On the card at this week’s SmartHomes 2012 conference in Amsterdam is the showcasing of a new set-top box home automation solution from DSP Group and Comigo. Both companies have joined their respective technologies to develop the solution based on DECT Ultra Low Energy (ULE) technology.

DSP  and Comigo believe that home automation is a natural extension of home entertainment, and the integration of the two technologies will enable consumers to control and monitor the entire home from the comfort of the living room with Comigo's hybrid set-top box.

For this year's Broadband World Forum in Amsterdam, Mindspeed Technologies as announced plans to demonstrate leading-edge solutions and services based on their Comcerto 2000 processor. The featured demonstrations will include application and content-aware broadband home gateway solutions for fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure and services.

At this year’s Metering, Billing/CRM Europe Freescale is showcasing a new generation of its Kinetis wireless solutions that offers dual-PAN (personal area network) functionality. The Kinetis KW20 wireless microcontrollers (KW21D256V, KW21D512V and KW22D512V) will allow a single device to seamlessly connect and actively participate in two separate networks.

Eidsiva Nett as become the first Norwegian company to use eMeter's EnergyIP Platform and selected Applications as their meter data management platform and energy Analytics solution. eMeter, a subsidery of Siemens Business provides software that enables electric, gas and water utilities to realize the full benefits of Smart Grid.

The new solution will replace Eidsiva Nett's current meter data management system, and will be a crucial part in order to build a smarter grid in the regions Eidsiva operates.

Five key stakeholders in the Dutch energy landscape, Liander, Siemens, KPN, TNO and TenneT, are joining forces at this year’s Metering, Billing/CRM Europe with an “Energy Experience” on the exhibition floor, which will demonstrate how smart grids are changing industry and society.

Voltage City

It is the operating systems on our TVs that make it smart and with most of us now buying smart TVs there is an emerging threat of hackers writing infectious malware to infect our televisions. This has lead Sophos to form partnership with Ocean Blue to developed an antivirus software for smart TVs. The solution combines Sophos antivirus platform with Ocean Blue’s middleware for smart TVs and Set-top Boxes.

The long awaited subscription-free digital TV and catch-up TV (YouView) for UK household has finally arrived. According to the YouView site, the YouView boxes are now available to buy from a range of high-street and online retail outlets. YouView ISP partners TalkTalk and BT are now offering their customers YouView set-top box as part of their TV, phone and broadband packages.

Makers of set-top boxes, gateways and smart home controllers with Zigbee RF4CE should now find it easier to integrate home automation into their smart home products.  That is because Greenpeak, a semiconductor company has release a new chip (GP710) that supports Zigbee RF4CE and Zogbee IP/Zigbee PRO protocols.  Therefore, products developed with the GP710 chip will be able to extend their functionality within the home.

Bosch Security Systems and GreenPeak have collaborated to develop a home security and home care solution.  The new offerings are gear toward operators who want to increase their revenue stream in the smart home market. Through the partnership, Bosch is able to integrate GreenPeak’s chips into its security, safety and communication products.

The smart grids industry continues its upward trajectory despite economic crises reverberating throughout Europe, says Aida Mezit, project director of the upcoming Transmission & Distribution/Smart Grids Europe conference and expo in Amsterdam.  It forms part of the annual Metering, Billing/CRM Europe, a gathering of some 6500 utility professionals in October at what has become the largest industry event on the continent.