Category Innovation

Entries 8 Total

Thermostats just got a whole lot smarter

Nov 2, ’11 12:04 AM
Author Categories Hardware, Innovation

When I heard Tony Fadell – the chief visionary behind the iPod- was working on a new project I was justifiably excited. When I heard he was working on a thermostat – my excitement grew even further.

Tony has produced a complete product – beautiful industrial design, software layer, web access, mobile integration and artificial learning (sort of). This is a space which is rife for innovation. The inefficiencies that result from incorrectly configured thermostats compound into huge costs – both financially and environmentally.

See: www.nest.com

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Bloom Energy – Solution to the world’s energy needs?

May 3, ’10 10:59 PM
Author Categories Infastructure, Innovation

Bloom Energy is one of the most impressive new technological innovations I’ve seen in the past decade. CEO KR Sridhar talks of the Bloom Box as a new age fuel cell that is produced using cheap materials that can be found in abundance around the world. To be more specific, the fuel cell membrane is a ceramic derived from standard beech sand. These membranes are then aligned in parallel and a gas fuel is passed over them. This produces an electric current in addition to the by product gas oxygen. One membrane produces 25W of energy and a stack of Bloom Box membranes 6 inches high produces enough energy to power an entire home.

Even more compelling, Bloom Boxes can be manufactured cheaply and they produce clean energy 24/7 without needing to be connected to the energy grid. This is in stark contrast to wind, solar or hydro energy that is unpredictable and generally requires connection to the grid. If their claims are true and Bloom Boxes can produce energy at a lower cost that it’s renewable counterparts, then I believe we have a significant game changing innovation on our hands. The prospect of having a device that can produce reliable, clean, cheap distributed energy is a very exciting proposition.

Additional Media Coverage:
Official Bloom Media Launch Videos
Tech Crunch
Business Week
msnbc
Wired

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Designed in Beta – A philosophy, not just a strategy

Feb 11, ’10 4:00 PM
Author Categories Innovation

There are lots of interesting snippets in this short clip. Created by KS12 during the Open Design Workshop at the Betahaus as part of Social Media Week Berlin 2010. How are social media changing design? What is the value of a prototype? How are work and play merging? Where is design headed in the 21st century? “Delivered in Beta” begins a conversation on these topics and invites your participation (twitter hashtag #od10beta)

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Ji Lee: The Transformative Power of Personal Projects

Jan 13, ’10 1:16 PM
Author Categories Innovation

This is a great story about Ji Lee‘s bubble project that captured the imagination and attention of hundreds of thousands of people. Main stream agencies even used his concept in a guerilla promotion for Die Hard 4.

Profile from the99percent.com

Born in Seoul, Korea, and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, Ji Lee studied design at Parsons School of Design. He currently works as the Creative Director at Google Creative Lab in New York and teaches design at School of Visual Arts. In the past, Lee has worked as the branding director at Droga5 and art director at Saatchi & Saatchi.

Ji Lee is the founder of the widely publicized Bubble Project and the author of two books: “Talk Back: The Bubble Project” and “Univers Revolved: a 3-Dimensional Alphabet.”

Lee has given numerous lectures including Harvard University, MIT and MoMA. Lee’s work has appeared in ABC World News, The New York Times, Newsweek, The Guardian, Wired among others.

via swissmiss

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Don Tapscott at X PRIZE’s ‘incentive2innovate’ Conference

Jul 27, ’09 11:08 AM
Author Categories Innovation

Don Tapscott at X PRIZE’s ‘incentive2innovate’ Conference (via xprize)

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Shai Agassi’s bold plan for electric cars

May 23, ’09 10:53 PM
Author Categories Innovation

Shai Agassi’s bold plan for electric cars (via Vimeo)

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John Doerr sees salvation and profit in greentech

May 14, ’09 10:47 PM
Author Categories Innovation

John Doerr sees salvation and profit in greentech (via TED)

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Hans Rosling on HIV

May 14, ’09 8:07 PM
Author Categories Innovation

Hans Rosling on HIV: New facts and stunning data visuals (via TED)

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