After yesterday’s Tweet-a-watt socially-talkative energy monitor, now comes a somewhat more comprehensive version. Rather than measuring electricity use of a single appliance, Jason’s system monitors the whole house’s energy supply: AC clamps mean there’s no dangerous wiring into the mains to be done, and the measurements are updated to a webpage automatically every ten seconds.
Twitter’s rampant popularity looks set to increase even further, as your household appliances begin to tweet for attention. MAKE maestro Phil Torrone put together the Tweet-a-watt, a hacked Kill-a-watt energy monitor with the ability to wirelessly transmit energy stats and have those posted to a preset Twitter account.
If the Nokia N79 Active sounded too much like hard work for you, and you’re more concerned with hugging pandas, then the Finns may have a package more to your tastes. The N79 Eco [via] has a new “petrol black” casing, with three included covers (in dark gray, steel gray and deep plum) but lacks a Nokia charger. The assumption is that buyers will already have a Nokia power brick left over from their last device.
Samsung has announced the slimmest LED-backlit HDTVs to date, in their new Luxia LED TV range. Available in sizes from 40 to 55-inch, the HDTVs all have a unified UI across all of Samsung’s consumer electronics ranges, whether from digital cameras or home cinema systems, to the new full-touchscreen PMPs such as the Samsung P3 PMP. Three series will be available, the 6000, 7000 and 8000.
As well as LG’s new plasma and LCD TV ranges, SlashGear had the chance to spend some hands-on time with the LG HFB-500 solar-powered Bluetooth car-kit speakerphone at CES 2009 this morning. The compact device can be recharged either by a standard AC connection – with an in-car adapter provided – or by leaving it on the dashboard to soak up the sun.
We’re still waiting for a truly compact, domestic wind turbine in the manner of the Philippe Starck Democratic Ecology, but Japanese housing and environmental equipment manufacturer Nikko is promising something that sounds pretty close in 2009 [subscription required]. Expected to hit the market by October, the new wind turbine will measures roughly two meters in diameter and be priced at between $5,600 and $6,700.
Segway inventor Dean Kamen is turning his three-acre island home, the regrettably-named North Dumpling, into the first “net zero energy” island. With no mainland electricity connection, the entire island uses solar power; Kamen has brought in Philips Color Kinetics to replace all lighting with LEDs. Kamen has also fitted energy efficient appliances and water purification systems, some of which he invented himself.
It might look like a speed-trap gun, but this Black & Decker tool is actually to identify places in your home where heat is escaping. The Thermal Leak Detector uses a nifty colored light to tell you whether a particular spot is spilling all your central heating out into the cold or not: calibrate it by pointing at a normal wall, then move the light around and, if there’s a particularly leaky spot, it’ll turn red.
Flipswap, who claim to be the leading solution in electronics trade-ins, has announced that HGEN Partners, a leader in clean tech investing, is investing $14 million in a Series B financing round. Flipswap provides a way for users to recycle their old handsets while getting credit toward the purchase of a new one.
Hitachi have announced a 500GB 2.5-inch hard-drive that combines optional Bulk Data Encryption (BDE) for hard-drive-level data security with environmentally-friendly features such as halogen-free design and the industry’s lowest read/write power specification. In fact, Hitachi are so pleased with the 5K500.B that they’ve awarded it their new EcoTrac classification: the label describes devices that minimize the eco impact of product design, manufacturing, operation and disposal.
SlashGear Japan
