Keeping an Eye on Electricity

Millions of dollars are being spent to install smart meters that alert utility customers to the minute-by-minute price of the electricity they are using at home. The hope is that consumers will adjust their use of power according to its cost. But this assumes they remember to check the meter before pressing an “on” button. The edot is a smart-meter display that can be stuck directly onto most appliances with a built-in magnet. It communicates wirelessly with the smart meter, and its ultra-low-power radio link means that consumers never change its batteries; each edot will last between five and seven years.
Product: Edot in-home energy display
Cost: Approximately $10 in high volume
Availability: Now
Source: taloncom.com/smartenergy
Companies: Talon Communications and Texas Instruments
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build
“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”
ChatGPT is going to change education, not destroy it
The narrative around cheating students doesn’t tell the whole story. Meet the teachers who think generative AI could actually make learning better.
Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives
The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.
Learning to code isn’t enough
Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.