Read more »
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Social-TV apps and consumer behavior
Social TV is any application, website or software that allows viewers to interact with television programming and share that interaction with others. Startups in this space hope to combine ubiquitous second-screen technology with well-established audience behavior to drive new value around shows. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Electric vehicle outlook: 2012–2017
Overall, between 2012 and 2017, more than 900,000 light-duty PEVs will be sold in the United States. But there remain hefty inhibitors to mainstream plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) use, including limited vehicle driving range and large battery packs, not to mention steep prices. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Coulomb powers up with $47.5M for electric car charging
Electric car charging network owner Coulomb Technologies has lined up $47.5 million to expand its reach during a year when more new electric vehicle models are showing up. Read more »
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Ups and downs for cleantech in Q1
This quarter the EV market struggled to find its footing. Meanwhile, the smart-grid sector solidified and low-power technology proved itself important in the data center. Read more to learn what these news pieces and others mean for the larger space over the next few months. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Rethinking on-demand energy storage
Google’s choice of thermal storage for cooling its data center signals interest from Internet giants in using stored energy to cool data centers rather than just drawing power direct from the grid when needed. Is this the future of on demand power for data centers? Read more »
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Rethinking energy storage
Google’s choice of thermal energy storage for its Taiwan data center suggests greater openness and thinking about how to store energy. Energy storage takes on greater importance as we move towards renewable energy sources which contain intermittency challenges. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Forecasting the future cloud computing market
Cloud computing is at the top of virtually every CIO’s interest list and is expected to grow 126.5 percent over the next two years. A new report on GigaOM Pro details each sector of cloud computing and forecasts a shift toward hybrid models in the enterprise community. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
GM plans to relaunch marketing for electric Volt in a month or so
General Motors plans to relaunch a marketing, PR and advertising campaign for its extended-range electric Volt in the next 30 to 60 days, according to GM CEO Dan Akerson, to help boost under performing sales. Read more »
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Tesla’s Model X could make the electric SUV a hit
Tesla has decked out its Model X, an SUV-minivan hybrid, with innovative design features that, along with a relatively affordable price tag, could attract a mainstream audience. This research note examines why Tesla will be the brand to watch in the electric vehicle market. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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How electric vehicles lead to better telematics
Offerings in the EV space will explode this year, with everything from a long-awaited plug-in Prius to the first all-electric SUV from Tesla. More important, they will usher in the era of the connected car and an entirely new relationship between a driver and his vehicle. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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12 tech leaders’ resolutions for 2012
If you’re like many of us, you’re already thinking over some New Year’s resolutions that will make you a better “you” in 2012. But how are the tech industries’ thought leaders approaching the new year? We asked 12 of them for their resolutions. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Waiting for the EV market to materialize
It was a tough week for electric cars, with Chevy Volt’s sales falling short and Aptera’s filing for bankruptcy. The barriers to EV adoption are widely known but center around a few major issues, including range anxiety, charging time and initial cost. Range anxiety and unease ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Connected world: the consumer technology revolution
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 »
Qualcomm buys wireless electric car charging tech
Wireless giant Qualcomm has jumped into the electric vehicle market by acquiring the assets of a company, called HaloIPT, out of New Zealand that has developed wireless electric car charging tech. Read more »
A123 lines up $25M amid disappointing ’11 forecast
Is A123 Systems a company that is good at announcing deals but can’t profit from them? After cutting its 2011 sales forecast last Friday, A123 on Monday announced a licensing deal with Japan’’s IHI, which will make a $25 million equity investment in A123. Read more »
5 bets the DOE made that are better than Solyndra
It’s been over a month since the Solyndra news came out, but it’s still dominating. Because it just won’t go away, here’s my top five list of projects that the DOE also backed with loan guarantees and that are showing some early signs of success. Read more »
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The connected planet: Smartphones aren’t the only player
The number of connected devices is steadily on the rise, but it’s not smartphones or computers that will lead us to the 50 billion connected devices expected by the year 2020. Rather, the Internet of Things — numerous smart objects that speak to the web and ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Research: Using smartphones for frugal driving
Smartphones are increasingly becoming the remote controls of our lives. Car owners can use theirs to check on the battery level and driving range and adjust the climate control system. An MIT project explores new ways to use smartphones to help drivers cut fuel costs. Read more »
LG joins forces with GM to design electric cars
The team approach is becoming popular in the electric car development space. General Motors and LG Group announced Thursday a plan to co-develop electric vehicles in order to speed up their deployment. Read more »
Car data needs standards, too
Ford and Toyota are working together on standards for the next-generation of networking and Internet-connected services in their vehicles. The move shows just how important connectivity is becoming for car companies, as vehicles are becoming the latest devices to have an always-on wireless connection. Read more »
Toyota to start building electric RAV4 in Ontario
Toyota plans to make its first electric RAV4s in conjunction with Silicon Valley electric car company Tesla Motors in Woodstock, Ontario, according to a report in the Toronto Star. Read more »
Tesla hints at larger potential deal with Toyota
Electric car maker Tesla Motors reported it’s second quarter results today, and in a call with the media and investors, Tesla CEO Elon Musk hinted at a much larger supply deal under discussion with auto maker Toyota. Read more »
Tesla scores $100M supply deal with Toyota for RAV4 EV
Electric car company Tesla Motors has scored a coveted $100 million supply deal with Toyota to produce an electric version of Toyota’s RAV-4, according to a filing. While Tesla already had the R&D for the RAV4 EV with Toyota, the supply deal is a major win. Read more »
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Infrastructure Q2: Big data and PaaS gain more momentum
Big data and Platform-as-a-Service offerings highlighted the second quarter, suggesting that we can expect to see a shift in enterprise IT practices around application development and analytics very soon. On the PaaS front, we saw new projects like DotCloud and Cloud Foundry gain incredible momentum in just a few short months. The big-data activity ranged from major new Hadoop vendors to heavy investment in flash storage that will speed the serving of data to processing engines. In other areas, we saw an uptick in cloud-computing plans from large vendors, OpenStack continued to mature and pick up both contributors and users, and Facebook caught our eye by launching an open-source project around the designs for its specialized servers and data centers. Additional companies mentioned in this report include VMware, Salesforce.com, IBM, Heroku and Calxeda. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Car apps: the future of the vehicle industry
Car companies are trying to get social, and 2011 could be the year of the car as a major platform for social and other types of apps. A new GigaOM Pro report examines the in-vehicle app landscape and analyzes individual carmakers’ efforts and models. Read more »
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A field guide to cloud computing: current trends, future opportunities
Cloud computing has grown from a pie-in-the-sky vision to a major IT movement over the past few years. As its promise has grown, though, so too has its scope. This report covers six key sectors in cloud computing: commodity Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), enterprise IaaS, Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), cloud storage and private clouds. We highlight the current state of each and provide informed insights into where they — and cloud computing in general — are headed. Much like any market in a still-evolving state, the infrastructure of the cloud-computing transition is still being built by startups, practitioners and even a big-name company or two. Companies mentioned in this report include VMware, Amazon, Nasuni, Terremark and Heroku. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Toyota’s Electric RAV4: Will Tesla Get the Supply Deal?
Toyota and Tesla have been working on prototypes outfitting Toyota’s classic SUV the RAV4 with Tesla’s electric vehicle tech. But will Tesla be the supplier of the commercial version of the RAV4 EV, which Toyota wants to sell in 2012? It’s yet to be determined. Read more »
Tesla Plans to End Roadster Production in December ’11
Silicon Valley electric car pioneer Tesla plans to stop production of its first electric car the Roadster in December 2011, according to a filing. Read more »
Toyota Teams Up With WiTricity for Wireless Car Charging
Wireless charging is an appealing concept for many of us who loathe the sight of messy power cords or the need to find outlets in public. Carmakers like it, too. Toyota announced a deal Wednesday with WiTricity to bring wireless charging to cars. Read more »
Microsoft and Toyota Use Cloud to Connect Cars, Homes and Users
Microsoft and Toyota are jointly investing $12 million in a bid to build a cloud-based platform that will connect cars, homes and the electrical smart grids. The joint venture will be run out of Toyota Media Services and will leverage Microsoft’s Windows Azure cloud services. Read more »
Toyota Embraces iPhone Jailbreak Community for Ad Campaign
In what may be the weirdest Apple-related news you’ll read today, Toyota introduced a new official Scion-branded jailbreak iPhone theme Saturday for distribution in the Cydia store. This marks the first time a major corporation has embraced the iOS jailbreak community, but how will Apple respond? Read more »
How Japan’s Crisis Could Affect Cleantech
Japan’s massive earthquake, tsunami, and now nuclear disaster, is starting to shine a spotlight on just how important the country is in terms of clean energy technology, from solar to electric cars. Read more »
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Green IT’s Q4 Winners: Wind Power, Solar Power, Smart Energy
Greentech marked its best year ever in 2010, and part of that is thanks to the wealth of activity across sectors during the fourth quarter. Global investment in clean energy surged, and while wind power remained the biggest greentech area, solar power saw the fastest growth. The energy efficiency sector appears to have more room for smaller players to make their mark amidst a rapidly maturing market. Meanwhile, China’s stance as a growing greentech giant continued to complicate its relationship with the United States. Companies mentioned in this report include General Electric, Intel, ZigBee, iControl, People Power and EnerNOC. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Big Data, ARM and Legal Troubles Transformed Infrastructure in Q4
Some might call this past quarter in the infrastructure space transformative. The rise of ARM-based processing suggests the days of x86 dominance might be coming to an end, while the Amazon Web Services-WikiLeaks controversy cast new light on the legal aspects of cloud computing. Big data got bigger, meanwhile, as the Hadoop ecosystem expanded, and amid all these cutting-edge technologies, two archaic topics — Novell and Java — proved they aren’t going anywhere soon. Companies mentioned in this report include Intel, AMD, Amazon Web Services, IBM, Yahoo, Appistry, VMware, Joyent and Microsoft. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
