Saturday, July 18, 2009
News about Smart Grids and Smart Kitchens
Duke Energy has established a Smart Grid in one of the neighborhoods in Charlotte, N.C. So what exactly does a Smart Grid look like? Take a look at the following slideshow:
So what exactly is a Smart Grid? It is a system to support "smarter" ways to manage and use energy, and utilizes intelligent sensors along power lines, communication nodes on utility poles, and Smart Meters at customers' homes. Duke Power has provided customers with home management systems to provide them with "timely energy usage information".
Here's the video:
Smart Grid: Virtual Power Plant
You can have a Smart Grid Kitchen along with your Smart Grid energy service, at least sometime in the near future. The pictures below are from CNET News:
It is networked via WiMax:
It comes with a lot of "stuff", hopefully it can be tastefully hidden or decorated:
I don't see a single woman in the GE Smart Grid Kitchen pictures.
Related:
GE SmartGrid Website
GE appliances to connect to smart grid via Tendril
Martin LaMonica, CNET News, 7/8/09
"The integration will allow consumers to control their appliances from different points, such a Web browser, iPhone, or in-home display."
Cisco to Use Its Own Home Energy Gear for Duke Smart Grid Rollout
Katie Fehrenbacher, Earth2tech 6/11/09
"The networking giant unveiled a deal this week that will see it lead a $1 billion smart grid infrastructure buildout for Duke Energy and Cisco tells us that for the consumer portion, it will largely be deploying its own smart energy home hardware, which includes Linksys products and “homeplug” devices that transfer data via power lines."
Privacy Challenges Could Stall Smart Grid
Susan L. Lyon, MatteRNetwork 6/1/09
Friday, July 17, 2009
LTE vs WiMax: Trying my best to understand emerging technologies....
There have been debates about technology for a long time. I recently came across Mike Demler's blog, The World is Analog. Demler attended the IEEE Mobile WiMax Symposium and shared what he learned on his post, "IEEE Mobile WiMax Symposium, Part I". In this post, Demler points out that the concept of the "internet of things" was a reoccuring theme during the symposium, and mentioned that there are many issues related to the future growth of the mobile internet.
Demler makes some good points. Capped data plans didn't work very well during the '90's. Demler gives the example of the old AOL dial-up plans, where people paid by the minute, often running up huge bills in AOL chat rooms. 3G networks lack the capacity to keep up with the growing demand for higher-bandwidth communication. At this time, there is no certain solution, as some predict that WiMax is the wave of the future, and others feel that LTE will be here to stay.
So what is LTE?
A quick look at a Wikipedia entry on the subject doesn't do a very good job of explaining things clearly. LTE stands for Long Term Evolution, but what is that, really? It you want to know more about the alphabet soup related to LTE, click on the following links: FDD (Frequency Division Duplexing), TDD (Time Division Duplex), GSM, cdmaOne, W-CDMA (UMTS), 3GPP, PU2RC, MU-MIMO, HSDPA, Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, MIMO
The Wikipedia entry about LTE comes with the following warning:This article is written like an advertisement. Please help rewrite this article from a neutral point of view. For blatantadvertising that would require a fundamental rewrite to become encyclopedic, use {{db-spam}} to mark for speedy deletion. (April 2009)
What is WiMax?
You can find out more via Wikipedia.
 | This article contains too much jargon and may need simplification or further explanation. Please discuss this issue on the talk page, and/or remove or explain jargon terms used in the article. Editing help is available. (June 2009) |
LTE vs WiMAX: The 4G Wireless War
Afzal Bajwa, Technologizer (5/20/09)
10 Things You Need to Know About LTE
Stacey Higginbotham, GigaOM, (2/26/09)
Note:
Monday, May 11, 2009
Verizon/Novatel MiFi Personal Hot Spot: I want one!
David Pogue, the tech guy behind "Pogue's Post" of the NY Times, wrote an article about Novatel MiFi 2200, which will be available soon from Verizon. It is a slim device, a little thicker than a credit card, that provides Internet access to Verizon's 3G high-speed cellular data network. The service is $40.00 to 60.00 a month.
David had the opportunity to travel about with a MiFi 2200 and gives a great report about this experience in his article, "Wi-Fi to Go, No Cafe Needed". Basically, this provides 3G to Wi-Fi bridging, and allows you to share your connection with people near you. The MiFi can function as a server, too.
Novatel's MiFi, a 3G Wi-Fi router, is shown at the CES Unveiled, the official press event of the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Daily Digital Out of Home post, "Billboards That Look Back" : Could miniature cameras embedded in ads lead to Big Brother at the mall?
Big Brother at the Mall?
If you visit malls, big box retailers, or frequent public spaces, you've probably noticed that there are many digital billboards cropping up. Some are in the form of interactive touch screens and kiosks, and others are in the form of informercials on large displays. What you might not have noticed is that many of these displays have embedded miniature cameras.
I had a chance to see this at a Digital Signage expo not too long ago. I was surprised that the system identified my gender as soon as I stood in front of the display. In my situation, I knew that I was within range of the camera. Out and about, I am not sure if this would be true.
Via Daily Digital Out of Home (dailydooh):
An article in the NY Times recently discussed privacy concerns related to new technology that is embedded into billboards and digital displays. Miniature cameras are embedded in ads found in in malls and other public spaces. The cameras are linked to software that takes in detailed information about the people who come across these ads.
Here is an excerpt from the NY Times:
"Now, some entrepreneurs have introduced technology to solve that problem. They are equipping billboards with tiny cameras that gather details about passers-by — their gender, approximate age and how long they looked at the billboard. These details are transmitted to a central database.
Behind the technology are small start-ups that say they are not storing actual images of the passers-by, so privacy should not be a concern. The cameras, they say, use software to determine that a person is standing in front of a billboard, then analyze facial features (like cheekbone height and the distance between the nose and the chin) to judge the person’s gender and age. So far the companies are not using race as a parameter, but they say that they can and will soon."
"....TruMedia’s technology is an offshoot of surveillance work for the Israeli government. The company, whose slogan is “Every Face Counts,” is testing the cameras in about 30 locations nationwide. One TruMedia client is Adspace Networks, which runs a network of digital screens in shopping malls and is testing the system at malls in Chesterfield, Mo., Winston-Salem, N.C., and Monroeville, Pa. Adspace’s screens show a mix of content, like the top retail deals at the mall that day, and advertisements for DVDs, movies or consumer products."If you are interested in learning more about the business and industry side of interactive off-the-desktop and out-of-home technology, the Digital Out of Home blog is a great resource. Below is a list of some of the blog's most popular posts:
Our Top 10 Digital Signage Vendors, Part 1
Our Top 10 Digital Signage Vendors, Part 2
Our Top 10 Digital Signage Vendors, Part 3
CEO SPOTLIGHT: Simon Rees, Avanti Screen Media
Vision Media Group's Advertising Commitment
CEO SPOTLIGHT: Christian Vaglio-Giors, Neo Advertising, Geneva
iCaramba! Neo Advertising+Dot One = Iberian Market
Top 10 Companies to Watch in 2008
