plugs

It may not look like much, but a little white electric outlet with a networking chip in it can save a bunch of money, according to ThinkEco.

The New York-based start-up today said its "modlet," or modern outlet, is now available. It also released results from a pilot project which showed that a company reduced its power bill by $65,000 per year using the networked outlets in its office.

ThinkEco is one of a handful of companies making these smart plugs to lower the wasted energy from plug loads, which is a growing portion of businesses' and … Read more

BMW announced today that it's sending the Vision EfficientDynamics plug-in sports car to production.

The plug-in diesel concept coupe was revealed at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show and won the manufacturer several awards for its innovative design and clean technology. The Vision EfficientDynamics uses three power plants to propel the winged 2+2: a three-cylinder turbo diesel engine along with electric motors at each axle. The exotic can operate using its electric motors, diesel engine, or a combination of the two. Full throttle, the trio produces a total of of 328 horsepower and has a 0-60 mph time of … Read more

The Wi-Fi Alliance and HomePlug Powerline Alliance have joined forces to promote the adoption of powerline and Wi-Fi networking technologies in smart-grid applications, which could mean more streamlined connectivity for consumers.

The Wi-Fi Alliance tests and certifies Wi-Fi products, including Wi-Fi Direct, to ensure their interoperability, and the HomePlug Powerline Alliance does the same thing for powerline devices.

The agreement, announced today, enables cooperative efforts for the joint technical review of Wi-Fi Alliance's and HomePlug's specifications and standards that facilitate interoperability of smart-grid applications. Both parties will also promote the adoption of wireless and powerline technologies.

The collaboration … Read more

This story was updated at 4:50 p.m. PDT with a new headline, and additional comment from Microsoft.

Microsoft has taken the covers off a future update to its Bing Maps service that removes the need for its Silverlight browser plug-in to view an alternate mapping layer, and has also announced that it plans to remove its 3D map viewer. The changes will arguably make the service more approachable to the masses, but indicate that the company is going in a different direction with its online tools and technology platforms.

In a post on the Bing community blog, Bing … Read more

Start-up Green Plug is making progress, albeit in small steps, to commercialize technology that would enable you to cut the cord on the tangle of wires attached to the electronic gadgets you own.

Green Plug launched at the Demo conference in 2008 with a bold idea of enabling multiple electronic devices to use a shared power supply, which efficiently draws power from the grid.

The San Ramon, Calif.-based company hasn't met its target of having products available within one year of launch. But one partner and investor, U.K.-based Imagination Technologies, plans to release a power adapter … Read more

It is a good idea to buy Wi-Fi products certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance if you want to ensure the interoperability between products of different vendors.

Similarly, you want to look for HomePlug-certified products when shopping for power-line network devices.

Power-line devices are those that enable the electrical wiring of your home to transmit data signals, hence allowing for extending the network to different parts of the property without running network cables.

Most of these devices are based on the HomePlug AV standard, but products from different vendors are not guaranteed to work with one another until they are tested … Read more

DETROIT--People in the auto industry are opening up a new chapter in its history by transitioning to electric vehicles but they're writing the book as they go along.

The technology to make fun-to-drive, well connected plug-in vehicles is already here. Now, auto and utility companies are grappling with how to make these electric vehicles a commercial success, speakers at the Business of Plugging In conference said here today.

Rather than see predictable and steady demand in the next few years, automakers should expect sales to spike and dip with the cost of gasoline and government incentives, said auto industry … Read more

DETROIT--The future of autos is electric. Or is it?

Even though the new big thing in the auto industry is electric cars, there is not a clear consensus on how big of a role electric vehicles will play in the coming years.

Auto and utility industry executives at the Business of Plugging In conference here today took pains to point out the significant hurdles to adoption that plug-in vehicles face in becoming mainstream.

In addition to the higher cost of components, such as batteries, there is also the question of building a charging infrastructure in public places and the customers' … Read more

The new version Adobe Flash Player addresses recently uncovered critical vulnerability in the software that could result in a crash and allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.

The bug was present in Adobe Flash Player for all supported platforms in the versions before 10.1.82.76 (version 10.1.92.10 for Android), and has also been found in Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions 9.3.4 and earlier on the Mac.

If you have version 10.1.82.76 or earlier installed, Adobe recommends you update to the latest player (currently 10.1.85.… Read more