By Ariel Schwartz •
January 13, 2009
if you’re like me, you’ve probably been caught numerous times with a dying cell phone and no outlet in site. That’s when a product like Freeplay’s ZipCharge comes in handy. You may remember Freeplay for inventing the world’s first hand-cranked wind-up radio in 1996. Now the company is back with a sleek hand-held rechargeable power stick. The ZipCharge, which debuted last week at the Consumer Electronics Show, takes only ten minutes to power up with enough juice for an iPod or cell phone.
By Andrew Williams •
November 24, 2008
Music fan Owen Louis was so concerned about the amount of energy used up by his iPod, that he figured out a way of charging it up … with nothing more than an onion.
Louis, 21, from Portsmouth in the UK, makes two holes in an onion, before soaking it in an everyday energy drink and connecting it to his MP3 via a standard USB cable. Incredibly, the technique (video) enables him to charge his iPod for a full hour. According to Louis, “A friend showed me the experiment as a laugh but I thought it was the greatest thing I have ever seen, and do it religiously every day.”
By Ariel Schwartz •
November 10, 2008
Last week we took a look at Harriet Carter’s energy-saving outlet switch. Now a company called TrickleStar claims it has a different solution for conserving electricity: the PC Standby Power Saver. TrickleStar’s device connects to your computer via USB on one end and connects to a power strip on the other end. When the computer is turned off, the device cuts off power to peripherals plugged into the strip. The device turns the peripherals back on when the computer is booted up.
By Courtney Carlisle •
August 21, 2008
The [Re]Drive External Hard Drive from SimpleTech is an energy efficient hard drive wrapped in an eco-friendly package that is so stylish, you would never hide it away in a cabinet but put it front and center on your desk.
This plug n’ play system works with your USB 2.0 and 1.1 jacks, is Mac and PC compatible (phew!) and automatically turns on and off with your computer to conserve energy.
Did I mention how good looking it is? The hard drive is made with renewable bamboo and recyclable aluminum, the most recycled metal on the planet according to SimpleTech.
