Sony Ericsson Debuts New Eco-Phones: C901 and Naite

There were whispers all week that Sony Ericsson would be releasing a line of eco-friendly cellphones today - and it turns out that the rumors were true. The telecom giant debuted 2 new green handsets, the Naite and the C901 cybershot phone in a live webcast that took place at 1PM GMT in London today. The sleek new phones are tangible manifestations of the GreenHeart concept phone, which Sony Ericsson came up with way back in 2008 as its way of letting consumers know that it, too, was on the green bandwagon. Those who doubted that the GreenHeart concept would ever come to fruition need not wonder any longer as Sony Ericsson is just about ready to bring their new eco-friendly phones to the market.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

iUnika Unveils Ultralight Cheap Solar-Powered Netbook

What if keeping your laptop charged was as simple as setting it out in the sun? That’s the promise behind a brand new netbook that may just break the biggest barrier to ultra-portable computing: battery life. It won’t run graphics-heavy computer games, but iUnika’s new $180, 1.5 pound solar-powered Gyy netbook is ideal for anyone looking for an inexpensive on-the-go computing solution.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 4

Xerox Solid Ink Printer Cuts Waste by 90%

Ink toner cartridges are expensive, wasteful, and energy-intensive. That’s why Xerox’s new ColorQube 9200 printers are so innovative. Instead of using traditional cartridges, the printers use solid blocks of ink that melt when heated. Xerox claims that its $23,500 machine–meant squarely for corporate customers–can cut printing costs by 60% and eliminate 90% of all waste. And because solid ink sticks don’t have shells, there aren’t empty cartridges to deal with when the ink runs out.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 8

Suntrica’s Wearable Solar Chargers

Next time you head to the park, consider bringing a Suntrica wearable solar charger. The Suntrica SolarBadge and SolarStrap are pocket-sized, durable, lightweight chargers covered in flexible thin film solar panels.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 2

Wood-Covered Gadgets Take It Old School

Most of our modern-day gadgets are swathed in plastic or other high-tech materials, and why wouldn’t they be? Plastic is both cheap and easy to produce. But English Russia’s display of wooden gadgets shows that sometimes the most elegant items are the simplest.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 4

Kyocera Unveils Kinetic Flexible OLED Cell Phone

Charting the future of cell phone technology, Kyocera recently unveiled a kinetic energy-powered phone that is capable of folding up like a wallet. Designed by industrial designer Susan McKinney, the EOS phone consists of a soft, semi-rigid polymer skin surrounding a flexible low-energy OLED display. Shape memory allows the phone’s keys to pop up when in use and blend in with the surface during downtime.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 12

The Aqualim Cuts Lengthy Showers Short

Are your teenage daughters taking way too long in the shower?
Teenagers are known for their lavish morning rituals, and lengthy showers. When Australian Trevor Murphy saw his water bill skyrocketing on account of his daughter, he decided to create a device that would stop the shower after a certain amount of water had been used. His ingenious Aqualim requires no electrical parts and can be retrofitted to any existing showerhead.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

Monitoring Water Pollution With Robotic Fish

Soon, the water in Gijon, a harbor in Northern Spain will be monitored by robotic, battery-powered fish. These mechanical, articulating sea creatures were designed and tested by the Robotics Department at the University of Essex. At a cost of $3.6 million, through a European Union grant, these fish will test the water for oxygen levels, detect oil slicks and other contaminants pumped into the water. This is the first monitoring program of it’s kind, and the retrieved data could be very important, with implications for global warming and the state of our water sources.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

LG Answers the Green Call With a Solar-Powered Cell Phone

Not to be outdone by Samsung’s Blue Earth and ZTE’s Coral-200, LG recently unveiled its own solar-powered concept cell phone at the Wold Mobile Conference in Barcelona. The prototype, which features a solar-powered battery built right into the back cover, will be able to generate enough energy for 3 minutes worth of talk time for every 10 minutes of sun it soaks in. If left in natural light for longer periods of time, the battery will be able to power the phone for longer periods of time, eliminating or reducing the need for a conventional charger.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

Tweet-a-Watt Wins the Greener Gadgets Design Competition!

After an exciting round of live judging last week at the Greener Gadgets Conference, we’re thrilled to announce the winners of the 2009 Greener Gadgets Design Competition! Drumroll please…… And the winner is….Tweet-a-watt

Congratulations to Powerhog for second place, the Indoor Drying Rack for third place, and the Laundry Pod for fourth, and read on for more highlights from the judging at the Greener Gadgets Conference.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

GREENER GADGETS 2009!

Last week’s Greener Gadgets Conference was a smashing success, and if you missed it, you missed out. Inventor Saul Griffith gave a provocative and rousing keynote presentation, with a call-to-action to consumers to start measuring their energy use and designers to start changing the way they make things. The panel discussions were lively and interesting, and as always, the Greener Gadgets Design Competition live-judging was the hit of the conference with spirited debate between audience and judges, and hilarious commentary by Core77’s Allan Chochinov. But if you weren’t able to be in attendance at our fabulous conference - fear not - you can catch up on all the important highlights here on Inhabitat. We live-blogged the whole thing on Friday, and we’ll be posting videos soon. The live-blog is pretty detailed, so if you are looking for a short synposis of the event, read on for highlights >

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

Greener Gadgets Buzz From Around the Web

The Greener Gadgets Conference made for an exciting end to the week yesterday, and as you know, Inhabitat live-blogged the whole thing HERE >. The conference was a chance for gadget geeks and electronic companies alike to think about the role of gadgets in our …

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 2

Live-blogging Greener Gadgets TODAY!

Attention gadget geeks!
The 2009 Greener Gadgets Conference kicked off today in NYC, and Inhabitat is on the scene, bringing you up-to-the-minute news from this groundbreaking event! We’ll be live-blogging the whole event - right here in this post — so stay tuned (and read below) for frequent updates!

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

The Coral-200: A Solar Powered Phone for the Masses

Just last week we brought you news of the Blue-Earth, Samsung’s new solar powered touch phone. Well, it turns out that they are not the only company with solar dreams. Chinese mobile manufacturer ZTE recently revealed the Coral-200, a solar-powered handset with one very unique characteristic that sets it apart from its competitor: it will only cost 40 dollars!

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

Greener Gadgets Registration Deadline Extended!

ATTENTION GADGET GEEKS!

Due to popular demand, the registration deadline for Greener has been extended! We were going to close ticket sales yesterday, but we’re now going to give you until next Tuesday, February 24th to register for tickets.

The Greener Gadgets Conference takes place next week on Friday the 27th, and this weekend marks your last chance to pick up a ticket! We couldn’t be more excited about the upcoming conference, …

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

IS IT GREEN?: The New Macbook

Apple recently rolled out its new family of Macbooks with a bold claim: The World’s Greenest Family of Notebooks. The new Macbooks are lighter, less toxic, and more energy efficient than previous generations, but are they really the greenest laptops in the world?

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 8

SunCat: Solar Batteries Powered by Sunshine

Designer and inventor extraordinaire Knut Karlsen recently unveiled an inspired approach to portable power that can’t be beat for its elegant simplicity: a prototype battery capable of charging itself when exposed to sunshine. His slick set of SunCat C-cells are wrapped in flexible photovoltaic panels and will slowly recharge when left to bask in the sun - just like a cat.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 16

FASTRONAUTS: Action Figures Powered by Play

Kids have a ton of energy, so wouldn’t it be great if we could bottle up some of that excess energy and use it in lieu of batteries in battery-operated toys? That’s precisely the idea behind Fastronauts - an ingenious entry into the 2009 Greener Gadgets Design Competition. Fastronauts is a cute collection of kinetically-powered superhero toys who teach young …

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

Recompute: A Sustainable Desktop Computer

Computers are hard on the environment - from their materials and manufacture to their energy use and ultimate disposal. There are definitely some more energy efficient and eco-friendly models out there, but in order to make computers more sustainable, we need to completely rethink them. For this year’s Greener Gadget Design Competition, Brenden Macaluso decided to redesign the computer to make it’s whole lifecycle more sustainable. Featuring a slick cardboard case, his Recompute focuses on sustainability throughout the computer’s manufacturing, use and disposal, offering a fully functioning PC with off-the-shelf components.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 4

Samsung Releases Solar Powered Phone!

Green Gadget fans have been waiting for the holy green grail of gadgets for awhile now: the solar-powered mobile phone. And now it seems that Samsung has finally delivered on this promise with their brand new Blue Earth phone. Blue Earth is a gorgeous green touch phone that has a full solar panel on its back which can generate enough power to charge the phone. And yes - the gadget is still small enough to fit in your pocket!

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 6

Greener Gadgets is TWO Weeks Away! Feb 27th in NYC

Calling all Gadget Geeks! The Greener Gadgets Conference is only two weeks away now and tickets are selling fast! So fast, in fact, that we are going to close online ticket sales on February 20th, 2009. That’s NEXT FRIDAY! So if you want to attend the groundbreaking conference this year, GET YOUR TICKET NOW >

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

POWER HOG: Piggybank Power Meter Keeps the Change

Looking for a fun way to teach energy conservation to your kids? Check out the Power Hog, an adorably pig-shaped power monitor that introduces kids to energy efficiency (and general thriftiness) by piggybacking upon the familiar format of the piggy bank. You need to plop a coin in the Power-Piggy to activate electricity flow, so kids can use …

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 3

RITI Coffee Printer Uses Your Coffee Grounds for Eco Ink!

For those of you who enjoy a cup of joe with your morning paper, the RITI Coffee printer offers an ingenious way to green your morning ritual: by turning your old coffee grounds into a sustainable source of ink for your printer! One of fifty top entries in this year’s Greener Gadgets Competition, the RITI printer takes the leftover grounds from your morning roast and plugs them into an ink cartridge to create an eco-friendly source of ink. Who would have ever guessed coffee stains could be be so useful!

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 10

The Buzz on Greener Gadgets at CES

With the Consumer Electronics Show going on in Las Vegas this week, we’ve been dreaming of green electronics innovations that can satisfy our desire for cleaner, greener technology. We might have mentioned that our Greener Gadgets Conference joined forces with CEA this year to showcase a Greener Gadgets section and panel discussion at CES. So, how did people find the push towards Greener Gadgets at CES? Here’s the buzz around the blogosphere about Greener Gadgets and CES 2009…

Discover Magazine liveblogged the Greener Gadgets panel yesterday and said ‘the take-away from the session panel was that if you’re really interested in learning how to build low-power, long-life, non-toxic devices with a small ecological footprint, the kind of places you should visit are Africa and India.’

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

ECO ACTIVISM: Toxic TV Zombies at the CES 2009

This year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas showcases a range of consumer products that highlights technological innovation, but provides less insight into eco-friendly consumerism of these high-tech gadgets. Electronics Take Back Coalition wondered, in particular, why the conference failed to address responsible electronic waste disposal and recycling. In an effort to enlighten visitors, the coalition’s members put on cut-out, black cardboard boxes and staged a protest as “undead,” toxic TV zombies.  “Undead,” according to the Electronics Take Back Coalition, “because their toxic components continue to “live on” in the ground soil and water supply, causing public health and environmental hazards.”

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

Greener Gadgets Panel TODAY at CES

The world’s biggest trade show, the Consumer Electronics Show kicked off this week in Las Vegas, and this year the CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) has joined forces with Greener Gadgets to produce the greenest CES ever! We’ve showcased some of the cutting-edge green electronics on the floor, and now we’re excited to announce that today CES will be hosting a Greener Gadgets Panel with our friend Marc Alt to explore the green future of consumer technology. It’s sure to be an incredible discussion and we hope to see you there!GREENER GADGETS PANEL AT CESWHEN:Saturday, Jan 10th - 1:30pm
WHERE: LVCC, North Hall, Room Number: N258

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 0

CES 2009: Flexible OLED Wrist Display Unveiled

We always knew that cutting edge-technology integrated with OLEDs would provide some crazy gadgets in the future - we just had no idea we’d see them take on the form of a fashion accessory so soon. Our friends at Engadget recently got a first glance at this flexible OLED wristband prototype developed by Universal Display Corporation with support from the U.S. Department of Defense. Devices such as this may one day form the basis for a new generation of energy-efficient wearable communications devices.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

CES 2009: MiniWIZ’s Solarbulb Turns Bottles Into Lamps

This year’s CES is showcasing some great green products, and we were particularly impressed by this new solar powered outdoor lamp by miniWIZ, who brought us the Hymini Portable Wind Charger. The Solarbulb is a brilliant solution that provides light while making use of old plastic bottles. Simply attach it to any ordinary bottle and the 0.18 W solar cells will provide up to 6 hours of continuous night lighting.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1

HP Announces Flexible Computer Screens On the Horizon

Arizona State University’s Flexible Display Center and HP recently announced a prototype of a flexible lightweight computer screen that stands to revolutionize computers and electronic devices. Created in a similar roll-to-roll manufacturing process as thin-film pv, these new computer screens are printed onto plastic sheets that are virtually indestructible, use less energy and are less costly to produce than conventional screens. These new displays could potentially use up to 90% less materials by volume to produce as well.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 4

CES 2009: Owikits 6-in-1 Solar Toy Building Kit

From tiny hydrogen powered vehicles to pint-size solar powered cars, we love seeing toys that put renewable energy into growing kids hands. Thus we were excited to see this 6-in-1 Solar Building Kit by OWIKits at this year’s CES. The kit consists of 21 parts that can be easily assembled into a number of solar-powered toys, from an airboat to a car to a walking puppy.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 3

CES 2009: Energizer Debuts a Solar Battery Charger

Energizer has worked hard to brand and market itself as the go-to battery for rechargeable reuse by offering many nifty little recharging gadgets to power up your AA and AAA batteries. At CES this week, Energizer debuted its latest green gadget, the Solar Battery Recharger. While we all love our Solios, if you wanted to charge batteries you still had to buy a battery charger that drains energy from the grid. This solar charger removes the step, allowing you to charge both AA and AAA batteries with renewable energy.

READ MORE >

digg this digg this email this email this tweet this tweet this facebook this facebook this 1