Tom Raftery's Newsletter - Issue #15

Ok, we're all probably overdosing on #Brexit news, so I've steadfastly avoided putting any #Brexit-related items in this newsletter - and yes, I did use a hashtag in an email - what of it? Maybe I'm starting a trend ;)

Anyway, on with the stories...

The Internet of Things (IoT)

Samsung had big Internet of Things news this week. As well as announcing their acquiring of Joyent (big enough news in its own right), they went on to announce that they are going to invest $1.2bn in IoT technologies in the US

Samsung Electronics says to invest $1.2 billion in U.S. for 'internet of things' — mobile.reuters.com Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS), the world's top smartphone maker, said on Tuesday it plans to invest about $1.2 billion in the United States over the next four years on so-called internet of things (IoT) technologies.

Bluetooth is due a speed boost, plus it should connect over 4x the distance without drawing more power, when the new Bluetooth spec is released in the coming months. This is the first update to Bluetooth since 2009, so it is hotly anticipated

Bluetooth 5 To Deliver 2x Speed Increase For IoT — www.itechpost.com A new Bluetooth standard is expected on the market later this year or early 2017.

And, trying to catch up to AT&T's massive lead in the connected car space, Verizon has announced their purchase of Telogis

Verizon buys Telogis to drive deeper into the connected vehicle market — techcrunch.com With a lot of tech companies and automakers staking their claims in the connected car space, now there are signs that others are looking to move in, too...

Energy

 Great news - more and more companies are demanding renewable energy from their electricity provider. The more the demand increases, the more new renewable generation is built, and the more the cost of renewables falls. Leading to more demand. A beautiful virtuous circle

72% of Corporations Are Actively Procuring Clean Energy — www.greentechmedia.com Corporations are far more interested in buying their own renewables than they were even one year ago.

While BMW is joining the ranks of the electric car manufacturers who are looking at home storage as an after market for used car batteries (something I was predicting in blog posts back in 2009)

Used BMW i batteries store solar power at home — techcrunch.com BMW i joins Tesla and Mercedes-Benz in bringing energy storage home with its new system, which has yet to be given a catchy name. The system uses new or used..

CleanTech/Misc

Staying on the topic of electric vehicles, the next version of Nissan's Leaf car is slated to have a range of 340 miles. This is a huge boost for the car, and to the EV industry, especially given that the Leaf is relatively inexpensive as EVs go

Next-gen Nissan Leaf aims for 340-mile range — www.autocar.co.uk New electric hatch will be offered with a choice of battery pack sizes for a longer range; due in 2018

And in another boost to the EV industry, Volkswagen, in an attempt to resurrect its badly tarnished image after Dieselgate, is planning to make a massive investment in electric vehicles. This would be a bold move for Volkswagen, and great news for EVs

VW plans huge investment to become electric cars leader — www.bbc.com German carmaker Volkswagen plans huge investment to launch 30 all-electric models as it repositions itself as a "green" transport leader.

Climate

Some bad news, and some less bad news on the climate front. The bad news is that May sees the global temperature weather records continue to be shattered. Honestly, the climate is just phoning it in at this stage

With May Record, Global Temps in ‘New Neighborhood’ — www.climatecentral.org May 2016 was the warmest May on record globally, capping off a streak of 13 such record-setting hot months.

In other (less bad) news though, according to a new study released, we may not be quite as badly off climate-wise, as we thought. We may not have passed some of the tipping points we thought we had. But that doesn't mean we can afford to get complacent

This chart perfectly explains what’s at stake in the quest to stop climate change — www.washingtonpost.com Scientists argue that the Paris agreement has the right idea, because it would prevent us from tipping key unstable elements of the climate system.

Finally

Thanks for taking the time to read this newsletter. I hope you found it interesting. If you did, you should also check out my blog

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