When the tech titans of Silicon Valley invest in a new venture, the markets pay close attention. But observers may have been surprised when two California-based companies made back-to-back announcements about infusing $1.1 billion into a not-so-new technology.
Last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed an $848 million deal with First Solar to build a huge solar farm in Monterey County, Calif., that will provide power to the creator of the iPhone’s new headquarters for the next 25 years, and Google fronted $300 million for homeowners to purchase their own rooftop solar panels.
Why the big bucks? For starters, they need the power. Along with Facebook, these tech companies all operate massive, electricity-guzzling data centers scattered throughout the country’s remote areas. Every time you upload a picture to iCloud or open a Google Doc, the data is housed in places like western North Carolina or central Oregon. The electricity that keeps those servers humming (plus the intricate cooling systems that monitor their temperature) consumes a whole two percent of America’s energy usage, according to a 2010 estimate. So it’s easy to see why techies would be interested in finding energy that’s both cheap and clean.
Apple and Google, who both have tens of billions in free cash, are making the smart business decision to build their own solar capacity now, rather than pay utilities over the long haul. It’s similar to the difference in cost between sitting on the lump sum and using it to rent an apartment for 30 years or spending it all now to buy a house without a mortgage.
Google’s huge push for residential solar power is particularly groundbreaking, but fits with the company’s ethos. The search engine has always promised it could make the Internet accessible for the masses, and now it’s doing the same with the democratization of energy. Partnered with SolarCity, their funding will pay for the installment of panels on nearly 25,000 roofs, giving each family true energy independence.
Just a few decades ago, these investments in solar power would have been considered wasteful. Solar and other renewable energy sources were commonly derided as “far-fetched and too expensive,” says V. John White, the executive director of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies. “In the past 10 years, renewable sources have gone from being a slice of green on the dirty fossil-fuel grid to being cost competitive and more reliable than nuclear energy and coal, and catching up with natural gas. The cost of wind and solar power has fallen, and performance has improved.”
In California, that trend will be increasingly clear if Gov. Jerry Brown mandates that renewables account for half the Golden State’s electricity. As is typical in Silicon Valley, Apple and Google will once again be far ahead of the curve.
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Tag: Apple
The Doctor Is In…Your Living Room
Ever Google “stomachache” and get scared into thinking you had appendicitis? Couldn’t decide whether that rash was skin cancer or contact dermatitis? Well pretty soon, you’ll be able to scroll past the witchdoctor websites and get the expert diagnosis you need from an online doctor’s visit.
Through their “Helpouts” product, Google is currently running a pilot program that uses search terms to connect would-be patients with doctors via video conference. According to the New York Times, they’ve partnered with Scripps and One Medical, groups that are “making their doctors available and have verified their credentials.”
An accurate diagnosis isn’t the only potential benefit, either. For those who look to the private sector to rebalance American healthcare costs, Engadget.com is speculating that internet-appointments could help bring down the cost of seeing a doctor.
Jonothan Linkous, chief executive of the American Telemedicine Association points out that “between 800,000 and one million consultations will be done over the Internet directly to consumers in the United States” this year. So it’s no surprise that the tech behemoth is looking to carve out a piece of the healthcare pie.
Google isn’t the only tech giant looking to elbow into the U.S.’s $3 trillion healthcare industry. Apple’s new HealthKit records a user’s vitals and physical activity for synching with third-party health and fitness apps. And, similar to Google, Wal-mart is testing Kaiser Permanente Care Corners, a telemedicine clinic where eligible members can walk in without an appointment to confer with a doctor.
So keep your slippers and bathrobe on next time you’re home sick — and keep your laptop close by, too.
Will California’s New Kill Switch Policy Reduce Phone Theft?
From family photos, banking information and all our correspondence (both text and email), we keep just about everything stored on our smartphones these days. So if yours is stolen, it can be very traumatic knowing that all your information is in the hands of a criminal. (Not to mention the amount money it’ll cost you to replace your phone.)
In an effort to prevent phone theft, Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that requires smartphone manufacturers to include a default kill switch on all phones sold across the state (after July 1, 2015), which allows individuals to remotely disable a phone after it’s been reported stolen. Only an owner can reactivate the phone with a password or personal identification number — meaning a phone becomes useless after it’s taken.
Introduced by state senator Mark Leno and sponsored by San Francisco district attorney George Gascón, the bill is the first of its kind. Though Minnesota became the first state to require the anti-theft technology on phones in May, California’s new policy requires manufacturers to turn on the switch by default.
“California has just put smartphone thieves on notice,” Leno says in a statement. “Starting next year, all smartphones sold in California, and most likely every other state in the union, will come equipped with theft deterrent technology when they purchase new phones. Our efforts will effectively wipe out the incentive to steal smartphones and curb this crime of convenience, which is fueling street crime and violence within our communities.”
Indeed, 2,400 cellphones were taken last year in San Francisco, the New York Times reports. More than 65 percent of all robberies in the City by the Bay involved stolen phones, while in Oakland, cell phone theft accounted for 75 percent of crimes, according to Time. In total, an estimated 3.1 million devices in the U.S. were taken in 2013, nearly double the number in 2012, Consumer Reports finds.
“Soon, stealing a smartphone won’t be worth the trouble, and these violent street crimes will be a thing of the past,” Gascón says in a statement. “The devices we use every day will no longer make us targets for violent criminals.”
But does the new law have the potential to prevent phone theft nationwide? California lawmakers are hoping that by requiring the feature in one of the nation’s biggest states, companies like Apple, Samsung or Google will begin adding the default feature to all phones ahead of potential legislation in other states.
While the default feature is a new development, earlier this year big brands like Nokia, Motorola and Samsung agreed to voluntarily include a kill-switch for users to opt-in after July 2015.
Apple has included a similar feature since September. In fact, recent reports from police in major urban areas like San Francisco and London reveal that theft of Apple devices has dropped in the wake of the company’s introduction of its anti-theft feature.
But not all are in favor of the new ruling. CTIA, the wireless industry’s trade organization, has railed against the proposal as detrimental to technology innovation.
The “action was unnecessary given the breadth of action the industry has taken,” says CTIA vice president Jamie Hastings. “Uniformity in the wireless industry created tremendous benefits for wireless consumers, including lower costs and phenomenal innovation. State-by-state technology mandates, such as this one, stifle those benefits and are detrimental to wireless consumers.”
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These Hearing Aids Are Like Google Glass for Your Ears
Imagine walking into a crowded restaurant and having the noise automatically dim to your liking, or hearing turn-by-turn directions while driving without chancing a glance at your smartphone. Consider a world where you can listen to music without headphones, or simply hear conversations clearly, regardless of the background noise. For the 35 million Americans with hearing impairment, this world isn’t a reality — at least not yet. With the ReSound LiNX, the first hearing aid made specifically for the iPhone, the hearing-impaired will be able to connect to the world in a way they never thought possible.
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The ReSound LiNX is a tiny device that connects via Bluetooth to the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. The device is customizable through the ReSound app, allowing users to program hearing settings for different locations, and fine-tune treble and bass for music or connecting to the TV. The aids can also be used with other apps in the iTunes store. The ReSound LiNX are basically wireless stereo headphones, which just happen to double as hearing aids.
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Hearing aids are often pegged as being for “old people”, but in America, hearing loss often begins around age 30, and individuals can lose as much as 10% per decade. Given the fact that just 28.5 percent of Americans who experience hearing loss actually wear hearing aids, a product like the ReSound LiNX could make a difference. “There are so many people like me these days. I want my Google ears. I want to hear everything everywhere,” Lloyd Alter, who has worn hearing aids for two years, writes for Treehugger. “If people stopped thinking that these things are just for old people and thought of them as their personal connection the world, perhaps more people who need them would wear them.”
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This Game-Changing Location Technology Can Do a Lot of Social Good
Smartphones and tablets have revolutionized many industries unlike any other technology in a generation. And a new invention called the iBeacon has the potential to take that paradigm shift one step further. iBeacons use wireless Bluetooth connections to generate location data that’s much more precise than GPS. Rather than just tell you what street you’re on, iBeacons can tell you which room you’re standing in or whom you’re next to. While many retailers are looking into ways to incorporate this technology into their storerooms, public service providers should be paying attention too.
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iBeacons could map hospitals hallways, helping ailing and elderly patients navigate labyrinthine environments. Hectic emergency rooms could keep precise track of patients and wait times. Museums, zoos and other educational institutions could use iBeacons to customize exhibits, making them more engaging and informative. Imagine walking up to the shark tank and having shark facts and videos appear on your phone. People with disabilities may benefit too. Many smartphones currently offer text-to-speech support for the visually impaired. iBeacons could enable such users to interact more intelligently with their environment, and operate household devices by talking to their phone.
Thought of another way iBeacons can do good? Tweet it at us.