Starting in 2008, every home in the UK will be able to request a free real-time energy monitor from their power company in order to keep track of how much power each appliance is using. However, real-time energy monitors aren't even the best way to keep track of energy consumption—smart meters are.
These smart meters one-up energy monitors because they can be remotely read by the power company, can be calibrated to record information for billing, and even be monitored over the Internet to see what devices you've left on standby. Plus, they're presented in meaningful graphs like the one above so you can figure out what's what.
Do we have your attention, US energy companies? We want these. We don't care if they're energy monitors or smart meters, but we want these by 2008. – Jason Chen
Homes to get free energy monitors [BBC via Treehugger]
When we took our first look at the Asus EcoBook back in March, we knew the laptop was going to be constructed out of bamboo but we didn't know much else. Now we know that it's probably going to be the greenest laptop available to date. Here's why:
Not only is the outside covered in bamboo, the inside is all plastic and recyclable. Plus, all the parts are labeled and lined with cardboard, and there are no "paints, sprays, or even electroplating," which means it's even more eco-friendly. Add to that the ability—like the Asus C90—to be user-upgradeable, you've got yourself minimal waste and maximum recyclage.
Hippies take note. This is the laptop you want. – Jason Chen
Cnet Photos [CNET via Treehugger]
Fujitsu has brought out a Spring range of desktop PCs that look all white and fresh and lovely (if you ignore the repulsive screen graphics that the pics have been issued with). The one above is the Deskpower LX, which can work as an all-in-one video tool. The LX will cost you around $2,250 and is available from the end of this month.
Kubrick's 2001 Space Odyssey looks aside, it also includes a face recognition software developed by Fujitsu that analyzes and tags every photo loaded into the computer, so you can later find pictures using people as your search criteria. There are four more machines to check in the gallery below, and specs of each of them are after the jump.
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Lexmark is the Butters of the printing business. Though it regularly gets stomped on by Canon (Kyle), Epson (Stan) and HP (Cartman, of course), it manages to keep an insanely chipper attitude. And like Butters' alter ego Professor Chaos, though it remains consistently behind the pack on such small matters of print and paper quality, Lexmark has in the past used interesting technology to draw attention.
A couple of years ago, Lexmark put a CD burner into a compact 4×6 printer, a first that was later copied by HP. Today, in hopes to draw more positive attention, Lexmark is introducing a lineup of Wi-Fi printers, starting with the $79.99 Z1420 (shown above).
In a demo, the Wi-Fi feature looked easy. The key, of course, is not that it's Wi-Fi, but that it's Wi-Fi that you don't need to be proficient in print-server lingo to set up. Like I said, the demo looked good. When we get our hands on one, we'll report back to see just how good it really is. –Wilson Rothman
Lexmark delivers breakthrough in wireless printing with affordable, easy-to-use inkjets [Lexmark]
Despite the fact that listening to the radio on our DS is a distant seventh- place activity behind playing DS games, listening to MP3s, playing GBA games, pictochat, charging it and putting it away neatly, we realize some weirdos still do like FM. So here's a $14 FM adapter from Brando.
It's entirely self-contained, which means you don't need an AA battery or external charger, but it does mean that your Nintendo DS's battery life will go down a bit faster than usual. – Jason Chen
Product Page [Brando]
Hori's relatively giant 12-inch, 720p LCD docks with your XBox, bringing it half way towards being tote worthy. I especially appreciate the fact that the screen is essentially the same width and length as the console's side.
The Japan-only screen launches in July, and takes component outputs. It costs around $300, nearly as much as an XBox 360, but other screens tend to range in the 7-inch range, coming in low def res, so let's hope this one comes stateside. One more shot, post jump.
Horizon's Hydrocar, the follow up to their H-Racer fuel cell toy, uses a next generation polymer electrolyte membrace based fuel cell. The tech is characterized by operating at lower temperature and lower pressure, making it a safer tech if it were to be used in full sized cars. That's good, because this little model only turns after it bumps into things. It ships next month for $79.
Check out the Minority Report design and the twin oxygen and hydrogen tanks that fill as the water tank is electrolyzed into gas.
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–Brian Lam
Product Page [via Gizmag]
For awhile, Gizmodo had been wondering if the $17K Red On 4K camcorder was genuine or just another piece of vaporware. Which is why we're glad to see the camera at NAB 07 in front of our faces, with support from Apple, Peter Jackson, and others. We had a chance to talk with Red One "Leader of the Rebellion" Ted Schilowitz, allowing him to calm our worries about the historically problematic shipping dates and 4k support that may or may not be available at launch.
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B&O components usually require a hefty bank account, but the company's latest HDTV claims it's worth the splurge featuring something no other TVs have—realistic speakers.
You see, rather than have sound emanate from the side speakers (like most TVs do), the BeoVision 8 claims its sound comes from the mouths of the people on screen, giving it a more realistic feel. B&O doesn't say how they pull this off, but for $3,582, I wouldn't be willing to find out. – Louis Ramirez
"Affordable" Luxury from Bang & Olufsen [Shiny Shiny]
Sitting on their own outside was a collection of satellite trucks, news vans, remote location vehicles; basically, a car show for broadcast geeks.
Varying in size from Hummer H2 all the way up to semi-truck sized rigs, we were shooed away when the subject of pricing was broached. "If you have to ask, you can't afford it." Well, maybe if we blog really really hard, Santa will bring us one for Christmas. – Curtis Joe Walker and Charlie White
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