Nobel Prize Winner Offers $100,000 For App That Already Exists

Cutting edge at the Department of Energy.

The Department of Energy announced Thursday a $100,000 prize for software developers to come up with mobile applications to tell consumers how much energy they are using

But there’s already an app for that.

A quick scan of the iTunes and Android markets shows nearly two dozen existing applications that accomplish the same purpose — helping users keep track of their energy consumption at home.

The uMeter app, for example, allows consumers with Wi-Fi-enabled home energy meters to “manage and optimize their energy consumptions, in order to reduce their expenses and carbon footprint,” according to the description. Similarly, the Home Master app gives iPhone and iPad users the ability to control their lights and curtains from a mobile device.

“You can define lighting scenarios and get real time information on energy consumption and energy savings,” the developers at Think Sample S.p.a. wrote at the iTunes App Store.

Facebook, the social media giant, released a similar app Thursday in partnership with the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council and software company Opower.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/05/energy-dept-offers-prize-to-create-mobile-apps-that-already-exist/#ixzz1rDQq5NHk