Central and South Asia

EU vs. Iran, smart electricity meters, and nanotech update

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If you’ve come to this week’s technology podcast looking for in-depth coverage of Google Wave, then you’re going to be disappointed. Sorry. Instead, we’re going to dive into the exciting world of…drumroll…smart electricity meters! Yes, that’s right. This might sound as dull as dishwater, but if you take a listen to this week’s podcast, we hope you’ll change your mind. We’ll take you to France to hear about a company called Voltalis. They make a device called the Bluepod (not pictured), which is supposed to help French consumers monitor their electricity consumption, and modify their behavior. Sounds great, but there’s a catch. The French government regulators don’t like the device. Mon dieu! We’ll follow that with an interview with Mark England in, well, England. He works for a British company called Sentec, which is making a smart lekky meter of its own (pictured). Unbridled fun and cracking good conversation ensues.

Also on this week’s podcast, Cyrus Farivar tells us about one Dutch politician‘s plan to get the European Union to stop selling Internet filtering hardware to the Iranians. Considering all the reporting we’ve done here on WTP about Iran and the Internet, this is one you won’t want to miss. And we also have a great big, hulking report on the state of nanotechnology. It’s an interesting check-in.

We end with a short conversation with Rhitu Chatterjee, the new ultra-hip host of The World Science Podcast. Rhitu will give you a teaser on what’s coming up on her podcast this week. Hint, hint — the Ig Nobel Awards. Warning: you will laugh out loud.

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