Europe Innovation

July 2, 2009

In Germany, Switch On the Street Lamps Yourself

At the beginning of the Harry Potter series, the wizard Albus Dumbledore uses a magical "put-outer" to extinguish the streetlights in young Harry's neighborhood. Now ...

June 29, 2009

Online Gizmos Could Top 50 Billion in 2020

Fifty billion connected devices are coming to cellular networks in the next decade, according to Ericsson—as everyday objects go mobile. Ericsson's VP of systems...

June 8, 2009

Amsterdam: A Smart City Goes Live

On the streets of Amsterdam last week, major changes were afoot. The first of 1,200 households were gearing up to install an energy-saving system aimed at cutting ...

March 13, 2009

Amsterdam as Smart City: Going Green, Fast

Among Amsterdam's 17th century town houses and meandering canals, big changes are afoot. On Utrechtsestraat, a major shopping avenue in the center of the Dutch ...

February 24, 2009

Google vs. Symbian: Openness Debate

If you thought the rise of open OS platforms would herald a new era of peace and harmony in the mobile industry you'd be sadly mistaken, as rival players in the space ...

December 17, 2008

Clouds over the Solar Power Industry

If the recent five-year boom in solar energy marked the birth of a global industry, the next half-decade should be its coming of age. But like most adolescents, solar ...

December 16, 2008

Britain Gets 50Mbps Broadband via Virgin

Virgin Media has finally launched its long-anticipated '50Mbps' cable broadband service but analysts have warned the headline speed may not be attainable for very ...

December 15, 2008

EU Climate Deal Slammed as 'Mirage'

European industry and the power generation sector in eastern Europe are the big winners coming out of deliberations between EU premiers and presidents on the bloc's ...

December 10, 2008

No Auto Crash for Israel's Mobileye

Global car sales have plummeted in the past year and there appears little hope for improvement any time soon. General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) are teetering on the ...

December 4, 2008

TraceTracker Tracks Food Safety on the Net

Talk about an image problem. For weeks, newspapers around the world have carried stories about dairy-poisoned babies—at least six have died, and 300,000 have ...

December 3, 2008

Intelligent Medicine: Proteus' Very Smart Pills

"Being digital" is about to take on a whole new meaning. The phrase was popularized by a prescient book of the same name written by computer guru Nicholas Negroponte, ...

December 3, 2008

Tech Leaders of Tomorrow

The group of 20 young, fresh-faced computer programmers in jeans and polo shirts embossed with the company logo could have been with any Silicon Valley startup. But ...

December 3, 2008

E-Commerce for Indians, on Their Cell Phones

A decade has passed since telecom operators and handset makers first tried to get Europeans excited about mobile-phone commerce by demonstrating it was possible to buy...

November 24, 2008

Recognizing Small Businesses in Africa

Times are tough for small and midsize businesses. Around the world, consumer spending is down, loans are expensive, raw materials cost more than they did a few years ...

November 12, 2008

Kapsch TrafficCom Automates Toll-Taking

Most companies that depend on government contracts can get hit hard when an economic slowdown reduces tax revenue. With Kapsch TrafficCom (KTCG.MU), it works the other...

November 12, 2008

Google's Chrome: The Danish Magic Inside

Note: This is a corrected version of the story that originally ran on Nov. 12, clarifying that Google Chrome runs JavaScript, not Java. A Danish farm nestled just a ...

November 7, 2008

German Lab Dreams up Future Hotel Room

Bored of boxy hotel rooms where luxury amounts to a mini bar and a remote control for the television set? Take a stroll around the flashy, gadget-laden hotel room of ...

September 26, 2008

How Sony Ericsson Made Windows Nicer

With Sony Ericsson's inaugural Windows Mobile device set to be launched in the coming days, the handset maker has revealed that it had to convince Microsoft to embrace...

September 15, 2008

Can Xperia Redefine Sony Ericsson?

Sony Ericsson, unveiling its much-anticipated Xperia Xi mobile device on Sept. 15, released a nine-part promotional "Webisode" about a man named Johnny X who is trying...

September 15, 2008

In the Broadband Race, the U.S. Is Way Behind

Anyone who's ever suffered from an online video timing-out on YouTube knows that broadband speed is important. And it's going to get even more important, as a new ...

September 8, 2008

Philips Unveils Massager for Couples

Has the spark gone out of your relationship? Royal Philips Electronics (PHG) reckons it just might have the answer. The $38 billion diversified Dutch giant hopes to ...

September 2, 2008

Nokia Launches Digital Music Service

Mobile-phone giant Nokia (NOK) has taken a major step in its drive to move beyond selling hardware and into the potentially lucrative business of online content and ...

August 22, 2008

Tough Times? Rent, Don't Buy, with Erento

Covet a Ferrari? Dream of impressing your date with a flashy Rolex or the latest Balenciaga bag? As the global economy weakens, fewer Europeans can afford to buy such ...

June 12, 2008

Saving the World One Glove at a Time

You may not have given much thought to the market for disposable medical gloves, which admittedly lacks glamour, so it might surprise you that this business is worth ...

May 14, 2008

Money Shines on Israeli Solar Startup

A conference organized by Israeli President Shimon Peres to mark the country's 60th anniversary kicked off May 13 with a showcase of 60 pioneering Israeli firms that ...