Beachgoer’s will want the Solar Tree … NOW!

The solar tree turns any sunny day into a charging station.

And not only Beach goers. Campers. Hikers. Sports enthusiasts, even backyard warriors. Pretty much anyone who enjoys spending time outside would love to have the Solar Tree. And probably, not just one.

Invented by a trio of smart guys over at Yanko, the Solar tree sticks in the ground and has a solar panel at it’s head. In the stick itself, there are electrical plugs for more than one gadget, be it iPod, camera, cell phone, or even boom box (well, probably a small one). Three total can be solar charged and operated simultaneously.

The Solar tree not only conserves solar energy, it stores it.

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Digital Experience Media at Metro Pav

The annual Digital Experience Media exhibit which was hosted by Pepcom was held last June 24 at the Metropolitan Pavilion, New York City. Around 45 exhibitors offered their latest and coolest consumer electronics and software products. For this holiday season of June and July you may start early shopping with these new products to buy:

Marvel showcased its plug computing products. Unlike other networking products, a plug computer is designed to offer PC-like performance. The company’s SheevaPlug is an embedded computer that plugs into the wall socket and can run network-based services that normally require a dedicated personal computer. Featuring a 1.2 GHz Marvell Sheeva CPU with 512 MB of flash memory and 512 MB of DDR2 memory, the SheevaPlug provides enough processing power and resources to run any embedded computing application.

As shown below, Energizer showcased Energi To Go Portable Power for Cell Phones. It now includes rechargeable power packs that use lithium polymer battery technology to power a wide variety of mobile electronic devices including smart and cell phones, iPhone, iPod and MP3 players, GPS units, digital cameras and camcorders, netbooks and laptops.

The company Wi-Ex showcased its zBoost cell phone signal boosters. zBoost Your Life Holiday Profiles products included zBoost-ONE PCS, zBoost-ONE UMTS, and zBoost International. According to the company zBoost devices reduce dropped calls and improve cell phone signal indoors, as well as increases signal and speed of aircards, EDGE and 3G technology.

Plantronics featured its latest wireless headsets for unified communications, PC multimedia and mobile use. Shown at their booth was the Savi Office and Savi Go wireless headsets for office workers and provides a single wireless headset for mixing desk phone calls with PC audio and softphone calls. Savi Office gives you the freedom to talk hands-free and work without the hassles of a cord, up to 350-feet away from the desk. Very impressive! In addition Savi Office is built on digitally encrypted, voice-dedicated DECT 6.0 technology. What I liked about The Savi Go headset is that it allows users to switch between their mobile phone and PC calls with the touch of a button (multipoint technology). Both headsets feature PerSono Suite software to help manage PC audio and calling.

HTC showed its newest range of Android and Windows Mobile smartphones that are available now and for this year’s upcoming holiday season.

HP ( www.hp.com/personal) showcased the TouchSmart IQ800 series PC, which will officially be available on June 28, 2008. With just a touch of a finger it is very easy to use.

One of the products Kingston Technology displayed was the SSDNow V Series. It is available in 128 GB and 64 GB capacities.

MWV presented the Natralock security packaging, a paperboard-based alternative to plastic clamshells that combines sustainability and protection into one environment-friendly packaging solution for the consumer electronics industry.

NVIDIA showcased how its Tegra and ION technologies bring the power of advanced visual computing to a broad range of handheld and mobile platforms—from smartphones, MP3 players, and PNDs to mobile internet devices (MIDs), notebooks, and netbooks. Shown below is the Tegra module. Tegra-based devices deliver desktop-class Internet browsing with Flash video and animation acceleration, and up to 1080p video playback.

If you are looking for a unique holiday gift, I recommend the ioDIGITAL vertical spa from Moen . It features simple dials (one for temperature/one for flow) – allowing you to quickly and accurately set the preferred combination of temperature, flow and spray outlets. It also features easy-to-read LED indicators which alert the user when the shower matches the settings.

Among the phones, Blackberry displayed the recently introduced BlackBerry Tour Smartphone.

Just in time for summer fun, DeLorme showcased the new handheld GPS models (with support for Navionics lake and coastal charts). The Earthmate PN-30 handheld GPS receiver (see image) offers top-end GPS capabilities, plus the PN-Series’ exclusive aerial imagery display features, but it’s also affordably priced and easy to use.The PN-Series topographic map DVDS are included for transfers to the device; users can load the maps they need and be ready to go within minutes of opening the package. In the field, users will discover lightning-quick satellite acquisition, thanks to the high-sensitivity 32-channel Cartesio chipset. Signal retention is ultra-reliable even in dense forests. A powerful dual-core processor renders map and imagery screen views with instantaneous speed. The PN-30 is waterproof and WAAS-enabled for superior accuracy, and has a bright-color TFT screen for readability in any light conditions. With all those features, the PN-30 is offered for $299.95 (suggested retail price-available in July)

Further Readings

• As prices fall, smartphones make consumer gains (cbc.ca)
• Mobile Phones Beat PCs for Young Women (marketingvox.com)
• Gizmodo, Engadget, and Now GDGT (nytimes.com)
• The Eight (Seven...Six?) Information Devices I Can't Live Without (xconomy.com)
• Opinion: Why the iPhone can't be killed (macworld.com)

A Snooker Table with a Built-In Hidden Sofa Bed

This is such a cool idea. This is a sofa with a poo/snookerl table built into it, hide-a-bed style. What an ideal addition to your apartment or your house. Tthe couch is about 6 foot long and apparently, it’s quite popular in the UK where they’re fairly cheap.

A joint venture from Pierce Upholsterers and Accrington and Riley - makers of fine British pool tables, and this was produced in the 70’s. It’s made of a neutral brown dralon fabric and when opens it flips into a pool table with adjustable leveling feet to make it level. What a fantastic idea which was decades ahead of its time. It probably didn’t do too well because manufacturing it would’ve been costly without a computer/motion controlled assembly line. But with the advent of not only computers for design and manufacture, this piece could easily make resurgence. And why stop there? Imagine a sofa with built in ping pong table, air hockey table, poker table!

Currently for bid at eBay.UK at about $200 US but it’s sure to go well north of that.

Further Readings

• Sofa Transforms Into a Pool Table (neatorama.com)

Ecogadgets Gifts for Christmas

Wanna hit a bargain for the great gift for the geek this Christmas? Not for the money this time. With all the attention given to eco-friendly lifestyle, the technologically inclined have been hard at work making this easier to achieve – with gadgets. There is quite a long line of supply out there that will help you trim down your effect on the environment, so a pick over them all can be a challenge (for one who’s not tech savvy like myself). Found below is a short list of of the most useful, eco-friendly or utterly remarkable modest innovations that have freshly snatched my attention.

Hymini - a device that collects solar and wind power, so you can charge your portable electronics anytime, anywhere. Just leave it someplace sunny, or strap it on the front of your bike, and your Hymini will power up and be good to go. Plus, for those times when you're traveling all day -- in and out of airports, without any access to the bountiful power-generating resources of Mother Nature -- you can still plug it into the wall.



SolarRoll - a green gadget that allows you to finally have a truly "mobile" laptop. There has been lots of talk flying around recently about how much energy computers consume and waste, so if you feel like opting out of the "computer drain," this might be the ticket. It's obvious that this thing is a turn-on for the backpacker who has to have it all, but I get way more excited when I think about its practical applications: using my laptop at the park or in remote locations, not needing to sit in a coffee shop to work. If you don't own a laptop, the SolarRoll comes in other sizes and outputs, so it can support devices like your cellphones, 2-way radios, digital cameras, or even your car battery.

Water powered alarm clock - Need more juice? Simply add more water right from the tap. Features include the time, an alarm, a countdown timer, the temperature, and a gravity sensor that lets you switch from function to function just by changing the clock's position. Plus the whole thing is recyclable and you'll never have to buy batteries again.

Wattson - this gadget could save you plenty of money on your electric bill while using only a little bit of juice itself. All you do is plug a transmitter into your electric meter or fuse box, and it will send information wirelessly to your Wattson unit, which will display the amount of electricity you're currently using. It sounds simple, but having an ever-present color-coded reminder in the house could really change the way you use electricity. The Wattson also has a ton of other useful features. It can store 4 weeks of energy data, which you can download to your computer for analysis. It can display your energy use in Europs, Dollars, Pounds, Stirling, and Yen. If you're not using much electricity, the Wattson will glow a calming blue color. If you're using the microwave oven, vacuum cleaner, blasting the stereo, and typing away on the computer at the same time, it will glow an angry red color.

Wind-up phone charger: This incredibly clever gadget does just what you'd think -- charges your phone with nothing more than elbow grease. Just spend a minute or two rotating the crank (which, as you can see in the photo, works more or less like a fishing reel), and presto! -- your phone has juice. Now you can rotate between your solar charger, your wind-powered charger, and your Wind Up charger (for real emergencies), and power your phone from now until eternity without ever plugging it in.

Solar Bluetooth headset: The Iqua BHS-603 SUN offers complete freedom from chargers, wires and delays allowing for 9 straight hours of talk time and up to 200 hours of standby. Plus, it's compatible with everything from the iPhone to LG to Motorola and more! The perfect holiday gift for those who are on the go and wanting to take a small green step for 2008 -- plus if you are like me and traveling for the holidays this will easily fit in your carry-on.

Further Readings

• Denmark to power electric cars by wind in vehicle-to-grid experiment (guardian.co.uk)