Earlier this year, Environment Minister Peter Garrett Announced that by next year we'd see energy rating labels on our gadgets. Well, the process has now begun, at least in a voluntary capacity. The government has announced the requirements and guidelines for energy ratings for televisions on their energy rating website.

The rating will be out of 10, rather than the usual six that you see on fridges and other whitegoods, with the higher the star rating the better the energy efficiency.

At the moment, the labelling is completely voluntary, so don't expect to see them on the cheap plasmas you can pick up down at JB Hifi. However, Sony, Panasonic, Philips and LG have all announced that they are planning on using the stickers to rate their TVs, and you'd expect other big names like Samsung will jump on board as well.

There's no word on whether (or when) the ratings will make their way over to other gadgets, or whether or not the labels will become compulsory in the near future. Here's hoping...

[News.com.au]

According to the New York Times, multiple label executives have confirmed that Apple is looking to expand its iTunes ringtone collection by June—far more than they have in the past. Their interests include both downloadable song snippets and ringback tones (new ringers). But apparently, the labels feel that these ringtones should cost more over a hypothetical 3G iTunes Store than the current Wi-Fi option. Why do music labels feel that way? Oh, because they are a bunch of greedy dinosaurs who hate you, that's why. [NYTimes]

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