The O2 Joggler is a rebadged version of a OpenPeak OpenFrame 7″ touch-screen device. It has an Intel Atom Z520 CPU running at 1.3Ghz, 512Mb of RAM and 1GB of internal flash storage. You can also run it as a fully functioning Squeezebox Server!

Here’s how:

• First check that your Joggler is running the latest 26635.S3 (Jun 25 2010) software, if it’s not then update
• You will need telnet access, so download this Joggler telnet hack
• Unpack the Zip archive to the root of a USB stick formatted in FAT16 or FAT32
• Unplug the Joggler, insert the USB stick, then power on again and wait!
• When the Joggler reboots it will have telnet enabled
• Telnet to the IP address of your Joggler and login with the username ‘letmein’
• Download Logitech’s Squeezebox Server v7.5.1 and save to your PC desktop

Now use these commands to download and install flipflip’s Squeezebox server wrapper:

cd /media
mkdir /media/ssods4 /opt
ln -s /media/ssods4 /opt/ssods4
cd /opt/ssods4
wget http://oinkzwurgl.org/downloads/ssods/ssods-4.9.1-i686.tar.gz
tar -xzvpf ssods-4.9.1-i686.tar.gz
echo "ssods:*:1000:1000:ssods:/opt/ssods4:" >> /etc/passwd
echo "ssods:*:1000:" >> /etc/group
LC_ALL= /opt/ssods4/etc/init.d/rc.ssods start

Assuming all the above has gone ok, you can now open a browser and finish the Squeezebox server installation:

• Open a web browser on your PC and enter the URL of your Joggler, e.g. http://192.168.1.65:9099/
• Follow the instructions in SSOXX to upload the squeezeboxserver-7.5.1.tgz file you downloaded earlier and then install the SqueezeCenter tar ball
• When it’s finished you should see Success messages like the screenshot below
• Now just click on ‘Start SqueezeboxServer’ to fire it up

If you are going to use your Joggler as a dedicated Squeezebox Server then you might want to make the following tweaks to ensure that it all starts up automatically and unnecessary processes are disabled:

• Edit  /etc/init.d/boot.d/S99boot.hacks and add the line ‘LC_ALL= /opt/ssods4/etc/init.d/rc.ssods start’ in the starthacks() function, just after the telnetd line should be fine (my S99boot.hacks additions are at the end of this post)
• Go into the SSOXX settings tab and make sure that autostart is enabled
• Stop the X11 server and O2 GUI from loading by commenting out the following two lines from the end of /etc/init.d/rcS

cd /openpeak/tango
./run &

• Disable automatic software updating to ensure that all your good work is not undone in the future:

echo "127.0.0.1 localhost applog.openpeak.net o2.openpeak.com o2.openpeak.co.uk" > /etc/hosts

I want to keep my Joggler in a cupboard and forget all about it, so I have no use for the display.
To save power I switch the screen off entirely, to do this I use Starter’s driver patches:

cd /media
wget http://get.intanet.com/dl/brightness.sh
wget http://get.intanet.com/dl/bp
./brightness.sh allowscreenoff 1
./brightness.sh negativevalues 1

Add the following line to /etc/init.d/boot.d/S99boot.hacks:

/bin/echo "-3">/proc/blctrl"

If you want to mount a Samba/CIFS share (like a NAS mount) you will need to download the cifs.ko kernel module and add that to the startup file.

The starthacks() function in my /etc/init.d/boot.d/S99boot.hacks startup file now looks like this:

starthacks()
{
  # enable telnet
  /usr/sbin/telnetd
  # load CIFS kernel module
  /sbin/insmod /media/cifs.ko
  /bin/sleep 2
  # mount network share
  /bin/mount -t cifs //192.168.1.2/musicshare /mnt/music -o user=music,password=secret
  /bin/sleep 2
  # disable screen
  /bin/echo "-3">/proc/blctrl
  # start SSOXX and Squeezebox Server
  LC_ALL= /opt/ssods4/etc/init.d/rc.ssods start
}

Reboot your Joggler for the display driver patches to load.

The fourth device, the Conserve Insight monitor (see image), is a bit more interesting. For $29.99, the Insight lets you measure power use by watts, dollars and cents and carbon footprint from any appliance or device that plugs into a wall socket. In short, it’s Belkin’s first offering that actually shows consumers how much energy they can save using the rest of its Conserve gear.

Whether or not the average consumer is willing to pay $30 for that privilege remains an open question. Right now, home energy management remains the realm of do-it-yourself early adopters and utility pilot projects. Estimates of just how much either consumers or utilities are likely to spend on managing home energy use range from $50 to $200 per home, depending on how much detail and control the systems offer. Pike Research predicts that the home energy management market will grow fairly slowly, with only some 28 million energy-aware homes worldwide by 2015.

Even so, devices to monitor home energy usage are on sale from startups and home electronics giants alike. Canadian company Blue Line Innovations in January started selling its $99 PowerCost Monitor energy management device in Fry’s Electronics stores. Energy Inc., maker of the $200 Energy Detective device for measuring household current, has a partnership with Google’s (s goog) PowerMeter and an investment from 3M (s mmm) to its credit. AlertMe, another PowerMeter partner, has been selling a home energy management kit for months that costs £69 ($112) plus a £30 ($50) annual subscription.

There’s no doubt that more are to come. January’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) saw General Electric (s GE), Whirlpool (s WHR) and Best Buy (s BBY) announce new home energy devices and partnerships. Dozens of startups are working on home energy management networking, software, displays and controls with partners that include broadband, telecommunications and home security companies. On the horizon, Intel Labs (s intc) has a concept device to monitor appliances’ energy use via their voltage signatures, and Apple has a patent for a home energy interface that transmits energy data over household wiring.

More on home energy management from GigaOM Pro:

The Developer’s Guide to Home Energy Management Apps

Is Energy Management the Killer App For the Home Automation Market?

The fourth device, the Conserve Insight monitor (see image), is a bit more interesting. For $29.99, the Insight lets you measure power use by watts, dollars and cents and carbon footprint from any appliance or device that plugs into a wall socket. In short, it’s Belkin’s first offering that actually shows consumers how much energy they can save using the rest of its Conserve gear.

Whether or not the average consumer is willing to pay $30 for that privilege remains an open question. Right now, home energy management remains the realm of do-it-yourself early adopters and utility pilot projects. Estimates of just how much either consumers or utilities are likely to spend on managing home energy use range from $50 to $200 per home, depending on how much detail and control the systems offer. Pike Research predicts that the home energy management market will grow fairly slowly, with only some 28 million energy-aware homes worldwide by 2015.

Even so, devices to monitor home energy usage are on sale from startups and home electronics giants alike. Canadian company Blue Line Innovations in January started selling its $99 PowerCost Monitor energy management device in Fry’s Electronics stores. Energy Inc., maker of the $200 Energy Detective device for measuring household current, has a partnership with Google’s (s goog) PowerMeter and an investment from 3M (s mmm) to its credit. AlertMe, another PowerMeter partner, has been selling a home energy management kit for months that costs £69 ($112) plus a £30 ($50) annual subscription.

There’s no doubt that more are to come. January’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) saw General Electric (s GE), Whirlpool (s WHR) and Best Buy (s BBY) announce new home energy devices and partnerships. Dozens of startups are working on home energy management networking, software, displays and controls with partners that include broadband, telecommunications and home security companies. On the horizon, Intel Labs (s intc) has a concept device to monitor appliances’ energy use via their voltage signatures, and Apple has a patent for a home energy interface that transmits energy data over household wiring.

More on home energy management from GigaOM Pro:

The Developer’s Guide to Home Energy Management Apps

Is Energy Management the Killer App For the Home Automation Market?

In 2010 gadget makers, utilities, appliance makers and broadband service providers have been trying to tackle the very nascent consumer energy management market, where consumers will use devices, cell phones and home wireless networks to track and reduce their home energy consumption. This year’s Consumer Electronics Show, the harbinger of next-generation gadgets and gizmos, featured the biggest showing of consumer-facing home energy management devices in my recollection.

OpenPeak has specialized in acting as the enabler for companies that want to get into working with consumers and energy — whether that’s smart meter makers, smart appliance makers, or energy resellers — and OpenPeak has offered a white label-product that these companies can brand. The company worked with Direct Energy, Whirlpool, and Best Buy to launch a Home Energy Management (HEM) device at CES, has partned with General Electric (s GE) on its energy management dashboard and has also teamed up with smart meter maker Itron (s ITRI).

OpenPeak CEO Dan Gittelman has said that the company has also been working with telecoms for energy monitoring. In particular OpenPeak’s latest tablet called OpenTablet, which AT&T (s ATT) has embraced, will offer an energy management solution. In photos of the OpenTablet you can see “Energy” as one of the feature apps.

Deals like the energy offering in OpenTablet could help get energy management in the hands of millions of more users. For more analysis of this trend see Broadband Service Providers Are About to Ride the Home Energy Wave, via GigaOM Pro, subscription required.

OpenPeak’s latest funders, which include Intel Capital and GE Capital, have their own interests in energy management. Chip giant Intel has been working on a concept of a home energy management product in its research labs, and, as we mentioned, GE and OpenPeak have an energy-focused partnership.

While these latest funds for OpenPeak will not be spent solely on beefing up its energy management platform, the backing will likely help OpenPeak continue developing energy focused products and weaving energy management into devices. The company might be somewhat under-the-radar (given its white label nature) but it is one of the most important when it comes to creating an ecosystem around consumers and energy management, and it just got an injection of funds from high profile backers. That’s only good news for the nascent energy management market.

For more research on energy management check out GigaOM Pro (subscription required):

Smart Algorithms: The Future of the Energy Industry

The Developer’s Guide to Home Energy Management Apps

Home Energy Management: Consumer Attitudes and Preferences

In 2010 gadget makers, utilities, appliance makers and broadband service providers have been trying to tackle the very nascent consumer energy management market, where consumers will use devices, cell phones and home wireless networks to track and reduce their home energy consumption. This year’s Consumer Electronics Show, the harbinger of next-generation gadgets and gizmos, featured the biggest showing of consumer-facing home energy management devices in my recollection.

OpenPeak has specialized in acting as the enabler for companies that want to get into working with consumers and energy — whether that’s smart meter makers, smart appliance makers, or energy resellers — and OpenPeak has offered a white label-product that these companies can brand. The company worked with Direct Energy, Whirlpool, and Best Buy to launch a Home Energy Management (HEM) device at CES, has partned with General Electric (s GE) on its energy management dashboard and has also teamed up with smart meter maker Itron (s ITRI).

OpenPeak CEO Dan Gittelman has said that the company has also been working with telecoms for energy monitoring. In particular OpenPeak’s latest tablet called OpenTablet, which AT&T (s ATT) has embraced, will offer an energy management solution. In photos of the OpenTablet you can see “Energy” as one of the feature apps.

Deals like the energy offering in OpenTablet could help get energy management in the hands of millions of more users. For more analysis of this trend see Broadband Service Providers Are About to Ride the Home Energy Wave, via GigaOM Pro, subscription required.

OpenPeak’s latest funders, which include Intel Capital and GE Capital, have their own interests in energy management. Chip giant Intel has been working on a concept of a home energy management product in its research labs, and, as we mentioned, GE and OpenPeak have an energy-focused partnership.

While these latest funds for OpenPeak will not be spent solely on beefing up its energy management platform, the backing will likely help OpenPeak continue developing energy focused products and weaving energy management into devices. The company might be somewhat under-the-radar (given its white label nature) but it is one of the most important when it comes to creating an ecosystem around consumers and energy management, and it just got an injection of funds from high profile backers. That’s only good news for the nascent energy management market.

For more research on energy management check out GigaOM Pro (subscription required):

Smart Algorithms: The Future of the Energy Industry

The Developer’s Guide to Home Energy Management Apps

Home Energy Management: Consumer Attitudes and Preferences

The company recently announced the OpenTablet 7, a portable, touch-screen device that is similar in many ways to Apple’s iPad. The investment from Intel isn’t surprising considering that OpenPeak’s device is based on Intel’s Moorestown platform. The tablet also includes thousands of apps for its platform and and the app ecosystem is completely Flash-based (as opposed to the iPad, which doesn’t support Flash).

OpenPeak says the funding will be used to expand product development and enter new markets. The company also develops a multi-media phones, set-top box, and home energy management applications.

[crunchbase url="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/openpeak" name="OpenPeak"]

The Joggler doesn’t appear to have got particularly good reviews and in trying to describe what a Joggler is, it’s easy to see why people are skeptical; it’s a bit like a really bad iPhone that you a) can’t use to phone anyone and b) can’t use outside your house. The software that comes with the Joggler is disappointing, which doesn’t help. It’s a shame because I think the basic principles for the apps are good as far as they go, but the execution is just not there yet. For example, the guide rightly notes that a tap-and-hold is not intuitive, but to move or delete apps that is exactly what you have to do. I also quite like being able to tap the time to display the clock screen saver straight away, but that isn’t exactly obvious either. The on screen keyboard is inconsistent, although I have on seen two so far. There’s a ‘commonly used’ information icon, but it’s so uncommon that I don’t think I’ve actually seen it. Right up there next to the home icon for every app would be nice. Browsing through music or photos is painful. The messaging app doesn’t allow short SMS codes. Let’s just say that there’s plenty of areas for improvement, although it is just possible that things will get better: the Joggler does get updates and something decent may yet turn up in the Joggler app store!

You might think that I’m disappointed by the Joggler, but I’m actually very happy with it, especially for the price. One big bonus is that the hardware is excellent, although even here there is one tiny omission… how can it possibly not have some kind of SD card slot? That just seems mad. Still, unlike a few people I know, I’m not quite ready to ditch the O2 software and replace it with something completely different. Despite shortcomings with the current apps, I like the concept and it’s certainly good enough for the (reduced) price. For example, I’ve been using the internet radio a fair bit; it disconnects now and then but is otherwise far better than DAB radio. I’ve also been checking the traffic app most mornings. It’s not great (I wish it at least had motorway junctions marked on the map) but it’s good enough to see when the worst of the morning rush is over. I would really like to use a calendar app as well and, having tried the google one, I may actually sign up for an O2 calendar to see how it compares. Google calendars are fine, but I don’t want to see all my google calendars on the Joggler and I couldn’t see any way to pick which calendar(s) to show in the app.

So for now, apart from a bit of tinkering (downloading Ubuntu for the Joggler at the moment for a quick look), I’m planning to leave it mostly as is. In the future it would be nice to get it to run the few bits I have on my other home server,  some home automation apps would be interesting, a decent feed reader instead of that Sky news rubbish would be handy, an Opera mini app would be great, etc. etc. Thinking about getting hold of the Joggler SDK to see what that’s like.

I was collecting a few handy looking links while investigating whether to buy one…

• Hack the Joggler
• Playing the Joggler
• Joggler Wiki

…but Graham and Nathan have that pretty well covered already.

All in all, £35 for a hackable internet radio isn’t bad. And I do really like the clock!

Refreshingly for the tablet space, the UI isn’t a bit laggy, and seems pretty far along, though we’re promised even more polish as this thing nears market. We didn’t check out a browser, and some elements like the touchscreen keyboard are pretty dismal, but for home automation or video conferencing (the device packs a 1080p front-facing camera and a 5 megapixel shooter around back), it seems like OpenPeak can carve a niche for itself on the market. Most of all, we’re impressed with the 1.9GHz Moorestown chip under the hood, which offers huge power savings over Atom; plenty of juice for some media rich apps, UI elements, and video; and even runs cool to the touch. An included docking station offers charging and port replication, but there’s also an HDMI plug built right into the bottom of the tablet, along with removable microSD up top. No word on when exactly this will hit the market this year, how much it’ll cost, or if it’ll be rebranded by AT&T. Check out a video hands-on after the break, and a quick note on the press shots below: apps are subject to change based on the rebadger’s own partnerships.

Source

Well, it looks like AT&T is maintaining a steady pace with its non-cellphone news during CTIA (in addition tocellphone news, of course), with it now following up yesterday’s announcements with another three. That includes a deal with OpenPeak that will see AT&T provide 3G service for the company’s OpenTablet device (now slated to be available in “late 2010″), and an agreement with Zeebo to provide mobile broadband for the company’s gaming / entertainment / education console. That’s currently only available Brazil and Mexico, but Zeebo is apparently “planning for commercial opportunities in the domestic market ” sometime next year. Rounding things out (for now) is a deal with American Security Logistics, which has announced that it will be using AT&T to wirelessly connect a whole range of location-based tracking devices — including everything from cargo shipments to pet tracking to Alzheimer’s patient monitoring. Alright, AT&T. Anything else left up your sleeve? A 3G-equipped sleeve, perhaps?

NIST is launching a new blog to open an industry dialogue around the “customer interface to the Smart Grid.” According to an opening post by George Arnold, NIST’s national coordinator for smart grid interoperability, one major question is whether the smart meter should be the primary gateway for home energy data, or whether the smart grid industry should be looking at a separate energy gateway for some or all of the home energy data that’s out there. Arnold dubs this the “Energy Services Interface,” but doesn’t get into more detail — though he does note that he’s interested in learning of “alternative architectures involving real-time (or near-real-time) electricity usage and price data” that could fit the bill.

Utilities are promising that the tens of millions of two-way communicating smart meters they’re installing across the country will eventually link up to home energy management systems, and the dozens of startups and corporate giants working on home energy interfaces are busy testing out these capabilities in pilot projects. But beyond those pilots, utilities aren’t turning on their smart meter-home communications just yet in any widespread way.

That slow pace is starting to get some pushback from regulators. California regulators have asked the state’s big investor-owned utilities to give all smart meter-enabled customers energy data by the end of 2010, and follow up with “near real-time” data by the end of 2011 — a timeline that could be challenging to meet. Questions of which standards will prevail in the so-called “home area network” field, as well as questions of smart meter data privacy and security, need to be solved to push these systems into the mainstream.

Of course, utilities are already transmitting data from smart meters back to their central offices in 15-minute to hourly increments, and that can be sent back to homeowners via Web interfaces or other means. But that data is being processed and delivered back to homeowners a day or more after the energy was actually consumed — useful for spotting wasteful behavior patterns, perhaps, but not for giving homeowners the real-time ability to spot and avert wasteful usage as it’s happening.

There are other ways to do that. Google’s PowerMeter energy interface is working with utilities and smart meter maker Itron, but is also partnering with in-home energy devices from Energy Inc. and AlertMe, which can be purchased and installed by homeowners. High-end home automation system maker Control4 makes a cheaper energy-specific product, available both through utilities and direct-to-consumer channels.

The problem with leaving the purchase of home energy tools to consumers, is cost — Energy Inc’s the Energy Detective costs about $200, while surveys indicate that most consumers are willing to pay little more than $50 or so to watch their energy use, if they’re willing to spend anything at all. There are less expensive ways for homeowners to energy-watch on their own dime — Blue Line Innovations has come out with its $99 PowerCost Monitor to beam signals from non-smart electricity meters into a home display unit, and is now selling it at Fry’s Electronics after years of selling through utilities. This year’s Consumer Electronics Show featured several new partnerships aimed at the consumer energy management market, including a General Electric partnership with digital home display maker OpenPeak. (For more on “Home Energy Management: Consumer Attitudes and Preferences,” check out GigaOM Pro).

One way to make energy management more affordable is to fold it into other home offerings, like smart appliances, home broadband services or home security systems. GE’s promised line of smart appliances — fridges, ovens and other household devices that can power down to meet homeowner or utility energy-saving needs — will be linked up with GE home energy management software and interface due sometime this year. Kleiner Perkins-backed startup iControl is working with broadband providers and home security firms to supply an energy management tool that could be bundled into the monthly fees that homeowners pay for those services. (See Broadband Service Providers Are About to Ride the Home Energy Wave, GigaOM Pro).

OpenPeak, beyond its GE partnership, is already supplying its home displays to telcos such as Verizon (s VZN) and Telefonica subsidiary O2, and OpenPeak CEO Dan Gittelman has hinted at a telco-linked energy monitoring offering to come (see Greentech Media). But, in a nod to the multiple pathways to home energy management, OpenPeak is also working with smart meter maker Itron.

In the meantime, emerging models for home energy management could add new options to the already bewildering array. Intel Labs has a concept gadget that could plug into a household outlet and monitor individual appliances’ energy use via their voltage signatures, and Apple has a patent for a home energy interface using Homeplug power line communications to carry energy data.

The NIST blog, hosted with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, will be open to all interested participants through Friday, March 12, with the discussion to be framed around three central questions: Architectural questions from Feb. 23 to March 1; questions concerning data access and ownership from March 2 to March 7, and questions on data communications standards for consumer appliances and other smart grid-enabled devices from March 8 to March 12. To participate, check out NIST’s smart grid collaboration site, or send emails to smartgrid@ostp.gov.

Image courtesy of numstead’s photostream Flickr Creative Commons.

NIST is launching a new blog to open an industry dialogue around the “customer interface to the Smart Grid.” According to an opening post by George Arnold, NIST’s national coordinator for smart grid interoperability, one major question is whether the smart meter should be the primary gateway for home energy data, or whether the smart grid industry should be looking at a separate energy gateway for some or all of the home energy data that’s out there. Arnold dubs this the “Energy Services Interface,” but doesn’t get into more detail — though he does note that he’s interested in learning of “alternative architectures involving real-time (or near-real-time) electricity usage and price data” that could fit the bill.

Utilities are promising that the tens of millions of two-way communicating smart meters they’re installing across the country will eventually link up to home energy management systems, and the dozens of startups and corporate giants working on home energy interfaces are busy testing out these capabilities in pilot projects. But beyond those pilots, utilities aren’t turning on their smart meter-home communications just yet in any widespread way.

That slow pace is starting to get some pushback from regulators. California regulators have asked the state’s big investor-owned utilities to give all smart meter-enabled customers energy data by the end of 2010, and follow up with “near real-time” data by the end of 2011 — a timeline that could be challenging to meet. Questions of which standards will prevail in the so-called “home area network” field, as well as questions of smart meter data privacy and security, need to be solved to push these systems into the mainstream.

Of course, utilities are already transmitting data from smart meters back to their central offices in 15-minute to hourly increments, and that can be sent back to homeowners via Web interfaces or other means. But that data is being processed and delivered back to homeowners a day or more after the energy was actually consumed — useful for spotting wasteful behavior patterns, perhaps, but not for giving homeowners the real-time ability to spot and avert wasteful usage as it’s happening.

There are other ways to do that. Google’s PowerMeter energy interface is working with utilities and smart meter maker Itron, but is also partnering with in-home energy devices from Energy Inc. and AlertMe, which can be purchased and installed by homeowners. High-end home automation system maker Control4 makes a cheaper energy-specific product, available both through utilities and direct-to-consumer channels.

The problem with leaving the purchase of home energy tools to consumers, is cost — Energy Inc’s the Energy Detective costs about $200, while surveys indicate that most consumers are willing to pay little more than $50 or so to watch their energy use, if they’re willing to spend anything at all. There are less expensive ways for homeowners to energy-watch on their own dime — Blue Line Innovations has come out with its $99 PowerCost Monitor to beam signals from non-smart electricity meters into a home display unit, and is now selling it at Fry’s Electronics after years of selling through utilities. This year’s Consumer Electronics Show featured several new partnerships aimed at the consumer energy management market, including a General Electric partnership with digital home display maker OpenPeak. (For more on “Home Energy Management: Consumer Attitudes and Preferences,” check out GigaOM Pro).

One way to make energy management more affordable is to fold it into other home offerings, like smart appliances, home broadband services or home security systems. GE’s promised line of smart appliances — fridges, ovens and other household devices that can power down to meet homeowner or utility energy-saving needs — will be linked up with GE home energy management software and interface due sometime this year. Kleiner Perkins-backed startup iControl is working with broadband providers and home security firms to supply an energy management tool that could be bundled into the monthly fees that homeowners pay for those services. (See Broadband Service Providers Are About to Ride the Home Energy Wave, GigaOM Pro).

OpenPeak, beyond its GE partnership, is already supplying its home displays to telcos such as Verizon (s VZN) and Telefonica subsidiary O2, and OpenPeak CEO Dan Gittelman has hinted at a telco-linked energy monitoring offering to come (see Greentech Media). But, in a nod to the multiple pathways to home energy management, OpenPeak is also working with smart meter maker Itron.

In the meantime, emerging models for home energy management could add new options to the already bewildering array. Intel Labs has a concept gadget that could plug into a household outlet and monitor individual appliances’ energy use via their voltage signatures, and Apple has a patent for a home energy interface using Homeplug power line communications to carry energy data.

The NIST blog, hosted with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, will be open to all interested participants through Friday, March 12, with the discussion to be framed around three central questions: Architectural questions from Feb. 23 to March 1; questions concerning data access and ownership from March 2 to March 7, and questions on data communications standards for consumer appliances and other smart grid-enabled devices from March 8 to March 12. To participate, check out NIST’s smart grid collaboration site, or send emails to smartgrid@ostp.gov.

Image courtesy of numstead’s photostream Flickr Creative Commons.

GE’s (s GE) Smart Home Energy Panel: GE has launched an energy panel in conjunction with gadget-maker OpenPeak, which connects via wireless standards ZigBee and Wi-Fi to a smart meter (GE also makes smart meters), connected appliances (GE makes those too) and connected thermostats. GE says the device is shaped like a table-top picture frame and will also connect with “Internet news, sports, music, weather services, social networks like Facebook and instant messaging.”

GE and OpenPeak’s energy panel is different than the Home Energy Manager that GE announced last year (and which is shaped like a large table-top picture frame) and which is supposed to be available in 2010. GE tells me that the HEM is being developed in-house, and that the panel announced today with OpeanPeak is market-ready.

Direct Energy’s Energy Gadget: As we first reported energy reseller Direct Energy and a group of gadget heavyweights, including appliance maker Whirlpool, retail group Best Buy (s BBY), and gadget developer OpenPeak, launched a home energy management device dubbed the Home Energy Management (HEM) center at CES. Tim Woods, founder of POCO Labs, the group that will conduct the in-home tests for Direct Energy, told us the device will also offer communication and social networking information.

Control4′s Energy Management Gear: Control4 only started focusing on utilities and smart meters back in July 2009, but at CES it showed off its Energy Management System (EMS) 100. The package, which includes a Zigbee-enabled thermostat and a touch-screen energy device controller will be available in April, says CNET.

Tenrehte Technologies’ Wi-Fi Smart Plugs: A Rochester, New York-based company called Tenrehte Technologies is developing Wi-Fi-enabled smart plugs called Picowatts that can be used instead of smart meters. According to Smartmeters.com the Picowatts are about the size of an Apple (s AAPL) AirPort and will cost $79 will then go on sale in April. The product will be sold directly to consumers.

Intamac’s Energy Offering: Connect home player Intamac said at CES that it has partnered with D-Link to offer a Home Energy Monitoring Starter Kit. The kit includes two power sensor adapters that plug into the wall sockets. When appliances are plugged into these adapters, users can see energy consumption of those devices on the mydlink.com web site. Sounds pretty weak if you ask me.

GE’s (s GE) Smart Home Energy Panel: GE has launched an energy panel in conjunction with gadget-maker OpenPeak, which connects via wireless standards ZigBee and Wi-Fi to a smart meter (GE also makes smart meters), connected appliances (GE makes those too) and connected thermostats. GE says the device is shaped like a table-top picture frame and will also connect with “Internet news, sports, music, weather services, social networks like Facebook and instant messaging.”

GE and OpenPeak’s energy panel is different than the Home Energy Manager that GE announced last year (and which is shaped like a large table-top picture frame) and which is supposed to be available in 2010. GE tells me that the HEM is being developed in-house, and that the panel announced today with OpeanPeak is market-ready.

Direct Energy’s Energy Gadget: As we first reported energy reseller Direct Energy and a group of gadget heavyweights, including appliance maker Whirlpool, retail group Best Buy (s BBY), and gadget developer OpenPeak, launched a home energy management device dubbed the Home Energy Management (HEM) center at CES. Tim Woods, founder of POCO Labs, the group that will conduct the in-home tests for Direct Energy, told us the device will also offer communication and social networking information.

Control4′s Energy Management Gear: Control4 only started focusing on utilities and smart meters back in July 2009, but at CES it showed off its Energy Management System (EMS) 100. The package, which includes a Zigbee-enabled thermostat and a touch-screen energy device controller will be available in April, says CNET.

Tenrehte Technologies’ Wi-Fi Smart Plugs: A Rochester, New York-based company called Tenrehte Technologies is developing Wi-Fi-enabled smart plugs called Picowatts that can be used instead of smart meters. According to Smartmeters.com the Picowatts are about the size of an Apple (s AAPL) AirPort and will cost $79 will then go on sale in April. The product will be sold directly to consumers.

Intamac’s Energy Offering: Connect home player Intamac said at CES that it has partnered with D-Link to offer a Home Energy Monitoring Starter Kit. The kit includes two power sensor adapters that plug into the wall sockets. When appliances are plugged into these adapters, users can see energy consumption of those devices on the mydlink.com web site. Sounds pretty weak if you ask me.

At BroadSoft we are encouraged by this commitment, and have introduced an initiative to offer our solutions to these island nations where broadband access is still limited. By providing our rich overlay BroadWorks features on traditional fixed and wireless TDM networks, these providers can offer services such as “find me, follow me” calling and fixed-mobile convergence, i.e. unifying desktop phones with mobile devices.

We have had the pleasure to work with a few carriers in the Caribbean and they have been some of our most innovative and focused customers. To continue to support this innovative thought-leadership, we took the opportunity at CANTO to demonstrate video conferencing (thanks to Polycom for shipping us the latest VVX video phone), Unified Communications (thanks to a Microsoft OCS integration) and finally media phones (thanks to OpenPeak for shipping us their phone).

Along with lots of leading edge technology, and insightful dialog on the social economic situation in the region, the organizers of CANTO put on some excellent evening entertainment, so that we could learn and enjoy the rich “Trini” culture.

OpenPeak is planning on releasing some sort of OpenFrame picture frame and home phone combo with a big sexy iPhone-alike buttons. Eventually they will offer more devices to connect to the frame like, perhaps, ummm… I don’t know. As OpenPeak’s PR lady says:

“One of the beauties of the product is that it is dynamic,” says Mikolasy. “It is really a blank screen of opportunity.”

Blank screen of opportunity, huh?

Vía: Xataka