AlertMe Launch New Energy Monitor Web UI, iPhone App and Colour Display Bundle

Another raft of updates this week from one of our favourite UK innovators – AlertMe. Firstly the new “AlertMe Smart Energy” package with a full-colour display (and six months free online and mobile service included) is now available to pre-order at £49.99.  Also the new free iPhone App for the Energy system is now on the iTunes store and joy of joys a sweet new UI is here at last for the Web Interface…

[googlead]When we first reviewed the AlertMe security system back in May 2008 we wrote the following about the web interface – “The design of the web interface is just a little quirky for our taste.  The odd layout and cartoonish graphics are at odds with the clean white design of the hardware.  We understand AM is aimed at a non-technical user but perhaps a second more minimal skin/theme would be the answer.”

Then back in April this year we reviewed AlertMe Energy and again noted – “Like we said in our review of the security system we think it’s time for a redesign here – or at the very least offer a more elegant ‘skin’ for the web application.  We really like the clean new look of the AlertMe.com website and hopefully some of its design elements might make it into a revamped web interface in the future.”

Well, AlertMe listened and have just launched an updated Web Inteface with the beautiful new, clean, contemporary design we’ve been asking for – try it out at the demo URL below.  The brand new AlertMe Energy iPhone App (free) has also hit the Apps Store this week and it allows you to monitor your home power consumption – and now temerature too – from anywhere with cellular service.  So now there’s just that pesky £1.99 per month subscription to get rid of to make this thing almost perfect. Full PR follows plus some of our high res screen shots from the new web UI and iPhone App.

“Home energy management is now brighter and easier than ever before thanks to a new real-time energy web dashboard and new colour in home display – AlertMe, the consumer home energy management company, today unveils its new online User Interface (UI), iPhone app and real-time in home display. Both the UI and iPhone app have been developed using AlertMe’s new API, which offers the opportunity for further application development both internally and externally by partners and developers.

You can see a full demo of the new service at http://demo.alertme.com/ – The new UI can be accessed online in the user’s own secure account via a web dashboard or smart phone. There is also a dedicated iPhone App, giving users more options than ever before.  Now consumers can see their home energy use and spend in real-time, anytime, anywhere, with cost predictions of what they are spending today, this week, this month and for the year.

Both the new dashboard and mobile interfaces have been designed to provide a better and increasingly engaging customer experience and improved usability. By making the dashboard applications based, AlertMe can continue to add new features, functionality and applications. The first five applications launch today, with a continued stream of further applications also launching this year.

The AlertMe Colour in Home Display

Applications launching today include:

• Power Now: tells you the power you are using right now, how much energy you have consumed so far today and profiles your historical use.
• Cost prediction: Helps you budget your energy use by showing the cost so far today and predicting the total cost today, this week, this month and for the year.
• The AlertMe Swingometer: Helps to keep you on track by comparing your energy consumption with previous days and compares you with others in your region and nationally.
• Temperature: shows the temperature in your home right now compared to current local weather outdoors. It also gives you maximum and minimum temperatures inside and outside.
• Appliances: using AlertMe’s Smart Plugs consumers can also profile their home appliances and devices to find out how much each consumes and allows you to remotely control them to save money.

Further new applications launching this year include:

• Real time carbon footprint to convert energy used into its carbon equivalent.
• Solar Power Application to help you evaluate how much you could save by installing solar panels.
• Smart Analytics to profile appliances and devices without using a smart plug.
• Personal targets and benchmarking to save energy.
• Appliance Advisor to recommend energy efficient appliances with payback.

Mary Turner, CEO of AlertMe says, “We believe consumers should have access to information about their energy use and understand how much they are spending on energy in real-time. This empowers them to make informed decisions on a day by day basis rather than waiting for a shockingly large bill, by which time it’s too late. It is widely accepted that by giving people greater visibility of their energy use and cost they can make cost savings of between 15% and 25% and for many Alertme customers this can be upwards of 30%.

“For energy providers, bringing online additional generation capacity at peak times and building new power stations is a hugely expensive business, so it’s a win-win situation for both utilities and customers if consumers are given the ability to take control of their energy consumption and can save energy, save money and reduce their carbon footprint.”

Sample iPhone App Screens – Click for Full Size Versions

Sample Web UI Screens – Click for Full Size Versions

The AlertMe Home Energy Management starter kit is available for £29.99 or £49.99 with an in home display. (The Energy Kit with Display is available on pre-order at the AlertMe web site from today). Both services carry a £1.99 monthly subscription. AlertMe was also the first partner for Google PowerMeter in Europe, meaning AlertMe’s customers who wish to see a lighter-touch view of their daily use can also opt to link their AlertMe service with PowerMeter and add the simple graphical display to their iGoogle page.”

AlertMe.com  :  Our AlertMe Energy Review  :  Our AlertMe Security Review

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