Will people use energy more thoughtfully if they’re able to monitor it via a familiar device? That’s what nergy management technology provider Tendril reckon; they’ve borrowed style inspiration from a digital clock for their Vision energy monitor, which can not only show real-time usage but predict future patterns.
While most people probably don’t have several review cellphones lying around on their desk at any one time, the trickle of juice soaked up by even just one cellphone charger left unplugged is enough to add an unpleasant bump into your power bill. AT&T have decided to do something about that – at least in part – and so they’ve announced the AT&T ZERO Charger, a PSU that apparently has no standby draw whatsoever.
That means you can unplug your cellphone when it has finished charging but leave the ZERO Charger itself plugged into the mains, without worrying about how much current it might still be drawing. So far the AT&T Zero isn’t available for sale, but you can sign up for more information and the carrier will get in touch when they’re in stock.
Remember the frankly storming Lexus LF-Ch hybrid concept from September 2009? At the time the company promised a production version, and they’ve finally delivered on that with the Lexus CT 200h; unfortunately, some of the more lairy styling details of the LF-Ch have been lost in the process.
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There's money to be made from earth-friendly gadgets, and there's an iPhone-owning audience out there crying out for extra juice in their smartphones, so trust Scosche to put the two together. The Scosche solBAT II is, daft punctuation aside, a reasonably sensible solar-powered external battery, which comes with both a windshield mount and a universal carabineer for easy positioning.
PC manufacturers often treat environmental friendliness as something that begins and ends with using recycled materials for the packaging, but what about the average desktop PC casing itself? Recompute’s “sustainable computer” concept has been making the rounds since last year, but the company have just announced that the first of the cardboard-chassis PCs are now going into production.
Back in November we told you about Earthrace – the distinctive trimaran powerboat – joining the Sea Shepherd organisation as a so-called “stealthed support vessel” named the Ady Gil. Unfortunately we’ve some bad news: the $2.5m carbon-fibre and Kevlar boat was seemingly involved in a collision with a Japanese whaling vessel and subsequently sunk, as efforts to tow the Ady Gil to harbour were scuppered as the damaged craft took on water and snapped its lines.
Videos of the collision after the cut
Looking for a bright pink or bamboo notebook? ASUS have got your back either way, unveiling both a netbook collaboration with designer Karim Rashid and a U-Series notebook with real bamboo in the casing. The ASUS Eee PC 1008P Seashell Karim Rashid Collection is the more eye-catching of the pair, thanks to a diamond-textured (and vivid pink) shell that’s supposed to create the illusion of moving light, while the ASUS U Series Bamboo uses a plastic-injected bamboo material cladding Intel 32nm Arrandale CPUs and USB 3.0 connectivity.
Remember the Aston Martin Cygnet? The company’s first city-car broke cover back in June, as a sub-£20k (sub-$33k) sop to urban dwellers and environmentalists. Now the company have released the first official shots of the Cygnet, and it’s certainly distinctive.
Does it look like an egg, a blade-free helicopter or a sperm on wheels? No matter: the one thing we do know is that the Aptera 2e won’t be looking good on your driveway any time soon. The all-electric car – which we first wrote about back in September 2007 – was meant to go into production this year, but Aptera have announced that will actually now take place in 2010. Somewhat ominously, the two co-founders are either stepping aside or taking a “leave of absence” until Aptera can scrape together some more cash.
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We all love a sandwich, but how often does your sandwich light up from power it has collected itself? If you're chowing down on a prototype from the Florida Energy Systems Consortium then it might just do that (though probably not tasting particularly good in the process): they're working on the idea of layered OLED and solar-cell panels, which would capture sunlight during the day and recharge a back battery plane, before lighting up at night.
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