demand

Honeywell buys into building-efficiency software

Honeywell has acquired Akuacom, a small, private company that makes demand-response and smart-grid software for commercial buildings.

The acquisition is expected to enhance the company's existing building-control equipment and efficiency services, Honeywell Building Solutions said Friday. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Akuacom makes a Web-based program designed for demand-response programs in which a utility seeks to "shed load," or lower energy consumption of its customers, during peak times.

By curtailing use during times of heavy demand, such as a hot day when the air conditioning load is high, utilities can avoid turning on costly and polluting "… Read more

Panasonic ramps up production of 3D TVs

Panasonic might be best known in the television business for its support of plasma technology, but in a recent interview with the Financial Times, the company said that it's also enjoying success with its 3D plasma TVs.

"We've had a very strong reaction" to 3D TVs in the U.S., Panasonic TV division chief Hirotoshi Uehara said in an interview with the Financial Times. "Our plasma panel factory is at full capacity but we've increased 3D panel production by 30 percent compared to our original plan."

Although Panasonic sounds upbeat about its 3D TV future, the company didn't provide a scale with which to gauge the increase in production.

Panasonic originally launched its 3D TV, the Viera TC-P50VT20, in March and has been one of the staunchest supporters of the technology. But it's also facing an uphill battle--at least initially. Because 3D TVs have only recently come on the market, there is little 3D content to watch. Some early adopters are finding that the extra price they paid for 3D technology has yet to be worth it.… Read more

Watch live and on-demand TV on your iPhone

Hulu who? If you've been waiting to watch your favorite shows on your iPhone, wait no more: the new MobiTV app streams both live and on-demand television content.

What kind of content? Oh, let's see, there's "Caprica," "Castle," "The Colbert Report," "Community," "Cougar Town," and "CSI"--and that's just the shows starting with "C." Needless to say, the on-demand selection is impressive.

As for live channels, MobiTV offers ABC, CNBC, The Disney Channel, ESPN, and MSNBC, among others.

The interface seems a … Read more

Yahoo top ad moneymaker leaving for Demand Media

According to several sources, Yahoo's Senior Vice President of U.S. Revenue and Market Development

(pictured here) is planning on leaving the Internet giant to take a new position as chief revenue officer of online content upstart Demand Media.

The surprise move is sure to have reverberations throughout the online advertising arena, but more so at Yahoo where Bradford's job encompasses a wide range of key revenue-generating duties.

She has also been tapped as one of the execs to play a key role in the recently approved search and online ad partnership with Microsoft.

Yahoo declined to comment. … Read more

Grooveshark: On-demand tunes for your mobile

Grooveshark on Tuesday released a mobile app for Palm OS, bringing the experience of mobile on-demand music to Palm phones like the Pre, Pre Plus, and the Pixi for the first time. The Palm app joins Grooveshark Mobile versions for Android and BlackBerry (it doesn't work on the Storm), both of which were quietly released in early January.

If you're not familiar with Grooveshark, the concept is similar to Rhapsody or Spotify (which is not available in the U.S. yet): type in the name of just about any song, album, or artist, and you'll get a … Read more

T-Mobile injects some fun into the HTC HD2

BARCELONA, Spain--During its press conference on Tuesday morning, T-Mobile revealed that it will ship the upcoming HTC HD2 with an array of entertainment applications to really take advantage of the smartphone's 4.3-inch WVGA multitouch screen and 1GHz Snapdragon processor, and to provide users with a robust multimedia experience.

To start, the HD2 will be the first handset to support Blockbuster's On Demand video download application, which lets you preview and download movies on the go. Once purchased, you can watch the video on another other connected device, such as a TV, a Blu-Ray Disc player, or a … Read more

Buzz Out Loud Podcast 1123: Honey, what's this charge for penetration testing?

A new service uses the power of 400 virtualized computers in the cloud to test the security of your WPA WiFi password. They only charge $34. But Donald is afraid of how this penetration testing might show up on his credit card bill. But forget WiFi. WiGig is coming promising 7Gbps transfer speeds. Take that Ethernet cable!

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1123

WiGig alliance creates next-generation wireless networking standard http://venturebeat.com/2009/12/10/wigig-alliance-creates-next-generation-wireless-networking-standard/ http://gigaom.com/2009/12/10/coming-soon-to-your-hd-home-theater-7gbps/

Microsoft finally open sources … Read more

Netflix-compatible video devices compared

Netflix has been on a roll in 2009, adding its Internet streaming video-on-demand service to an ever expanding list of devices. In just the past few weeks, the big news has been the imminent arrival of Netflix streaming on the PlayStation 3, along with more rumors that it will be coming to the Wii as well. Best Buy's Insignia brand has debuted a Netflix-capable Blu-ray player that lists for $149 (and has already been seen on sale for as little as $99). And Roku has delivered two new versions of its mini set-top box, lowering the entry-level price to just $80 for the non-HD version. That's in addition to Netflix's availability on the Xbox 360, TiVo DVRs, and Blu-ray players from LG and Samsung, and an increasing number of TVs.

With those notable changes in the Netflix landscape, we thought it was a good time to update our overview on Netflix streaming. (A recap follows, for the uninitiated; the Netflix-savvy can jump straight to the list of Netflix-compatible products.)

Netflix offers a library of 12,000-plus streaming titles over the Internet, available on an "all you can eat" basis for any customer on the $9 per month (one DVD movie by mail at a time) or higher plan. So, in addition to getting DVD (or, for an additional premium, Blu-ray) discs by mail, Netflix subscribers also get unlimited access to thousands of hours of on-demand programming. Just add the titles to the "Instant Queue" in your Netflix account, and they'll be available on any compatible device once you pair it. (The setup procedure, as outlined by CNET's Molly Wood, is quick and easy.)

There are a few downsides. Almost none of the available movie content would be classified in the "new release" category--the newest titles are usually at least a few years old. Also, the availability of titles ebbs and flows--many are available for a window of 60 to 90 days, after which they may or may not return a few months later. And many of the videos aren't available in their native wide-screen format. Also, you have to manipulate your queue from a PC browser. Aside from a list of new and notable titles, you can't search the available offerings and pick new selections that aren't already in your queue.

That said, we think the advantages are palpable.… Read more

Best Buy to launch branded movie download service

Best Buy on Tuesday is expected to announce its own movie download service for consumer electronics sold in its stores.

Though it doesn't have a name yet--and probably won't until next week at the earliest--Best Buy says the service will be up and running sometime in the fourth quarter, which could mean anytime between now and the end of the year. The retailer is licensing the software and infrastructure from Sonic Solutions' Roxio CinemaNow service, which has more than 20,000 film titles, mostly new releases, available via its on-demand service.

The software will be available on Best … Read more