With Google’s PowerMeter being unveiled last February, Microsoft’s Hohm last June, and Intel’s Home Energy Management Dashboard just last week, the energy monitoring race is well underway among computer manufacturing-based companies; not to mention the scores of independent companies focused solely on the technology. So why would a company like Apple, known for starting trends instead of following them, just now be laying the groundwork for offering an energy monitoring solution of it’s own? The short answer is with more than an estimated 200 million smart meters being installed over the next decade (which are necessary for energy monitoring solutions like the ones listed above to function), there’s room in the market for one more producer of monitoring solutions that work in conjunction with those meters; especially when that producer is Apple.
Apple has filed a patent application for a system that relies on HomePlug Powerline Networking, which is a technology turns every power outlet in a building into a conduit for data as well as audio and video. Similar to AirTunes, but much easier when it comes to the plug-n-play capabilities, HomePlug Powerline Networking uses the actual electrical outlets in a home or office as ‘the network’.
Apple’s Smart Home Energy Management Dashboard System would tap into this network and feature an touch-screen display that would enable users to manage power consumption by defining power consumption and being able to see in real time their energy costs and usage statistics. Essentially Apple’s system would do what almost every other energy monitoring device/dashboard already does in one form or another; only it would be done in a way that would be uniquely Apple, which as anyone knows usually leaves its competition running for cover. Stay tuned for more on this one.
You can view a demonstration of the HomePlug Powerline Networking concept below as well Google’s PowerMeter:
The Good: A sleek user friendly energy monitoring solution from a company known for its close to perfect design.
The Bad: Apple is definitely late to the game on this one as it’s competitors already have monitoring solutions rolled out in real world beta phase testing. Only works with smart meters which are currently not being retrofitted everywhere in the country.
The Bottom-Line: Apple’s ingenuity and second to none design are sure to spawn a energy monitoring solution that even the most non eco-minded individuals are sure to salivate over.
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