Category Archives: Gadgets and Tech
August 2 is the date when Nissan is planning to release a slate of electric vehicles. Along with the Nissan will be announcing the iPhone application that will allow owners to monitor their car’s battery level. It is designed to be used by the owners when they are away from their vehicle. This application will allow the user to know how much charge is left in the battery, the nearest charging station and also the approximate price for the fill up. The program will also allow the users to turn on their air conditioner or heater remotely to make the car more comfortable before they get in. this system is still in prototype stage but it is still slated to be unveiled on Sunday.
[Leftlanenews]
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Sony has been keeping up in the news shining green with all its environment friendly activities. Last year, the electronic giant reduced its global CO2 emissions by approximately 100,000 tons and also implemented the Green Power Certification System. Now, Sony Korea has come up with an eco-friendly slim notebook pc, the NW series for the Korean market. It is designed with recycling materials and has a 15.5-inch LCD screen with ‘Display Fff’ function. The series also features ‘Quick Access’ and a circle scroll touchpad. The suggested price for this beauty is $1,050.620.
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Verve’s lighting control system is all about a wireless solution that uses radio frequencies to control home lights, allowing putting your home lights where ever you wish. The energy harvested from physically moving the switches on Verve’s control panel is enough to transmit a radio signal as far as 300 feet to a central controller. This controller then relays the signals to the individual hardwired lights or outlets. The switch itself does not offer an on or off light unlike some of the other advanced systems but the system is capable of giving you the status of the entire house in a matter of minutes. But what is more impressive is that you can tack the switch to almost any surface and move it without the need to pull wires and rip your walls. It is basically a remote control. Why is this eco-friendly?
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San Luis Obispo has come up with a novel way of generating water from air with the DewPointe Atmospheric Generator! It uses the concept of Dehumidifiers and converts humidity to drinkable water. This device is the size of a normal water cooler and provided cold as well as hot water instantly. It uses a 10-stage filtration process to ensure that the water is free of any dirt and also uses UV filters to kill microorganisms. Even the air sucked inside the device is filtered and then used to produce water. This device is Energy star rated and runs quietly without making any noise.
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The Southern California Gas Company is testing the use of solar energy to cool building. The Los Angeles company is testing the use of solar concentrators and planning to install them on the Energy Resource Center (ERC) in California. The products chosen are from the Hawaiian start-up Sopogy and UK’s HelloDynamics, which reflect and concentrates light into pipe to heat water. This water replaces the gas to electricity power absorbers used in industrial absorption
chillers to create cool air using heat exchangers and compressors. This process will help cut down on the huge electricity bills especially in commercial buildings and industrial areas.
[Cnet]
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What is the first thing that you think of when you are taking some portable electronic item? Yes, the batteries or if there will be some outlet or inlet where I can charge my electronics. But it is the batteries that come first thing in our minds. Well I guess Devotec has taken care of that by introducing the Solar Sound Bluetooth speakers. The speakers feature dual 2W drivers, Bluetooth A2DP and AVRCP support, 3.5mm hard input and an impressive smartphone-sized 1500mAh battery. It will last 8 hours on a single charge. That can be attained in 4 hours with the help of a USB and anywhere between 12 and 24 hours in sunlight. It will cost you $96 which I think is pretty over-priced for this kind of speaker. Well I guess a price to pay for saving the planet.
[Gizmodo]
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This is simply innovative! Simpletech has made a 500GB external hard drive that is encased in recyclable aluminum and renewable naturally grown bamboo. It is interesting to note that aluminum and bamboo enclosures act as a heat sink and unbelievably does not need a fan and thus saves a lot of power. But there is a question. Bamboo is the food for pandas, aren’t they? What are they going to do! Not that eco-friendly I suppose then!
[Slipperybrick]
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Do you know the easiest way to save on your energy bill? Buy a dimmer switch for your lights and start using them. It is just pure mathematics. Dim a traditional incandescent bulb by just 15 per cent and you will see that your energy bills also reduce by 15 per cent. Dim it by 25 per cent and you will have your energy bills reduce by 20 per cent. You can even get back your cost of the dimmer very soon. Lutron is upping the ante with new Maestro and Meadowlark eco-minder switches that turn small LEDs on their panels from red to green when you’re saving at least 15 percent. The Meadowlark eco-dimmer’s green LED brightens as you’re saving more. When the LED is red it means you are losing money, when it is green, it means you are saving money. The brighter the green is the more money you save. That is a good way of reminding people that you are either saving or losing out on money because of your energy consumption. There are two models, the Maestro eco-minder which costs $45.50 and the Meadowlark which costs $24.80. Both the models are available from this month onwards.
[Electronichouse]
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Most USB gadgets are purely meant for fun and hardly any of them serve any purpose. The USB Solar Charger from Japan’s Thanko happens to be such a gadget, but with a difference. This is a Solar Charger with solar panels at its back to charge a variety of devices, mostly mobile phones. And incase the sun decides to play hide and seek, you can charge the device by plugging it into the USB port you laptop and charge the devices. Now that’s some smart thinking I must say! This smart solar charger is available at $21 here.
[Dvice]
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This is the NUUB solar lamp for outdoor path illumination. The solar panel area is big enough to catch the necessary power to the batteries / LED’s by night. It can also apparently play with the wind. It is ventilated which means that it won’t lose power capability by the increase of temperature. The batteries are placed in the bottom giving stability to the lamp, the LED’s are placed in the top, illuminating the path or any other special places you like. The inside convex structure is reflective to increase the LED’s illumination. You don’t need to use expensive wiring system to make it work it can be relocated without any adjustments.
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