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Apple Eyes Crowded Home Energy Management Space By SGN Staff Jan 18, 2010 - 2:23:58 PM
The home energy management field is getting pretty crowded. Big players Microsoft, Google, more recently Intel and a horde of startups have plunged into the fray. Will they all survive? Probably not. But count on Apple to make things interesting. It isn't the only company that knows how to do cool, but it knows how to do it very well.
Yet another major player has jumped into the home energy management arena: Make way for Apple. The company has applied for patents for a home energy management system that would allow consumers to reduce electricity bills by controlling and maximizing how power is allocated to home electronics such as computers, cell phones and, yes, iPods of course.
The two Apple patent applications, Intelligent Power Monitoring and Intelligent Power-enabled Communications, were filed in May 2009 and recently picked up and publicized by Patently Apple. Apparently the home energy management dashboard isn't based on any new technology. Data would be transferred through existing home or business wiring with the HomePlug Powerline Network, a plug-in device that essentially turns outlets into high-speed Internet sources.
The system would give consumers real-time information on their energy use, how much it costs and the opportunity to do something about it. How the information would be communicated to the consumer — through a specific Apple device or Internet browser, for example — isn't clear yet.
Google offers its PowerMeter energy monitoring system and Microsoft released its version, Hohm, last year. Appliance makers are talking about getting into the home energy management act too, and Intel recently brought out its concept, which Alex Zheng wrote about in his blog. Still, Apple seems to have that sixth sense of knowing what people want before they know it, and the company has the design and marketing smarts to be a serious competitor.
From the source ...
Related SGN resources ...
· Home Area Networks news and technologies
· Intel Unveils Home Energy Management Proof of Concept
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