When Microsoft rolled out its beta version of Hohm on Wednesday — a Web site that helps consumers save electricity — it pulled off a veritable hat-trick. First comes the good publicity from positioning itself as a public benefactor. Second is a live test of its Azure cloud service, first announced at Microsoft’s Professional Developers’ Conference in Los Angeles last October. Third, Microsoft is staking out its turf in a battle with Google over a possible business helping consumers cope with the results of governmental efforts to combat the greenhouse effect.
