With cloud computing gaining acceptance in the business world, the U.S. Department of Energy wants to know if cloud computing can also meet the needs of the scientific computing. The National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) has launched

Click here to read more

So you have a couple of people, a decent idea and that’s about it – what next? If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, then the answer might be Kicklabs , a new startup incubator launching today for very early-stage technology and online media startups. That answer, then again, might simply be investment by a venture capitalist, but the pros and cons of incubation should be evaluated first. Sponsor Kicklabs is a 23,000-square-foot space in the heart of San Francisco that hopes to help launch up to 20 startups in 2010, and already there are a number of companies on the roster. Focused primarily on early-stage companies consisting of two to eight members, Kicklabs will offer not only office space on a six to 12 month lease, but advisers (such as Blippy co-founder Phil Kaplan ), investors and other entrepreneurs. Why Incubate? As Paul Graham, one of the partners in venture firm Y Combinator discusses in his article ” How To Fund a Startup “, there are ups and downs to getting incubator investment instead of venture funding that should be taken into consideration. First, getting involved in an incubator can come at a higher cost , but offer value beyond that cost. As with Kicklabs, there are a number of other companies going through the same trials at the same time and there are a number of advisers who have been there before to guide you along the way. In return for the environment, office space, advice and investment, you give the incubator, Kicklabs in this case, a share of your company in either equity or stocks. As Jordan Krechtmer, CEO of Livefyre, said in the Kicklabs press release , “Being around other startups who we can grow with is really important. The moment we walked into KickLabs we could feel the energy of the space.” On the other hand, operating under the same roof as your investors can come at a cost – your freedom. Graham argues that he thinks “it’s better if startups operate out of their own premises, however crappy, than the offices of their investors.” So, while the incubator may foster a creative environment, it may also foster a spirit of control. Perhaps it isn’t the worst type of control, though, to have the advice of entrepreneurs who have helped grow companies like Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Digg, Monster and more. In the end, whether or not to get your startup going with the help of an incubator is a personal question, but for our money, having the opportunity to grow a startup in the heart of Silicon Valley with the Kicklabs advisory team is one we couldn’t see passing up. Discuss

Click here to read more

This week at the 2nd annual Internet of Things 2010 conference in Brussels, British service Pachube announced a partnership with Current Cost – a producer of real-time energy monitors. Current Cost is using Pachube’s Internet of Things platform for the Bridge , an ethernet device which connects Current Cost electricity monitors to the Internet. Pachube Founder & CEO Usman Haque called this “a major step in making the ‘internet of things for consumers’ a reality.” Sponsor We’ve long been a fan of Pachube (pronounced Patch-Bay) and named it one of our Top 10 Internet of Things Products of 2009 . Pachube is an open platform for sensor data. We first reviewed it in May last year and since our last update in October , Pachube has followed through on Haque’s promise to develop a viable business model . The Current Cost partnership is a part of that evolution. The Move From Experimental to Commercial One of the most exciting things about covering the Internet of Things, is watching the slow but gradual move from experimental apps to commercial ones. I watched – and blogged – this same evolution in the years before Web 2.0 existed (2002-2004) and it’s happening again in 2010 with the Internet of Things. Startups like Pachube are literally inventing the business models as they go. As we’ve noted in previous posts, up till now Pachube has been mostly used for experimental applications . However, Current Cost may be its first important commercial case study. The Current Cost ‘Bridge’ enables users to analyze their energy use via a website dashboard, on iPhones and other smart phones, and via Google’s energy service, Google PowerMeter . Pachube is being used for data management on the Bridge, enabling the device to deliver tracking, notifications, comparison tools, and more. The Bridge also has “enterprise level features” such as privacy groups, statistics API, user management and a device provisioning server. Pachube’s New Revenue Models Pachube now has what it terms a “corporate” service – essentially a third party service for companies that want to connect devices to the Internet. For example Pachube provides bulk accounts to “web-enable thousands or millions of devices,” such as electricity meters. Other services include delivering ‘out-of-the-box’ tools for consumer-facing companies, building communities around products, and developing branded web portals for manufacturers. In addition, Pachube has added premium accounts to its consumer service offering. These include “value-added features” such as privacy options, statistics/aggregation, greater bandwidth, history and search. It’s great to see Pachube develop its business and we’ll continue to track its efforts! Discuss

Click here to read more

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is joining Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Khosla Ventures as a public policy advisor for the firm’s green-tech investments, according to a press release from the firm today. Founded by Vinod Khosla in 2004, Khosla Ventures is one of the leaders in environmental tech investing – a field of entrepreneurship Blair says is paramount to turning around the energy and climate crisis facing the world today. Sponsor According to the release, Blair and his team “will leverage his advocacy for environmental issues and his global relationships to help Khosla’s broad portfolio of clean technology companies maximize their effectiveness in achieving their environmental goals.” During his time as prime minister, Blair led efforts to address the climate and energy crisis. Today he heads the Breaking the Climate Deadlock initiative, which is aimed at uniting world leaders for global climate policy. “Solving the climate crisis is more than just a political agenda item – it’s an urgent priority that requires innovation, creativity, and ambition,” said Blair. “I share a clear vision with Vinod, one of the earliest leaders in cleantech investment, that entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and beyond will have a tremendous impact on our environmental future.” Based on his continuing work with international climate-control policies, it is likely that Blair will offer Khosla Ventures and its portfolio of green-tech companies both policy advice and connections to government officials who support these efforts. Blair will also likely provide the firm with advice on new investments, though there was no mention whether he will provide any funding himself as an angel. The partnership was announced before a private audience of portfolio companies and limited parters and other Khosla funders, including Bill Gates. Aside from its green-tech investments, Khosla Ventures has helped fund IT startups like Square , Hunch and Xobni . This announcement is great news for green-tech companies, which saw a significant dip in venture funding last year. Khosla’s partnership with Blair is a large step forward in their dedication to environmental tech investments – a field in which they are clearly determined to become the hands-down leader. Overall, other VC funding figures have been lackluster so far in 2010 , but Khosla’s clean tech initiatives could help these numbers rebound as the year continues. Photos courtesy of The World Economic Forum on Flickr . Discuss

Click here to read more

Google PowerMeter is one of many Google side projects that don’t often get a lot of attention, but PowerMeter is slowly growing to become a bit more than just a hobby for the search giant. Today, Google announced that it has partnered with Current Cost , the largest global supplier of real-time displays for monitoring energy use. Starting today, Current Cost will allow its users in the U.S., the U.K., Australia and New Zealand to send data about their power consumption directly to Google PowerMeter. Sponsor In the U.K., Google and Current Cost have also teamed up with E.ON , the country’s largest utility company, to supply E.ON customers with free “Energy Fit” starter packs that include a free energy monitor. PowerMeter is part of Google.org , the company’s philanthropic arm. Tools like Current Cost’s devices allow consumers to monitor how much energy they use in real-time. PowerMeter can get this data directly from utilities that use Internet-connected smart meters and from partners like Current Cost that develop hardware devices that can monitor any house’s energy use. More than Just a Side Project Until now, PowerMeter mostly looked like a side-project for Google, but the inclusion of Current Cost in its partner ecosystem makes it clear that Google is indeed taking this market seriously. Currently, however, only small number of utilities have partnered directly with Google. The company has also signed up a number of hardware developers that offer real-time energy monitoring, including The Energy Detective and AlertMe . Earlier this year, Google also launched an API for PowerMeter that allows hardware manufacturers to create appliances that include PowerMeter as a built-in feature. Current Cost is using the API to send its data to Google. Google has long been highly interested in energy projects and even made a number of investments in alternative energy companies recently. With Hohm , Microsoft has also launched a similar initiative, though Microsoft’s emphasis is more on giving users tips to save energy and less on real-time monitoring. Discuss

Click here to read more