Imagine a small chip you could plug into any device in your home that would enable it to communicate with your web-based electricity and device management dashboard. Or it could be trained to simply turn the device off at times of day when electricity was particularly expensive.

Such is the vision of the USNAP consortium, a group of companies including GE and Google that seeks to create a standard for the meter-to-device in-home monitoring stage of the promised smart grid. ("Enabling the device ecosystem for the smart grid," is the group's tagline.) USNAP released this week a proposed 2.0 standard spec for small modules that can be connected to devices to render them individually instrumented - measurable and manipulable as sources of discrete data. Where there is plug-and-play data, there is a platform for online innovation.

Sponsor

"This is the equivalent of USB for consumer products," Barry Haaser of the USNAP Alliance says. USNAP is an acronym for Utility Smart Network Access Port and the consortium has been developing its technical specifications for three years. It has created the design for a little module, 55 mm long, with 10 pins and weighing no more than 40 grams - about as heavy as 17 pennies. The module is programmed to send and receive messages to and from the smart meter, in a standard format, using a wide variety of messaging technologies, including protocols like WiFi, and lesser-known systems with names like ZigBee, Z-Wave, RDS, and FlexNetWiFi.

Any companies that apply, are accepted to and pay the/> [...]

Tue Jun 22, 2010 20:20 pm

Two years ago, Google's Chrome browser didn't exist.  Now, it might be the best browser available.  New test results claim that it beats all competitors by a significant amount, at least in terms of speed.

Lifehacker's Kevin Purdy recently put Firefox 3.5.4, Firefox 3.6, Google Chrome 4.0.249.78 (which is considered stable), Google Chrome 4.0.302.3 (which is a developer version), Opera 10.01, Opera 10.5 (which is a pre-alpha version), and Safari 4.0.4 through their paces.  Experiments related to load times, JavaScript, DOM/CSS, and memory use were performed.

Chrome came out on top in a couple of categories, and according to Purdy's scoring system ("we took the numeric score placement of each browser in each category and ranked them from 7, as best in category, to 1, as worst.  We totaled those numbers up, and present them here as a total out of 35") won the comparison, with the developer version placing first and the stable version securing second.

Then Firefox 3.6, Firefox 3.5.4, Opera 10.5, Opera 10.01, and Safari 4.0.4 followed, in that order.

Purdy's article has been viewed about 92,000 times, and it's a good bet that his findings have driven a lot of people to try Chrome for themselves.  Assuming those individuals don't find the browser wanting in some area other than speed, Chrome may get quite a bump thanks to this experiment.

Related Articles:

> [...]

Wed Jan 27, 2010 11:25 am

The BBC said today it is launching new U.S. edition website along with a redesign with advertising partner HP.

"Building on the incredible journalism already available on BBC.com you're going to see more analysis, more insight and more perspective that connects the dots on events and issues that affect us all in the U.S.," said Miranda Cresswell, SVP, BBC.com. 

"Our new redesign will make it even easier to find, use and share this great content."

The new U.S. edition will be staffed by a new team of online journalists now based in the BBC's Washington, DC bureau, led by BBC.com Editor, U.S. Matthew Davis. 

Later this summer, BBC.com will launch a travel section, in partnership with its sister company Lonely Planet.  It will be led by former NYTimes.com Travel & Style Editor, David G. Allan who was recently appointed Editorial Director, BBC Travel. Improved sports, technology, business and entertainment sites will launch soon.

BBC.com also offers apps, including BBC News and the BBC Sports app. The BBC News app is the sixth most popular app in the U.S. BBC.com attracts over 16 million users a month in the U.S.
 

[...]

Thu Jul 15, 2010 08:38 am

---

AOL Sells Market Research Firm DMS Insights to uSamp

Share |

Market research company uSamp has acquired DMS Insights (Digital Marketing Services) from AOL.

uSamp says it will combine with DMS to offer "best-in-class" online sample and panel management solutions, with the combined global panel reaching 2.7 million. The company notes that this includes an extensive Hispanic panel of over 100,000.

"This is a merging of two companies with similar visions for serving market research, and we're thrilled to bring DMS Insights on board," says Matt Dusig, co-founder and CEO of uSamp. "DMS has pioneered router and river technologies, and is well-known for its heritage of extensive full-service research provided over the past 15 years. Combined with our own deep well of innovative technologies that ensure quality research and panel management, customers of both uSamp and DMS will be getting the most robust sample solution available."

"This is a great opportunity for our company and for our clients," says DMS President Chuck Miller. "We've partnered with uSamp since its formation, because we share similar philosophies of how to provide high-quality online panel, technology and services to clients. We’re combining the strengths of two companies at the top of their game, and this merging of complementary products and services will enhance the quality of service we’ve always provided to our clients."

Financial details of the acquisition have not been disclosed. uSamp did, however, close a $10 million round of funding earlier this week.

[...]

Fri Jun 25, 2010 19:30 pm

---