Andres Carvallo Trades his Blackberry for an iPhone 3GS

Ok………So I finally traded my Blackberry for an iPhone 3GS with 32 gigabytes. There is very little that I can say that the press and reviews have not said already. But let me add that for me the iPhone 3GS rocks!

And I did try the Blackberry Storm 2 a few times before my final decision. Verizon is faster in my city.

http://www.apple.com/iphone/business/

The majority of the key enterprise issues that I had highlighted over and over since the iPhone came to market can be now resolved with third party software ala BES. Still BES is the better product.

1 - Security encryption on the device
2 - Remote access for data locking or data wipe out
3 - Deliver native push email support for POP3 and MS Exchange
4 - Deliver over-the-air sync

The last two issues still remain, but I have to say that they are not as big of a deal. BTW, I cannot imagine the market cap of apple if the iPhone sold on any carrier worldwide.

5 - Removable battery
6 - Make available to all carriers


The third party solutions that I suggest are:

Sybase is committed to offering device-agnostic solutions that support a broad range of operating systems, including iPhone. By providing a mobile platform that offers capabilities for device management, security, applications, messaging and development, Sybase enables enterprises to further adopt the iPhone. This platform approach provides a solid foundation to mobilize your business and provides the tools for a long term strategy that helps to protect your valuable IT budget. http://www.sybase.com/products/mobileenterprise/iphone

Good for Enterprise is a powerful, secure and easy-to-use enterprise mobility suite that provides IT with the mobile security and control it needs and users with a great experience for mobile collaboration and connectivity on devices they want like iPhone and Android. Good for Enterprise combines Good Mobile Control, Good Mobile Messaging, and Good Mobile Access to provide IT and users with a secure and flexible enterprise mobility solution that will evolve to meet your needs for years to come. http://www.good.com/enterprise

Of these two, Good for Enterpise is faster, more matured, and better integrated with the iPhone native features and capabilities.

The iPhone is finally ready for the Enterprise. Enjoy!

Secretary Chu Announces $620 Million for Smart Grid Demonstration and Energy Storage Projects

Recovery Act funding will upgrade the electrical grid, save energy and create jobs

COLUMBUS, OHIO – At an event in Columbus, Ohio this afternoon, Secretary Chu announced that the Department of Energy is awarding $620 million for projects around the country to demonstrate advanced Smart Grid technologies and integrated systems that will help build a smarter, more efficient, more resilient electrical grid. These 32 demonstration projects, which include large-scale energy storage, smart meters, distribution and transmission system monitoring devices, and a range of other smart technologies, will act as models for deploying integrated Smart Grid systems on a broader scale. This funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be leveraged with $1 billion in funds from the private sector to support more than $1.6 billion in total Smart Grid projects nationally.

Secretary Chu also released a video today on YouTube, which explains what investments in the Smart Grid can mean for American consumers. View the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/v/9RJiElIhBz4&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1

“These demonstration projects will further our knowledge and understanding of what works best and delivers the best results for the Smart Grid, setting the course for a modern grid that is critical to achieving our energy goals,” said Secretary Chu. “This funding will be used to show how Smart Grid technologies can be applied to whole systems to promote energy savings for consumers, increase energy efficiency, and foster the growth of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.”

These efforts will provide invaluable data on the benefits and cost-effectiveness of the Smart Grid, including energy and cost savings. An analysis by the Electric Power Research Institute estimates that implementing Smart Grid technologies could reduce electricity use by more than 4 percent by 2030. That would mean a savings of $20.4 billion for businesses and consumers around the country, and $700 million for Ohio alone -- or $61 in utility savings for every man, woman and child in Ohio.

The demonstration projects announced today will also help verify the technological and business viability of new smart technologies and show how fully integrated Smart Grid systems can be readily adapted and copied around the country. Applicants say this investment will create thousands of new job opportunities that will include manufacturing workers, engineers, electricians, equipment installers, IT system designers, cyber security specialists, and business and power system analysts.

The funding awards are divided into two topic areas. In the first group, 16 awards totaling $435 million will support fully integrated, regional Smart Grid demonstrations in 21 states, representing over 50 utilities and electricity organizations with a combined customer base of almost 100 million consumers. The projects include streamlined communication technologies that will allow different parts of the grid to “talk” to each other in real time; sensing and control devices that help grid operators monitor and control the flow of electricity to avoid disruptions and outages; smart meters and in-home systems that empower consumers to reduce their energy use and save money; energy storage options; and on-site and renewable energy sources that can be integrated onto the electrical grid.

In the second group, an additional 16 awards for a total of $185 million will help fund utility-scale energy storage projects that will enhance the reliability and efficiency of the grid, while reducing the need for new electricity plants. Improved energy storage technologies will allow for expanded integration of renewable energy resources like wind and photovoltaic systems and will improve frequency regulation and peak energy management. The selected projects include advanced battery systems (including flow batteries), flywheels, and compressed air energy systems.

http://www.energy.gov/news2009/8305.htm

Andres Carvallo Speaks at GreenBeat 2009

GreenBeat 2009 will bring together leading entrepreneurs, investors, utilities, technology executives, and policymakers to accelerate the development of a leaner, more efficient electrical grid. With a laser focus on new technology offerings, GreenBeat 2009 is the must-attend event in the space for discussion, debate and power networking on November 18 and 19 in San Mateo, CA.

Energy used to be a one-way street. Today, it’s becoming a bi-directional superhighway with utility customers finally taking charge of their power use and how much they pay for it. Instead of drilling into short-term IT issues and arcane arm-chair politicking involved in this shift, GreenBeat 2009 will map out the hottest business and technology opportunities the Smart Grid has to offer.

Join me and my two co-panelists Paul De Martini from Southern California Edison and Josh Gerber from San Diego Gas and Electric. The Panel moderator will be Jesse Berst of Smart Grid News and the format of the panel is that each of us will give a 5-7 minute presentation and then Jesse will follow up with discussion. Some of the topics that we plan to cover include:

• Bringing the Customers Along. Early pilots have largely imposed themselves upon customers. As mass deployments roll out, utilities are starting to get a) passive disinterest or b) active opposition from customers. What does this mean for existing suppliers (will customer disinterest slow things such as demand response) and for new companies (are there gaps in the market in this space)?

• Standards: Should we start now or wait for them to mature?

• Managing the Data Explosion. Smart metering deployments can easily generate more than 2,000 times (yes -- 2,000) the data utilities currently manage. Most utilities don't have the experience to validate, normalize and archive this much data, much less to mine it, analyze it and share it with other applications. Will they hire to bring these skills in-house, use consulting firms or out-source it altogether?

As a reader of my blog, you get a special discount code for $175 off the ticket price. http://greenbeat2009.eventbrite.com/?discount=SPEAKERVIP.

http://events.venturebeat.com/greenbeat2009/

Freescale's Smart Meter on a Chip

Freescale Semiconductor has a new chipset that incorporates all the primary functions of a smart meter. Similar ‘systems-on-a-chip’ have seen mixed success to date.

Freescale Semiconductor has a proposition for smart meter makers – take its new "smart meter on a chip" as a template, and have smart meters rolling off the manufacturing line within months.

That's one promise of Freescale's new "system-on-a-chip" metering reference design announced Tuesday, which integrates many smart meter functions now performed by discrete components, as well as a few features hard to find in today's meters.

That's according to Jeff Bock, global marketing manager for Freescale's industrial microcontroller division. With pretty much every smart meter function integrated except for the choice of communications - wireless mesh, powerline carrier, cellular, etc. - the new system is "functionally a productized meter [with] all the software and hardware necessary for someone to go build a state of the art system," he said.

The chipset will sell for $3.60 to $4.22 apiece for orders of 10,000 or more, depending mainly on how much flash memory and SRAM the customer wants and whether they're meant for single-phase residential and small commercial meters or heavier three-phase industrial meters, the company said.

Smart meters represent a small but growing market for chipmakers like Freescale, Texas Instruments, NEC and Analog Devices as they look for growth amidst an economic downturn that's hurt sales in their traditional markets. Smart meters could be a $2 billion opportunity for semiconductor companies through 2012, according to a report from Gartner.

But for the most part, that business has been in sales of discrete products that meter makers integrate themselves. Which companies might be customers for an integrated meter-on-a-chip system?

Well, the big established North American and European meter makers – that's General Electric, Landis+Gyr, Itron, Sensus and Elster, for the most part – "may choose to use pieces, or in some cases, large portions of the design in their own designs," Bock said (see 8.3M Smart Meters and Counting in U.S.).

But in emerging markets like India, China and Latin America, "Their first intent may be to do as little to modify it as possible," he said. "They may even consider taking our design" and branding it as their own, he said.

That may be a clarion call to the developing world's more fragmented smart meter industry.

Bock notes that the new chipset is aimed at the medium to high-end meter manufacturer, with features including high-accuracy electricity measurement and a system to keep the meter running while new software is being uploaded.

But Freescale - formerly Motorola Semiconductor - also has incorporated some key features that, while useful for all smart meters, do sound as if they're targeted for problems mainly faced in emerging markets.

For example, the chipset includes an anti-tamper device and real-time clock to fend off attempts to hack into meters to steal electricity, as well as lower power usage in general to allow meters to run off batteries longer on a grid that sees a lot of brownouts and blackouts. Those are all problems that are far more common in markets like India and Latin America than in the United States and Europe.

Another key challenge facing such emerging markets is cost - that is, as low a cost as possible. Freescale has been targeting low-cost solutions for China's smart grid needs, for example (see Cutting the Cost of Smart Grid in China).

"The overwhelming trend is a drive for integration... and a drive for cost," Bock said. Freescale isn't the only one picking up on those trends, of course.

Teridian Semiconductor Corp., for example, makes chips to measure voltage, current, power factor and other features of electricity that are now found in smart meters from about 52 manufacturers, including big ones like General Electric, Landis+Gyr and Elster, said Jerry Fitch, Teridian's CEO and president.

Teridian also incorporates time of use, anti-tampering and display functions, as well as software, into complete systems, said Jerry Fitch, president and CEO. The Irvine, Calif.-based company sells its chips at prices ranging from about $1.25 to about $4, depending on the functionality demanded, Fitch said.

While North America and Europe have been and continue to be Teridian's biggest market, China and India "are becoming much bigger parts of our business than they've historically been," he said.

China could see 30 million to 40 million meters per year deployed under a new government smart grid push, and India is probably deploying about 10 million meters a year, about 3 million of which will contain Teridian chips, he said.

But so far, meter makers haven't taken to systems-on-a-chip as quickly as chip developers would have hoped. At least, that's the experience of Analog Devices, which launched just such an integrated system last year. While it supplies discrete components to at least one of the big five smart meter makers, as well as Siemens and several Chinese smart meter makers, it hasn't seen much uptake of those "SOC's," said Ronn Kliger, Analog Devices' product line director.

"Most of the world still does designs using discrete components," he said. "The reasons are, the flexibility it gives them, the uncertainty of future requirements, and frankly, the ability to get suppliers to compete with each other on price."

India has been an exception to that rule, Kliger said. In India, Texas Instruments has seen more widespread success for its system-on-a-chip that includes a microcontroller and analog-to-digital converter to read electricity and convert it to digital format, but doesn't include software for doing that.

That's cheaper than including the software, and in India, "it just so happens that they have a lot of software expertise" to fill the gap with homemade code, so to speak. That helps drive down cost in a market Kliger sees as "the most cost-sensitive" in the world.

Still, the course of the semiconductor business has favored integration, and smart meters are no exception, he said. It's all a matter of timing.

"There may very well be market niches where customers have kind of standardized on what they need, and are perfectly open to system on chip solutions," Kliger said. "That's just not in the mainstream" today.

Ben Schuman, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, agreed that "the industry isn't really standardized enough, or set on one type of architecture, so that those cost savings would outweigh what you'd give up in the way of flexibility."

And, of course, integration is the "bread and butter" of meter makers, a role they might not want to give up, he added.

Perhaps Freescale will break through with its chipset. While Bock wouldn't name which smart meter makers Freescale is working with, or what its market share in the industry might be, he said the company is already working with "significant large alpha customers here and around the world, many of those in the millions of units."

http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/overview.jsp?code=APLMETERING&fsrch=1

Andres Carvallo Named as a UCLA WINSmartGrid Advisor

WINSmartGrid – A UCLA-based Initiative for Green Energy

The UCLA Wireless Internet Smart Grid (WINSmartGrid http://winmec.ucla.edu/smartgrid) project announces the formation of the UCLA WINSmartGrid Connection (UCLA Wireless Internet Smart Grid Connection), which is a partnership between universities, industry and government.

What is the UCLA WINSmartGrid?
The UCLA WINSmartGrid is a network platform technology that allows electricity operated appliances such as plug-in automobile, washer, dryer, or, air conditioner to be wirelessly monitored, connected and controlled via a Smart Wireless hub. The WINSmartGrid technology connects home appliances and smart meters to the WINSmartGrid web service that receives live feeds from utilities and external sources on information such as instantaneous price of power, future prices, etc., and sends control signals to the WINSmartGrid which in turn dynamically controls various appliances in real time. Important aspects of this system include low-power capabilities, generic/flexible/reconfigurable technology, two-way communication capability, open-architecture for integration with sensors, devices, networks and appliances, and, standards-based interfaces.

This technology allows utilities - at the edge of the network - enabling technology to provide consumers incentive-based consumption of electrical power during off-peak hours, to store this power in millions of battery-operated Plug-In automobiles, which can subsequently utilize the stored power during the peak hours for transportation thereby helping utilize the off peak-time capacity. By intelligently operating appliances via a wireless open architecture approach within the home with WINSmartGrid, the utilities can simultaneously reduce peak power requirements during the daytime.

The WINSmartGrid system is based on the advanced technology called the ReWINS (Reconfigurable Wireless Interface for Networking of Sensors http://winmec.ucla.edu/rewins) that was developed in the Wireless Media Lab and WINMEC in UCLA over the past six years. Its architecture is a tri-layered architecture (that derives from the WINRFID Middleware and Edgeware research - http://winmec.ucla.edu/winrfid) that separates the hardware via Edgeware, the control, setup and data functions in the Middleware and the decision making in the Centralware.

National Priority
According to DOE, its vision for the Modern Grid Strategy as follows (source http://www.netl.doe.gov/moderngrid/opportunity/vision.html) - "Before we can begin to modernize today's grid, we first need a clear vision of the power system required for the future. Given that vision, we can create the alignment necessary to inspire passion, investment, and progress toward an advanced U.S. grid for the 21st century. A modernized grid is a necessary enabler for a successful society in the future. Modernizing today's grid will require a unified effort by all stakeholders rallying around a common vision".

The UCLA Wireless Smart Grid project using the WINSmartGrid technology provides an enabling Wireless Technology for achieving the goals of the electricity smart grid by allowing power consumption within households to be smoothened out, thereby resulting in a flatter demand curve and more efficient production.

Technology
The WINSmartGrid Technology brings together ReWINS technology within a three-layered Serviceware architecture that is composed of the EdgeWare, Middleware and Centralware.

The Edgeware is a combination of software and firmware that connects to and controls devices such as the temperature monitors, humidity RFID tags, motion detectors or X10 controllers on refrigerators. A variety of monitors/sensors are supported within WINSmartGrid including temperature, humidity, current, voltage, power, shock, motion, and, chemical sensors. The Edgeware controls and utilizes the wireless networks that connect to the WINSmartGrid hub. The WINSmartGrid hub supports wireless protocols such as Zigbee, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPRS and RFID, and it is increasingly clear that the 802.15.4-based low-power protocol (that includes Zigbee) appear to hold strong promise. Other protocols such as WiMax and Rubee are being added. The Edgeware allows the creation, setup, management, control and utilization of a two-way hierarchical and low-power network.

The Middleware sits between the Edgeware and the decision-making web service or Centralware. The Middleware provides functionality such as data filtration, aggregation and messaging on the raw data from the Edgeware, extract meaningful information, and route it appropriately to the correct destination / web service.

The Centralware receives real-time price feeds and other data from the utilities, has a basic set of knowledge-based rules on control decisions, and makes the control decisions that need to be executed. The WINSmartGrid Centralware also has the capability to connect to other Intelligent Web services to collaborate on decision making about the control decisions - currently it is a structural interface, with a basic set of rules only. This structural web service will eventually be connected to the external intelligent services as they come on-line.

Once the Centralware makes the decisions, the Middleware is informed about the control decisions via actions, which then maps and routes these control decisions to the Edgeware, which in turn converts those decisions to low-level control signals for the appropriate controller (e.g. X10 controller connected to a Plug-In car).

Characteristics of UCLA Wireless Smart Grid (WINSmartGrid) include:

• Low Power technology


• Standards-based hardware adapted to fit the problem resulting in lower overall cost


• Wireless infrastructure for monitoring


• Wireless infrastructure for control


• Service architecture with three layers - Edgeware, Middleware and Centralware


• Open architecture for easy integration


• Plug-and-Play approach to network installation


• Reconfigurability - The capability of the technology to be reconfigurable allows OTA (over the air) upgrade of the firmware to be able to handle different devices, applications, sensors, controllers, thermostats, etc.

Benefits of WINSmartGrid to the Utilities

• Integration of home-based Wireless network to their smart meter architecture


• Low cost connectivity to achieve the vision of the National Smart Grid


• Low power technology that provides connectivity.


• Two way connectivity for monitoring and control of the last mile of the Global SmartGrid (homes, offices, factories).

Other Research Projects using WINSmartGrid and related technology that is relevant to Utility Industry

• Monitoring of infrastructure to report to control center for rapid decision making


• Minimal delay wireless networks for the field


• Quick reporting of Use of RFID to track smart meters for asset management


• Use of Wireless-integrated temperature monitors for field applications


• Remote / wireless reporting of distance between cables and trees in the field.


• Bring intelligence to condition of equipment by wirelessly monitoring temperature.


• Monitoring sparking wirelessly and bring this information to the Central station


• Wirelessly monitor condition of remote underground power lines where oil line is in close proximity of the power line to prevent explosions


• Remote monitoring of conductor temperature

Andres Carvallo Named 2009 CIO Hall of Fame Finalist by CIO Magazine

Andres Carvallo has been named as one of thirteen 2009 CIO Hall of Fame Finalists by CIO Magazine. The CIO Hall of Fame has only 44 inductees - http://www.cio.com/cio-awards/cio-hall-of-fame/index -. This year’s selection was made by fifteen judges and former honorees - http://www.cio.com/article/506230/2009_CIO_Hall_of_Fame_Finalists_Judges - The judges selected six CIOs to join the CIO Hall of Fame this year - http://www.cio.com/article/506214/2009_CIO_Hall_of_Fame_Honorees - The six accomplished IT executives to be inducted into the 2009 CIO Hall of Fame share more than an impressive history of business and technology achievements. What especially stands out among them is a sense of mission and imagination, coupled with a passion to understand and apply IT wherever it can shrink the distance between people and companies, speed commerce, advance health, improve product safety or create new ways to learn and work and live.

It is an honor to be considered for the CIO Hall of Fame. Being a finalist is quite humbling, given the talent and accomplishments by so many CIO peers across the nation. I look forward to my continued contribution toward a sustainable smart grid transformation in Austin, TX, the US and abroad, as Energy and Water creation, management and consumption get redefined for mankind.

Andres Carvallo Named CIO of the Year by Energy Central for 2009

I will be attending Knowledge 2009 to receive the 2009 CIO of the Year Award by Energy Central. It is quite an honor to be recognized by your own peers, who vote for the award along with the journalists from Energy Central, across the nation for the IT and Smart Grid work that I have been leading at Austin Energy and nationwide.

Knowledge CIO Summit 2009

The power industry is changing at a rapid pace. Nowhere is this more evident than the industry’s movement toward a smart grid and the Intelligent Utility™, which applies information to energy to maximize its reliability, affordability, and sustainability, from generation through end-use.

As an information technology executive, you’re tasked with building the business strategies for information-enabled energy. You realize the complexity of making smart grid a reality. An economic downturn, aging infrastructure, stimulus spending, grid security—the pressure to deliver has never been greater.

Knowing how and why other organizations are approaching your same challenges and opportunities is invaluable. Where can you turn to hear from and share with others who’ve walked in your shoes? Knowledge CIO Summit 2009.

Why The Knowledge CIO Summit is Important

Designed for CIOs by a program committee of CIOs, the Knowledge CIO Summit provides the industry’s only forum for you to speak candidly with other CIOs about the realities of the industry. This invitation-only gathering ensures you a low-key, hassle-free peer-to-peer learning environment. You’ll be able to:

· Engage in unique, off-record roundtables with your IT peers (no recordings or media)

· Gain insight from thought leaders (industry and non-industry perspectives) on emerging trends in technology and business

· Network in an open and friendly environment, with no point-of-sales pressure

· Technology Advisory Council (TAC) members can conveniently attend the co-located EEI/AGA Fall meeting

· Large Public Power Council (LPPC) CIO members can conveniently attend the co-located council meeting

http://www.knowledgesummits.com/