A PR called me yesterday to ask what I thought about the green efforts of mobile firms. I said I was spectacularly unimpressed, for the most part.
So of course this morning, I find this on CNet - the Nokia 3100 Evolve, made from 50% renewable bio-materials and with an ultra-efficient charger that uses 95% less power.
The spec set is pretty standard - 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, music player, FM radio and microSD slot - and the design is basic and simple. I'd imagine Nokia's market research told them that people likely to scout out a more eco-friendly phone wouldn't want a high-end device. More energy and resource-efficient devices shouldn't be optional - they should be the norm.
Dean Takahashi, the tech correspondent at the San Jose Mercury News, got it right: "Some products marketed as green are not green at all, and the offset programs make you wonder if that's the only solution for an enterprise that is fundamentally wasteful."
The energy-saving multi-device charger
Green Plug is designed to relieve the headache of lugging round multiple charger cables by combining multiple USB hubs in different sizes on one charger unit. It's a great idea and an elegant solution. And perhaps best of all, Green Plug is very power efficient, and includes software that monitors power consumption and display usage stats.
The unit can save power by detecting when your phone is fully charged and switching off power, and it can also handle different power levels for different devices. And if that wasn't enough, the manufacturers are talking to mobile manufacturers next month. Great stuff, thanks to and CNet.
The corn-made laptop
Not a universal welcome for Fujitsu's laptop made of 50% corn. earth2tech said it won't biodegrade any quicker because the other 50% is still made from petroleum products. Yahoo Tech disagreed, and said they would break down in a matter of months, but they did also say that the corn-based polymer isn't strong enough to make up 100% of the laptop casing - and not fire retardant. That's a problem.
Photo: Yahoo Tech
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We've already seen the laptop-charging bag, but there was also the solar-powered wifi gear by Meraki Networks and chargers from Better Energy Systems. And Freeplay Energy. More on these, alternative batteries and recycling gadgets at earth2tech, if Green Tech is your thang.
