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Flat-screen televisions are a major upgrade from existing cathode-ray tube TVs, making new high-definition sets one of the hottest-selling items in consumer electronics. But that dazzling picture and bigger screen come with a price: higher energy use.

To individual consumers, a bigger flat-screen TV might mean a noticeable bump in monthly electric bills. But at a national level, the onrush of these new energy-hungry TVs is a growing concern.

On Friday, the California Energy Commission finalized a proposal to regulate energy consumption in TVs sold in California sold after 2011.

The move is significant because California's stringent efficiency standards in appliances have impacted codes across the country in the past. California's efficiency measures in big appliances, such as refrigerators, have been credited with keeping the per capita electricity consumption in the state steady since the 1970s.

But not everyone is happy with the California measure, which is expected to pass in November. Industry association the Consumer Electronics Association opposes the proposal, arguing that any efficiency improvements should come from consumer demand rather than regulation.

To unwind some of the issues around energy efficiency and TVs, we offer this FAQ, which draws on the analysis of CNET Reviews' senior editor David Katzmaier, who has been measuring power consumption in TVs for the past three years. You can see the latest data at CNET's Energy Efficiency Guide and power ratings of 150 HDTVs.

If I buy a new flat-screen TV, will I be slapped with a huge energy bill?
Not necessarily. The primary reason flat-screen TVs consume more power is because they are bigger. The California Energy Commission estimates that per square inch, LCDs consume a bit more than CRTs, but most people are also upgrading in size, which means significantly more electricity use. That's one reason why TV product ratings from the likes of CNET and Consumer Reports now include yearly energy consumption estimates.

These days, every little bit counts.

(Credit: Dan Ackerman)

Apple's OSX Snow Leopard update offers several noteworthy enhancements, and plenty of behind-the-scenes tweaks--but has anything in the operating system changed in regard to energy efficiency?

We took a 17-inch MacBook Pro and ran it though our standard energy use tests, first under OSX 10.5.6 (a.k.a. Leopard) and then after we installed Snow Leopard, which brought us up to OSX 10.6. Our test system, already Energy Star-compliant, had a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, and we had the discrete Nvidia GeForce 9600 graphics turned on.

The differences were minor, but we were able to estimate that running your MacBook with Snow Leopard installed would use about one dollar's worth less electricity than if you kept the older version of OSX.

As our tests are based on a hypothetical usage model, your mileage will vary depending on how much time your system spends off, idle, or doing actual work (and it's worth noting that Snow Leopard includes a newer version of QuickTime, which is used in the part of the testing process). But, when added to CNET's already very positive review of Snow Leopard, it's nice to know that energy efficiency not only didn't take a hit, but also squeaked out a tiny improvement.

So, what are you going to do with that extra 95 cents? You could pick up a single nonpremium MP3 track from your favorite online music retailer, but we're going to track down one more nickel, which will snag us four cans of Coke Zero from the official CNET vending machine.

After having just modified its stance on cell phone exclusivity deals last week, Verizon Wireless said it is also willing to compromise on roaming service agreements with smaller mobile providers.

Currently, carriers are not required to offer roaming services to competing providers in areas where the rivals own spectrum but have not built out network coverage. However, some of the smaller carriers, such as Leap Wireless, say this only hurts customers and they need roaming service while they build out their network. As a result, they have lobbied for lawmakers to address this home roaming issue.

Hoping to appease government officials and other involved parties, Verizon offered up a compromise in a letter to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.). In it, Verizon President and CEO Lowell McAdam said the carrier, which has vehemently protested the practice in the past, would support a statute or FCC rule that would require it to provide roaming services with the condition that it's limited to two years and in some exceptions, three years.

At the end of the letter, McAdam writes,"We believe our proposal strikes a fair balance between addressing the concerns raised about home roaming while encouraging carriers to invest in their spectrum and build their networks."

However, some say that's not good enough. The Rural Cellular Association said it does not support Verizon's offer and in a statement to Reuters on Wednesday, Leap Wireless' director of government affairs, Laurie Itkin, said:

"Verizon itself has relied on roaming agreements for over two decades as it's built out its network and acquired competitors, but now has unilaterally decided that its remaining competitors are only entitled to roaming for two or three years."

While response to Verizon's offers, both on roaming service agreements and cell phone exclusivity deals, hasn't been positive, Verizon has been the first of the major carriers to be proactive and publicly address these issues, so you have to give them some credit, though we're not completely buying the whole "we've been misrepresented" plea.

(Additional sources: Wireless Week, Phone Scoop, and eWeek)

Goin' bad, 'cause good is dumb.

(Credit: Wildstorm/Blizzard)

Eric's finally going Horde. With Blizzard's recent announcement that it will allow faction changes in the World of Warcraft, Eric is seeing this as an opportunity to inject some excitement back into the game. Dong, of course, disagrees.

Then we awkwardly inject some technology into the episode with discussions about wireless router stress testing and GamutVision.

Finally, some dating advice for our loyal readers. Don't say we never did anything for you.

To subscribe to this podcast, visit us at our main page and click the podcast link on the right. Don't forget to leave us voice mail at 1-800-947-6399 or e-mail us at insidecnetlabs@cnet.com.

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It's been criticized for contributing to the obesity epidemic and condemned by PETA, but now a Burger King franchise in the New York metro area has announced that it wants in on the green movement. The high-traffic restaurant in Hillside, N.J., will install a speed bump designed to harness the kinetic energy produced by the hundreds of cars that pass through the drive-thru daily.

As they wait for their Double Whopper, customers will roll through a section of the drive-thru lane lined with metal plates that move down and up as cars head to the next window. The MotionPower technology developed by Burtonsville, Md.-based New Energy Technologies, could harness and capture the energy twice daily, the company reports.

"More than 150,000 cars drive through our Hillside store alone each year, and I think it would be great to capture the wasted kinetic energy of these hundreds of thousands of cars to generate clean electricity," said Andrew Paterno, co-owner of 12 N.Y. metro-area Burger Kings. In its report, New Energy Technologies said it is partnering with BK for "durability testing," so it may be awhile before energy is actually captured and put to use. Once active, it's possible that the energy would be routed directly to the power grid.

So how is Burger King benefiting from this? It's unlikely one "green" speed bump will attract more customers (unless it relieves the guilt of an unhealthy meal). Instead of offsetting the restaurant's already wasted energy, BK should focus on the many ways it can reduce its energy usage in the first place. For example, recycling used vegetable oil, installing solar panels on the roof and windows, or transporting their proteins on low-impact trucks, such as this one.

Will an energy-producing speed bump eclipse Burger King's bad rep with environmentalists? Probably not. But I'll give them credit for playing guinea pig. New Energy Technologies, which develops other renewable energy, has a larger plan to install speed bumps in toll booths, streets, border crossings, and other high-traffic areas.

Energizer's SP2000 solar charger.

(Credit: Energizer)

Through a partnership with XPAL Power, Energizer has expanded its Energi to Go line of portable battery packs in a big way. The newly branded chargers run the gamut from an iPhone 3G/3G S battery sleeve to a couple of solar chargers to a larger lithium ion charger that can juice up to three devices at once, including a laptop.

Most of the chargers include cell tips for various makes and models of cell phones, and you can get free new tips online as future phones come out.

Many of the battery packs are available already under the XPAL brand, but the new packaging should be appearing very soon in stores.

Energizer's new portable battery packs

Here's a look at the line and check out the slideshow above: ... Read more

As a reviewer I get to hear lots of speakers, and I immediately forget most of them.

It's not that they're bad, just unexceptional. Here's a Top 10 list and photo gallery of the very best-sounding speakers I've heard for less than $3,500 per pair. The brands may be unfamiliar, but each speaker is a stand-out winner. I will at some point do a Top 10 without price constraints. For now I want to highlight more affordable speakers that you can buy new.

Photos: The Top Ten greatest audiophile speakers

The nPower PEG (at right) can harness kinetic energy to power most portable electronic devices.

(Credit: nPower/Tremont Electric)

The nPower PEG (Personal Energy Generator) from a company called Tremont Electric harnesses personal kinetic energy as a person walks, transferring it into electricity to the portable electronic device plugged into it.

Using this method, the PEG can charge the average portable device up to 80 percent in about an hour.

Aaron LeMiex, the inventor and founder of Tremont Electric, came up with the idea for the device while hiking 1,500 miles of the Appalachian Trail more than 10 years ago.

The PEG is 9 inches by 1.5 inches, weighs about 9 ounces, and is made of recycled materials. The PEG isn't a battery, so users can not store their kinetic energy to be used for charging later. Instead, it's more of a kinetic energy real-time converter that must be plugged in to the device as it's moving for the kinetic energy to be transferred as electricity immediately to the device.

The PEG, which has a standard USB 2.0 output, is compatible with 90 percent of portable electronic devices including MP3 players, GPS units, and digital cameras, according to Tremont Electric. (The compatibility list includes BlackBerry, iPhone, iPod, LG Chocolate, Magellan GPS, Nintendo DS Lite, Palm Treo, and most cell phones from Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sanyo, and Sony.)

There's no need to wear the device, as with some other kinetic energy harvesting devices. Simply carrying the PEG in a backpack, purse, or briefcase while walking provides the opportunity to harvest enough kinetic energy for the electricity. ... Read more

This is one of those, "well I didn't really need this, but the fact that this is even possible is pretty frakking cool" stories.

From Moto Labs, those same wacky guys who brought us the Scalable Multitouch display, comes the DIY Android Home Energy Monitor (or AHEM, as in "ahem, look at my clever acronym").

The AHEM can use an average wireless network to track your utility readings and post them on your Google home page. Here's how it works. Wireless Webcams take pictures of the ever-changing dials on the user's utility meters.

How it all works. These guys are quite the talented scientists...and artists. Damn them.

(Credit: Moto Labs)

A motherboard called a BeagleBoard running Android and the AHEM custom applications pushes the pictures up to a designated Flickr photo set.

The AHEM application transcribes the reading numbers into your Flickr image tag. Then, Moto Labs' Google Gadget will automatically chart meter activity on your Google home page.

Check out the site to see all you need to get started and get step-by-step instructions on how to set the whole thing up.