Hasta La Gadget!

We get the impression that these guys are really just putting the pressure on “evil corporations” to stop grounding mountains in the everlasting search for coal, but it’s not really the environmental activism that caught our attention here. Rather, it’s the fact that we’re 84.3 percent certain we saw these exact same characters in a Daft Punk video back in college. Seriously — check the video out after the break and tell us we’re loony.

Josh T.: “Totally off the grid in regard to both power and girlfriends.”
Thomas: “And now Solar Sprockets, we dance!”
Joe: “You have to go as far as Brussels to find a Devo tribute act worth its salt.”
Richard Lai: “In the future, humans won’t need to eat.”
Paul: “Sure, they know how to capture the electricity, but do they know what to do with it?”
Justin: “In the future, all bands will play the washboard.”
Laura: “Did anyone make a Beastie Boys joke yet?”
Darren: “SABOTAGE.”
Richard Lawler: “This is not what Boston meant when they said I take what I find.”

Continue reading Caption contest: solar suits, or the future of punishment for eco-abusers?

Caption contest: solar suits, or the future of punishment for eco-abusers? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Notice to all gadget makers and vendors: if you reduce your packaging and engage in environmentally conscious behavior, you’ll get free press out of it and positive brand awareness to boot. Take for example AT&T’s newly announced design specifications for its own-brand phone accessories and packaging requirements for cellphone makers. Both are geared toward minimizing the surplus of paper and plastic that tends to come with the purchase of your device, and both will require the use of recycled and recyclable materials. AT&T expects to save 200 tons of excess materials by the end of 2010, which is very encouraging, but also disturbing in that it lets us know we were wasting 200 tons each year that could, presumably, have been saved by some sager planning. Anyway, better late than never — and guess what, it will probably end up costing the company less than those inane advert attacks on Verizon.

AT&T moves toward eco-friendly packaging, earns our approbation originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Melbourne icon was shut down recently due to damages that were apparently too severe to bother fixing, but thankfully for the otherwise stunning Southern Star Observation Wheel, a few good men and women have their gears going about what to do next. Designer Büro North, who also dreamed up the VEIL Solar Shades, has a most splendorous idea of how to turn a broken ride into something that actually benefits local citizens. Obviously everything’s still a pipe dream for now, but said dream involves strapping solar sails onto the sides and creating a wind-driven energy generation machine that pulls juice from two renewable sources. And let’s be honest, you’d totally ride this — risks be darned.

Melbourne’s decommissioned Observation Wheel re-imagined as energy-making windmill originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s 2010, which means there’s a significant chance that your cubicle work could be done from absolutely anywhere. For those still stuck under the burden of old-school management, here’s an idea that might just nab you that raise you’ve been longing for: the CubeTube. Engineered by Solaroad Technologies, this indoor photovoltaic electrical generator straps onto the edges and tops of conventional cubicles and collects light from every angle. Internal batteries are charged up, and power is instantly available for the decade-old Latitude and CRT monitor that’s still residing on your desk. It sounds like you’ll need to ping the company directly for pricing quotes and the like, but if you managers are seriously considering this for your office, maybe they should first calculate the cost and carbon savings from letting their subordinates telecommute. Just sayin’.

Solaroad’s CubeTube adds solar panels to your cube, lowers the cost of you working there originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mercedes has just announced its latest “research vehicle,” the F800 Style, and as concepts are wont to do, it intersperses some extremely ambitious goals with plenty of viable and forthcoming improvements. The two powertrain options touted by the company represent this best. On the one hand, there’s a perfectly reasonable PHEV setup that will generate north of 400bhp combined grunt and offer an 18-mile range when abstaining from gas power. On the other, there’s an electric drive with fuel cells system that will get you a spectacular 375-mile cruising range — if only it’d make it to real products, which seems highly unlikely right now. All the same, as the company’s premium sedan concept, the F800 Style represents the direction of Mercedes’ future designs, both in its external styling and in the internal focus on becoming friendlier to the environment. We can find little reason to object to either. Check out a couple more pics after the break, then hit Autoblog for more details.

Continue reading Mercedes-Benz F800 Style teases us with fuel cells, aggressive new look

Mercedes-Benz F800 Style teases us with fuel cells, aggressive new look originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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