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Use your phone to talk to your house

Lowe's has teamed up with U.K.-based monitoring-tech company AlertMe for some home improvement designed to take your house into the future (or at least help you save on your energy bill).

The companies unveiled today the Iris, a new cloud-based home-monitoring and security system. Iris, which won't be in stores until the end of August, is meant to let homeowners monitor and control devices in the home -- including heating and cooling, home alarm systems, security cameras, or appliances -- using a smartphone, tablet, or computer.

Mary Turner, CEO of AlertMe, said the system is an … Read more

Google PowerMeter available to U.K. residents

U.K. residents will now be able to monitor and regulate their home energy usage from any Web-enabled phone or computer regardless of whether their energy provider uses smart meters.

Google announced two U.K. partnerships this week concerning its PowerMeter software, one of which completely bypasses the need for cooperation from an energy provider.

Since the U.K. electricity and gas supplier First Utility began offering customers free smart meters in September 2008, it has had 30,000 customers take them up on the offer. Now, as a result of a Google partnership announced Tuesday, First Utility smart meter … Read more