CES - Green tech

LAS VEGAS--General Electric today said the next phase of its $200 million entrepreneurship challenge will focus on home energy management.

GE at the Consumer Electronics Show said that the contest, called "Ecomagination Challenge: Powering Your Home," will begin January 18 and run through to March 1.

In July, GE launched the first phase of the contest with four venture capital companies to seek out business ideas for modernizing the grid from the general public. In November, it said it will provide grants or invest directly in several power grid-related companies, covering everything from way-out ideas such as solar-powered … Read more

Editor's note: This live event has concluded. For a brief rundown of what was announced, check out our summary post here. You can also replay our live blog in the Cover It Live module below.

Three companies that have been around the block a few times--Cisco Systems, General Electric, and Xerox--are sharing the stage this morning at CES, and we're there for live coverage of their talks.

The CEOs of the three companies--Cisco's John Chambers, GE's Jeffrey Immelt, and Xerox's Ursula Burns--are participating in a panel discussion on innovation, in what the Consumer Electronics Association … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Gear for smart, connected homes may give you consumers fine-grained control over home energy, but ThinkEco has got a light-weight approach to saving electricity.

At the Consumer Electronics Shows here, ThinkEco said that a consumer version of its connected plug and software will be available this spring for $50. Additional plugs cost $44.95.

The company's modlet--short for modern outlet--is a two-outlet plug that fits over ordinary plugs and is equipped with a Zigbee radio. Using a USB stick in a PC, the owner can then see the energy usage and control whatever's plugged into the … Read more

LAS VEGAS--For General Electric, the energy business is going digital.

The company's booth at the Consumer Electronics Show showcases different home energy products, nearly all of which are connected on a home information network and the Internet.

Using home automation to better manage energy, security, and improve entertainment is a theme here at CES where companies from different areas are touting connected devices beyond just PCs and even TVs.

GE is showing off its smart appliances which use Zigbee to communicate with a smart meter and Nucleus, a phone charger-size gadget which acts as a networking hub for connected … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Verizon at CES is showing off a home energy and security service it expects to roll out later this year priced for the "mass market."

Starting later this quarter, Verizon will start a trial of the Home Monitoring and Control service to its broadband customers in New Jersey, followed by a broader rollout, a company executive said here yesterday.

The company will offer a couple of starter kits, with one focused on home security and the other on energy. An associated monthly fee will be "nominal" and priced for broad usage, said Hassane Bouhia, group … Read more

LAS VEGAS--For some consumer electronics companies, the living room is just the start. Coming next is a home filled with connected appliances and gadgets that can be remotely controlled and programmed to shave down energy bills.

At the Consumer Electronics Show, LG on today touted its line of Thinq "smart" appliances, which use a Wi-Fi connection and a smart meter to bring features, such as programming appliances to work at off-peak times or diagnosing appliance problems through customer service online.

Its booth at CES featured its array of smart appliances, including a connected washer, dryer, refrigerator, and a … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Officially, the Consumer Electronics show runs for four days. But the real action happens before the show, as the world's consumer electronics companies line up to tout their latest and greatest gadgets, products, and apps via a marathon of press conferences--every hour, on the hour.

This year was no exception: 2011's "day zero" yielded a data dump of unprecedented proportions from the industry's biggest names. We're still sorting through it all ourselves, but here's a photo overview--with relevant links to earlier stories--to help put it all into perspective. Among the recurring themes … Read more

LAS VEGAS--No longer content to simply show its latest electronics at CES, LG this year brought a line of networked "smart appliances."

At a press event here today, the company announced a line of kitchen and cleaning appliances that use the Thinq brand name, promising consumers better energy efficiency and control.

The appliances use a Wi-Fi home network and smart meter to offer features, such as remotely operating appliances from a smart phone or programming them to take advantage of off-peak rates.

Being connected to a network also enables the appliances to alert their owners that something is … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Idapt's new i1 Eco universal charger can juice up a range of devices and in a way that's friendly to the environment.

Announced today at the Consumer Electronics Show, the i1 Eco includes both a USB port and a tip port with interchangeable tips. That helps the charger handle more than 4,000 devices, according to Idapt, including the iPhone and iPad, BlackBerry, Xbox controllers, Sony's PSP game console, and various GPS and Bluetooth gadgets.

But it's the i1 Eco's greener features that Idapt is touting.

The company says that the charger is made … Read more