Case Western Reserve University Adopts Mobile Bar Code Scanning

The title doesn't highlight the real story. Brands and wireless carriers are making it clear what mobile bar code reading platform they prefer.


Case Western Reserve University, industry partner to debut break-through mobile technology

Beginning February 1, students, faculty and staff at Case Western Reserve's Cleveland, Ohio, campus will be participating in the nation's first trial of "2D codes"—commonly referred to as "QR Codes"—by bringing the cell phone technology to campus.

The 2D codes, first introduced on campus during fall orientation, are not unlike bar codes found on cereal boxes and other grocery store items. Only instead of revealing the price of corn flakes, the printed symbols link to mobile content in the form of pictures, music, videos, news articles and other interactive media.

Mobile Discovery, in partnership with all U.S. wireless carriers and Scanbuy, plans for 2D codes to appear at Case Western Reserve on everything from shuttle stops to campus flyers to ads and articles in the school newspaper.

If I recall correctly, Case Western initially demoed Neomedia's mobile bar codes technology first. Looks like Case Western decided to adopt ScanBuy's technology though.

ScanBuy Lets Blackberry Users Scan Mobile Bar Codes With ScanLife

Physical World Connection is now available for Blackberry users.

"Pro-sumers" wait no more. Blackberry owners can now scan a mobile bar code on any physical object using ScanLife, and be connected to the Internet.

Scanbuy 2D Barcode Application Now Compatible with Camera-Enabled BlackBerry Handsets

Scanbuy, a global leader in mobile marketing solutions, announced today that its ScanLife mobile 2D barcode application is now compatible with camera-enabled BlackBerry® smartphones from Research In Motion (RIM). ScanLife-capable devices include the 8300, 8310, 8320, 8100, and 8130 models; also known as the Curve™ and Pearl™.

Scanbuy's technology uses the camera phone to connect the physical world to the digital world. By downloading the free ScanLife software though the mobile browser at www.getscanlife.com, Blackberry users will have the ability to scan and read EZcodes providing instant access to a wide variety of information and digital content.

Because of their simple design, EZcodes are supported by a wide range of camera phones.

“Despite their enormous popularity among heavy wireless data users, BlackBerries have not been able to read the vast majority of 2D barcode formats, so this functionality gives ScanLife a distinct advantage in the marketplace,” said Jonathan Bulkeley, Chief Executive Officer of Scanbuy. “We are committed to working with every stakeholder in the mobile ecosystem to advance 2D barcode technology and continue expanding our user base worldwide.”

ScanLife has been successfully deployed and supported by leading mobile providers and handset manufacturers in France, Spain, the Philippines, Greater China, Brazil and the United States. The ScanLife Code Registry and Management platform enables marketers and content providers to create and manage measurable 2D barcode campaigns, thus extending brand engagement onto mobile devices.

In addition to the BlackBerry models, the ScanLife handset software is also compatible with all of the world’s most popular handsets from manufacturers including Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, LG and Sony Ericsson.

Realeyes3D 1D Mobile Bar Code Breakthough Follow Up

The bar code. The next generation keyword for advertising.

A major breakthrough occurred today in the Physical World Connection space. After years of visionaries like Howard Rheingold (Smart Mobs) and John Battelle, discussing Phase 2 of the Internet, a camera phone is now able to scan a 1d bar code found on every packaged good, and connect to the Internet.

With Realeyes3d technology, billions of physical world hyperlinks can be "turned on" with a camera phone.


Brands will now be pushing carriers to adopt this mobile bar code scanning technology. Mobile marketing companies will have a powerful tool.

How big is this?

Every Coke can, DVD, cereal box, etc now becomes a portable website. Scanning the bar code on the package will connect a mobile phone to any designated URL.There are literally billions, if not trillions, of hyperlinks that can be scanned.

If I was Google I would be thinking about the huge revenue opportunity that awaits when advertisers can connect their goods with consumers. In addition to selling keywords, turning on bar codes becomes .


After I posted the story about Realeyes3D and their 1D Bar Code Scanning Breakthrough, I had a chance to speak to Benoît BERGERET, the Co-Founder and CEO of Realeyes3D

Realeyes3d has created an algorithm that automatically calculates the "blur radius" of an image and is able to decode it (either on the phone or through a server). They have been working for over 3 years to solve this. Only Camclic has been able to decode a 1d bar code without using an autofocus lens.

They offer two ways to scan the 1d bar code. A consumer can scan the bar code and be connected directly to the URL. If their phone is not on the list of supported phones, they can take a picture of the bar code, email it, and Realeyes3D will resolve it on their server (send back the appropriate link).

Realeyes3D is no stranger to working with the handset manufacturers. They have shipped over 50m phones with some of their other technology embedded.

Currently they are working on a pilot with a major carrier that is decoding both 1d and 2d mobile bar codes.

Realeyes3D Clears 1D Bar Code Scanning Obstacles...Physical World Connection Game Changer

Realeyes3D, a pioneer in mobile imaging applications and services for camera phones, and a trusted player in mobile document scanning with the award-winning Qipit service, today announced that it has "cracked" a key mobile commerce challenge:

Making 1D bar codes readable with about any camera phone.

Billions of products can now be linked to the Internet simply by scanning the 1d bar code on the packaging.

Realeyes3D's invention leapfrogs the main blocking point for reading a 1D bar code from a mobile photo: the blur of the bar code lines. (try taking a picture of a bar code with your camera phone).

Brands can now "turn on" any good by assigning a URL (website) to a barcode. When the consumer scans the bar code with his camera phone, the mobile phone browser will connect to the designated website.

The question is .....how long before Google buys this application so they can add the billions of bar codes to their database and offer advertising?

RealEyes3D's "one-click" 1D bar code deblurring technology, currently in pilot testing phase with major wireless carriers, relies on a breakthrough proprietary image processing technology that restores 1D bar code images shot from a camera phone, and enables them to be read with virtually any camera phone model available in the market.

This might speed up Physical World Connection a bit.

Should we wait for a 2d mobile bar code standard, or would reading a 1d code work?

Vivo Adopts Scanbuy's ScanLife Mobile Bar Code Platform

Another major wireless carrier adopts Scanbuy's mobile bar code reading application.

Scanbuy, a global leader in mobile 2D barcode and marketing solutions, announced today that Vivo, Brazil's largest mobile telecom operator, will support its ScanLife platform and become the first mobile operator in Latin America to utilize 2D barcodes.

Vivo, a joint venture between Telefonica and Portugal Telecom, is the largest mobile telecommunications operator in the Southern Hemisphere.



Vivo chose Scanbuy's ScanLife platform after an extensive bidding process for a completely integrated solution combining client and server applications. Scanbuy has partnered with EverMobile to deliver the ScanLife solution in Brazil.

The ScanLife platform has also been deployed in France, Spain, the Philippines, China and the United States. Several other markets are expected to launch in 2008.

How much longer before we start seeing the 21st Century Bar Code?

Sears Starts Using 2D Mobile Bar Codes

Sears is the first major U.S. retailer to start a public trial of 2-D barcode technology.

Sears Uses 2D Bar Codes


Efforts to implement retail 2-D bar codes are accelerating, with Sears becoming the first U.S. retailer to begin a public trial that started in mid-December at a store in Marietta, Georgia.

Sears' name is now on a substantial list of top-tier U.S. retailers who have been seriously exploring the technology, including Best Buy, Gap, Target and Nordstrom.

There are multiple vendors pushing the technology in the United States; Best Buy and Target are working with a company called StoreXperience, while Sears and others are talking with an outfit called ScanBuy.

Solar Investing Was So 07, Where Does VC Money Go In 08?

Last year it was all about solar companies and their ability to "create" energy.

This year the theme for venture capital money is on companies that "create" energy through efficiency.

Investor's Business Daily has a story highlighting where venture capital money is going in 2008. After solar, the focus moves to Energy Alternatives (sub req'd).

Nearly all of VC cleantech investment dollars went to solar firms in the first nine months of 2007. Why? Venture capitalists are very technically oriented. One of the things they understand is chips. Solar is very related to chips. It's an area they can wrap their hands around

VCs likely will fund more nonsolar cleantech companies as they grow more savvy about green industries

Observers expect more funding for companies that deal with energy-efficient buildings, alternative fuels, green cars, managing power on the electrical grid.

Some venture capitalists are looking for companies that reduce power needs and manage energy demand, not just companies that supply energy.

Imagine the impact when Electric Motors Go Green

Mobile Bar Code Reading The Next Technology Wave

Do you know how billions of hyperlinks get created overnight?
Just assign one to every bar code.

Virtual worlds, mobile coupons and bar-code readers on cell phones are the next technology wave that U.S. chain stores must ride if they hope to stay competitive in the fast-changing world of global retail.

"These technologies are going to change the way you interact with your customer, they're going to change the way people shop, they're going to change the way you manage your brands," said Giff Constable, general manager at Electric Sheep Co.

Those bar codes aren't just for cashier scanning anymore.

Soon every physical object, using a 1d bar code (or coming soon 2d bar code) and a camera phone, will allow Physical World Connection. Those bar codes will act as Physical World Hyperlinks. Connecting a physical object to a specific website.

Check out what Sprint is doing with mobile bar codes now.

ScanBuy Gets New Mobile Bar Code Patents As Sprint Adopts Their ScanLife Platform

Scanbuy, a global leader in mobile 2D bar code and marketing solutions, today announced the approval of seven patents which cover a variety of elements relating to its integrated ScanLife Code Registry and Management platform.

Officially granted in 2007, each of the new patents enables a user’s mobile device to decipher 2D codes and deliver digital content through a server gateway, offering the most convenient way for mobile devices to access information from the physical world.

The patents cover new methods of processing and enhancing bar code images captured by a digital camera connected to a mobile device.

The state-of-the-art ScanLife Code Registry and Management platform has been deployed successfully in France, Spain, the Philippines, China and the United States.

AllTel is now listed as a carrier for ScanBuy's ScanLife too.

In addition, take a look at how Sprint has adopted Scanbuy's mobile bar code reading platform ScanLife, in their new PhoneIQ application. Expect more EZcodes in/on major publications soon.

What this really means.

Because Dupont selected Scanbuy as its exclusive provider for the 21st Century Barcode, (microEZ) mobile marketing companies will be able to offer brands the ability to connect their product/package with a consumer using a camera phone and a 2d barcode.

Every Coke can, cereal box, DVD package etc will act like a physical world hyperlink when a camera phone scans the 2d code on the packaging.

In my opinion, physical world hyperlinks have the ability to revive retail stores.

By adding a 2d code to packaging, the Internet comes into a retail store, offering brands lots of exciting options.

2D barcodes, or in this case EZCodes, will compliment keywords as the commodity for Internet advertising.

ScanLife® can be used with all major 2D barcode protocols including QR, DataMatrix; and codes made especially for camera phone like Scanbuy’s EZcode™.

Some exciting developments are expected from ScanBuy shortly. Readers might want to download the ScanLife barcode reading application on the phone to take see.

To get the ScanLife mobile barcode application simply text SCAN to 70734 or go to www.scanlife.com and enter your phone number.

It is clear that the ScanLife is becoming the standard mobile bar code reading application in the U.S.

See why Microsoft's Don Dodge picked ScanBuy as a Company To Watch?

ZapLinks Connects Physical World Objects With Camera Phone

Add ZapLinks to the list of companies that connect physical world objects to the Internet using a mobile phone.


What are ZapLinks?
ZapLinks are circular colored images used to link mobile phones to content on the internet.

How are they useful?
ZapLinks eliminate the need to type long web addresses using the keypad on a mobile phone. All that is necessary is a mobile phone with a camera and an internet connection.

How do they work?

1. Take a picture of a ZapLinks image using your mobile phone.
2. Send the image with MMS or E-mail to: go@zaplinks.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it.
3. Receive a link to the content on your phone.

2D Mobile Bar Code To Be Offered By Major Retailers

According to StorefrontBacktalk 2-D Barcode To Hit America In April

A favorite of marketers and retailers for years in smartphone-embracing parts of Europe and Asia, the 2-D barcode is going to make its U.S. debut this April in some New York City consumer electronic and cosmetic retailers, according to the president of a Microsoft-backed company who says he has cut the first U.S. 2-D deal.

The very lengthy URL hidden in that 2-D barcode identifies the exact location of that consumer.

Herve Pluche, president of a company called StoreXperience, said his company will be the first to bring 2-D to the U.S. and that it will debut this April at five locations in Manhattan. Asked if that rollout was definite, Pluche said that no agreement had been signed but "we do have a handshake."

A slide presentation that Pluche was using, though, did identify several companies that the slides said were "already engaged" including Best Buy, the Gap, Nordstrom and Target. Those slides said that all of those retailers—other than Gap—were being recruited in a "joint effort with the Microsoft Retail Group."

StoreXperience has been selected to be a member of a Microsoft marketing support program that has yet to be announced, according to officials working with StoreXperience.

The mobile operating systems to be supported for the April trials will only be Blackberry/RIM and Symbian.

The only way to experience the 2-D interaction with the StoreXperience trial is by downloading a 200K rich client. But consumers who can't do that can go to a web site and select the retailer and key in an eight-to-twelve digit PUC code visible below the 2-D barcode.

GE Pumps $2 Billion More Into Renewable Energy Projects

GE Energy Financial Services said Monday it would boost by $2 billion its purse for stakes in renewable energy projects such as wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and biomass projects to a total of $6 billion by 2010.

The investment arm of Dow component General Electric, General Electric Company said it's targeting more deals after a slew of transactions totaling about $3 billion, including its largest wind investment yet -- $300 million for wind farms in four states.

Wind energy ranks as GE Energy Financial Services' most active renewable energy investing area, the company said.

GE committing this much capital to wind farms gets me pondering.

Should/could the US Govt offer tax incentives for large land owners (especially oil fields) to install turbines? I think back to Qwest Communications and their ingenuity to use railroad lines.

What large areas of land are ripe to invest for wind farms?

Are there existing high rise objects (antennas, cell towers, utility lines) that can be retrofitted as a wind turbine?

Big Brother Will Use Physical World Hyperlinks For Security

Who needs implantable RFID chips, when your eyeball will do.

When a machine readable identifier (fingerprint, iris, DNA etc) is scanned, identified from an Internet database, and then delivers information...Physical World Connection has take place.

In the following case, irises will act as Physical World Hyperlinks.

Senior British police officials are talking to the FBI about an international database to hunt for major criminals and terrorists.

The US-initiated program, "Server in the Sky", would take cooperation between the police forces way beyond the current faxing of fingerprints across the Atlantic. Allies in the "war against terror" - the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand - have formed a working group, the International Information Consortium, to plan their strategy.

Biometric measurements, irises or palm prints as well as fingerprints, and other personal information are likely to be exchanged across the network. One section will feature the world's most wanted suspects. The database could hold details of millions of criminals and suspects.

Mvive Creates Mobile Coupon Trademarked Moupon

Add Mvive to the Mobile Coupon company list.

Mvive, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has created the MouponTM, a mobile coupon to replace traditional paper driven marketing such as coupons, flyers, brochures, etc. by providing these forms of marketing on mobile devices such as cell phones, Blackberrys, etc.

The Moupon directly delivers a company's marketing message to its consumer base in real time to their cell phones, etc., at a fraction of the cost of traditional, paper driven methods.

Mvive's Moupon(TM) or mobile coupon will not only revolutionize this aspect of marketing for countless companies but also save thousands of trees that do not have to be processed in order to accommodate traditional, paper driven marketing applications.

Microsoft, NBC And AT&T Talk Of Filtering Internet...Do You Know How They Could?

The talk of internet providers filtering or restricting copyrighted material over the Net has me pondering.

Who offers an application that acts like a "content cookie"?

Internet Providers Getting Ready To Filter Internet

For the past fifteen years, Internet service providers have acted - to use an old cliche - as wide-open information super-highways, letting data flow uninterrupted and unimpeded between users and the Internet.

But ISPs may be about to embrace a new metaphor: traffic cop.

Representatives from NBC, Microsoft, several digital filtering companies and telecom giant AT&T said the time was right to start filtering for copyrighted content at the network level. Your Internet service provider could soon start sniffing your digital packets, looking for material that infringes on someone’s copyright. But how?

Here's how media companies to track their content through the Internet.

Digimarc offers revolutionary technology will allow publishing companies, peer-to-peer services, social networks and other content generated sites to manage and report the online media streams. The service will also be able to track how the content is viewed and shared.

How valuable is this technology for content owners, and distributors?
What company(s) would want to own this recurring revenue stream?

Do you know any other players that offer this?

Graphic Packaging's Snap2C Connects Products To Internet Using Mobile Codes

This is great to see, another corporation realizing that packaging can be turned into a physical world hyperlink. That means, a machine readable identifier (bar code, image, RFID tag) on the outside when scanned with a mobile phone, can "connect" that item to the Internet...and "turn it on".

Brands will soon be able to interact with a consumer through the Net, using a physical object and mobile phone. Personal and dynamic advertising.

As more consumer goods are printed with mobile bar codes, the quicker Physical World Connection occurs.

Graphic Packaging Corporation today announced the launch of its Snap2C portfolio of paperboard package enhancements that innovatively integrate the promotional effectiveness of package billboards with mobile technology.

Using camera-equipped cell phones and interactive mobile technology, shoppers can scan on-pack graphics and codes to immediately access in-store promotions as well as download songs, videos, ring tones or special movie previews.

Consumers can also participate in sweepstakes entries, loyalty program points, product surveys, event marketing, or get answers to product questions via this new form of mobile marketing.

According to Charles Brignac, marketing manager of retail packaging solutions at Graphic Packaging, "using Snap2C enhancements on product packaging creates a breakthrough in delivering promotional messages directly to consumers."

DuPont, the largest consumer good packaging company in the world, is also developing the 21st Century Barcode

New Jersey Mandates Electronic Health Records

Sometimes it takes a government mandate for new technology to get adopted.

Will this be the mandate that finally forces medical records into the Digital Age?

New Jersey To Mandate Electronic Health Records

New Jersey will become the first state to mandate a move toward electronic health records under a bill now before Gov. Jon Corzine.

Find out how Google and Microsoft are revolutionizing the health care industry by digitizing patient records and medical information.

Will other states follow?
How will large data medical images (xrays, MRIs etc) be delivered over the Net?
How secure will the servers be?

What companies/technologies win or lose with this transformation?

Google TV Browser?

Google is slowly finding a way to deliver content to the TV, with an Internet connected TV, or "smart TV".

Folks who want their Internet and their TV too may want to note a new partnership between Internet titan Google and Matsushita's Panasonic business unit.

The two companies plan to bring the Panasonic Viera PZ850 plasma television(a shame it's plasma) to market in the second quarter of 2008, with the capability to directly access YouTube and video-sharing site Picasa without an intervening PC or media server.

(thoughts)
1. Will these videos be in high def?
2. Will YouTube be forced to upgrade their platform?

This is the first time mainstream consumers will be able to easily enjoy YouTube videos from the living room with the enhanced quality of a fully integrated widescreen TV experience.

What other sites or services does Google own (or should purchase) would you like to experience on your high definition TV?

What applications would I rather see on a big screen, or would allow me to view with others?
Some I think Google should introduce or buy.

Google Earth with radar (Weather Channel)
A video conferencing/web cam service.
Online movie rental service.
A handful of high traffic sites that I would rather check via TV than PC.

Will your TV remote soon be replaced with a keyboard and a mouse?

What would you like Google to offer through a TV?

What Dispruptions Will The Tata Nano (People's Car) Cause?

India's Tata group to launch world's cheapest car...very disruptive.


India's giant Tata Group will this Thursday unveil the world's cheapest car, which analysts say could revolutionize prices worldwide.

India's car market is a huge draw because car penetration is just seven per 1,000 people. They also import roughly 70 percent of its crude oil.

Ratan Tata, the reclusive tycoon who heads the tea-to-steel conglomerate, will kick off an auto show here with the unveiling of the long-awaited "People's Car", which will carry a sticker price of 100,000 rupees or 2,500 dollars.

Domestic and international car makers have been in a race to corner India's small car market, which accounts for over two-thirds of domestic sales in the country of 1.1 billion people.

Some things to consider:

Does a car this cheap being offered to such a large population create the tipping point for oil demand? Could this be the catalyst for a "clean car"?

Will this upcoming traffic congestion lead to an infrastructure boom? Insurance industry?

Does this car increase the size of their already enormous their middle class?

Does this affect future sales slated for US auto manufacturers?

Google Patents "A Picture Is Worth A Thousand keyWords"

Here's an interesting Recognizing Text In Images patent issued to Google.

"The method includes receiving an input of one or more image search terms and identifying keywords from the received one or more image search terms. The method also includes searching a collection of keywords including keywords extracted from image text, retrieving an image associated with extracted image text corresponding to one or more of the image search terms, and presenting the image".

Here's the key sentence to the patent and why it could be huge for Google Mobile.
"Recognizing Text In Images is an application to patent a method of optical character recognition in digital images". A camera phone is considered an optical character recognition device.

See how this plays in with Google's Image Labeler and Physical World Connection?

Linking a keyword in/on an image directly to the Internet with a mobile phone is the "Internet of Things"

Science And The Next President...Each Presidential Candidate And Their Energy Outline

Science Magazine just published a summary called "Science And The Next President".

I thought it would be a good idea to list each presidential candidate and links to their views on energy/environment here and let Pondering Primate readers make their own conclusions.

Listed in alphabetical order.

Hillary Clinton New Energy, New Jobs To establish a green, efficient economy and create as many as five million new jobs.

John Edwards Edwards will create the $13 billion-a-year New Energy Economy Fund. The fund will be financed by greenhouse gas polluters through the sale of emission permits and by ending taxpayer giveaways for big oil companies, including special tax subsidies and sweetheart terms in offshore drilling leases. The resources will double the Department of Energy's budget for efficiency and renewable energy, accelerate new energy technologies to market and help new businesses get started, encourage consumers to buy efficient products, and provide transition assistance to workers in carbon-intensive industries.

Rudy Giuliani Energy Independence
Topics Include: Ethanol, BioFuels, Renewable Energy, Nuclear Power,Clean Coal, North American Oil&Gas, Energy Conservation
We need new oil refineries, nuclear reactors, transmission lines, and renewable energy facilities. Expanding our infrastructure and diversifying its geographic location directly impacts national security, economic stability, and job creation. Key steps include enhancing security, cutting red tape in the regulatory process, investing in a digital “Smart Grid,” and developing batteries to more effectively store energy

Mike Huckabee "The first thing I will do as President is send Congress my comprehensive plan for energy independence". (although he doesn't really state what his plan is on his site)

John McCain Our economic prospects depend greatly upon the sustainable use of ample and unspoiled natural resources. A clean and healthy environment is well served by a strong economy (pretty limited on this issue)

Barack Obama Energy And Environment
* Reduce Carbon Emissions 80 Percent by 2050
* Invest in a Clean Energy Future
* Support Next Generation Biofuels
* Set America on Path to Oil Independence
* Improve Energy Efficiency 50 Percent by 2030
* Restore U.S. Leadership on Climate Change


Mitt Romney Ending Energy Dependence.
""I want to initiate a bold, far-reaching research initiative – an Energy Revolution, if you will. It will be our generation’s equivalent of the Manhattan Project or the mission to the Moon. This will be a mission to create new, economic sources of energy, clean energy. We will license our technology to other nations and of course we will employ it here at home."

I will keep this post up on the Pondering Primate home page

Netflix Disrupts Online Movie Rental

Some things to ponder with Netflix and their upcoming set-top box.

1. Because the video library from Netflix is pretty extensive, how will this affect video-on-demand from cable/satellite companies?

2. How much would you pay for an additional set-top box AND a monthly fee for this service?

3. What happens to the already dying DVD market?

4. Because this service includes "other programming from the Net", how will this impact the video sites? (YouTube etc)

5. Will these downloads be available in HD format? (if so how long will it take to download them?)

6. Could this force a HD format standard?

7. How will this affect AppleTV?

Netflix Inc., the world's largest online movie rental service, and LG Electronics, a global consumer electronics leader, today announced they are joining forces to develop a set-top box for consumers to stream movies and other programming from the Internet to HDTVs -- bypassing the need to use a personal computer.

The collaboration is expected to deliver a compelling new online home entertainment service via technology embedded in an LG networked player planned for the second half of 2008.

On top of its rich catalog of more than 90,000 titles on DVD delivered fast through the mail, a growing selection of more than 6,000 familiar movies and TV episodes delivered instantly over the Internet to Netflix members' personal computers or TVs will even more strongly position Netflix in online movie rentals, which it pioneered in 1997.

Could CleanTech Revive The Economy And Make U.S. Competitive Again?

A transformation and opportunity bigger than the Internet?

China vowing to promote renewable energy and the signing of the Energy Bill are two catalysts that will provide lots of "green" for the CleanTech space .

Instead of thinking about routers, search engines, pay-per-click, CDMA, and wavelength division multiplexing, it's time to start focusing on CleanTech as the next great investment opportunity.

In addition to relying less on foreign oil, the U.S. is in a position to create AND sell alternative energy technology(s) to emerging countries. A wealth creator in many ways.

Alternative energy could jump-start the economy.

Earlier this year at the first Southeast Venture Conference, former Virginia Senator Mark Warner said that among the areas in which he sees great opportunities for entrepreneurial success, “There continue to be opportunities in the broadband wireless space and in security." But the one in which he sees the greatest opportunity is alternative energy.

“It’s in the intersection between energy, global warming and jobs,” he said. “It could be as big a driver of the economy as telecom and IT have been. You could argue those jump-started our economy during the 1990s. We’re at the same point in time in alternative energy.”

Some CleanTech Developments To Watch In 2008

What is your favorite CleanTech technology or company?