Category Archives: Gadgets and Tech
Here’s a photo frame that completely deviates away from the real idea of actually placing a photo frame on your desk. Photo frames usually remind you of the one’s you love. This one reminds you of the heat in your room, and the probable reasons of you losing those loved ones, because of environmental changes. Designed by Martin Spurway, the Flip Photo Frame looks just like a traditional one. It includes a flip temperature indicator in the center. Three windows are provided to have pictures of the ones you love. The moment your room temperature turns imbalanced, the photos began to disappear, simply to show your loved one’s disappearing, reminding you of the changes in the environment. The fourth window suggests and advises you with actions you could perform to have the room temperature balanced again.
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The Japanese are going greener by the day. This time its two tech companies that have together come up with a Co2 shedding tool to help cut down emissions and energy usage. Fujitsu and Fuji Xerox have together come up with software that’ll help centrally visualize the energy used by every gadget in an office building. This will help cut energy usage by a good 30%, or so the makers claim. Connecting computers, printers and other devices into the office network will help the software keep tabs on energy usage. Using Fuji Xerox’s ApeosWare Management Suite of applications and Fujitsu’s Systemwalker Desktop Patrol operational management software, the tool also keeps companies informed about just how much Co2 is being let into the air and the causes.
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Now fuel-cell cars haven’t really caught on as much as manufacturers expected them to till date, taken that hydrogen fuel can, at times, be difficult to create, transport and store. Scientists at the Nanyang Technological University however have devoted an entire laboratory to turning water in hydrogen fuel, with the lab being the first of its kind in Asia. This could, in future, pull down the soaring costs of solar power, making it as cheap as the conventional sources of energy we have today, like the ever-depleting and polluting fossil fuels. Using artificial leaf-like technology, water will be separated into hydrogen and oxygen, with solar energy being converted into hydrogen on a larger quantity, in a clean, green and sustainable process. The processes used now to separate out the hydrogen require high amounts of energy, making it unfeasible.
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The sun is shining and those pearly drops of sweat are busy making their way down your brow. You’re home sure needs cooling and we’ve just found a new eco-friendly way to do so, without the use of electricity! Designers Mey kahn and Boaz Kahnhave come up with a unique and seemingly practical way of cooling homes without the use of electricity. The process involves passing cold water through a tile-like system that connects via water hose nozzles top create a grid of coolers that work using the principals of water evaporation. Known as the ECOoler, the system does seem applicable to regions without too much of water shortage. Inspired by traditional Middle-Eastern architectural techniques and the Jara jug from the region that uses evaporation to hold cooling water, the ECOoler sure seems to be an innovative approach to home cooling.
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Well, if you live in an apartment and don’t really have a lot of space for a washing machine and a dryer, you might as well pick up one of these. The EcoPod Steam Washer is compact and fits in well just about anywhere. Designed by Simon Hedt, the appliance works a lot better than using the community laundry and makes washing clothes easier, while saving water in the bargain. The EcoPod uses a wet steam to wash garments and dry steam to dry the clothes. The EcoPod uses three different types of baskets, one for each cloth type, light, dark and delicates.
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Home energy management systems can now do a lot more besides keeping you home’s energy usage in check. Vivint, a home security company, earlier known as APX Alarms is planning to add a touch of home energhy management to their systems. The company currently has 16,000 homes using their systems and has big plans to expand and grow to a good 100,000 customers by this year. Besides arming a home, the new panels by Vivint also keep tabs on the thermostat and other devices, connecting them to the grid at off peak times in order to save up on costs.
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Generating solar energy is now a lot more affordable, thanks to the efforts put into the development of a cheaper portable solar panel, powerful enough to charge up smaller devices like the mobile phone. Made by Three University of Michigan engineering students, the Emerald also works as a personal light source. On a single solar powered charge, the Emerald can power on its lights for a good eight hours. Also, this one charges up phones as quick as any outlet hooked on to the electricity grid. The device costs below $20, and is made for developing nations.
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And all along, we thought the sun was the most powerful when it came to burning objects to smithereens. 19-year-old Eric Jacqmain from Indiana though has come up with a Death Ray that has the power of 5,000 suns! And we don’t really need to remind you how hot this one is. Well, it’s powerful enough to burn up just about everything that includes rocks. And to burn up a non-flammable object like a rock, you sure as hell need a lot of energy concentrated in one place. So, Eric used some 5,800 mirrors on his death ray, that when focused on a spot for a few seconds, just burns it up! The death ray cost him just under $100 to build and measures 5’9”. The designer is now busy drawing up plans for yet another more powerful death ray, this time with 30,000 mirrors.
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A new solar cell will show up this year, by Honda Soltec, an enhanced thin film model with a compact design, more than the one currently on store shelves. The new solar cell is expected to boast module conversion efficiency of 13.0% and above, making it one of the world’s most efficient CIGS-based thin-film solar cells. With an improved performance of the photosensitive CIGS layer and with reductions in surface area of the surrounding frame and other non-photosensitive portions, this one has a 10% increase in module conversion efficiency with more power generation capabilities than the model currently available. The new model takes two-thirds the amount of space than the current model allowing more of these to be fitted into a given amount
of space.
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Panasonic has pulled the veil of some new LED and bulbs lamps recently, shedding light in an eco-friendly way. The bulbs by Panasonic boast a light distribution angle of a sweet 300 degrees. The bulbs are available in two different models, the daylight color model and the incandescent model. The center of this light bulb is raised and does not heat up much, having heat sensitive electronic components arranged in it with the LED packages arranged around it. The bulb is expected to cost ¥3,500 (approx US$43) and the company is busy
planning to develop a 60 watt equivalent LED bulb.
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