Over the last three days the who is who of the connected home sector met in London at the annual Connected Home Global Summit to talk about the connected home; where it is and where it is going. The concept the connected home was discussed, analysed, predicted and examined by analysts, OEMs, Operators and vendors and at the end of three days there were some commonalities that we in the sector can work on going forward.
Landis+Gyr (recently bought by Toshiba), today announced a major contract with Hydro-Quebec, one of North America's largest utilities, to deploy its next generation digital smart meter network. This project will assist Hydro-Quebec to improve grid reliability and bring utility operational efficiencies.
Savant launches its popular range of Apple-base home automation products for the first time in Australia. Now the Australians have more choice when deciding to install home automation. Using the familiar interface of their iPod, iPhone or iPad homeowners can access all the connected appliances in their home to change the environment. Distributor Emersive Technologies will deliver the Savant range of products and services.
As part of this week’s Connected Home Global Summit 2011 in London the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is releasing a new Interoperability Guidelines for the playback of commercial media content. The new guideline will make it easier for residential customers to stream video content to in home devices such as DLNA certified Blu-ray disc players, connected TVs, game consoles and set-top boxes.
I have read mix opinions on the recent acquisition of Skype by Microsoft, for about $8.5 billion. Some thinks it’s a waist of money and believe it could be better spent on some of Microsoft own systems and strategies. Others said why buy Skype when they [Microsoft] already have a Lync, their own unified communication platform. From a connected home point of view, I personally think a lot can come out of this acquisition and marriage of technologies based on the direction I see the market going.
The connected home is slowly becoming a reality for many of us and many businesses are positioning themselves to take advantage of this lucrative market. Among the many businesses is Microsoft; quietly and behind the scene they have been working on solutions, that according them we will be using in the next 3 to 15 years. These do not include the Windows operating system or Microsoft Office software but devices and software that we take around with us and appliances that we use in our homes.
Toshiba Japan has announced the acquisition of Swiss electronic metering company Landis+Gyr AG for $2.3 billion in cash. This purchase will give Toshiba access to one of the smart grid’s market leading component suppliers’ customer base. They also grow their share of the global smart-grid market which is predicted to grow to $71 billion over the next decade, according to Toshiba.
eMeter, the global leader in Smart Grid Management software, announced a new multi-tiered partnership with Korean based Samsung SDS. The partnership will bring together eMeter and Samsung SDS' industry expertise, regional knowledge, resources and technologies to provide enhanced systems integration and development capabilities, especially with regard to SAP integration. The partnership kicked off with a recent signing ceremony at Samsung SDS offices in Seoul, Korea.
To prepare for the next generation of connected home services and devices the Home Gateway Initiative (HGI) met in Paris to draw up its long term strategy. As the voice for the world’s Broadband Service Providers (BSP), the initiative is the body responsible for translating BSP’s service plans into published technology requirements. Those at the meeting included Samsung, France Telekom and device manufacturers.
The Hawaiian island of Maui is about to become the site of a major Smart Grid project, to demonstrate the latest in smart grid technology. The project is will be spearheaded by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) with Hitachi as the lead coordinator and project leader. The project comprises of a mixture of U.S. and Japanese businesses: Cyber Defense Institute, Sharp, Mizuho Bank, Hewlett-Packard Japan, JFE Engineering and Hitachi.