Channel 9 - Entries tagged with Green

Windows 7 Greener than XP

Sarah Perez — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:27:00 GMT

A recent Ars Technica article points to a recent study from Mindteck which analyzed the “greenness” of Windows 7 as compared to Windows XP. The company looked at power consumption in various scenarios (sleep, idle, low and high use, etc.) to determine how much better Windows 7 did (or did not) fare when compared to its predecessor.

The results showed that Windows 7 improved upon XP in every case, even out-of-the-box, prior to updated drivers, for instance. For businesses with XP desktops considering an upgrade to Windows 7, the improvements mean major cost savings, even thousands of dollars as this chart shows.

The full report is available as free download from Ars’ website.

First Microsoft Hohm Gadget Has Launched

Sarah Perez — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:01:00 GMT

Microsoft is launching its first Hohm-enabled gadget courtesy of a partnership with Blue Line Innovations, a Canadian-based company which sells energy monitoring and management devices. Hohm, for those unaware, is a web service designed to help consumers monitor and analyze their energy consumption and then make recommendations for cost-savings measures.

Previously, using the Hohm website, the Q&A section would have to be filled out based on what you knew about your home – but unless you already had energy-monitoring gadgets installed, your answers were estimates in several cases.

Now, with the new Hohm PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway, you’ll have hard data.

The device hooks up to your home’s power meter (no wiring required!) and reads actual usage. The details are transmitted to your Microsoft Hohm account which displays the data in near real-time graphs and charts (delays are 30 seconds or so). You can also view the data from a mobile device, if desired.

This is only the beginning for Hohm-enabled gadgets: Microsoft plans to connect Hohm with smart plugs, thermostats, HVAC systems, electric vehicles (it’s already in the Ford Focus Electric) and more.

The Blue Line PowerCost Monitor and Wi-Fi Gateway are available today from Blue Line Innovations and through select retailers like Frys, Amazon, and Microsoft stores. The complete package of PowerCost Monitor and Wi-Fi Gateway is available for $249, the Wi-Fi Gateway is also sold separately for $159.

For a Greener PC: Granola for Windows

Sarah Perez — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:37:00 GMT

Granola is a new software application that helps you reduce the energy waste that coming from using a computer and leaving it on all the time. The program, smaller than a single MP3, is a “set it and forget it” type of application that automatically optimizes system settings without compromising performance or availability. Granola typically lowers the total system energy use by 10-35% even when a system is 100% utilized, the website claims. It also tracks the energy saved in order to estimate cost savings and carbon emission reductions.

Granola uses a technology called dynamic voltage and frequency scaling or DVFS which is analogous to a “dimmer switch” on a light, says the company. When you don’t need the brightest light, you can dim it via a switch. DVFS works in a similar way – when it needs CPU at full speed, it allows that, but when the PC is in a lower state of activity (like reading a website instead of playing a game), it uses less energy.

You can download Granola for free from here.

Want to Win 10K? Build a Bing App!

Sarah Perez — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:06:00 GMT

If you’re a developer here in the U.S., there’s a new contest going on now called “Will Code for Green” that’s designed to promote the launch of the new Bing API. Developers are being encouraged to build useful web applications that take advantage of the API’s capabilities in one of two green-themed categories Economy or Ecology. (Code for “green” – get it?): And two lucky developers will win the grand prize of $10,000 each. They’ll also receive a 3-year BizSpark membership if their startup is eligible. Runners up will receive $3000 in cash in addition to BizSpark memberships.

Applications in the Economy category should help people deal with the worsening global economy in some way and the applications in the Ecology category should help improve the ecology of planet Earth. The applications can be either web applications in the traditional sense or they can be “mashups.”

To sign up, just enter your email address on the Will Code for Green site to get started. Winners will be announced at this year’s 2009 Gnomedex technology conference. If you’re in the Seattle area, you can attend a “Will Code for Green” hackathon on June 27th hosted by Microsoft. More details here.

iGo Delivers Green Devices That Save Energy

Sarah Perez — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:40:00 GMT

New surge protectors, laptop chargers, and electrical outlets from a company called iGo were unveiled at this week’s CES. These “green” products are designed to help you save energy, which of course means that you can save money too. For any heavy duty computer and gadget users, these devices will certainly be appealing.

The way the iGo products conserve energy is by stopping the flow of electricity to plugged-in devices once they’ve been fully recharged. This technology virtually eliminates what the company calls "vampire energy" - the power used by devices in off or standby modes. Says iGo, their products automatically use 80% less standby power than standard power products.

One of the new products that I would love to try out is what the company says is the first ever "green" laptop charger (pictured) - a device that would come in handy for those of us who use laptops as our main computers. The surge protector is also definitely on my wish list as it offers 4 of these automatic shut-off outlets and four regular outlets for things that don’t need charging…like my Chumby, for example.

Wired goes GREEN

Laura Foy — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:27:00 GMT

It is an absolute fact that technology can help create a better environment. Minds all over the globe are at work right now creating unique ways to help save the planet and go green. I found a few very interesting new ways at Wired Magazine's NextFest. From high-tech solar panels, to plastic made from fruits to better tracing of your own carbon footprint. The world is going green- here are a few ways you can too.

The future of energy efficient mobility

Laura Foy — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:43:00 GMT

Energy efficient personal mobility is something that we all should be concerned with. We all need to get around and we all need to do our part to save the environment. That's why "Going Green" was such a huge theme at this year's Wired Magazine's NextFest. The Toyota booth took up nearly 1/4 of the show floor as they showed off multiple vehicles and even let attendees ride the I-Real. So, exactly how efficient are these futuristic rides? Watch this clip to find out and then check out this clip for more info on how you can help!

Recycle Your Old Gadgets & Get Paid

Larry Larsen — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:19:00 GMT

Let me guess, somewhere you have a box of gadgets you consider worthless enough to sit in a box but valuable enough that you can't bare to throw away. eBay is an option but really, do you want to go to the trouble of selling each thing individually and then sending out to different places?

One option is Gazelle.com. Gazelle will make you an offer on your gadgets, depending on condition and what packaging/accessories you have left, and then send you a box to put it all in. Wrap it up and collect your check. They promise to remove personal information from devices, but that's never a job you should put on someone else in my opinion.

They have options to contribute to charities or put a link on your blog, email sig, site, that allows you to get a kickback on the gear your friends recycle. I was surprised to see Gazelle's offer to be within 10-15% of eBay. They say they sell the electronics through "a variety of retail and wholesale outlets." If you know of a retail store that sells used satellite radios or GPS', let me know in the comments, I can't say I've seen that.

I will say I'm a little disappointed Gazelle doesn't just sell the gadgets they collect. Since they silo them into model they should even be able to offer a warranty for a replacement if you get a bad gadget. Either way, better someone benefit from the hardware while they can rather than it sit in a box.

Go Green With Edison

Sarah Perez — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:31:00 GMT

Edison is a new download that helps you with PC Power Management. The app comes from a company called Verdiem, which offers similar technology for large enterprises for a fee. With Edison, though, you’ll get those same power-saving tools for free. After you download and register the program, you can customize your settings through a set of easy-to-use tabs. You can specify when you use your PC the most, edit settings for both "work" and "home," use a slider to adjust your savings level, and more. But the best part of this app is where it tells you what your estimated annual power savings will be. Edison provides those figures in dollars, Kilowatt hours, and even in pounds of CO2 saved! You can download Edison from www.microsoft.com/environment – the link is on the right. (via Steve Clayton)

Dell’s New Studio Hybrid PCs

Sarah Perez — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:01:00 GMT

At long last, the new “green” PCs that have been under development at Dell have finally arrived. The Dell Studio Hybrid PC is 80% smaller than the conventional desktop mini-tower while also using 70% less power than typical desktop PCs. Their small form factor lets them fit almost anywhere and the optional wireless keyboard and mouse help kill the clutter. The PCs are Energy Star 4.0 compliant (of course!)and can be customized with 6 interchangeable color sleeves or even a sleeve made of environmentally- friendly bamboo. Despite their small size, the Studio Hybrid still finds room for a CD/DVD drive, analog and digital sound ports, a gigabit networking port, and HDMI and DVI ports. The PCs start at $499 and go up depending on your customizations like selecting a Blu-Ray drive, more memory, or a larger hard drive.

Make Your PC Wake From Sleep Automatically

Sarah Perez — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:46:00 GMT

A lot of people these days are becoming more aware of the energy savings to be had by shutting down unused equipment when it’s not in use. And while it’s no problem to shut off the TV and the end of the evening a lot of people have trouble doing the same for the PC. This is mainly because it’s nice to have all your work on your computer right there where you left it when you return in the morning. Of course, this is what “sleep” mode is for – you can save energy without losing your place.

But wouldn’t it be nice if your computer knew when to wake up for you? Well, it can! Using the Task Scheduler (In Vista: Control Panel\System and Maintenance\Administrative Tools\Task Scheduler), you can make your PC wake up at the designated time you want just by having it run a simple task – like say, launching then closing the command prompt window.

For example:

Schedule a task that executes the command cmd.exe with command line arguments [/c “exit”] (without the []) and make sure to set the ‘Wake computer up to execute this task’ in the power options. Schedule the task for when you want your computer to wake up and you will never have to wait on it again.

(Thanks to Thomas Delrue for this tip!)

MSN Environment Launched

Sarah Perez — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:59:00 GMT

For eco-warriors and environmentalists, there's a new channel on MSN that will be of interest: MSN Environment. On this site, you can read news and blogs, watch videos, get eco-friendly tips, plus get access to tools like a carbon calculator and a water usage meter. The site is only on MSN UK (for the U.S., we have MSN Green instead), but there are certainly features on the site that will appeal to everyone interested in these issues.

If you want to follow various sections of MSN Environment, there are several RSS feeds to choose from, including:

Environment Blog: Matthew Yeomans is the co-founder of Custom Communication an online media consultancy that provides environmental reporting. He reports for MSN on The Climate Report blog.
Environment Features: All the feature stories from MSN Environment Editor including analysis.
Environment Photos: All the photo stories from MSN Environment Editor including analysis.
Environment News: Updated throughout the day with breaking and feature news stories
Environment Videos: Stand alone features from VideoJug
Green Living : Reports on Green Living

(via vnunet)

Building a Green Windows Home Server

Sarah Perez — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:57:00 GMT

I've been following a very interesting series of posts over on the Home Server Hacks blog. They detailing, step-by-step, the process of building a $400 "green" Home Server. The server is encased in a Shuttle KPC housing, which is, according to the Shuttle web site, a low power consumption appliance, using only 55 Watts when in use and 33 Watts when idle. To go even greener, you can use Western Digital Caviar GP series drives. There are five parts to this post about building the green WHS and you can began reading the series here. It's a great idea, and just in time for Earth Day, too!

An Inconvenient Ride

Laura Foy — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:07:00 GMT

Earth Day is almost upon us and it's time to ramp up our Green efforts. Microsoft is no exception to that rule- and as such the Live Search team has decided to sponsor An Inconvenient Ride. This is a 23 day long bicyicle journey across the country in order to spread the message about the state of our environment and help alert people as to how they can help. And the kicker is- the bicyclists are all kids! It really is an amazing program- I spoke with the Seattle team (who take off this Sunday March 30) about their mission and found it inspiring to see how much these kids really care. Watch this clip and then get involved!

Watch this clip for more info about helping the environment.

How Green is your PC?

Larry Larsen — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:17:00 GMT

Many of us at Microsoft are always looking for tips and ways to cut our power consumption without sacrificing the always-on computer. Our own Steve Cellini is probably the most faithful, choosing every component of his Windows Home Server to be as low power as possible ("Did you know you can get low power consumption hard drives?" No, Steve, I didn't.)

Our friends over at Edge look into how to tell how much power your computer uses and how to get your machine to go faster while using less power. Very interesting to watch and good to know if you're building PCs, check it out here.

Green Printing

Sarah Perez — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:04:00 GMT

There's a new free edition of the popular GreenPrint software, called GreenPrint World Edition. The software, aimed at home users and non-profits, is designed to combat printing waste. The way the software works is by analyzing each page sent to a printer for extraneous content like banner ads, legal jargon, footnotes, or other unnecessary pages. These sections are highlighted in red for you to see before printing. If you want to print a page or section that has been detected as unnecessary, just double-click on it to include it in the document. You can also double-click on areas that are un-highlighted to prevent them from printing. According to the company, using GreenPrint can save you $90 per year and 1400 wasted pages. The software can also be used to create PDFs and it does reporting on the toner and paper savings you've accumulated by using it. GreenPrint World Edition is free by being ad-supported; to turn off the ads, you can upgrade to Home Premium Edition or for business use, there's an Enterprise Edition available. (via downloadsquad)

Solar powered charging bags, what will they think of next?

Laura Foy — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:33:00 GMT

Have you ever been sitting the park on a beautiful afternoon and thought to yourself, "Gosh, this is perfect but what would really make today complete is if I could spend all afternoon here in the sun AND be on my laptop the entire time." Of COURSE you have! And now you can. Not only do these bags come with solar LED panels that fuel up the batteries inside- to charge your every accessory, but they're stylish accessories as well.

Green Power-Saving Technology

Sarah Perez — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:53:00 GMT

Green plug is a company whose goal is to reduce energy and material waste from consumer electronics products and battery powered equipment. To this end, green plug sells embeddable power supply technology to manufacturers. Today's devices like laptops, printers, cameras, etc. require power converters that convert 90V and 254V wall power to device-specific DC power. The unique adapters and converters are expensive to make and waste energy, not to mention lead to a heavy load of assorted cables when you want to take your devices on the go with you. With the green plug technology, instead of unique adapters for every device, power requirements are read from the plugged-in device and the uniform cables and connectors deliver just the power that device needs, no more, no less. Green plug encourages device manufacturers to adopt its free-to-license universal connector and green talkTM protocol for electronic devices and start building devices that use a common connector. I encourage the manufacturers to do this too! Imagine a day when devices all used a common, power-efficient cable or cord! The first environmentally-friendly DC power hub will make its debut at CES 2008. I can't wait to see this!

Green Awnings powering both your home and your plants

Laura Foy — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 18:30:00 GMT

The environmental health clinic at NYU approaches health from an environmental point of view. That being said, we all know it is necessary for plant growth in order for humans to live. In this clip you will see how the health clinic has created Solar Cells, on something they call the Green Awning, that produce power in the form of LED lights that can power your home and feed your plants all at the same time.

Green Wi-Fi

Tina — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 22:35:00 GMT

Bruce Baikie the co-founder and CEO of Green Wi-Fi stopped by to show us how he brings economically sound Wi-Fi to countries in need. When Bruce starting investigating computing overseas he saw the biggest issue was a lack of power. With a power engineering background he developed an intelligent charge control and router that uses solar power. It's a great mission.