Mar 26
USBCells are revolutionary rechargeable batteries that don’t need the charger. From the picture it’s pretty easy to see that they are rechargable AA batteries with a built in USB port that charges the battery. Use them like regular batteries but when they are depleted, simply plug them into your computer or even your iPod USB charger and you should be good to go in about 5 hours.
The USBCells are NiMH which don’t suffer from memory effect - which means you should be able to get hundreds of charges out of them. You can also charge them with a standard NiMH charger if you are so inclined for those rare moments when you have access to a rechargeable batter charger and not a computer.
The USBCells are starting to come out in all battery sizes and configurations and because of the wide appeal, you should be able to see these popping up in Staples and Target soon enough.
Other uses for this technology? How come cell phones don’t have built in USB adapters like these simple AA batteries do? That means you wouldn’t have to ever worry about carrying a charger OR phantom energy drain cheaply made chargers are notorious for. I think the first cell phone with that will sell millions, are you listening Nokia, LG, Apple, and Motorola?
USBCell Website
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Mar 26
This Pear Lighting concept, by Nick Foley, is one of the coolest lighting concepts to come along in a long time. If you look carefully, you can see that this lighting sculpture is a modern lamp - notice the on/off switch at the bottom left. As if not marvelous enough, the Pear Light also features some great innovations.
Each of the Pear globes contain 10 LEDs, which if you remember the hierarchy of energy and planet friendly, goes Sun > LED > CFL >> Incandescent. But wait, there’s more! The three Pear globes are attached to the light with rare earth magnets which allow the lucky owner to “pick” the pear off the tree for up to an hour of continuous light.
Who needs romantic candles anymore, take the Pear globes straight to the bedroom. Impress at your next party or stay safe during your next blackout. The possibilities are endless.
For more pictures and information: Nick Foley Design
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Mar 26
The Nokia 3110 Evolve is an ecofriendly handset. It utilizes recycled and biomaterials to ‘evolve’ the original Nokia 3110. According to Nokia, this will be the first of many ecofriendly handsets they are coming out with. The best feature of this handset is probably its intelligent charging which only uses electricity when the Evolve is charging. Contrary to popular misconception, those appliances you leave plugged in but not turned on still drain energy. Intelligent charging technology is trying to put an end to that.
Nokia Evolve
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Mar 25
A concept mobile, developed by Dutch designer Gert-Jan van Breugel, has casing made of some fancy biodegradeable “bio-plastic” and renewable, resilient bamboo.
Don’t get too excited, you can’t just chuck it in the woods when you’re done, you’ve got to remove the battery, antenna, and print board before tossing it. That may sound like a lot of work, but the following stat from core77’s site makes it seem a bit more significant:
One billion handsets produced globally each year and only 10% recycled. Average mobile phone user replaces their handset every 18 months. This has a big impact on the environment; 36kg of CO2 is used to make one 90g phone.
It’s also got an on-board crank to help reduce the drain on your local power grid and bamboo seeds so when you do strip it down and chuck it in the woods, it’ll grow you some bamboo.
Bamboo Phone at Core77’s Greener Gadgets 2008 Competition
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Mar 25
One of the first items to get me excited about ecofriendly gadgets and stealing free energy from the sun is the Solio. It is one of the most popular solar powered gadgets to date. The Solio is a small device that can fit in your pocket but then “blossom” into a three pedaled solar flower.
It was named one of National Geographic’s Best of Gear and has been making its rounds on CNN and other news stations. The Solio is able to charge up your cell phone, mp3 player, gps device, and other small gadgets that don’t require too much power. Solio claims that with an hour of sunshine, you can have twenty minutes of talk time or 50 minutes of MP3 music.
Perhaps the most intriguing uses of the Solio lie in remote areas. With a donated Solio and cell phone, remote villages with no power, let alone phone lines, can connect with emergency services and doctors when the need arises.
Solio Website | Get It!
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Mar 25
If you haven’t been swayed by the siren song of the iPhone, shrouded in crappy Cingular… er… AT&T Wireless service, then you should take a serious look at Credo Mobile. Credo Mobile taps into the Sprint Network so you don’t need to worry about reliability issues with a boutique wireless company.
In 2007, Credo donated $3,514, 240 to various non-profits. It’s an impressive list and you can find it here. What’s important to note is that 1% of charges gets set aside, not 1% of profits. This is so significant because if a company claims to donate a percentage of profits, they do so after all the expenses are paid and the accountants do their special voodoo. That could mean a company makes $100 million annually, makes $1000 profit, and donates a total of $10 to the causes - kind of misleading.
Back to the good stuff - you can get an LG 150 with a Solio for $69 + a service plan. For those of you not familiar with the Solio, it is one of the most popular personal solar devices out there and it is the topic of my next blog post. The service plans are also pretty comparable to all the major wireless providers out there.
For more information, visit Credo Mobile.
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Mar 25
When good old self-motivation just doesn’t work, sometimes we just need a bit more of a push. In comes the Eco Drop shower, which will provide that extra “push” by forcing “ripples” through the surface of your showers’ floor.
With four levels of intensity, the shower progresses from “kinda weird” to “get me outta here”, as it decides you’ve been using too much water. The ripples in the floor will rise, causing discomfort to the point where you can no longer stand it.
Also good for getting you to work on time, The Eco Drop, from designer Tommaso Colia, is unfortunately only a concept. It’d be interesting to see how many would opt for a physical deterrent to wasting water.
Tommaso Colio’s Design Website
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Mar 24
The results are in and the epicureans have spoken. Bamboo cutting boards are not only less expensive than wood and in my opinion better looking, they are made with grass (bamboo), not trees. These cutting boards, from Bambu, are made with 100% certified organically grown bamboo and handmade by artisans getting paid a fair wage. So in terms of loving your knives, fingers, and planet, I’d say:
bamboo > wood > plastic >>>>> marble, glass, ceramic
Bambu Website
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Mar 24
Phillips has come out with the Eco TV. This 42″ beauty from Phillip doesn’t skimp on features, it has 1080p, 4 HDMI inputs, and the coveted energy star rating. The Eco TV comes with sensors that trace the ambient light in the surrounding area and automatically reduces the picture’s brightness b7 up to 80% from peak brightness to optimize energy consumption. Phillips claims that in low brightness mode, the Eco TV will use less than 75 watts!
The best part of the EcoTV is that its lead-free, assembled and packaged with recycled materials and only costs $1,399 when it comes out this month. You can find 42″ LCD tvs costing well over twice that much on the market so the best choice is also one of the most affordable.
Phillips Eco TV
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Mar 23
Partly funded by the UK Government, the Morgan Life Car was launched at the Geneva Show earlier this month. According to Morgan, the LifeCar’s purpose is to “demonstrate that a zero emission vehicle can also be fun to drive”.
The Life Car, based on Morgan’s Aero 8, uses hydrogen to generate electricity and says that the only emissions will be water. Morgan claims a range of 200-250 miles and sports car handling and performance.
Morgan Website
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