Six Solutions for Saving Water and Saving Lives

As part of its role as the non-government advisor for the United Nations, Pasadena, California-based Art Center College of Design teamed up with another NGO, Un Techo Para Mi Pais, and embarked upon a humanitarian design charrette to help bring safe, clean water to the slums of Chile. [Detail]

Chinese "Sun Dial" is the World's Largest Solar-Powered Office Building

China, constantly straddling the line between super-polluter and clean tech pioneer, has unveiled what for the time being is the world’s largest solar-powered office building . The fan-like roof of the 800,000 square-foot facility located in Dezhou in Shangdong Province was cleverly designed to resemble an ancient sun dial, though rather than ticking off the passing hours, the building houses exhibition centers, research facilities, meeting and convention spaces and a hotel, all of which are powered by the hundreds of solar panels adorning its roof. [Detail]

Power Plug Wall Sockets WIth USB Ports Built In

USB is as close as we're probably going to get to a universal gadget-charger standard. But to charge something without occupying a precious free port on your computer, you need a power brick adapter. Not with these $10 wall sockets from True Power.
These will fit with the wiring already in your home, giving you two powered USB ports (or "holes" as Prickly Pete would say) for each wall socket. They're available next year.

Homes on Stilts: The Last Architecture Trend of the Decade

The clock is ticking down on the last design trends of the aughts. Squeaking in just before the calendar flips is this unlikely development: a fashion for stilted homes. Why stilted? Whatever their actual environmental benefit might be, stilts express a culture-wide desire to tread lightly on the land. These homes hint at mobility; without basements or foundations, they could be gone tomorrow. They're also a throwback to the virtuously simple tropical huts and the early days of prefab. [Detail]

A Salt and Paper Battery

Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden have made a flexible battery using two common, cheap ingredients: cellulose and salt. The lightweight, rechargeable battery uses thin pieces of paper--pressed mats of tangled cellulose fibers--for electrodes, while a salt solution acts as the electrolyte.

The new battery should be cheap, easy to manufacture, and environmentally benign, says lead researcher Maria Stromme. She suggests that it might be used to power cheap medical diagnostics devices or sensors on packaging materials or embedded into fabric. "You don't need advanced equipment to make the batteries," Stromme says, "so they could be made on site in developing countries." [Detail]

Nokia Launches First Netbook, Nokia Booklet 3G (12 hour battery life)

Nokia Corp., the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, on Monday unveiled its first netbook. Just like competing solutions, Nokia Booklet 3G is based on Intel Corp.’s Atom processor, but what will differ the devices from others is rather unprecedented battery life of up to 12 hours.

“A growing number of people want the computing power of a PC with the full benefits of mobility,” adds Kai Oistamo, Nokia’s Executive Vice President for Devices. “We are in the business of connecting people and the Nokia Booklet 3G is a natural evolution for us. Nokia has a long and rich heritage in mobility and with the outstanding battery life, premium design and all day, always on connectivity, we will create something quite compelling. In doing so we will make the personal computer more social, more helpful and more personal.”

The Nokia Booklet 3G will retail for €570 or about $810.

It will ship during the fourth quarter, but Nokia didn't elaborate on where in the world it would become available.





Nokia Booklet 3G Netbook full specifications:

* Dimensions Weight (max) 1250 g
* Dimensions (max) 264 x 185 x 19.9 mm

* CPU and Chipset Intel Atom Z530, 1.6 GHz
* Intel Poulsbo US15W, fanless design

* Memory and Storage RAM: 1 GB, DDR2, 533 Mhz, soldered down
* HDD: 120 GB, 1.8”/5mmH/SATA, 8 MB cache, 4200 RPM

* Display 10.1”, 1280×720 pixels, glass window

* Battery 16 cell, 56.8 Wh, Li-Ion prismatic, removable design

* Connectivity 802.11 b/g/n, 2T2R
* BT 2.1 + EDR
* Inbuilt 3G modem (data calls only). Different variants: WCDMA: 850/1900/2100 or WCDMA 900/2100 or no modem.
* All modem variants have GSM and GPRS
* Assisted-GPS

* I/O ports 1 x HDMI 1.2 out
* 3 x USB 2.0
* 1 x headphone out (OMTP 3.5 mm) – with OMTP headsets also functions as audio in
* 1 x DC-in
* 1 x SD card reader
* 1 x SIM / USIM slot

* Camera and microphone 1.3 MP front facing camera with integrated microphone

* Keyboard Frame keyboard
* 2 physical layouts: US (78 keys, 17 mm pitch, 1.8 mm stroke) and UK (79 keys, 16.7 mm pitch, 1.8 mm stroke)

* Other Accelerometer

* Software Operating System: Windows 7 Starter Edition, Home Premium or Professional
* MS Office Small Business 60 day trial
* MS Internet Explorer 8
* HDD protection utility, Hotkey utility , Knock Control utility, Power Profile Switcher, Battery Life utility
* Nokia Update Manager
* Ovi Suite
* Ovi Maps Gadget
* Social Hub
* F-Secure Internet Security 2010 trial

GM (General Motors) turns to eBay to sell cars

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co and eBay Inc are launching a test program in California that will allow consumers to negotiate with dealers and buy new vehicles online, the companies said on Monday.

The car shopping website -- gm.ebay.com -- marks a departure from the way new vehicles have traditionally been sold in the United States and is aimed at helping GM recapture lost market share a month after it emerged from bankruptcy.

The online marketplace provides the No. 1 U.S. automaker with a new venue to sell new vehicles as it cuts the number of U.S. dealerships by more than 40 percent to 3,600 by the end of 2010 as part of its efforts to return to profitability. [Detail]

Concept Color Picking Pen by Jinsun Park

Artists would love this new concept device i.e. the color-picking pen designed by Jinsun Park. It is just like the color-picker available in the Adobe Photoshop. This is a really nice concept, as its very out of the box idea and also a very useful one if it comes into manufacturing phase. It can take out colors from any item which you put it against and then the pen uses the same color. [Detail]

Introducing Next Generation Tyres by Michelin

In the last Philadelphia Car Show on February 2-20, 2008, Michelin has introduced a pair of next generation of tires. These are airless tyres and are scheduled to be out on the market very soon.This is a bit radical design from Michelin. They may not look that nice though, but they’re sure to be the next-generation of tires when they come out. [Detail]