Here’s an interesting concept from Sony.  A green digital camera in which you roll it on a flat surface to charge.  It takes 15 ‘pushes’ to generate enough power to snap one photo. 

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Ya I know I said I wouldn’t link news and write more commentary.  I lied.  Plus, I just found a cool Wordpress plugin which copies tumblr’s quick post.  So I had to try it out on something..

EDIT: Uh oh. Looks like the plugin doesn’t upload the image to my site. It simply grabs the image from the site I’m quick posting from. Not very polite.

Sony ODO Twirl N’ Take Hand-powered Digital Camera : TreeHugger

David Pogue of the NY Times got a hold of the OLPC XO and created a video expressing his views.  No there’s no singing and dancing in this one.  Instead he highlights the main features that set it apart to show why this is such an amazing device.

It should be available in November through the OLPC Foundation’s Give 1 Get 1 promotion.

I’ve made it clear I’m definitely getting one of these.  Can’t wait.

NY Times via Engadget

Patrick Norton is the shit
In his brand new show Tekzilla, he
covers creating a DIY external battery
solution using a lead acid battery
instead of buying a more expensive
lithium battery. It adds a ton more
weight and may require a man-bag
which he promptly tossed aside in
front of his fine co-host
Jessica Corbin. I’d have to agree
with that move. Although, it
had a shoulder strap, it looked
too much like a fanny pack.
I’m liking the path Patrick has been
taking. Covering ways to conserve energy
to result in changing your
ways to live a green lifestyle.

This is a fantastic idea.  For those of you on the green tip, this will help you reduce energy usage in your home.

You basically plug this into your desktop computer through the USB cable.  When it detects your computer is shut off, it will shut down the rest of the ports on the power strip occupied by devices such as monitors, printers, scanners, speakers, etc.  A no-brainer setup makes this a great buy.

I’m going to buy a Kill-A-Watt soon.  I’m curious to see how much energy is used up on devices in stand by mode.

Ubergizmo via TreeHugger

I mentioned fuel cells in a previous post.  Looks like we’re seeing some progress.

PolyFuel is leading the pack by delivering 500 Watts/Liter of juicy fuel cell goodness.  The delivery device they show is a 111cc container measuring 8.8 x 4.5 x 2.8 cm’s that can hold 56 Watts of power.

I’m still curious about how fuel cells will be delivered.  I guess it would be similar to ink jet cartridges in that you can swap em out and throw them away or refill yourself.

What about when this picks up.. will you be able to take laptops on flights since this is like a mini liquid explosion waiting to happen?  I’m getting a bit ahead of myself.

PolyFuel Press Release Via jkOnTheRun

Starting November 12th, you will be able to order a OLPC XO for yourself and another kid for $399.  I wonder if it’ll be like one of those Sally Struthers advertisements.  Get a picture of the fortunate kid we’re sponsoring.

Via Engadget

LAPTOP Magazine visited OLPC labs and got their hands on OLPC XO laptop.

I’m pretty excited about this. Not only for the technical feats and price (now $188), but for the potential of an exciting new platform developers will flock to. I definitely want one.

I’ll quote some snippets from the article that makes this device so intriguing.

Even the XO logo on the front panel of the machine, which is customizable in 400 color combinations so children can tell their notebooks apart, screams that this is not an adult machine.

The first thing we noticed was the 7.5-inch screen, which was designed with two display modes: a transmissive, full-color mode for indoor use and a reflective, high-resolution mode for outdoors, which you can switch between by pushing a button above the keyboard.

Specific keys on the top row of the spill-resistant keyboard can launch the home screen, as well as adjust the brightness of the display and volume.

Below the keyboard is a horizontal touchpad. Longer than most touchpads, it’s divided into three segments. The middle section functions as a capacitive touch pad with two mouse buttons beneath it. The right and left of the pad is intended for free writing with use of the included green stylus.

In the OLPC engineering room we witnessed systems baking in an oven at over 120 degrees Fahrenheit. We even got to drop one of the little green and white systems from a four-foot table, resulting in no damage at all.

However, the computer’s LiFeP battery can be recharged with a solar panel or a peripheral pull cord.

According to Walter Bender, president of OLPC Software and Content, the goal is a 10:1 charging ratio–ten minutes of power from one minute of pumping.

The Red Hat Fedora Linux-based Sugar operating system is fairly basic, and we got comfortable using it within a few minutes.

The first shortcut button resembles a Honey-Comb cereal pellet and launches the “My Neighborhood” interface. This is the mesh-networking interface that allows you to see the other XO laptops in your geographic area.

Although you can chat easily with any other XO computers on the mesh network, the real purpose of collaboration was seen in the Write application; it easily lets any number of XO computer users to participate in the same writing session.

Because XO laptops were designed to be deployed in places where there’s very little or no Internet infrastructure at all, they’re built with mesh networking capabilities. That means laptops in the same vicinity can connect with each other regardless of whether there’s an Internet connection.

The machine’s mesh network capabilities allow it to function as a node to provide a stronger Internet signal for other units.

The browser allows for multiple tabs, and we launched our e-mail in one tab, our Facebook profile in another, and the LAPTOP Magazine Web site in a third.

*****

This is going to be an amazing machine. Here’s a short list why I want one.

• Cheap. $188
• Dual mode display. Indoor/Outdoor screen.
• Super rugged. Water proof. Dust & sand proof. Can withstand hot temperatures. Can survive a drop.
• Easy to use. Hey it’s for kids.
• Rich browser.
• Green. Long battery life. Charge via solar or pull-cord generator.
• Collaborative.
• Great network range. With the rabbit ears and through the mesh network.
• Linux. Tons of apps out there. Can run Pepperpad’s OS.
• Fat touchpad. Awesome. Great for inking.
• Makes you feel good about yourself. Each purchase will go to pay for another for a kid.

Read the full article here

If you’re following the OLPC, you may have noticed the nifty pull-cord generator seen with it. Amazingly, it can generate up to 20W average peak power. That’s easily enough to charge small devices such as cell phones and iPods, and may be just enough to charge my Tekkeon MP3400 battery.

Here are the specs:

• Compact: 2.5? high x 3.5? diameter
• Lightweight: 14 oz.
• Efficient: 20W peak average power
• Quiet: 59 dB at 1 foot, <50 dB at 5 feet
• Rugged: Water, dust and drop resistant
• Smart: Automatically adjusts to your fitness and energy level
• Ergonomic: Uses a variety of muscle groups

If you are interested in charging devices using natural energy, I’d check out Steve ‘Chippy’ Paine’s Solar UMPC blog. He just finished his Solar UMPC Tour which was a great success.

EDIT:
Found a YouTube video.

Revisiting Potenco’s Innovative Pull-Cord Generator – TreeHugger
Potenco: Powering Possibilities – TreeHugger
Potenco Products Page

“..I want to start on Sunday 26th of August and go through to 3rd Sept where I will finish on the Rheinufer (Rhein River promenade) in Duesseldorf and drink a huge Krystalweizen beer!”

During breaks, he will be blogging updates, taking photos, and updating a google maps mashup using GPS datalogged tracks and geotagged photos. His main device will be the Samsung Q1B.

This is definite must see and hope he is safe during the entire journey. If you haven’t visited The Solar UMPC Blog, I’d suggest reading Steve’s articles from the beginning to get a background to all the steps it took to get to this moment.

Link

This is what web is about lately. Opening up API’s for everyone to use.

To me, this tells me, it’s not exactly about going green but part of it may be very helpful preparing yourself for the effects nature’s wrath by not going green. If bringing together all this information, we can efficiently avoid snow storms, floods, fires, and get from point A to B, safely, without using too much natural resources.

Link

I’m always down for energy solutions that’s better for the environment.  I’m hoping fuel cell research picks up speed since it can increase battery life of devices significantly.  There was an announcement recently that Samsung will be releasing a fuel cell for laptops that will last 1 month.  Hopefully this will jump start the research into this technology.

Treehugger.com has been tracking fuel cells and thinks it makes most sense to implement them in laptops.  They list 5 implementations we should be keeping our eye on.

Link

OLPC Reviewed By Children
Found a cool
article on Slashdot.
From the look
on this kid’s face.
he loves the OLPC.
I hope this project
works out.
What’s interesting,
the use of this device requires no
training. Kids are able to pick this up
right away and learn how to use
it within minutes.
They can even swap the motherboard
themselves! (see Youtube video)

OLPC News via Slashdot