Green Gadgeting » Consumer Electronics

An E-Book Reader that is even more Eco-Friendly

Ritecraft — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:00:40 +0000

E-book readers like Amazon’s Kindle are supposed to be eco-friendly simply because they obviate the use of paper and printing for publishing and reading a book. Using an e-book reader, you can simply download the book and read it. Not only that, depending on the e-book’s capacity, you can keep hundreds of books with you for the size of a small book.

Now Shanda Literature in China has launched its Bambook which is even more environmentally friendly. It features solar battery recharging. And it has a stand-by time of 24 hours on one full battery charge. Not only that, but it also has text to audio reading capability, which is much more than its competitors have.

This e-reader is wi-fi and 3G enabled and features a six inch display. Bambook’s e-book store has more than three million titles available, so you have a wide selection to choose from. It also offers internet content.

Currently this Bambook is available at a discounted priced of $187, but on invitation only. And there are only 3,500 units for sale at this price. When the product reaches the market it will be priced around $487. It works on the Android platform and supports most document files.

Environmentally Friendly Air Conditioners

Ritecraft — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 07:54:06 +0000

A large part of world suffers from high temperatures, whether they are equatorial or tropical countries, the Middle East or the advances western world, particularly the US. Hostile heat temperatures necessitate the use of air cooler and air conditioners to make the environment more habitable.

However, air conditioners are power hungry and the power bills are huge. The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has been working on a new process which will reduce dependency on electricity and reduce its consumption a great deal.

This process uses membranes, evaporative cooling and liquid desiccants in a process which will revolutionize cooling and reduce energy consumption by 50-90 percent. It relies on the desiccants’ capacity to create dry air using heat and evaporative coolers’ capacity to take dry air and make cold air, thus cooling temperatures considerably, without putting a heavy load on energy consumption.

The DEVap is ecologically friendly as it does not depend on harmful CFCs and HCFCs which release carbon dioxide and contribute to global warming. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has patented this process and we hope it soon finds commercial use.

Green Rechargeable Batteries

Ritecraft — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 07:52:22 +0000

There are innumerable gadgets and devices which use batteries. While many of the newer devices have solar panels as back-ups and at times you can use solar or hand cranking chargers, are you aware of the fact that rechargeable batteries can also be an eco-friendly alternative? When you use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones, you are already being environmentally friendly because rechargeable batteries can be used for long periods of time.

You can get even greener: Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) are more eco-friendly than the normal NiCd batteries simply because they do not use cadmium which is extremely toxic to the environment. The alloy in NiMH rechargeable batteries which replaces cadmium is usually composed of different elements, including lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, praseodymium, cobalt, manganese, and/or aluminum. This is less toxic than cadmium.

These batteries are available in different sizes to suit your needs. They are also available in various types so that you can use the high power ones for devices which need a higher power and the lower power ones which are great for devices which last a long time like remotes, clocks and the like.

The Easy To Charge Vibration Powered Batteries

Jetyo’s Solar Powered Camcorder

Ritecraft — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 20:26:53 +0000

You have mobile phones which can be charged with solar power and which also offer video recording facilities. However, this camcorder is a fully featured one and a high end model at that. And it is environmentally friendly because it can run on solar power.

The HDV-T900 from Jetyo, a 720p30 model records via a fixed zoom lens which goes up to 8x. The camera is 5 megapixel. It comes with a 3” LCD display and a microphone for audio recording. It comes with dual solar panels to capture and use sunlight to charge its lithium-ion batteries.

The one drawback to this is that the solar panels make it bulky and it also requires a good 25 hours of sunshine to recharge. At only $88, however, it is good choice for the environmentally friendly consumer, particularly as a back up device. It will also require the expandable memory card to be able to store the videos.

The Sunnan Solar Powered Lamp

Ritecraft — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:28:43 +0000

It is wireless and portable and can give four hours of bright light, without using any electric power. It is also available in many colors to suit any décor. The Sunnan is a lamp which can be used by children and adults whenever they are doing any desk work pr for bedside reading.

The lamp is cute and comes with 3 rechargeable batteries. The batteries need to soak up sunlight for about nine hours in bright sunlight and 12 hours on a cloudy day. Then they will give light for 3-4 hours. Because it is wireless it can be carried anywhere where it is needed.

Designed by Nicolas Cortolezzis and available at Ikea, this lamp uses LED light which consumes 70 percent less power than incandescent bulbs. LED lights are also more energy efficient and last longer and are environmentally friendly.

Sungale Digital Solutions Photo Album – An Eco-Friendly Solution

Ritecraft — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:41:48 +0000

Now you do not have to lug around your laptop or spare hard disk when you want to show somebody your latest pictures. The Sungale PA351 Digital Solutions Photo Album is a great addition to any desk or for gifting purposes. It can hold 50 images and it ultra portable and very slim. It can be carried and displayed and is easy to navigate.

It has plug and play functions and can be attached to any computer to transfer the photos. The memory is expandable using an SD card. Its 3.5” LCD screen makes for easy and clear viewing.

The Digital Photo Album has green credentials because it allows you to save on paper and printing of photos. As it costs around $40, it proves an inexpensive solution to picture viewing. It comes with an added free leather protective case.

Eco-friendly Foldable Speakers

Ritecraft — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 12:54:40 +0000

If you cannot do without your music and want to take it with you and share it with others, then you can get these eco-friendly, foldable speakers, which are self-powered and made of recycled paper. The speakers are available in funky designs as well and they can be made to order according to your design as well.

At only one watt, they are not going to give you incredible sound for sure. However, they can be carried with you and even put in your luggage. Made by OrigAudio, the speakers have made it to Time magazine’s list of 50 best inventions of 2009.

They do not need any power or any batteries. Additionally the speakers come with an audio jack similar to a normal headphone jack and so can be used with almost any music device.

Eco-Friendly Audio Speakers Made of Bamboo

Casio’s Green Slim Projectors

Ritecraft — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 07:14:29 +0000

Casio has jumped on the green bandwagon with its new Green Slim range of projectors. The projector is lightweight and really thin so very portable. Plus it does not use a mercury lamp, so is mercury free. As you know, mercury is a poisonous substance.

The green slim range of projectors is available in four versions. Casio says that its projectors work on a mercury free laser and LED hybrid source, which makes them very eco-friendly. Plus they can work even in a bright room, so there is really no necessity of dimming the lights.

With a 2X optical zoom and wireless connectivity with up to four computers as well as USB connectivity, the green slim range of projectors is touted as the world’s first mercury free projectors. They will be projecting bright pictures with great clarity. With a price range of between $899 and $1299, they will be available soon in the market.

The eMotion EM-SOL2GIG Solar Powered MP3/Video Portable Media Player

Ritecraft — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:23:14 +0000

If you have a portable MP3/video player you will know how dependent you are on batteries to run the device. But the eMotion EM-SOL2GIG Solar Powered MP3/Video Portable Media Player works on solar power so it is more eco-friendly. You also reduce the batteries which are otherwise disposing and which find their way into landfills.

This solar powered player not only allows you to listen to play games, listen to music or watch video, it also lets you watch and transfer music, video, images and even games to and from the player. It is also versatile in that the charger it comes with can power phones, laptops, cameras and other portable devices.

You can even read ebooks on this gadget and it will even read them out to you. And given that ebooks are a hot gadget these days, there isn’t the need to buy a separate device, although the screen size isn’t all that ideal for an ebook, but, having said that, more and more people are even using their cell phones to read ebooks and mobile content, so it may not be all that inconvenient. And it comes with an inbuilt flashlight for emergency use. It comes with 2GB memory which is expandable with an SD card.

The solar battery charger it comes with makes it eco-friendly and you can even charge it as usual via USB. The green benefits of this device while running isn’t touted, so any benefits is to be derived while its being charged.

The Battery Wizard

Ritecraft — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:59:48 +0000

You use batteries in different sizes in a host of gadgets and devices. While at times you may be using rechargeable batteries, often conventional batteries are used. Depending on the power which the gadget uses, the batteries run out sooner or later. And then they are thrown away, and end up in landfills to pollute the earth. Not eco-friendly, would you say?

Now the battery wizard can charge different types of batteries, not just rechargeable ones. And it can charge batteries of different sizes as well. However, there is one caveat – the battery should not be completely ‘dead’ it should have some juice left for the charger to work.

It uses a pulse charging system and the LED lights come on to tell you how much the battery has charged. In case the battery cannot be charged it will also indicate the same. Reasonably priced the battery wizard is eco-friendly as it will make any kind of battery last longer.

Making Batteries Reusable – The Battery Charger