Yesterday at the Plug In conference in San Jose, CA, technology company Ecotality and design firm Frog Design announced a new line of electric-vehicle chargers. The chargers, which will be rolled out in demonstration projects in 16 states with funding from the US Department of Energy, have a color touchscreen and are connected to the internet. A user can program the chargers to charge a vehicle by a certain time and when prices reach a certain level; the connectivity will also allow utilities to display messages and provide data to the charger about fluctuating electricity prices.

With its black and white color scheme and rounded edges, the Blink looks like it was designed by Apple. The cord-winding station below the touchscreen even resembles the clickwheel of a classic iPod. (Not surprising, since Frog famously created the look or "design language," called Snow White, used by Apple for its computers from 1984 to 1990.) Frog representatives explained that the chargers are meant to look friendly and approachable. They're also ready for co-branding--Starbucks or Best Buy might offer a free charge in their parking lot to get electric vehicle owners to spend money there, and could add their logo to the Blink on a skin. The company will offer a wall-mounted residential version and a free-standing version designed for parking lots.

Lee Slezak, a representative of the US Department of Energy vehicle technology program, and conference attendee, said Blink offers capabilities other chargers lack. "One thing we've been pushing for as we roll out charging infrastructure is to make sure it has the smallest possible impact on the grid."

Enabling communication between the utilities and the consumer, as the blink does, will help both: the utility can offer lower rates when demand is lower and users can program the charger to take advantage of this.

This video shows how the Blink system works:

At a press event today in downtown San Francisco, GE announced new products and a funding initiative centered on smart grid research.

In collaboration with four major venture-capital firms, the company has opened a $200 million funding challenge to anyone who wants to submit ideas over the next ten weeks through a website. GE will offer research grants and development to projects in the areas of renewables, the grid, and green buildings. The venture firms working with GE on the initiative are Emerald Technology Ventures, Foundation Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byer, and RockPort Capital . Company representatives called the smart-grid market a "fat, slow moving rabbit" that a company like GE can capitalize on. GE will invest five percent of its industrial revenue this year in R&D, but to catch that fat rabbit and do it quickly, said CEO Jeff Immelt, the company needs partners.

Designer Yves Behar with the GE WattStation electric-vehicle charger at a press event in San Francisco.

Immelt also talked about the need to rebrand green initiatives so that they don't sound "elite," and rebranded the smart grid as "digital energy." GE also announced two products today that are designed to bring that friendly feeling to the consumer. The GE WattStation, an electric-vehicle recharging station that, according to the company, reduces charging times from 12 to 18 hours to four to eight hours for a 24-kilowatt-hour battery. Industrial designer Yves Behar, founder of San Francisco firm fuseproject, talked about making the charging station as friendly as possible. "We designed the WattStation to be as far away as possible from the gas station, with its visual and physical pollution," he said. "A company like GE needs people to participate in the products." Behar says markets for the charging station include cities, businesses, and individuals; it will be on sale at the end of the year.

The company also announced that next year it will launch a consumer counterpart to the smart meters being implemented by utilities. The Nucleus, a data-storage and communications device, will monitor gather data on electricity use by particular appliances and send it to a computer. On the computer, consumers will be able to use dedicated software to manage and monitor their energy use .