The original SheevaPlug computer
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)Six months ago, I had an exclusive First Look at Marvell's prototype plug-in computer, the SheevaPlug. Ever since, dozens of companies have contacted me about their applications. Most recently, CNET reviewed the Pogoplug from Cloud Engines.
That said, it didn't surprise me when Marvell announced Tuesday that 10,000 SheevaPlug units featuring Marvell CPU technology have shipped.
To celebrate this milestone, Marvell also announced Tuesday the launch of its worldwide Plug Computer developer competition, called "Free Your Imagination," to award the most innovative Plug Computing concept submitted.
You can participate or find out more about this competition at plugcomputer.org. This Web site is also the main Web resource for the plug application development community, where members can access software that facilitates the development of the SheevaPlug. Developers can also exchange ideas for free.
While the applications differ from one vendor to another, in a nutshell, Marvell's Plug Computer is a tiny unit, about the size of a small wall-plug power adapter. The little computer, despite its physical size, is equipped with Marvell's 1GHz processor and some 256MB of RAM. The computer also comes with a USB port and an Ethernet port to be best used as a network storage or an Internet-based cloud storage server.
One of the biggest selling points of the Plug Computer is the fact that it uses very little energy and therefore is the cheapest solution to offer users high-performance, always-on, always-connected, and environmentally friendly computing.
(Credit:
Novothink)
The greening of homes and gadgets is a growing consumer trend, and many exhibitors will debut their eco-friendly products at CES 2010. Last week, we highlighted the Electronic Houskeeper and the PICOwatt, two devices that monitor in-home energy use. Today allows us to highlight the Surge, an iPhone and iPod Touch case with solar panels.
Solar chargers like Solio are chunky and need to be carried around. But the Surge solar case is sleek, ergonomic, and certified by Apple. Two hours of sun exposure power 30-60 minutes of talk time. The Surge features an LED battery-level indicator.
The charger is manufactured by Novothink, a company that vies to pair solar technology and portable devices. The California-based company is focused on creating solar chargers for devices in high demand, as the mission is to allow consumers to live off the grid easily.
The Surge may seem like a gimmick on the face of it, but it might be a perfect solution for Apple iPhone and iPod owners on the go. Emergency chargers are available, ... Read more
So what kind of car are you going to get next? Perhaps, I might tempt your credulity by asking you to consider a new eco-car called the LEKO.
A Toyota? No, an IKEA.
A strange Web site has appeared, roulez-leko.com, on which a very relaxed, modern, eco-friendly chap, allegedly the great car designer Christophe Grozs, stands next to an apparent car draped with the word LEKO and the tagline "la voiture selon IKEA."
Yes, the car according to IKEA.
The LEKO (L'eco, get it?), allegedly has the backing of the World Wildlife Fund in France. Which might mean the fund has put money into the creation or that the car will have plastic panda-skin seats.
It also will save you untold (because unspecified) amounts of money on your expenditure. And it is humongously eco-friendly.
This is an ad, right?
If IKEA made a car, the doors might not fit quite perfectly into the body. Then you'd really have to work hard to use those tiny screwdrivers to make sure the engine didn't wobble. And just imagine the number of screws it would take to put in the cup holder.
There's the name too. Real IKEA product names never make sense. They always seem to resemble a fair to middling Scrabble hand--for example, KLIPPAN or LYCKSELE. LEKO is far too meaningful.
... Read moreSure, PMA was lots of fun, but there was plenty of other stuff going on here at Crave this week. Here's some of the best and some of the worst.
(Credit:
Apple)
• We took a look at the new 24-inch iMacs from Apple--and liked what we saw.
• We brought you news of "trashy" lingerie made from recycled materials. We won't tell if you click.
• Strangely, it seems Amazon wants to help the iPhone be the Kindle killer with its own Kindle app. It works, but there's some strangeness.
• We can rebuild him: Meet the quasi-bionic eye camera. Do not want, but kind of do want. Chinese DVD pirates, take note.
The foyer of my new mansion.
(Credit: Frank McKinney)• Craver Justin Yu channeled his inner Shania Twain in putting down the new Mac Mini. In a nutshell: $200 gets you a decent laptop with more features.
• We also covered the next place I will live. No, really, I'm working on the financing. Bloggers can get ... Read more
Obey the G2410!
(Credit: Dell)Dell finally throws its hat into the whole green computer monitor trend, and of course by green I mean eco-friendly.
Thursday, Dell announced its brand new, aptly named G series of displays, which includes the 22-inch G2210 and the 24-inch G2410. Each monitor includes light-emitting diode (LED) backlighting and is made from recycled material.
Each display has a purported contrast ratio of 1000:1. Now, ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
So you wanna save the Earth, huh? You've got two options: you can visit the Surya nightclub in London and dance on its electricity-generating dance floor, or you can buy an LG Flatron W2252TE monitor.
LG Flatron W2252TE: Greenest monitor in the world?
(Credit: LG)It might sound like some sort of futuristic tank, but the W2252TE, which we first told you about in June, is reportedly the world's most eco-friendly monitor. LG reckons it sucks just 22W in use and as little as 0.3W in standby mode.
We tested these claims, and to our delight, it drew just 18.8W in use and less than 0.1W in standby mode. To put things in perspective, other 22-inch monitors tend to draw somewhere in the region of 40W.
So it's genuinely green, but is it any good? Well, yes. The 22-inch panel runs at 1,680x1,050 pixels, the screen isn't horribly glossy, it has a 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 2ms response time, an HDCP-compliant DVI port, and ... Read more
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