The net is abuzz today with talk of Yello Strom, the German utility that reportedly takes smart grid technology and web integration to the max with its new Sparzahler meter — cowing U.S. utilities that are just beginning to adopt green initiatives. On closer inspection, however, it’s simply the first to integrate a lot of features that debuted in the U.S.
For example, one of Yello Strom’s major boons is that it is the first European utility to give its customers access to Google PowerMeter — but there are already eight North American utilities on board. The other is that the company is developing in application that will let smart meters tweet customers’ energy consumption. But Yello Strom isn’t the first to work on this either. Back in February, we reported on a startup called Tweet-a-Watt that also tweets energy data via a plug-in energy meter. It makes sense that Yello Strom’s app is getting more attention since it will have the full weight of a utility behind it (and won’t require consumers to buy an additional gadget), but it’s not as revolutionary a concept as many think.
On top of that, how many people really want their energy consumption broadcast over Twitter? How many really want to constantly see how much power their friends are using? Yes, it sounds like a cool piece of technology (in a “look what we can do!” kind of way) but with Twitter’s niche traction, it’s a longshot that this use of the micro-blogging site will become a household norm in Germany or elsewhere. It might even seem a little random as a bonus feature — though, as Fast Company points out, it makes more sense for a utility in Germany’s deregulated energy market where companies have to constantly compete for customers.
Perhaps the biggest difference in the Yello Strom model is that it has to sell its smart meters to households for about $5.60 to $11.24 a month. In the U.S., most utilities are providing them to customers for free. Predictably, this has shrunk the scale of its roll out, with the utility reporting sales of 100 to 200 meters a day. When a U.S. utility like PG&E or Florida Power and Light deploys smart meters, it happens in the hundreds of thousands (and eventually the millions by 2012).
Yello Strom meters are also unique in that they use home broadband connections, as opposed to broader wireless networks operated here by companies like SmartSynch, Silver Spring Networks and the like. On one hand, this means faster data retrieval, on the other, home networks are more prone to outages and disruptions, so it’s a toss up. The one clear advantage is that hooking into home broadband will allow Yello Strom to continue innovating helpful, consumer-facing applications like the Twitter client to help regular people better understand their energy use and financies — and ultimately alter their habits. This won’t be impossible for American network providers, just not as quick and easy to implement.
So while excitement over Yello Strom and its business model is not completely unmerited, it would be hasty to declare Europe in the lead when it comes to the smart grid. After all, Google PowerMeter and Microsoft Hohm — perhaps the two most groundbreaking household energy management systems yet (which Yello Strom has pounced on) — are U.S. exports.
For example, one of Yello Strom’s major boons is that it is the first European utility to give its customers access to Google PowerMeter — but there are already eight North American utilities on board. The other is that the company is developing in application that will let smart meters tweet customers’ energy consumption. But Yello Strom isn’t the first to work on this either. Back in February, we reported on a startup called Tweet-a-Watt that also tweets energy data via a plug-in energy meter. It makes sense that Yello Strom’s app is getting more attention since it will have the full weight of a utility behind it (and won’t require consumers to buy an additional gadget), but it’s not as revolutionary a concept as many think.
On top of that, how many people really want their energy consumption broadcast over Twitter? How many really want to constantly see how much power their friends are using? Yes, it sounds like a cool piece of technology (in a “look what we can do!” kind of way) but with Twitter’s niche traction, it’s a longshot that this use of the micro-blogging site will become a household norm in Germany or elsewhere. It might even seem a little random as a bonus feature — though, as Fast Company points out, it makes more sense for a utility in Germany’s deregulated energy market where companies have to constantly compete for customers.
Perhaps the biggest difference in the Yello Strom model is that it has to sell its smart meters to households for about $5.60 to $11.24 a month. In the U.S., most utilities are providing them to customers for free. Predictably, this has shrunk the scale of its roll out, with the utility reporting sales of 100 to 200 meters a day. When a U.S. utility like PG&E or Florida Power and Light deploys smart meters, it happens in the hundreds of thousands (and eventually the millions by 2012).
Yello Strom meters are also unique in that they use home broadband connections, as opposed to broader wireless networks operated here by companies like SmartSynch, Silver Spring Networks and the like. On one hand, this means faster data retrieval, on the other, home networks are more prone to outages and disruptions, so it’s a toss up. The one clear advantage is that hooking into home broadband will allow Yello Strom to continue innovating helpful, consumer-facing applications like the Twitter client to help regular people better understand their energy use and financies — and ultimately alter their habits. This won’t be impossible for American network providers, just not as quick and easy to implement.
So while excitement over Yello Strom and its business model is not completely unmerited, it would be hasty to declare Europe in the lead when it comes to the smart grid. After all, Google PowerMeter and Microsoft Hohm — perhaps the two most groundbreaking household energy management systems yet (which Yello Strom has pounced on) — are U.S. exports.
Gilt Groupe gets $40M to make luxury online retail even glitzier
Gilt Groupe, the online luxury-fashion retailer that sends its members sale and clearance information on expensive items, has taken in $40 million in capital from General Atlantic and Matrix Partners, reports The Business Insider. The New York company has been valued at $400 million and anticipates bringing in $500 million in revenue next year.
Gilt Groupe is able to offer its members better prices on luxury goods because it also acts as a channel for designers to unload excess inventory. With the economic downturn prompting a drop in discretionary funding, designers say they have more surplus on their hands than usual. To become a member, a user must receive an invitation — preserving the exclusive quality of the brands its sells, even at a 70 percent discount. Sales are conducted online and last about 36 hours.
Gilt has expressed interest in expanding into luxury travel packages and other areas that might appeal to an affluent or upper-middle class market. Founded in 2007, it has now raised $58 million to date.
Gilt Groupe, the online luxury-fashion retailer that sends its members sale and clearance information on expensive items, has taken in $40 million in capital from General Atlantic and Matrix Partners, reports The Business Insider. The New York company has been valued at $400 million and anticipates bringing in $500 million in revenue next year.
Gilt Groupe is able to offer its members better prices on luxury goods because it also acts as a channel for designers to unload excess inventory. With the economic downturn prompting a drop in discretionary funding, designers say they have more surplus on their hands than usual. To become a member, a user must receive an invitation — preserving the exclusive quality of the brands its sells, even at a 70 percent discount. Sales are conducted online and last about 36 hours.
Gilt has expressed interest in expanding into luxury travel packages and other areas that might appeal to an affluent or upper-middle class market. Founded in 2007, it has now raised $58 million to date.
Here’s the latest reason why entrepreneurs should consider launching their products at the fall DEMO conference in San Diego:
Two winners, as selected by a panel of individual judges, will be awarded a significant amount of media publicity, totaling $1 million in ads — to be taken out at established magazines and other publications.
The judges (industry leaders we’ll be announcing shortly) will pick one winner from among the “enterprise” products that are launching at DEMO, and a second from among “consumer” technology products.
The ads will be taken out over six months, and be placed in the most relevant media publications owned by IDG, which owns the DEMO brand, and which partners with VentureBeat to produce the conference. IDG publications participating in the prize include leaders such as CIO magazine, Computerworld, InfoWorld, Network World, PC World among others. VentureBeat will also participate.
The campaign will include print advertisements, web banner placements, text link promotions, email newsletter promotions, and video ads. The package includes the development of creative content that is to be featured on IDG media properties - another huge value proposition to the winning companies. The campaign would extend from October 2009 through March 2010.
Of course, this is in addition to all the other goodies that DEMO launch companies get (some of which I’ve been talking about lately; see the bottom of this post), including the ability to present in front of an unmatched group of reporters from national and international press, a slick high-definition video, to demonstration coaching, press help, and the highest production values, including 100 percent reliability of Wifi service during the conference.
The deadline to apply for the launch or AlphaPitch programs at DEMOfall is July 30. Companies interested in participating in DEMOfall should visit the DEMO website to get application information. DEMOfall will take place September 21-23 in San Diego, CA, at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina.
Here’s the official release, with more details.
Alumni companies that have launched products at DEMO include the following: Adobe Acrobat, Sun’s Java, Netscape Navigator, Palm Computing, WebEx, Salesforce.com, TiVo, E-Trade; VM Ware, Google’s first foray into mobile search, to name a few.
Here’s the latest reason why entrepreneurs should consider launching their products at the fall DEMO conference in San Diego:
Two winners, as selected by a panel of individual judges, will be awarded a significant amount of media publicity, totaling $1 million in ads — to be taken out at established magazines and other publications.
The judges (industry leaders we’ll be announcing shortly) will pick one winner from among the “enterprise” products that are launching at DEMO, and a second from among “consumer” technology products.
The ads will be taken out over six months, and be placed in the most relevant media publications owned by IDG, which owns the DEMO brand, and which partners with VentureBeat to produce the conference. IDG publications participating in the prize include leaders such as CIO magazine, Computerworld, InfoWorld, Network World, PC World among others. VentureBeat will also participate.
The campaign will include print advertisements, web banner placements, text link promotions, email newsletter promotions, and video ads. The package includes the development of creative content that is to be featured on IDG media properties - another huge value proposition to the winning companies. The campaign would extend from October 2009 through March 2010.
The deadline to apply for the launch or AlphaPitch programs at DEMOfall is July 30. Companies interested in participating in DEMOfall should visit the DEMO website to get application information. DEMOfall will take place September 21-23 in San Diego, CA, at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina.
Alumni companies that have launched products at DEMO include the following: Adobe Acrobat, Sun’s Java, Netscape Navigator, Palm Computing, WebEx, Salesforce.com, TiVo, E-Trade; VM Ware, Google’s first foray into mobile search, to name a few.
New Twine interface lets users visualize shared bookmarks
Social bookmarking service Twine attracted a lot of attention as an early poster boy for semantic technology, which it uses to help serve you links customized to your interests. But in addition to delivering smarter bookmarks, Twine just unveiled a better interface for exploring that content.
Rather than showing you the normal list of bookmarks that you see on Twine and other content-sharing sites like Digg, the service now offers a “visualization” option, which allows you to scroll through one headline at a time (see the video below), at a speed that’s much faster than scrolling up-and-down the page. Some have compared the interface to Cover Flow, the iTunes interface that lets you scroll through album and movie covers, though it also reminded me of Cooliris, which lets you scroll through a 3D wall to explore different media, including news articles. Twine’s visualization is more stripped-down than Cooliris’, showing only one article at a time — but that approach may work better for Twine, since it’s emphasizing text (specifically titles and headlines) rather than images or videos.
The service was developed by a San Francisco company called Radar Networks, which had raised a total of $18 million from Velocity Interactive Group, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Leapfrog Ventures, and Vulcan Capital. When we last covered Twine, it seemed to be growing “explosively”. Traffic continued to rise for several months, according to data from Compete, but finally started to level off in May at just under 2 million monthly unique visitors.
Social bookmarking service Twine attracted a lot of attention as an early poster boy for semantic technology, which it uses to help serve you links customized to your interests. But in addition to delivering smarter bookmarks, Twine just unveiled a better interface for exploring that content.
Rather than showing you the normal list of bookmarks that you see on Twine and other content-sharing sites like Digg, the service now offers a “visualization” option, which allows you to scroll through one headline at a time (see the video below), at a speed that’s much faster than scrolling up-and-down the page. Some have compared the interface to Cover Flow, the iTunes interface that lets you scroll through album and movie covers, though it also reminded me of Cooliris, which lets you scroll through a 3D wall to explore different media, including news articles. Twine’s visualization is more stripped-down than Cooliris’, showing only one article at a time — but that approach may work better for Twine, since it’s emphasizing text (specifically titles and headlines) rather than images or videos.
Lifestreaming service FriendFeed is introducing real-time search, so you can search for anything on the site and see it instantly. Real-time search is also live for advanced search options, including search terms that you can save and track through FriendFeed, and on its blog widget.
From the company:
Social bookmarking service 
