From the post:

“Created on Ericsson’s behalf and entitled On The Brink, the video features interviews from Caterina Fake, co-founder of Hunch and Flickr, Erik Wahlforss co-founder of SoundCloud and others discussing the effect of broadband on society. It’s kind of like a 20-minute version of our RoadMap conference next week, where we have other big name thinkers talking about the same topic. The 20-minute documentary looks at the past, present and future of connectivity and technology, and the impacts on people, business and society.”

Here is a shorter high level video of the vision:

The article points to a recent report by ISH that concludes: “web-capable consumer electronics such as media tablets, televisions and Blu-Ray players will outsell traditional PCs in 2013 — just under two years from now. This category is fast growing, with expected sales of 503.6 million units in 2013, up from 161 million in 2010. Half a billion consumer electronics devices are still just a drop in the bucket as compared to 50 billion.”

Internet-enabled consumer electronics devices are products that enable users to connect to the extensive universe of the Internet, where they can then view, share or download content. Examples of these devices are televisions, Blu-ray players, game consoles, set-top boxes, digital media adapters and media tablets. Excluded from this category are other devices that can connect to the Internet like PCs and smartphones, which are tracked separately as data processing and wireless communications equipment, respectively.

Also from the report: “These new figures are the latest evidence that the Internet is not just for PCs anymore,” said Jordan Selburn, principal analyst for consumer platforms at IHS. “The Internet now is revolutionizing the consumer electronics business by delivering a range of products that can bring web-based content to homes. Increasingly, each Internet-enabled consumer electronics device is vying to become the center of what is known as the digital living room, aggregating content throughout the home and serving up movies, television programs, videos and music. In the future, consumers will be more likely to access the Internet through their televisions than via their PCs.”

GigaOM describes the obvious connected devices: media tablets, video game consoles, Blu-Ray players and smart TVs, E-readers and cameras.  But it gets more interesting when they explore the less obvious devices:

• “Smart homes. This category adds a number of subcategories and devices: One single smart home has the potential to add dozens of connections. A home security component might add half a dozen connected cameras, for example. Electronic door locks, intelligent thermostats and smart irrigation systems could add more, as could smart power meters.
• Health care devices. More self-monitoring systems are expected as wearable devices with web connectivity capture, log and report health data such as heart status, blood pressure, weight, blood sugar and other key health metrics.
• Automobiles. Cars with dedicated Internet connections aren’t just for the kids to play online while their parents do the driving: These can help with real-time traffic information on the road ahead. Car manufacturers could also use a web connection to proactively monitor automobiles for potential problems and either inform the driver directly or generate a warning sign in the vehicle. The growth of hybrid and electric vehicles could benefit as well, through the creation of smartphone applications that interface directly with a connected car, helping to monitor power requirements and helping drivers find the next-closest charging station. Ford, GM and Toyota appear to lead these connected efforts.”

You could also add the smart grid to the list but you can see the jump from obvious to less obvious also represents a jump from single connected devices to connected systems. Connected systems have broad based impact on economies and lifestyles that represent the real power of the connected planet.

Ford Evo

Ford has been on a roll and it continues with the IFA show in Berlin.  Ford is showing off a concept car called the Evo. In addition to the stylish looks the EVo will be a truly connected car, with applications that link it to the home network as well as the power grid to manage everything from charging to entertainment.

The concept video is introduced by Ford Motor Company’s chief technology officer Paul Mascarenas, who gave an interesting overview of the direction of Ford in a recent interview: “The car of tomorrow is becoming more connected.  Customers can now bring their connected devices into the vehicle but increasingly what we are seeing is vehicle to vehicle communication through WIFI and GPS.  Once we have a connected car infrastructure we can not only provide a safer driving environment we can also provide traffic and congestion management.”

Quote from Wired article:

“The possibilities are fascinating when we explore how to enable a seamless lifestyle between home, office and car linked by access to the driver’s personal information,” said Ford Chief Technical Officer Paul Mascarenas. “We’re researching how we can use patterns or preferences set by the driver to make life simpler. The car gets to know you and can act as a personal assistant to handle some of the usual routines of a daily commute.”

Connected car concept video:

Mashable looks at the connectivity applications of the Evo:

“The vehicle’s designers want the car to always be connected to the cloud, which will allow it to know the driver’s work schedule, constantly keep tabs on traffic and weather conditions, and assist and monitor the driver in an attempt to “enable a seamless lifestyle between home, office and car linked by access to the driver’s personal information.”

According to Ford, the vehicle gives its driver the ability to tap into this “personal cloud” of information at any time — for example, picking up where the driver left off on that favorite song he or she was listening to inside the house. The vehicle’s smart systems monitor its driver’s “physical state and workload,” adjusting the car’s handling, heating, cooling and music to suit the driver’s level of alertness, perhaps even keeping him from falling asleep.”

In a follow up post, Mashables reviewes some additional factors of car connectivity:

“Chris Cedregen, managing director for Iceology, a market research firm, says Sync was an immediate hit, which had a halo effect on the Focus. “It brought the car to a younger audience, which is hard to do,” he says. Cedregen adds that consumers continue to be enamored with Sync. “It’s amazing how often [Ford owners] rave about Sync without being asked,” he says. “They like the connectivity.”

“Appealing to a younger demo is tricky business these days, though. The average twenty-something is no doubt eager to be able to access Facebook in their car, but that’s not going to be an option on Sync anytime soon. Monty says that reading tweets are a different story, since they don’t require that much concentration, but “a Facebook update could be a lot longer.”

And some car porn:

From Daily Wireless:

“Today, the most exciting buzz in the DASH7 community is happening around OpenTag, the open source firmware stack that supports the DASH7 Mode 2 specification.

OpenTag has been in development for a while, but has been delayed by several rearchitecting phases. As a result, OpenTag is more than a “1.0” product.

An open source DASH7 Mode 2 software stack, written in C, is designed to run on microcontrollers, provides all functionality required, and runs on most real-time operating systems. OpenTag is in beta, yet it already has dozens of people reviewing the code, contributing debug information, documenting, and even preparing to work on new features.

At least four major semiconductor firms – Analog Devices, TI, Semtech, and Melexis — have built marketing and product plans around DASH7 and OpenTag. QuBit formed by four ex-Googlers, also announced an OpenTag project, with a free, open source, Tag Management system.”

Ford and SunPower team up to provide a high-efficiency rooftop solar system that will provide Focus Electric owners enough renewable energy production to offset the energy used for charging.

Ford and SunPower are teaming up to bring solar panels to buyers of Ford electronic vehicles. The solar panel will charge things other than the cars but the idea is to offset the power needed to charge the cars each night.

From the press release:

• “Ford and SunPower  team up to provide a high-efficiency rooftop solar system that will provide Focus Electric owners enough renewable energy production to offset the energy used for charging.
• The 2.5 kilowatt SunPower system will produce an estimated 3,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually. SunPower systems are backed by a 25-year warranty.
• Ford’s aggressive electrification strategy includes the launch of five electrified vehicles in North America by 2012 and Europe by 2013. The new Focus Electric is a zero-emissions, gasoline-free version of Ford’s popular global Focus model.

“Under the ‘Drive Green for Life’ program, Focus Electric owners can reduce their total cost of ownership by generating enough energy from their high efficiency SunPower rooftop solar system to offset the electricity required to charge the vehicle at night,” said Mike Tinskey, Ford director of Global Vehicle Electrification and Infrastructure. “It’s an eco-friendly solution that perfectly complements our plug-in products and other green initiatives.”

SunPower CEO Tom Werner

“SunPower’s innovative partnership with Ford is a win-win for customers, providing a comprehensive sustainability program,” said Tom Werner, SunPower president and CEO. “By taking advantage of this program, Focus Electric customers can receive the added benefit of installing a SunPower solar system, the highest-efficiency, most reliable on the market today, generating the electricity needed to charge their vehicles.”

From Techcrunch:

“At least Ford and SunPower are targeting the appropriate demographic. The option should appeal to environmentalists who want to buy an electric car, but don’t want to  feel guilty about consuming all the extra electricity needed to charge it. After all, it’s not really that “green” to drive electric when you’re charging your car using fossil fuels.”

The HaloIPT system doesn’t seem like its going to be in market for some time but they are currently in testing for the stationary system with the Rolls Royce 102EX.

From the HaolPT website:

“The amazing thing about your new HaloIPT-enabled electric car is that, whether traveling long distance or parking, you never think about charging it. You don’t even have to, because it’s all done automatically. This is one reason you decided to invest in one.

Other reasons? You like the flexible billing that works in your favour. You like the always-on data network that steers you to your destination and keeps you connected to the web wherever you are. And you really like the charging options, whether parking or on the move, at home or at work, fast or slow – or even being paid to put energy back into the grid.”

From the press release:

Lord Paul Drayson

“Lord Paul Drayson, co-founder of Drayson Racing said: “Dynamic wireless charging will be a real game-changer, enabling zero emission electric vehicles to race over long periods without the need for heavy batteries. Motor racing is the ideal environment to fast-track the development of this promising technology and to prove its effectiveness. This is a milestone innovation that will have a dramatic effect not just on racing but on the mainstream auto industry. We’re looking forward to putting this technology through its paces as it charges electric race cars at speeds of up to 200 mph.”

Dr Anthony Thomson, CEO of HaloIPT, said: “HaloIPT’s technology has a proven heritage in dynamic charging and we are excited to be transferring this expertise to the electric vehicle market. The deal with Drayson Racing demonstrates the appetite for technology that makes driving an electric car more convenient, and this is certainly the case in the motorsport sector – nothing could be more convenient than a race car that re-fuels itself on the track.”

IPT system

From the tech specs: (PDF)

“HaLoIPT’s wireless charging systems are being developed with a focus on increased performance, with improved coupling, efficiency, transfer gap, power and lateral toler- ance to mis-alignment. Controlling magnetic field emissions represents a top priority for HaloIPT.

Intellectual property rights are held in specific technology areas:

• power supply design
• transfer and receiver pad magnetics
• control electronics
• communications
• safety systems
• product design, materials and construction
• software logic

In addition, novel technologies have been developed which describe broader integrated systems. These include: dynamic charging – where eVs can be charged on-the- move and dynamic power control – which allows utilities to control the level of power to multiple vehicles preventing them from overloading the grid.”

From the press release:

Pasquale (Pat) Romano President and Chief Executive Officer

“The ChargePoint service plans are groundbreaking for the electric vehicle market, as they provide the missing ingredient needed to obtain a rapid scaling of feature-rich charging infrastructure,” said Pat Romano, president and CEO of Coulomb Technologies.  “We provide simple-to-deploy service plans that enable operators to measure, manage and profitably recoup the cost of the charging station operations, including the cost of electricity, capital and maintenance.”

From the blog post:

“The ChargePoint service plans provide a rapid way for station owners to get their charging station operations deployed.  The new family of cloud-based services includes a plan tailored for each of the following segments:

• Employers who want to provide a unique, tangible and high-value benefit to employees while also making a significant and measurable contribution to air quality and to the community: Employers such as Google and SAP can now control station access for their employees, track the success of sustainability initiatives including greenhouse gas and gasoline avoidance, and decide whether and what drivers will be charged without having to be involved in the transaction processing or billing.

• Businesses that want to attract EV drivers, provide a unique service to their customers, and enhance their reputation as a steward of the environment: Commercial businesses, including Starwood Resorts and Buffalo Wild Wings can now: attract new customers from the world’s largest network of EV drivers; provide flexible payment options and the ability to make reservations; and can track customer usage patterns as well as energy use, costs and revenues.

• Utilities that want to offer charging services in a way that is integrated with existing operations giving them the flexibility to manage the grid: Utilities, including Orlando Utilities Commission and Austin Energy can now manage every aspect of their charging operations and gain visibility into EV driver charging trends.”

Analysis from Gigaom:

“Using the cloud to connect cars and EVs makes sense, as there will continue to be more and more data associated with these essentially extra-large and expensive devices. GM’s electric car, the Volt, has 10 million lines of code and an IP address. Keeping EVs connected to the cloud via wireless networks also could be a valuable tool to fight range anxiety, or the perception that an EV’s battery has limited range and will run out of power, leaving the driver stranded.”

Richard Lowenthal Founder and Chief Technical Officer

Coulomb also introduced an open source protocol for charging system communication last week that will presumably be used in the new cloud service offering. Coulomb Chief Technology officer and founder Richard Lowenthal spoke with SmartGrid Today about the new framework:

“I could see this impacting us on hardware sales,” Lowenthal said.  When asked whether Coulomb with this move was contributing to the commoditization of charging stations, he responded, “We are.  We’ll have to take the risk our hardware team can compete well with other vendors’.  But if we put together standards, the industry will grow, and we’ll be able to compete within it.”

“We are to an extent giving away a competitive advantage, but this bolsters our credibility as a leadership company,” he said.  “We’re not trying to defend our world by locking people into proprietary things.  My role is 50% growing the charging industry and 50% competing within it.  This [protocol] is both.”

From Cisco:

“When we think of being connected to the Internet, our minds immediately shift to our computers, phones, and most recently tablets. This week at Cisco live, I shared that in 2008, the number of devices connected to the Internet exceeded the number of people on Earth.

That’s right. There are more devices tapping into the Internet than people on Earth to use them. How is this possible?

The infographic below provides a visual representation of the increase in “things” connected to the Internet. With this increase, how will you prepare your network for the future?”

From the press release: (PDF)

“There is up to 150MHz of high quality white space spectrum available. For comparison, typical nationwide 3G networks operate with a mere 30MHz of spectrum, and while 3G spectrum costs $bns, white space spectrum will be available free of charge To use white space, systems must meet very stringent technical specifications to prevent interference with television equipment and wireless microphones. NeulNET is the first wireless system to meet these conditions, including the FCC‟s challenging adjacent channel power specification.”

NeulNET is the first radio system specifically designed for TV white space that meets all FCC/Ofcom regulations and in particular the stringent Adjacent Channel Power specification.

“For many M2M applications, modems using cellular (2G & 3G) technology are too expensive and/or consume way too much power,” commented Allen Nogee, Research Director at In-Stat, and a keen observer of M2M and white space trends. “Neul‟s very novel M2M solution, using available white space spectrum, is a perfect solution for those applications requiring a low-cost, ultra-reliable connection that consumes very little power and supports very high device densities and capacities.

“Neul aims to unite parties interested in white space by presenting compelling technology, an industry standard, and a vision of how the white space spectrum can best be used. This industry needs a new holistic approach. Given the enormous technical and business acumen of the team, I see a bright future ahead for white space and for Neul.” added Nogee.”

Neul CEO James Collier

“White space delivers a huge amount of much-needed new capacity to meet the current and future needs of the M2M market,” commented James Collier, CEO of Neul. “But it presents significant technical challenges. In order to utilise the enormous potential of white space, the industry needs low-cost radios based on an industry standard. NeulNET radios, built around the new Weightless standard deliver this. Neul is at the forefront of white space developments, enabling, developing and defining the future local broadband and M2M networks.”

Neul is not shy about the potential for the White Space. On its “markets” page it lists the following as areas the company expects to introduce products and service.

• Machine-to-Machine communications
• Electronic media and content delivery
• Continuous monitoring of, and firmware upgrades for cars
• Traffic management and road pricing
• Asset tracking of goods on the move
• Networking for the smart grid
• Remote health monitoring and diagnosis
• Rural broadband
• Networking of electronic shelf labeling and point of sale terminals for retailers
• Environmental monitoring and control
• Home and industrial building automation, security and control
• Defense & security

If you don’t see something on that list you like you are probably reading the wrong blog.

From the Coulomb press release:

“Google continues to drive innovation and leadership in the workplace. The results of their clean transportation efforts are remarkable, taking the equivalent of over 2000 cars off the road every day,” said Bret Sewell, Coulomb Executive Vice President.  “We are proud that the ChargePoint Network plays a key role in this success by providing Google a complete electric vehicle charging solution.”

From Rolf Schreiber, Technical Program Manager, Electric Transportation, Google:

“To juice up our new cars and provide more charging options for Googlers, we’ve been working with Coulomb Technologies’ ChargePoint® Network to continue to expand our EV charging infrastructure. We’ve added 71 new and faster Level 2 chargers to the 150 Level 1 chargers we’ve installed over the last few years, bringing our total capacity to more than 200 chargers, with another 250 new ones on the way. The ChargePoint Network provides us the charging data necessary to track and report on the success of our green transportation initiative.”

The ChargePoint Network:

“The ChargePoint Network makes plug-in electric vehicle use a practical reality for drivers who can now top off their vehicle batteries wherever they park – at home and at convenient public locations such as at work, or at the marketplace. Drivers prefer the network because makes it easy for them to locate available public charging stations along their commute route and to track their vehicle’s charging performance from anywhere there is an Internet connection. Drivers rely on the network to keep them informed of their vehicle’s charging status at all times.”