Today's Winner: The Verizon Hub

Here at the PSP blog we promote the notion that something must be measured before it can be reduced. Homeowners looking to reduce their energy bills will be given a much better chance to succeed if they can watch their usage in real time.

The key to acheiving this reality begins with smarter energy meters that can measure usage as it ocurrs, instead of once a month. This will essentially begin the integration of the internet onto the electric grid with systems interacting with each other remotely over some agreed upon protocal (another step towards acheivement). The question I am posing today is, how is this information going to be displayed so the homeowner can actually use it to save some real money?

Let's forget about the software for moment (think Google PowerMeter). After a recent visit to the Smart Home exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, it was clear that the ultimate outcome to display energy information has yet to be determined. Will it mount on the wall like your programmable thermostat? Will it only get as far as your computer screen? Or will something entirely different come along?

The Verizon Hub is an interesting proposal. It combines the home phone with a small display (not unlike the Chumby) that includes a series of applications to help people organize their lives. Hopefully, this initial effort to "reinvent" the home phone will be successful and further development will include software that is open to all the living room software developers out there.

All the big names are hard at work on this: GE, Google, Verizon, AT&T, IBM... (this list goes on). There are many more smaller companies that have done the tough job of proving that the technology works, but it sadly appears as if they will be eaten up by the power players. The competition is great, it's a proven method of finding the best solution. Now we get to sit back and enjoy.

I declare today's winner, the Verizon Hub. It's new, different, it looks great, and it would be a great place for that killer app to show me how I can save some money if I was just a little bit smarter with my energy usage. Tomorrow's winner, might win it all... so stay tuned.

Learn more about the Verizon Hub.