hohm

Microsoft opens Hohm to energy monitoring

Microsoft opened up its Hohm Web application on Monday to U.S. users, a site that gives people a starting point for cutting home energy use.

The launch of Hohm, still in beta, was marred at least for some people, including me, by a DNS problem on Microsoft's side, according to the Hohm product development team. An hour or two after the launch, a few other consumers on Twitter complained of sign-in problems that lasted a few hours.

Once that glitch was cleared up, I was able to finish creating a profile in Hohm for my old New England … Read more

CNET News Daily Podcast: Microsoft measures home energy use

Reporter Ina Fried stops by the podcast studio to talk about Hohm, Microsoft's new Web service for helping consumers identify areas where they can save on energy.

Also in this podcast: Comcast and Time Warner are teaming up to bring cable subscribers TV shows online; why you might want to hold off on buying a Windows Vista machine; and a few of the hidden features in iPhone OS 3.0 that Apple hasn't publicized.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Today's stories:

Microsoft dials Hohm to cut home energy use

Comcast, Time Warner team up to deliver TV online… Read more

Mundie on Microsoft's 'Hohm' energy push

Microsoft's move into the energy monitoring business may sound like a stretch, but to Craig Mundie, it's one of several natural new businesses for the software maker.

Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, said the company has its eye on any area that can be helped by technology and in which society is spending a lot of money and not seeing the return it would like.

Energy consumption specifically, and environmental issues more broadly, were natural areas for the company to delve into, he said, and follow Microsoft's moves into other thorny challenges such as … Read more

Microsoft dials Hohm to cut home energy use

Microsoft wants to show you how to cut your utility bills.

The software giant will enter the burgeoning business of home-energy management on Wednesday with Hohm, a free Web application designed to show consumers how to conserve electricity and natural gas. Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, Craig Mundie, is scheduled to introduce Hohm and discuss Microsoft's energy strategy at the Edison Electric Institute utility industry conference on Wednesday.

It's a move that stands to shake up home-energy monitoring, a business that dozens of start-ups and IT industry heavyweights, including Google, Cisco, and Verizon, are moving into. … Read more