February 2012
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Babel Buster Network Gateways: Big Features. Small Price.
Control Solutions, Inc. - Minnesota

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Across My Desk 
Ken Sinclair, Publisher

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Every month there is a blizzard of information contained in the emails and newsletters that cross my desk on their way to AutomatedBuildings.com. Some of this information is not in the form of any type of content we can publish but I feel I should share with you these snippets, blog bits, and url links that are about to fall off my desktop.

Lua is a powerful, fast, lightweight, embeddable scripting language.
Lua combines simple procedural syntax with powerful data description constructs based on associative arrays and extensible semantics. Lua is dynamically typed, runs by interpreting bytecode for a register-based virtual machine, and has automatic memory management with incremental garbage collection, making it ideal for configuration, scripting, and rapid prototyping.

Moai, a mobile platform for game developers that offers cloud-based game services and rapid development of iOS, Android, and Chrome titles using the Lua scripting language;

Introducing interoperable systems in order to produce an intelligent building Before you create an intelligent building you first have to make the systems within the buildings domain interoperable.

Bob Galvin died at age 89. In a sad but interesting coincidence, the much younger Steve Jobs died the week before Galvin.  The tie between these two remarkable leaders is strong. Bob Galvin and his company, Motorola, created the modern cellphone industry and brought the consumer-preferred Motorola phones to millions of users. Without the cellphone industry and the wireless networks that enable it, there is no iPod, no iPhone, no iPad ... in short, there is no "third wave" of Steve Jobs' career without the industry developed by Bob Galvin.

Birth Of A New Era - The Internet of Interactions
The electronic linking of users, channels, value added service providers and product manufacturers will continue its inevitable march forward as it becomes easier to design and develop “Smart Systems.”  In a few years, the state of the industry will look quite different; many of today’s players will likely disappear while others will radically change their business models. The companies that survive and prosper in the era of smart connected systems will be those that embrace the disruption and respond to it with genuinely new thinking about their business models and value creation.

Wristband plugs you into smart buildings
SWELTERING in the office while your colleague shivers under layers of extra clothing? Just register your discomfort by tapping a button on your wrist and let the room do the rest. That's one of the ideas behind WristQue, a project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that aims to create a low-power wristband device that works with sensors embedded in buildings to monitor how you feel and continually adjust the lighting and temperature to keep you happy. WristQue is the key to controlling "the immersive world of interactive media that will one day surround us", says Joe Paradiso, director of the Responsive Environments Group at MIT's Media Lab, who is working with colleagues to design it. Each 3D-printed, plastic WristQue band will contain a microprocessor and will be packed with environmental sensors to detect changes in temperature, humidity and light. It will be fitted with a chip that uses ultra-wideband radio signals to pinpoint the user's location and will be able to communicate wirelessly with sensors fitted in smart buildings.

ComQi, global multi-channel message management leader, announced today the launch of five new place-based mobile applications interacting with digital signage displays in a retail venue. Powered by ComQi’s Interaction Manager, these mobile apps include: Voting, Information and Couponing, Group Buying, Quizzes and Games.

In today’s market, retailers need to provide new ways to keep customers engaged and entertained while in the store, and to stay in contact with them after they leave. ComQi’s new mobile experiences empower the consumer and enable them to enter into a dialog with both brands and retailers by linking their mobile phone to digital signage and social media.

Free Energy Information Systems Handbook Available
Developed by Berkeley Lab Scientists to Help Building Managers Get Started Using These Systems to Increase Building Energy Efficiency

Reliable Controls The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and U.S. Department of Energy have released The Energy Information Handbook: Applications for Energy-Efficient Buildings Operations. This free book guides commercial building owners and operators who have no experience with energy information systems in understanding how to analyze the energy use of buildings, and use their analysis to lower energy costs by operating buildings more efficiently. Software developers and energy service providers in the commercial building industry, as well as more experienced owners and managers who wish to improve how they visualize, analyze, and manage their buildŽing’s energy use, will also find the book useful.

100+ Vendors That Sell Energy Management Software (EMS)
We define EMS as a database of energy use and cost data to help companies track and reduce energy use.  EMS productsare incredibly varied and differ in multiple dimensions includingthe type of data used (utility bills or submetering data), pricing model, application breadth (may be a part of EHS, carbonmanagement, asset control/maintenance, or cost allocation platforms), and asset granularity (energy visibility across multiple facilities to energy use data for specific manufacturing machines or even subparts). 

Groom Energy is publishing a report in early 2012 that will help managers sort through these differences and to develop a short list of vendors based on their specific needs.  The report istitled A Corporate Buyer’s Guide to Energy Management System.

New Generation In Google Maps and Digital Signage
We’ve taken Google maps to the next level! As long as you have Web access, you can check out where your displays locations anytime from anywhere with our newinteractive Google Map View feature. This powerful tool allows for network owners and location managersto view the locationsof all current digital ads ensuring real-time accuracy. Network and location updates shown on UCView’s innovative new feature enable you to dynamically display your display locations on interactive map and display them on your website with a few simple clicks in just seconds. Simply go to the “Location and Displays” section under your account and click on the new button “Map View” to get started.

Top Real Estate Tech Trends 2011 - A Year In Review Author: Jim Young, CEO, Realcomm Just a few years ago, many of the big ideas impacting our industry were in their infancy. People had great visions of integrated systems and smart buildings, but the case studies were just not there. In the past year, we jumped the chasm on many ideas; we left the early adopter stage and are now proceeding to early majority adoption.

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