Sun Stability

I’m a fan of solar chargers, and the environment, so it’s nice when an official tech company can get behind a green idea and officially endorse it.

That’s what has happened for Novothink’s solar charger for the iphone (second generation) and the ipod touch. The charger has been endorsed by Apple and even looks pretty appealing. Designed almost like a car dock for the iphone the charger slides over the back of the phone (or ipod) and contains LEDs so you can see how much of a charge you really have.

Sure the extra pack will be a little bulky, and a little expensive ($70) but think of the energy you’ll save. Think about the on the go possibilities. It could just be worth

A greener cellphone

Samsung’s new Reclaim is touted as the first eco-friendly cell phone for the US market. Its hardware casing is made from corn-derived bio plastics. Its innovative charger consumes twelve times less power than Energystar recommendations and its packaging is 70% recyclable. Also,the user manual is virtual with no bulky paper version included in the package.

The phone itself as a full QWERTY keyboard, 2 Megapixel camera/camcorder, one-touch access to social networks and calendars and email.

Available in Earth Green and Ocean Blue, the phone is available August 16 for under $50 (with rebates) and Sprint is donating two dollars to the Nature Conservancy for each purchase.

Prison Limits

Really?

The Study Ball is absurd. It’s basically a 20 lb prison style ball and chain to keep a kid from wandering about during homework (or presumably) any time. It comes with a programmable clock (you can punch in anywhere from five minutes to four hours, and the shackle won’t come off until then (supposedly). I’m as distractable as the next student, but come on. Sure there’s facebook, and cell phones, and a host of other average everyday distractions, but this is just unnecessary. Besides, facebook and cell phones are probably staring you straight in the face from the desk you’re being forced to sit at anyway.

Lets be realistic, close the door, set limits, work in the kitchen, there’s a hundred other ways you can force a kid to study without chaining them up. Have a discussion. How about threatening to take that distracting facebook away. Maybe you’re lucky, the kid’s bored cause they’re not being challenged enough. Maybe the Study Ball is a statement to teachers everywhere, when something like this shows up on the market maybe it’s time to reexamine your own styles and efforts in the classroom. Learning can, and is, boring sometimes, does it have to be? Lets just say, on a positive note, as a Halloween or April Fools joke, this baby takes the cake.

Cell Phone Insurance?

I got a new cell phone yesterday. Fortunately my phone was still under warranty for another two months. My last phone died 2 months after the warranty expired so I figured I was due.

The good news was that I got a newer version of my current phone for free. The bad news–I only get the remaining two months under warranty.

They offered me cell phone insurance for an extra $5 a month but I think I’ll take my chances. I know the odds haven’t been good for me recently. This is another reason why I haven’t yet broken down and gotten the iPhone I have coveted so long.  Usually electronics insurance is not a good deal if you ask consumer experts but it really helps the bottom line of companies that sell electronics so they keep offering.

As for me, I figure the phone was free anyway after rebate so if I end up having to buy a new one eventually I had it coming.

Cell Phone Building Blocks

I love my cell phone, I need it, but (despite the necessity I feel in my own life towards owning one) I don’t feel like little kids ever need them.  Seriously, ask the teacher if you need to call home, ask a friends mom, learn social skills, there’s no need for texting before you hit middle school.

Well, doesn’t matter what i think, Alcatel and Lego have teamed up to do just that, get kiddies connected.  A lego styled cell phone makes perfect sense when you market it towards kids, but I don’t know that it’s necessary.  I know quite a few adults who’d love to get their hands on a lego cell, but we’ll see what happens.  The phone is slated for a summer release.

I don’t know who will end up with the phone actually in their pocket, but I can only hope it’s a bunch of us immature college kids and not second graders.

Going solar?

For months now I have toyed with the idea of cancelling my standard phone service and going straight to cell. One of the hang-ups for my plan has been what if I lost power and could not charge my phone.  I think a solar cell phone charger may be my answer.  In addition, it has the added benefit of saving “vampire” energy loss for all the times I leave the chargers plugged in.

This Solio charger looks awesome. And it works on more than jsut phones. One hour of sunshine is good for 20 minutes of talk or 50 minutes of music on an MP3. Solio is one of many new solar chargers on the market.

Do you have a solar charger for your electronics? What do you think of it?

Universal Mobile Phone Charger on the Horizon

The mobile phone industry has finally decided to create a universal phone charger by 2012, according to GSMA, an industry organization.

Currently, chargers can be brand or phone specific, generating more than 51,000 tons of waste as consumers get new phones that are incompatible. For more information on recycling phones, click here.

Another aim is to create an energy-efficient charger to reduce stand-by or “vampire” energy consumption by 50%. The group wants to create the “UCS” or universal charging solution  to use Micro-USB for charging.

Among the companies involved in this initiative are LG, Motorola, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and T-Mobile.

Now if we can just get the printer companies to standardize those blasted ink cartridges.

Communicating on the Fly

So, all this hype over cell phone use on airplanes, I haven’t been too excited to be honest.  Why do I want to be in an overly cramped space, with overly crabby people, and then get stuck listening to someone yap about work or the weather for a million hours?

Well, British Airways has come up with a way to please everyone.  You don’t have to talk in this day and age to stay in touch, so they’re going to initiate a trial one of in flight texting.  That’s right, phone conversation’s younger brother.  That way everyone can gripe about the horrible trip without making it more horrible for the person next to them.

I see it as a win win situation, as long as people know enough texting edict to keep their elbows out of other people’s personal space.

Inauguration Day

Without a doubt, tomorrow is an amazing day for our nation. Regardless of your political affiliation, you can’t help but appreciate our nation’s continual re-invention every four years when we choose our leaders.

Inauguration day will mark many firsts. Among them will be the extent to which mobile and Internet technologies will capture and shape the day and, in fact, the presidency itself.

From the Obama’s own Blackberry obsession to the millions of mobile users who will undoubtedly jam the circuits on the National Mall, this is a plugged-in presidency.  Not so much by wires, but by a constant connection from the top down and across the nation and world.

The major cell phone providers have beefed up their capabilities (adding “lanes” to the information superhighway in Washington, D.C.) They have brought in COWs (Cell on Wheels) to boost their ability to carry the million+ users in the area. A test run at the Lincoln Memorial concert Sunday showed some flaws in the plan, but providers are sure they have pulled out all the stops.  The president-elect won’t have to worry about the traffic jam if he wants to make a call though–his phone has access to the Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) so he always gets through.

Here are some of my picks for a tech-friendly inauguration:

Watch the Inauguration from your iPhone via Ustream

Help write a People’s Inaugural Address using collaborative writing tools at Mixedink.com

Free Inaugural Guide map App for your iPhone

The Inauguration Report 2009 requests you tag your tweets with “#inaug09″  and your Flickr or YouTube photos and videos with “inaug09″. Follow along with their widget you can add to your website.

Tech Savvy Mama also has a long-list of kid-friendly inauguration links.

Thanks to NTEN  for some links.

Shepard Fairey’s Obama HOPE Image via Flickr
 

Are you too old to hear it?

Do you know what Teen Buzz is? If you don’t, you are probably an old geezer like me. It’s a high-pitched frequency ring tone used by teens to receive messages when they don’t want to alert their parents or teachers.

Dubbed The Mosquito because it is similar to the buzz of the insect, the frequency (approximately 17.4 kHz at 85dB) was used by shop keepers in the UK  and elsewhere to keep teenagers out of their stores. Now the teens have turned the tables, to use it for their own power.

As we age, our hearing sensitivity to certain frequencies diminishes. There are sounds you can hear at 20 that you simply can’t hear at 40.  I downloaded the ringtone and was actually able to hear it (I’m 32) but I think it would be very hard to hear in a busy classroom. My husband (who is only 33) wasn’t able to hear it, but he works with power tools all the time so his hearing is shoddy anyway.