The large amount of power and money we lose to vampire power is startling, and it is good to see that some serious work is finally being done in the direction to prevent this huge waste of power. While things like the Fair Energy Clock could help fight off the problem, the clock happens to be mechanical, and would possibly require a lot of human intervention. That is where the ZERO charger from AT&T scores, it does not require any human intervention to cut off vampire power.

This eco-friendly charger automatically looks for connected devices, and if none is found, it disconnects to minimize energy wastage. Since it does its work without any human intervention, it is a lot more effective; because if we were quite willing to unplug devices ourselves, vampire energy wouldn’t have been such a problem in the first place. A USB connector in the charger ensures that its compatibility to a number of gadgets. AT&T plans to release the charger in May.

Source: GeekSugar

Puma unveiled its brand new solar powered phone at the ongoing Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Though partnering with Sagem wouldn’t really make people run towards the phone, it has some pretty good features that might actually work well. The good-looking device has a solar panel at the rear to charge the batteries from the sun’s energy. More interesting is the way the phone utilizes this energy.

The Puma Phone lets you see the gains from solar energy; the extra minutes that you can talk for, the extra texts you can send, and the minutes the music player can be played, all solar of course. To encourage users towards using more of solar power, Puma will award points. Basically, the more you charge the device through the sun, the more points you receive. The points can then be spent at a Puma store.

Other features on the phone include a 2.8-inch QVGA TFT capacitive panel, 3.2 megapixel camera with 6x zoom, and front facing VGA camera. The phone weighs just 115 grams and will be available in April this year.

Source: Gizmodo

There has been a fair amount of worry over the large amount of electricity/ energy lost to vampire power. While the name sounds cool, it is also responsible for the loss of precious energy and increase in power bills. A lot of this happens because most of use are either too lazy to unplug the appliances once their job is done, or we simply forget to do the unplugging part. That’s where the Fair Energy Clock steps in.

As most devices need to work for only set periods of time or at regular intervals, you can set a fixed time for their use of power by using this clock. You just need to select the activate and inactivate times, plug the gadget into the clock, which in turn connects to the outlet.

When at the inactivate time, the clock simply cuts off all energy to the connected appliance. You may of course, select the clock to reconnect at any time, or as often as required. The Fair Energy Clock is an entry at the Greener Gadgets Design Competition.

Source: Greener Gadgets

Discarded tires are a real eco threat because not only it is difficult to recycle them, once past their life, they have little value for reuse as well. Putting old tires to good use is what the Automan 500 subwoofer design does. Moving on a different line from convention, the Automan 500 subwoofer has a circular design in place of the cabinet/ cuboid shape most others have.

Designers Carolyn Butts and Hans Honegger say that the circular/cylindrical shape allows the subwoofer to have a better sound quality, and its unique construction helps it to emit all the bass notes. Housing for the Automan 500 is made from discarded stock car tires. Innertube from discarded tractor tires, discarded bicycle tires, and recycled buckle all play their part in the construction.

Materials used are locally produced and sourced, and the cushion for the subwoofer is made from renewable wheat straw fiber. Handmade by local artists, each of these subwoofers is custom made. The Automan 500 is an entry in the Greener Gadgets competition, much like the Corky mouse we saw earlier.

Source: Greener Gadgets

A computer mouse functions by movements and clicks, and the Corky Mouse is no different. This mouse though, powers itself from its usage; every movement, click, and roll of the scroll wheel generates power to keep the mouse going. The design from Adele Peters is to be constructed from 100% recycled plastic, and where possible, it will use recycled and biodegradable cork. It is, of course, the use of cork that gives it the name, and the unique texture the mouse has.

The wireless mouse will rely on piezoelectric elements to generate power for its use. The technology as such, is available and has made an appearance in some watches. The challenge here will be to scale it for use in the mouse, and manage to keep the product cost effective. Regional sourcing and assembly, product take-back and recycling and availability of disassembly data to recycling centers are all integral parts of the design. The corky mouse is a contestant in the Greener Gadgets Design Competition.

Source: Inhabitat

The solBAT II is a device that promises to make charging your gadgets more environmentally friendly. Well, instead of hooking on to the grid, the solBAT II lets you tap on the abundant solar energy to charge your gadgets. The basic idea is quite simple, and has been used in a number of similar devices. Solar panels on the top of the solBAT harness solar power and charge an included battery.

Once this battery is charged, you can use it to power your gadgets like mobile phones and music players. It is a pocket sized gadget, making it easy to carry around. When the device is charging, a red light comes up, and when it is charging another device, a green light comes up on the solBAT.

The device comes with lithium ion batteries with a capacity of 1500mA and an output of 5 Volts. To make charging easier, the package includes suction cups for a car’s windshield, and a carabiner for the backpack. solBAT II sells for $30.

Source: Scosche, Gearlog

The RCA Airnergy comes across as a smart device that utilizes power of the Wi-Fi signal, in a way generating “wireless energy.” The RCA Airnergy is a USB-connected device that gets into action as soon as it detects a WiFi signal, and then stores the energy it generates into an included Lithium ion battery.

You can then use this battery to power gadgets like mobile phones and music players. Those frequenting WiFi hotspots can get a dose of energy easily. As you’d guess, the battery’s recharging time depends upon the strength of the WiFi signal. The company’s spokesman however, maintains that a BlackBerry can be fully charged at 30% power using ambient signals. And the process would take around 90 minutes.

The Airnergy “power harvester” will probably be the first device of its kind to put the technology into commercial use. It is expected to hit stores later this year, with an affordable price tag of $40.

Source: Inhabitat

For years there has been a push to control pollution, and the United States has made the most progress of any country in the world. The technology developed here is nearly beyond belief.

Lakes that were once cesspools are now thriving with fish and clean. Our air is the cleanest in the world. I worked at a semiconductor plant down in Santa Cruz years ago, and the air coming out of the exhaust stack was actually cleaner than the air on the outside due to highly advanced air scrubbers.

Noise pollution has improved. Cars are quieter. Home theaters and sound systems have gotten louder, but advances in soundproofing keep the noise inside.

Despite all of this, there has arose groups dedicated to complain about the noise levels from automobiles. These groups are doing everything the can to increase our noise pollution!

I know there are those of you out there that may think I am enjoying too many adult beverages while writing, but that is not the case. They really are asking to increase our daily noise pollution, and the reason is that we have done too good a job in decreasing our noise output!

You don’t believe me? You should. You see, the new hybrid cars are TOO QUIET. (How do you like the SHOUTING about the quiet?)

Cyclists listening to their iPods while peddling along would definitely not hear the approaching hybrid. Even a cyclist without the earbuds in place would have a hard time hearing today’s hybrids approaching, unless they were on a gravel road.

Blind people, who heavily rely on their hearing to navigate their way around the cities and towns cannot hear these hybrids, now turned into silent and deadly machines. In fact, the National Federation for the Blind is lobbying for laws requiring the car companies to make the hybrid cars that pollute more, with sound, of course.

Unfortunately, the technology to solve this technology was not developed in the United States.  It took a company from Great Britain to do it.

A solution is at hand! Lotus, the high-performance car maker, knows how to make noise. They have designed some of the worlds most powerful cars and their engines have that sweet, powerful sound that thumps your chest. You can’t miss that!

Lotus has designed a system called “Safe and Sound” that makes the super-quiet hybrids sound just like a normal car. It has a waterproof speaker mounted in the front of the car so the driver and passengers will not hear much of an increase of sounds, but people on the outside will definitely know.

The the Safe and Sound sound system even sounds like it is accelerating and decelerating – just like a normal internal combustion engine. Lotus installed the system inside a Toyota Prius for demonstration purposes.

There is no estimate on how much this gadget costs, but I have a more inexpensive solution that only comes from life experience. Take a baseball card and clip it to the car so it rubs on the spokes of your expensive wire wheels. You will get that thrup-thrup-thrup-thrup-thrup-thrup sound like we used to have riding our bicycles when we were kids.

Notes: I just had to cross-post this on greenpacs.org and devicemag.com since it covers a gadget and is an accessory for a green thing.

Due to the recent public disclosure laws in the United States, I have to state that I have received nothing from Apple or Lotus for this aricle. I already own an iPod, but would accept the latest and greatest iPod they have after the fact. I would also not turn down a Lotus either. I’ll even take a used, er, a previously-owned one! Even a powder-blue Lotus with mid-board engine and the industrial-strength clutch (hint, hint).

Sony displayed its green offering at the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show, and that came in the form of the Vaio W Series “Eco Edition.” The small laptop with big environmental credentials, quite appropriately has a plastic enclosure made from 23% reycled CDs. And probably just to show off the laptop’s environment love, the plastic enclosure is green tinted.

The story though, does not end simply with the recycled plastic enclosure, Vaio W Eco Edition is RoHS, Energy Star 5.0, and EPEAT compliant. Goodies in the package do not deprive the mini laptop of functioning though, it comes with a high definition (1366×768) 10.1-inch LED screen, 250 gigabytes of hard drive storage, and up to seven hours of battery life. The laptops run on Atom processor N450, and come pre-installed with Windows 7. In keeping with the theme, even the carrying case for the laptop is made from recycled plastic bottles. Prices for the range begin at $450.

Source: Sony, Inhabitat

LED lights on a dress aren’t really something new, but sometimes designers manage to grab your attention with something unique and good-looking. The Difuss pollution dress is full of embroidery which conducts electricity, and it’s equipped with hundreds of LED lights. The lights are then connected to a CO2 detector, and it’s used to control them.

The LEDs react to the environment accordingly – they either pulsate slowly, or blink in rapidly. A curious thing is that the LEDs are controlled by an Arduino chip, which means that they should be highly programmable, allowing users to do all sorts of stuff with them.

The dress looks remarkably good too, so it wouldn’t be strange to consider wearing it – unlike some other “green” clothing articles, which look outright terrible. It’s good to see that green designers aren’t actually as limited in their creativity as it might seem at first.

If you’re a female looking to impress with your green awareness, or on the other hand, looking to impress your female partner in this way – this should be the perfect solution.

[ Via Engadget ]