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Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 07:47:33 -0800 (PST) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: AT&T, GM team up to make 4G cars Message-ID: <b3ba1ee7-46db-4313-9a55-19bf2532bcd8@f5g2000yqp.googlegroups.com> The Washington Post reported that the dream of having a truly connected car may be getting closer. General Motors and AT&T announced that they will work together to put 4G WiFi connectivity into cars starting in 2014, opening up a new consumer electronics platform for app developers. for article please see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/atandt-gm-team-up-to-make-4g-cars/2013/02/25/04b9fb9a-7f5c-11e2-b99e-6baf4ebe42df_story.html?tid=pm_business_pop -or- http://goo.gl/ElN5M
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 05:58:04 -0800 (PST) From: Richard Walsh <wepbx@remove-this.sbcglobal.net> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Looking for a Western Electric Autovon instrument Message-ID: <1361973484.33407.YahooMailClassic@web181702.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> Good morning Bill My name is Rick Walsh and I live not far from you in Middle Haddam, Connecticut. I was looking for a particular type of Western Electric telephone to complete a display of Autovon phones (16 button dial). I found a reference in Telecom Digest from 2005 about a gentleman named Al Gillis that had an example of a type 3666 telephone, the model I am currently seeking. One of your readers suggested I contact you as a means to try and communicate with Mr. Gillis. The opportunity to contact with Mr. Gillis would be most appreciated. Thank you Rick Walsh
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 22:06:44 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Nest's Smarter Home Message-ID: <p06240811cd54794672e3@[10.0.1.5]> Nest's Smarter Home Two men who created the iPod and iPhone injected new technology into the humble thermostat. Now they have their sights on the rest of your house. By Tom Simonite February 15, 2013 MIT Technology Review March/April 2013 In 2007, Tony Fadell believed he could see the future. He was an Apple executive who had created the iPod and was a leading figure on the team that had worked on the iPhone, which the company was about to launch. He knew people would soon form attachments to the Internet-connected computers they carried in their pockets, and he kept thinking about that as he started another major project: building an energy-efficient dream home near Lake Tahoe. "I said, 'How do I design this home when the primary interface to my world is the thing in my pocket?'" says Fadell. He baffled architects with demands that the home's every feature, from the TV to the electricity supply, be ready for a world in which the Internet and mobile apps made many services more responsive. When it came to choosing a programmable thermostat for his expensive eco-friendly heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, Fadell blew a gasket: "They were 500 bucks a pop, and they were horrible and doing nothing and brain-dead. And I was like, 'Wait a second, I'll design my own.'" Fadell, who soon left Apple at the age of 40, became convinced that his thermostat needed to be built like a smartphone and controlled from one. He wanted it to be smart enough to learn his routine and to program its own schedule accordingly, or to switch off automatically if he went out. A thermostat, he thought, could do that if it was really a small computer connected to the Internet. As he planned the features and design in his head, Fadell began to believe that his vision would appeal to other people too, even if their homes were more ordinary. With about 10 million thermostats sold in the United States every year, it could be a lucrative business. And because thermostats typically control half the energy used in U.S. homes, a better-designed one could significantly reduce power consumption. He sought out Matt Rogers, a precocious 27-year-old who at the time led iPhone software development, and got him to leave Apple to cofound Nest. ... http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/511086/how-nests-control-freaks-reinvented-the-thermostat/
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:53:06 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Nest's Smarter Home Message-ID: <20130228045306.GA16122@telecom.csail.mit.edu> On Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 10:06:44PM -0500, Monty Solomon wrote: > > Nest's Smarter Home > > Two men who created the iPod and iPhone injected new technology into > the humble thermostat. Now they have their sights on the rest of your > house. > > In 2007, Tony Fadell believed he could see the future. [snip] "I > said, 'How do I design this home when the primary interface to my > world is the thing in my pocket?'" says Fadell. [snip] When it came > to choosing a programmable thermostat for his expensive eco-friendly > heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, Fadell > blew a gasket: "They were 500 bucks a pop, and they were horrible > and doing nothing and brain-dead. And I was like, 'Wait a second, > I'll design my own.'" I once saw an article in a local paper about how the police had acquired infra-red detectors to locate "grow" lamps so that they could arrest marijuana home-grow operations. I mentioned it to my friend, a mechanical engineer, and he laughed himself silly. "There are so many hotspots in New England homes', he opined, 'that they'll be chasing space heaters and leaking hot-air furnaces for the rest of their lives". The problem with "smart" thermostats is that they're installed in dumb environments. Unlike Mr. Fadell's dream house, most homes are energy nightmares, with late-20th-century insulation, 1950-style windows, and air leak after air leak, all adding up to a heat load that tries the souls of every homeowner attempting to meet a budget. The end result is that a smart thermostat alone isn't going to make any difference worth mentioning: it might allow a user to delay a reheat cycle when she's working late, but (as my engineer friend is found of pointing out) it's the "everyday" items that kill you, not the "now and then" exceptions. As much as I might wish it were so, the solution to an energy- ineficient home is to invest the time and money needed to minimize heat losses. The U.S. is, unfortunately, still in the "denial" phase of dealing with our enery problem: the inefficiencies that are built into our homes, our electric grid, and our businesses won't be solved by smarter thermostats, no matter if they can be programmed from a cell phone or not. Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
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