Local firm beats Google to €10m contract

The Climote hub

Local start-up Climote have beaten Google in a David and Goliath-style battle for a coveted €10m contract, according to a report in today’s Irish Independent.

The Dundalk smart metering company was chosen over Nest, the business bought by Google for $3.2bn (€2.4bn) earlier this year, and 25 other companies for a lucrative contract with energy company Scottish Power.

Industry giants Siemens and Honeywell Global also competed.

The deal will see Climote supply its technology to Scottish Power’s 5.6 million UK customers.

This will allow the customers to control their heating remotely from anywhere in the world.

Once Scottish Power has installed Climote’s device, customers can control their heating via an app for iPhone or Android. For those with older phones, it can be controlled using text messages or a web page.

The deal is valued at a minimum of €10m in the medium term though this will depend on how quickly Scottish Power rolls out the technology.

Climote has already teamed up with Electric Ireland in the Republic and Power NI in the North to roll out its technology on the island of Ireland.

Climote is the brainchild of ex-Honeywell Ireland boss Eamon Conway and connected homes innovator Derek Roddy.

It was created as a spin-off of home technology company Smarthomes, which counted former presidential candidate Sean Gallagher as a director.

New myDundalk app launched

A new mobile app called myDundalk has been developed for the people of the town as well as visitors to the area.

The aim of the app is to provide relevant, up to date information regarding local shopping, restaurants, DkIT, cinema times, fuel prices, upcoming events, local classifieds and more.

The app provides an opportunity for businesses to promote themselves by having an advanced business listing and banner ads on the app.

It was created by Dundalk IT students Colm Clarke and Lorcan Kearney with further information available at www.mydundalk.ie

Alternatively you can download it now from iOS or Android.

 

Pulse FM goes live in Dundalk

A new radio station went live in Dundalk this afternoon.

Pulse FM started to broadcast at 2pm.

The station is only available online at present, via the popular TuneIn app for Apple or Android devices or via music site Mixlr.

Long-term the plan is for the station to have a physical location and FM frequency.

Dundalk IT student develops campus navigator app

Sean with the app he developed

A third year creative media student in Dundalk IT has developed a new app to help students, staff and visitors to navigate their way around the college.

Bellurgan man Sean McDonnell’s initial release focuses solely on the Carroll’s Building – which now houses the IT’s School of Informatics and Creative Media – but there are plans to develop it further to take in the entire campus.

He also plans to add further detail to the app to include staff offices and other facilities.

Sean has had more than 50 downloads of the free Android app already and explained to the DkITimes how it came about.

“I developed it as part of our first semester assignment,” he said.

“We were given an open brief to create something interactive and ambitious and I decided to give this app a try. My lecturer Ken Sloan is very supportive of it and I had a lot of fun and learned a lot developing it.

“After three years I am finally finding my way around so I thought a navigator app would be very handy for new students. I’ve kept it open source as I hope it could be a good learning tool for app developer students as well. That way I hope it will also be kept up to date once I graduate and remain useful in the years to come.

“Next I plan to develop one for the whole campus for both Android and iPhone users,” said Sean.

You can download the app from here.

New Dundalk hotels app launched

A screenshot from the app with prices for the Carrickdale Hotel and Fairways Hotel

A new Android app has been launched called ‘Hotels in Dundalk’.

The free app allows you to find the lowest price on accommodation in Dundalk guaranteed, as well as offering you the chance to compare room deals from all 15 hotels and B&Bs that are featured.

Customer reviews are also included, while the information is supplied in 39 languages, with prices available in 27 currencies.

The app is run by LowerHotels.com, which compares hundreds of travel sites including Expedia, Hotels.com, Venere.com, Lastminute.com, Laterooms.com and many more.

You can read more on the app or download it from here.