This week’s podcast stars our gadget reporter, Kevin Tofel, who helps me figure out a few tips for consumers thinking about buying connected devices to build out an internet of things in their homes. Read more »
Are big data, analytics, and machine learning the answers to reducing the energy consumption of our homes? Yep, according to newly-emerged startup Bidgely that’s backed by Khosla Ventures. In an exclusive interview, Bidgely’s CEO gives GigaOM the details about what it’s been up to. Read more »
It’s a hot day and you agree not to jack up your air conditioner in exchange for a discount on your utility bill. Startups like Smart Grid Billing are developing applications to help manage this process, and the startup plans to launch a pilot next month. Read more »
The over a decade-old company that makes the building blocks — chips, gear and software — for ZigBee-based wireless networks is finally being acquired. Austin-based chip company Silicon Labs announced on Monday that it has acquired Boston-based Ember for $72 million. Read more »
Five key technology sectors are enabling the smart city: smart grids, smart transport, smart water and waste management, smart building systems, and the enabling ICT platforms for the smart city. Key players like IT companies, telcos and utilities must learn how to harness those technologies, and quickly. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
GE is launching more gadgets to help consumers monitor and manage their home-energy consumption. Read more »
Choosing a home automation network standard can be a hassle. It’s too bad there isn’t a ubiquitous network standard to use in plug-and-play modules. Oh wait: what about Wi-Fi? Belkin’s new WeMo products use Wi-Fi, which may help move home automation from geeks to the mainstream. Read more »
By 2020 it is estimated that 20–50 billion devices will be connected to the Internet. Many of these devices will be collecting health data or will be connected to health and medical devices in the home, the hospital or the wider environment. The Internet of things (IoT), meanwhile, refers to the growth of sensors and things that connect to the Internet via RFID, Bluetooth, ZigBee and satellite. In health care, its growth is likely to open new disruptive business opportunities for services that add value to the data collected. This paper provides a preliminary overview of the landscape of opportunities and drivers in the current health and health care environments and highlights some of the challenges that remain. Companies mentioned in this report include IBM, Arrayent Health, Kaiser Permanente and Ford. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
PG&E plans to start testing out home energy gadgets and software starting in March 2012 with a small group of customers, and the utility unveiled details of its plan this week. Here’s what you need to know. Read more »
The momentum right now in cleantech is as much about connectivity and how it can drive energy efficiency as it is about advancing sources of renewable energy. And as the web and mobile connectivity change our consumer experiences, the opportunities to redefine cleantech are rich, and they are already happening. This research note examines the cleantech space in that context and analyzes the car-sharing, home-energy-management and smart-grid sectors and their relevant companies to see how connectivity will play into their future endeavors. Companies mentioned in this report include RelayRides, Opower, Silver Spring Networks and Nest. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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 »
California’s groundbreaking set of rules on utility customer energy data are facing comment from the smart grid industry this week, and there’s still plenty of confusion over the fine print. In short, CPUC’s rules will need to change to avoid stifling the smart grid-home energy marketplace. Read more »
A wireless standard called 6LoWPAN is looking like a dark horse for helping wirelessly connect devices — from lightbulbs, to appliances — in the smart energy home and could be a good candidate to connect an end-to-end smart grid network. Read more »
Google wants to connect all your devices to the Android ecosystem and then expose their functionality to app developers. Apps to control your light, wash your dishes and even grow your vegetables in your in-house garden are just part of a bigger plan of real-world domination. Read more »
The smart grid industry’s focus is now shifting to the true purpose of the smart grid movement: applications that will improve the efficiency, reliability and versatility of the electric grid. This report analyzes six key smart grid application trends that will help shape the industry landscape in the years to come: distribution automation, data analytics, demand response, carbon management, home energy management and electric vehicles. The applications that prevail in this new arena will define the smart grid experience for industrial, commercial and residential customers. Along the way, new business opportunities that arise from these applications will become available for the providers of software, systems, devices and services, and enhance customer awareness and control of energy consumption. Companies mentioned in this report include Echelon, Google, EnerNOC, ZigBee 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 »
Moving from the current wireless standard ZigBee to the next-generation ZigBee standard dubbed “Smart Energy Profile 2.0″ is going to be a very big deal for utilities, and smart grid firms. Now we’ve got three months to map out the transition. Read more »
How will PG&E’s plan to turn off smart meter radios for complaining customers — and charge them extra for service — affect its smart meter plans, and others around the country? Here’s 3 things I’m paying attention to: Read more »
Quiet smart grid player Digi International is already providing networking for some of the best-known names in the industry, and it’s aiming to move into the emerging world of cloud-based smart grid services and applications as well. Read more »
The broadband-enabled smart energy home finally started to make some initial headway as the new year ushered in 2011, and if the news trickling out from the massive wireless conference Mobile World Congress this week, is any indicator, this trend will only continue throughout the year. Read more »
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 »
Could proprietary Z-Wave be gaining ground on standards-based ZigBee in the home energy networking space? Here are a couple of recent developments that indicate Z-Wave could have a role to ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Could proprietary Z-Wave be gaining ground on standards-based ZigBee in the home energy networking space? Here are a couple of recent developments that indicate Z-Wave could have a role to play. Read more »
General Electric research shows that ZigBee uses less than half the power of Wi-Fi for home energy networking — a fact that cements its likely role as a key enabler of GE’s home energy management devices to come. Read more »
Smart energy gear — from smart meters to intelligent plugs to routers that can connect with smart meters — represents the largest growth opportunity for chips and modules that use the wireless standard ZigBee (or in geek terms 802.15.4). Read more »
In the race between the wireless standards ZigBee and WiFi to network energy-smart homes, ZigBee is so far the clear winner. But that doesn’t mean ZigBee has proven its superiority to Wi-Fi. Read more »
The “Internet of Things” (IoT) will likely be one of the most important technological advances of this century. The emergence of Cloud computing, meanwhile, has created the application and device management backbone needed to scale to and support billions of connected objects. Consumer, governmental and business trends are also pushing us toward the IoT. And despite inhibitors to growth, such as privacy issues and creating sustainable business models, we will see increasing benefits in our personal and community lives as the IoT takes hold. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
During the next few years, plug-in hybrid and all electric vehicles will be mass-produced for the first time. The promise of reducing emissions, fuel consumption, and the cost of driving will prompt fleet operators and consumers to purchase more than 800,000 of these vehicles between 2010 and 2015, according to Pike Research’s forecasts. Keeping EVs charged and ready to go will require an infrastructure of equipment for vehicle charging and new IT management system for monitoring, analyzing, and controlling vehicle charging. This report looks at the opportunities for IT companies to solve a variety of challenges for utilities, automakers, consumers and others in the EV ecosystem. Includes market segment forecasts forcustomer information management, smart charging management and data analytics. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Distributech, the once-sleepy power grid trade show, has been transformed into a high-profile smart grid showcase over the past couple of years — this year’s show in Tampa, Fla. is no exception. Here’s 10 things you should pay attention to coming outta Distributech this year. Read more »
In the world of smart grid, there tends to be two kinds of networks — short range local area networks (LANs) that connect neighborhoods of smart meters together, and bigger-pipe “backhaul” wide-area networks (WANs) to carry that collected data back to the utility. But wait — there’s […] Read more »
Last month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas featured a flood of new connected devices catering to needs as diverse as entertainment, personal security, home energy efficiency and biometric monitoring. Each of these devices is intended to improve its owner’s quality of life — but it’s ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
I knew it was only a matter of time until some developer figured out a way to turn the big trackpad on the MacBooks into a little tablet. The folks at Ten One Design have stepped up to the plate with Inklet, a program that does […] Read more »
Despite attempts by companies and industry groups to paint the wireless standard Wi-Fi (the one commonly used within buildings for Internet connections) as a winner for smart grid rollouts, it’s looking like Wi-Fi will end up taking a back seat for the next generation of the […] Read more »
Energy harvesting — technology that can capture and store energy from external sources like the sun and movement — first took hold in wireless sensor networks in industrial settings. Picture a massive factory that uses a wireless sensor network to monitor vital machinery to make sure […] Read more »
[appreview] title=Stuck Genie image=http://gigapple.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/appicon_stuck_genie.png price=$1.99 url=http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=314420223&mt=8 rating=silver [/appreview] A genie, a load of balls, and an ancient labyrinth come together to create a frustrating, but fun, puzzler. One of the big boys in the movie biz, Warner Bros., has been solidly churning out iPhone apps for […] Read more »
HTC is easily the most prolific producer of Windows Mobile phones and their Touch line has pushed the limits of those phones. The Touch Diamond was probably the first WM phone that had a nice, big touchscreen, while the HTC TouchFLO interface pushed WM into the […] Read more »
We are currently at an inflection point with regard to smart grid upgrades. For the first time, the smart grid movement has the backing of the U.S. government and increasing buy-in from state public utility commissions; utilities themselves are beginning to aggressively push smart meter ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
We’d like to say thanks to this month’s sponsor of TheAppleBlog: WunderRadio: Wunder Radio provides access to thousands of streaming Internet radio stations and on your iPhone or Windows Mobile Phone. Mozy: Back up your photos, music, and files with Mozy for as low as $4.34 […] Read more »
Traffic tie-ups aren’t just a headache for drivers, they can also be a significant source of pollution. But new, low-cost, wireless sensors could offer real-time information on traffic hotspots, potentially helping to clear up the congestion, and clear the air. UK researchers are showing off a […] Read more »
Making buildings more energy-efficient has started to move into the national spotlight with President Obama’s green portion of the stimulus package. And it might be geeky, but wireless networks that will monitor energy consumption will play a significant role in efficient buildings. How significant? According to […] Read more »
Smart energy has become a household term, but smart energy technology still has a long road ahead before it actually reaches most U.S. households. However, the residential market is ripe with opportunities (and challenges) for both established and new technology innovators to revolutionize the ways in which we use energy. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
