The connected home has become the new technology battle ground for the electronics and software giants; with a market stand to worth tens of billons of dollars, we are on the verge of a feeding frenzy. Today Google announced plans to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion to become one of the biggest player in the connected home market. Bear in mind that it was just two months ago that Google abandon plans to continue to offer its PowerMeter service come 16 September this year. See why this acquisition is more than mobile phone and what is next?

Alcatel-Lucent and China's State Grid Information and Telecommunication Co. are teaming up to help utilities more effectively manage peak electricity demand, identify opportunities for power savings and cut down on energy usage.

The two companies will do this by increasing the intelligence in utilities' power distribution systems, or smart grids, which allow the continuous measurement, monitoring, control and adjustment of power distribution.

Korea Smart Grid Week, the nation’s first government-sponsored smart grid trade show, will move to Seoul for its second year in action. The event, a combined international conference and exhibition, will be hosted by Coex, Korea’s largest exhibition organizer.

Cable&Wireless Worldwide and Silver Spring Networks announced that they are collaborating to accelerate the delivery of smart grid and smart metering in the UK.  The partnership will support the development of the communications fabric for smart grid and smart metering, so that it is secure, upgradable in the future, and capable of supporting multiple applications on a unified network platform.  

Intel, Entropic and SMC Networks announced plans to collaborate on a new generation of DOCSIS 3.0 data gateway with MoCA 2.0 for service providers.  The partnership between the three businesses will leverage the power of Intel’s Puma 5 family of DOCSIS 3.0 cable modems, SMC’s expertise in producing advanced DOCSIS data gateways and Entropic’s complete MoCA 2.0 silicon and software solution.

Boeing and Siemens have announced a strategic alliance for the joint development and marketing of "smart grid" technologies to improve energy access and security for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), the largest energy consumer in the federal government.

The collaboration centers on providing U.S. military installations with secure microgrid management solutions that lower operational costs and increase energy efficiency.

Echelon Corporation, today as announced a commercial agreement under which the two companies will initially collaborate to develop advanced smart metering products that meet the stringent requirements for the vast China market set by the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) and China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd. (CSG).

Tendril has announced that NorthWestern Energy, one of the largest providers of electricity and natural gas in the Upper Midwest and Northwest, has selected Tendril for its Smart Grid Demonstration Grant Project. Tendril Energize and Tendril Connect will be deployed to deliver consumer engagement and enable energy usage behavioral changes, and to provide demand response (DR) and load control benefits to NorthWestern Energy.

The Zigbee Alliance has extended its standards to allow Zigbee networks to be accessible from the internet.  The new standard is called Zigbee Gateway and it is to allow device manufacturers to focus more on application development for the home.  It removes the need for customers or proprietary platforms and allow for better M2M communication.

SmartSynch, a smart grid technology company utilizing standard IP communications via cellular networks, and Cellular South have introduced a residential code division multiple access (CDMA) smart grid solution to the utility market. Utilities seeking CDMA communications support to automate their electricity grid may now access Cellular South’s leading CDMA wireless network services by leveraging SmartSynch’s IP-enabled smart grid solutions.