Home Energy Management

Photos: Best Buy’s quiet home energy stores

Here are photos and a review of one of Best Buy’s new Home Energy sections at its stores, which will sell gear to help home owners reduce energy consumption. While the section is waaay at the back, it’s designed to educate shoppers and promote interactivity.

Microsoft Sees Smart Cloud-Based Solutions for Resource Management

With the world population booming and energy consumption growing, the challenge is on to counter the impacts with smart solutions, said Microsoft’s Rob Bernard. He said cloud-based software, creative uses of data and innovative interfaces will help create smart systems that can address the growing problems.

EcoDog Seeks Solar as Back Door to Home Energy

EcoDog is trying to sneak its high-end energy management system into homes as part of a broader rooftop solar power system. Will the high-end buyers of rooftop solar help break open the market for energy-smart home devices?

Belkin and Power Map Bet on One Plug Approach

Electronics giant Belkin and stealthy startup PowerMap are taking separate cracks at a holy grail of sorts for home energy management: a device that can read every power load in the house from a single outlet.

Cisco & Pulse Energy Team Up to Green Vancouver Buildings

Networking giant Cisco has teamed up with building efficiency startup Pulse Energy to track and manage energy use in city buildings in Vancouver. The partnership is one of the first times that Cisco has brought in a startup to work with its EnergyWise building controls platform.

Verizon Taps Clearleap for Cloud-based VOD Content Delivery

Verizon has integrated Clearleap’s content management technology into its architecture to deliver cloud-based video with its video-on-demand architecture. Clearleap’s technology is being used to streamline production for FiOS 1 VOD content to provide hyper-local content such as news, sports, traffic and weather to its subscribers.

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Why Microsoft’s Electric Vehicle Deal With Ford Matters

Two of the biggest players in both the computing and automotive industries have teamed up to tackle smart charging for electric vehicles. On Wed., March 31, 2010, Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced at the New York International Auto Show that they will work to together to use Microsoft’s home energy management tool Hohm to manage battery charging in Ford’s upcoming electric vehicles. Starting with the Ford Focus next year, drivers will be able to use Hohm to schedule and control the car’s battery charge based on factors like fluctuating energy pricing and a consumer’s convenience. We take a look at what impact this deal will have on Microsoft, Ford, and dozens of other competitors in the electric vehicle-charging ecosystem, from home energy software tools to utility back-end systems.

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The Developer’s Guide to Home Energy Management Apps

While smaller home energy management startups like Tendril have been pushing their APIs and platforms for months as a way to grow and gain partnerships, recent movements by Microsoft and Google to open up the development platforms around home energy data are important steps to creating a developer community around energy information and ultimately to deliver much-needed innovation. So, what do developers need to keep in mind when working with these new energy platforms and APIs?