newVideoPlayer("edbegley_gawker.flv", 475, 376);Ed Begley, owner of the most evil propulsion system ever conceived, has put his stamp of approval on GreenSwitch, a wireless energy control system that turns off all electronics in standby mode in your home.
It was originally designed for hotels, but can save “25 to 45% in energy costs” depending on how much standby stuff you have in your house, which still draws power even when not on. Stick the nonessential stuff (TV, DVD player, PS3, space heater) in one outlet controlled by GreenSwitch, and essential stuff (DVR) in another, so you can flip everything off when you leave the house.
For Giz readers whose homes are filled with electronics and chargers that may or may not be in use, this sounds like a dream come true. [GreenSwitch via TreeHugger]
Even this Avion 8529 entertainment centre with built-in ventilation slots wouldn’t have saved Ashcraft’s Xbox 360 from red ringing, but it could possibly work for you. It looks like a standard wooden entertainment centre from the front, but can still keep adequate air going even with the doors closed thanks to the flow-through ventilation slots situated in convenient locations. We’re not sure how well this works in practice, but if they can guarantee that my 360 won’t asplode when the front doors are shut, that $1950 price tag may be reaso…ok, we’re not paying two thousand bucks for this. [Product Wiki via Born Rich via Crave]
newVideoPlayer("cellphonedisco.flv", 478, 288); This is the Cell Phone Disco by Informationlab at NextFest ’07, it’s basically a large wall covered in LED’s. These LED’s only turn on when in the presence of the same electromagnetic interference (EMI) that comes from a cellphone. So when you use your cellphone in the presence of the Disco you can “see” the EMI noise emanating from your phone. [Product Page via NextFest]
The $100 laptop—which was already up to a hefty $175, has gotten yet another price bump to $188. A spokesman says they’re committed to keeping the price from rising above $190, and probably below $200 if at all possible. It’s very strange that the price keeps rising, seeing as it’s been, what, two years since the project was announced, plus they’ve gotten more orders from companies so they can ramp up bulk production. Shouldn’t hardware prices have dropped instead of risen? [Yahoo]
newVideoPlayer("jeffhan.flv", 476,288); Bumping into Jeff Han, who some would call the father of multitouch interfaces (or at least someone highly obsessed with them), was a highlight of my Nextfest fly through. He was showing off Perceptive Pixel’s 16 foot long multitouch system and I got a chance to ask him about the UI, what he thinks of and the iPhone and other systems, and how much he must hate Minority Report jokes. (Including the one I happened to crack.) No one laughed. Couldn’t help it, Jeff, sorry. [Perceptive Pixel via NextFest]
We’re not sure what was wrong with the traditional way of using a radio by twisting knobs, but this teabag radio seems to know something we don’t. Duck Young Kong (no relation to King, Donkey or Hong), has designed this Tea-Time radio, which turns on by pulling out the antenna/teabag, and changes stations by twisting the rod. Pulling the thing further out makes it louder, and shoving it back in makes it softer. Maybe we’re just old, but this seems like an unnecessary (and non-functional) change to something that doesn’t need changing. [Yanko Design]
