JAKAJIMA B.V. English

Video on Demand (VOD) Drives Smart TV Usage in the U.S., But Not Europe

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 08:17:46 +0000

In the United States, subscription video-on-demand services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime continue to migrate consumer interest toward Web-enabled TV, in Europe indifference reigns, according to a new Strategy Analytics report.
Indeed, sales of connected TVs are projected to exceed 200 million units in 2012. Yet the majority of consumers of smart TVs are not using the Web-enabled features.

In the United States, Strategy Analytics found that 34% of all smart TV owners are connecting at least once a week, and by far the most popular application is Netflix. Another 33% connect to the Internet through the TV less than once a week, 12% no longer connect and 22% never established Internet-connectivity.

In Europe 48% of smart TV owners are not using the connected capabilities of their TV at all. About 33% had never set up the device in the first place, and the remainder set it up initially but stopped using it, according to Strategy Analytics. Less than 10% of all European smart TV owners are using the connected capabilities regularly (at least weekly), and 43% connect to the Web on the TV less than once a week.

Symantec and Mahindra Satyam Collaborate on Security Solutions for Smart Grid

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 07:27:57 +0000

The two companies plan to work together to jointly improve smart grid network security, which will also enhance Mahindra Satyam’s ability to deliver secure and effective smart grid services to utilities globally.
According to Arvind Malhotra, Senior Vice President at Mahindra Satyam, the global global consulting and IT services provider is uniquely positioned to address some of the most pressing next generation energy challenges through smart grid technology. Collaborating with an industry leader such as Symantec will help to provide highly secure, reliable and robust smart grid solutions to their customers across the world.

Mahindra Satyam is a leader in consulting, product engineering, design, evaluation and implementation services for the Smart Grid sector. Mahindra Satyam and Symantec plan to combine expertise and capabilities to deliver cyber security and compliance solutions. This combined approach will leverage Symantec’s Smart Grid solutions for control center security, data control and management, as well as system and device security while utilizing Mahindra Satyam’s extensive experience in deploying and managing Smart Grid solutions.

Report: Home energy management (HEM) market to surpass $2 billion by 2020

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 07:13:15 +0000

Even as deployments of smart grid infrastructure have accelerated in recent years, the home energy management (HEM) market has struggled to gain traction.

Numerous trials have led to only a few cases of industry deployments and to anemic rates of consumer adoption. According to Pike Research, that is starting to change, and over the remainder of the decade momentum will build in this nascent market. In its new report, Pike Research predicts that the global annual shipments of standalone HEM systems will grow from a quarter million in 2011 to nearly 4.7 million in 2020, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.3%.

Combined revenue for all HEM segments will grow from a base of $93 million in 2011 to more than $2 billion in 2020, the cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts.

Former Apple, Google, Facebook engineers launch IoT startup

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:28:02 +0000

A year-old startup called Electric Imp Inc. has developed a Wi-Fi node in a memory card physical format that it hopes will become a standard technique for assigning IP addresses and linking to the Internet to establish a Wi-Fi-mediated Internet of Things (IoT).
Along with selling small cards initially priced at $25 per card, the startup will host data and offer browser-based services that will allow consumers and enterprises link and control their equipment via these IoT nodes.

Source: EE Times

Adobe Offers Digital Analytics Package to Help Marketers Act on Big Data

admin — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:54:54 +0000

Quickly Derive Actionable Insights from a Fragmented Web that Generates Ever Larger Amounts of Data
The Digital Analytics package is a combination of six products within the Adobe® Digital Marketing Suite. The Digital Analytics package helps digital marketers move beyond Web analytics to quickly find and share actionable insights from a growing amount of data generated from multiple sources of customer interaction – social, video, mobile, email, online surveys, CRM systems and ad networks, to name a few.

Adobe customers utilizing the Digital Analytics package receive the following products:

Adobe SiteCatalyst, Adobe’s flagship analytics product, Adobe SiteCatalyst provides actionable, real-time intelligence about digital strategies and marketing initiatives to many of the world’s largest digital marketers. With roots in Web analytics, SiteCatalyst has evolved to provide analytics on video, mobile, app and social data and is flexible enough to accommodate future unknown data streams.
Adobe Discover, Adobe Discover enables deep understanding of customer segments and online behavior with virtually unlimited and incredibly fast free-form analysis. Additionally, Adobe Discover can identify highly valuable, previously undiscovered audience segments.
Adobe DataWarehouse, A repository and back-up system to store analytics data, Adobe DataWarehouse lets users perform complex data mining for more advanced and long-tail analysis.
Adobe Genesis, Through Adobe Genesis, Adobe automates integrations between the Adobe Digital Marketing Suite and partner technologies, such as email marketing, CRM, ad networks and third-party data providers, essentially extending the reach and capabilities of the Suite with fully tested, plug-and-play integrations. This creates a single location from which digital marketers can view and take action on data from all of their marketing technologies and initiatives.
Adobe ReportBuilder, ReportBuilder imports analytics data from SiteCatalyst, enabling marketers to perform specialized analyses and easily create customized reports in Microsoft Excel, increasing their productivity.
Adobe TagManager, An enterprise-class tag management solution providing fast tag deployment and secure implementations, SiteCatalyst customers can utilize their existing SiteCatalyst tags to rapidly deploy Adobe TagManager. Additionally, when used in conjunction with Evidon technology, TagManager can help digital marketers and advertisers give their consumers control over how their data is used online. The integration with Evidon will initially focus on managing third-party cookies used for behavioral advertising.

Flying indefinitely, is that possible!?

admin — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:06:34 +0000

A new aerospace company, Flight of the Century,is planning to build and fly an electric plane that can fly indefinitely!
American electric vehicle pioneer Chip Yates and his team of record-breaking engineers who created and raced the World’s Fastest Electric Motorcycle today announced the formation of a new aerospace company, Flight of the Century, Inc.

The company has been founded to develop, fly, and commercialize a recently filed worldwide patent (61/618,482) that enables electric aircraft to remain aloft indefinitely.

Electric Airplane Design Uses Flying Drone Batteries To Boost Range

admin — Tue, 15 May 2012 05:56:55 +0000

An electric-vehicle veteran is turning his efforts from two wheels to a pair of wings as he sets his sights on electric-powered airplanes for his latest world record attempts.

But Chip Yates isn’t satisfied with simply flying faster and higher than any previous piloted electric airplane, he is completely reinventing how electric airplanes are thought of with an infinite-range aircraft, or at least one that could fly for a very, very long time. The breakthrough idea uses autonomous flying battery packs that can be released when empty, with charged packs flying to the airplane and docking for use as needed.

Like all electric vehicles, the design challenge is all about range, range, range and range. And battery technology is always the excuse for not being able to dramatically increase distance between charges. Historically, one of the biggest challenges for long-range airplanes has been weight. And heavy batteries don’t make for a good mix of range and light designs. So Yates isn’t waiting for any breakthrough in battery technology, and is instead pushing for a breakthrough of his own in how the batteries are used.

Source: Wired Top Stories

Jam Session: Decentralized Power System: 4/5 june at High Tech Campus

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:36:04 +0000

Two days before the IoT event will take place a Sensemakers Jam Session will take place. This is an intense, collaborative, focused design session which brings together experts and practitioners from all types of backgrounds.

This Jam Session will be organised by Cosm/Pachube.

Register here

The framework for this session:

WE BELIEVE: A post-modern, healthy energy infrastructure will not be built around a few centralized power sources, but instead as a completely decentralized system spread across the entire urban landscape.

WE BELIEVE: People will no longer be disconnected, ignorant consumers, but become directly involved as energy producers, independent and far more aware and knowledgeable about where their energy comes from and where it goes.

WE BELIEVE: They will be independent and empowered. They will be able to share production with their neighbors directly, greatly increasing the efficiency and reliability of the system as a whole.

And on the 7th day, there was rest. yada yada

In this vision of a decentralized power system, HOW WILL PEOPLE SHARE ENERGY THEY PRODUCE WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS? What will be the mechanism?

We aim to incorporate work generated during the Eindhoven Science Hack Day and will present the outcome during the International IoT Event.

The event will run for 2 days (June 4-5). Attendance is limited and we want to gather a group of committed, invested participants for a productive and interesting session. It will be held at the Eindhoven High Tech Campus.

Register here

Program (still a draft):

Monday June 4th – Day 1

9.30      Doors open
10.00    The energy challenge – Ed
10.15    Key speaker #1 (+ 5 min idea posting)
10.45    Key speaker #2 (+ 5 min idea posting)
11.15    Key speaker #3 (+ 5 min idea posting)
11.45    Breaking down (technical, user, network)
12.15    Wrap up per group – main findings
12.30    Lunch
13.00    Ideas (lots of them, individual or teams)
13.30    Rumble (all ideas out in the open – people team up around the ones they love)
14.30    Teams make a case (product, plan, market)
16.00     First Day Findings
16.30     Drinks

Tuesday June 5th – Day 2

9.30      Doors open
10.00    Instructions (deliver presentation for IOTEvent)
10.15    A fresh look at yesterday’s work
10.30    Tell the story (make a draft presentation – video, storyboard, or keynote)
11.30    Stepping stones & hurdles (identify
12.00    Research & sketches
12.30    Lunch
13.00    Product, business plan& tech.
14.30    Bring things together.
15.30    Pitches, you b***s!
16.30     Drinks

Pachube is now Cosm!

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:27:18 +0000

Today is a significant one in the historu of Pachube history, because today is the day that Pachube grows up.
We haven’t exactly been silent over the last few months since being acquired by LogMeIn but we also haven’t spoken much about the biggest task that’s been occupying us almost round the clock: building out and relaunching the service under a new (pronounceable! spellable!! memorable!!!) name, with a completely new (cleaner! easier!! functional!!!) design, that brings with it a whole host of features and attributes that help you build Internet of Things products, applications and services more quickly, scalably and collaboratively. Pachube.com has evolved into Cosm.com. And we mean business.

One of the key lessons we’ve learned over the years – apart from the fact that few people could spell or pronounce ‘Pachube’! – is that we should be focusing on helping people connect with each other as well as their devices. We aren’t just building behind-the-scenes infrastructure. The idea of the internet of things needing a piece of equipment (a ‘patch-bay’) has become less useful than the concept of it involving shared ‘workspaces’ and ‘environments’ (‘microcosms’ and ‘macrocosms’). Cosm has an even bigger vision than Pachube: we want it to help people, teams, companies & cities build, share and make sense of their own ‘cosms’: devices, environments, communities.

Trimble acquires Google’s SketchUp 3D Modeling Platform

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:49:47 +0000

As part of the SketchUp platform, Trimble will also partner with Google on running and developing SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse, an online repository where users can find, share, store and collaborate on 3D models.

SketchUp is currently used by millions of users annually—ranging from architects to engineering and construction firms to building and design professionals – for designing, modeling and visualizing projects. The SketchUp product and its vision of “3D modeling for everyone” has allowed modelers worldwide, across a wide range of industries, to express design concepts easily, accurately and efficiently.

Trimble has created the de-facto standard for field data models and project management tools for its key markets. SketchUp and the 3D Warehouse, together with other Trimble Tools from Accubid, HHK, Meridian, Plancal, QuickPen, Tekla, Trimble Business Center and the Trimble Connected Community will provide a stand-alone and enterprise solution that will enable an integrated and seamless workflow to reduce rework and improve productivity for the customer. Users will be able to collect data, design, model, and collaborate on one platform. The combined capability will enhance our ability to extend our existing market applications including the cadastral, heavy civil, and building and construction industries. In addition, the SketchUp platform will enable Trimble, third-party developers and our distribution partners to efficiently develop new applications.