Telecom operators have recently made a major push in offering personalized services to their customers, primarily in an effort to retain customers and reduce churn. Customer churn is caused by many factors including bill shock and a lack of customer service satisfaction, two points that Idomoo, a personalized video company, has been trying to address in the telecom industry.

IEEE, a professional association focused on advancing technology, on Monday announced five new standards, as well as a modified standards-development project, that are all intended to aid the rollout of the smart grid worldwide. The new standards and standards projects recently approved by the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Standards Board carve new dimensions into the IEEE portfolio of more than 100 active standards or standards in development relevant to the smart grid.

The number of enterprises turning to cloud computing to revamp existing business models will more than double in the next three years, as business leaders move to capitalize on the rapid availability of data and the growing popularity of social media, according to a new study released by IBM.

On Monday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, JDSUintroduced PacketPortal, a Smart Network Application Platform that uses microprobe technology to gather intelligence anywhere in the network for use with customer care, marketing and other applications.  These applications provide service providers with a new way to generate revenue, build brands and build subscriber loyalty, says JDSU (Milpitas, Calif., USA).  

As companies in a range of industries seek to reduce costs, increase revenue opportunities, and improve customer service, they are increasingly turning to interactive kiosks as an additional channel to enable their customers with self-service options.  The number of interactive kiosks in operation will rise from approximately 1.6 million deployed in 2011 to nearly three million deployed globally by 2016, according to a recent report by ABI Research.

NRG Energy (Princeton N.J., U.S.A.), one of the largest power operators in the U.S., formed a new company last month with the University of Delaware to test out how vehicle-to-grid (V2G) can keep a grid stable as the share of intermittent renewable energy sources rises.  V2G allows electric cars to pump electricity back into the grid when power demand spikes.

Google (Mountain View, Calif., U.S.A.) has thrown its weight behind Tech City, East London's fast-growing hub for Internet companies, by signing a lease for a seven-floor building that will serve as a launch-pad for new start-ups and developers.

The center, due to open in 2012, will house advisers from Google and other organizations that support technology entrepreneurs, the company said on Wednesday.

It will be located close to Old Street roundabout; dubbed "Silicon Roundabout" in an area of London that has already attracted hundreds of new Internet start-ups.