Fujitsu’s wooden laptop concept

Posted in Fujitsu by Conner Flynn on April 13th, 2008

Fujitsu’s wooden laptop concept
This is Fujitsu’s idea of what a laptop should look like in the forest. Otherwise known as “We need to get on board with this whole environmental green thing. We’re missing out on a ton of hippie money, guys. We can charge more for it too.”

To me it is a bit too reminiscent of the old wood school desks and chairs. I look at this thing and I’m immediately wondering if I have any #2 pencils and if the substitute is going to be a hot babe today. I can’t see many people buying this. I’m not anti-wood, there’s just something strange about it. I suppose if the Amish suddenly start buying laptops and trading in their buggys for segways, I’ll be proven wrong. Until then, I don’t see much excitement about this concept.

Dynamo Green keyboard uses kinetic energy

Posted in Keyboards by Conner Flynn on April 1st, 2008

Dynamo Green keyboard uses kinetic energy
The Dynamo Green Keyboard is a pretty pretty interesting one. Supposedly it helps you lower your monthly power bill, but there’s one catch. You have to keep typing. That’s because it has the capability of harnessing the power of kinetic energy when typing, turning the energy into electricity, which will then help power the computer you’re using.

It’s a neat idea, but I think you would have to be a speed typer who never removes your fingers from the keys in order to get the job done. And how much would you save? I think what we have here is a cool keyboard that may or may not glow like it’s radioactive, for £59.99.

Eject Powerstrip concept keeps it green with pedals

Posted in Concepts by Reuben Drake on March 17th, 2008

Eject Powerstrip concept uses pedals to eject the plugs and cut off power to save electricityThere certainly seems to be no shortage of power strip products lately as just about everyone seems to have found a way to build a better set of outlets. The Eject Powerstrip is designed to conserve electricity by making it easier for people to unplug their unused devices and lessen the electricity “leakage” when they are not being used.

The powerstrip has a foot pedal next to each outlet that will eject the electrical cord plug when pressed with your foot. According to the designers of the Eject Powerstrip, they’ve eliminated some of the biggest excuses why people don’t unplug their unused devices. Laziness, inconvenient access and open outlets accessible to small children topped the list. This “green” powerstrip would not only make it easy and convenient to unplug, but when the pedal is pressed it also cuts off access to the electricity through the outlet so that the little tikes can’t get hurt.

Asus showcases bamboo laptops concept

Posted in ASUS by Conner Flynn on March 9th, 2008

Asus showcases bamboo laptops concept
These days everyone is going green. It’s not just for peace loving hippies anymore. That’s why Asus has their eye on a greener line of products. The idea is to make computers and notebooks out of environmentally friendly materials like bamboo. It makes sense, and not just from a Panda luring standpoint. Bamboo is not only environmentally friendly, but also very tough.

Asus products that will be made with bamboo include notebooks, LCDs and Mini PCs. They claim that they’ve figured out a special manufacturing process to make it even more durable. While the idea will not singlehandedly save Mother Earth, it will help a tad, while giving everything a nice retro look. My one concern is that when they harvest all the bamboo, the Pandas will be coming for our laptops.

Mint green PSP available in Japan

Posted in PSP by Conner Flynn on March 1st, 2008

Mint green PSP available in Japan
If mint green is your color scheme of choice, prepare to feel the cool menthol sensation of this model, now available in Japan. If you absolutely must have it, you can always import one.

Barcode Trashcan seperates recyclables electronically

Posted in Concepts by Darrin Olson on February 14th, 2008

Barcode trashcan identifies recyclables by barcodeI have to admit that I mostly like this concept just because it looks cool. Those neatly stacked-together containers would be interesting whether this was a conceptual array of hard drives or recycle bins. In this case they are recycle bins but with some nifty added technology to keep things seperated.

The Barcode Trashcan concept uses the little barcode on your recyclable containers to identify which bin the item goes in. Swiping it across the top will open just the correct bin. This keeps your items seperated appropriately by plastic, glass and metals for those with the combination of being geeky and green. I guess if it doesn’t match or the bar code is worn off it goes in the other bin?

EcoButton shuts down your PC, Al Gore smiles

Posted in USB by Conner Flynn on January 30th, 2008

EcoButton shuts down your PC
The Eco Button connects via USB and puts your PC into sleep mode, thus saving precious Watts and making Al Gore smile, despite the fact that he has become portly in a William Shatner kind of way. It will even wake the PC up, when it’s time to get back to work. The bundled software records the carbon units saved.

As Ubergizmo pointed it, it probably takes a lot of carbon units to build the button and then when it hits the trash one day, it will pollute anyway. Plus it looks like a Frisbee. This somewhat pointless green gadget will cost you $18.

The P-Per Cellphone concept is sexy

Posted in Concepts, Mobile Phones by Conner Flynn on January 28th, 2008

p-per Cell phone conceptP-Per was awarded for the Red Dot Concept Design. It’s designed by Chocolate Design Agency and is a simple mobile phone concept with features that were supposed to be incompatible: simple, advanced, green and unique.

Modeled after the E-Paper slap bracelet, it’s made of only 4 layers of sustainable materials, the “1 function, 1 part, 1 material” rule makes it easy to disassemble the materials for recycling. Too good to be true? Maybe not. This might be the best phone ever. It has a transparent display for camera mode and a browser that spans the entire surface of the display. Check out a video here and be thoroughly impressed.


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