Hasta La Gadget!

Mama always told us that there’d be trade-offs in life, but we aren’t so sure we’re kosher with this one. As the story goes, a team of Wolverines from the University of Michigan figured out a solution to an age-old problem: effectively lowering power consumption by a significant amount in electronic devices. Anyone with a smartphone yearns for better battery life, and while Stevie J may argue that no one reads for ten hours straight, we’d still rather have the option than not. The development revolves around “near-threshold computing” (NTC), which allows electronic wares to operate at lower voltages than normal, in turn lowering energy consumption. Researchers estimate that power energy requirements could be lowered by “10 to 100 times or more,” but unfortunately, that low-voltage operation would lead to “performance loss, performance variation, and memory and logic failures.” We appreciate the hard work, folks, but could you hit us back when the side effects are somewhat less daunting?

Filed under: Science

UMich gurus greatly reduce gadget energy consumption (at the expense of awesomeness) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Feb 2010 10:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen LED-laced dresses before — though sometimes we’d rather we hadn’t — but this one here is almost refined enough for us to consider wearing. Stitched together using conductive embroidery, hundreds of LEDs are connected to a CO2 detector and react to its input with anything from a slow pulsating glow to a blinking signal of doom. No mention of Morse code messages, unfortunately, but this is run by an Arduino chip — which means programming malleability (read: near-limitless possibilities) should be built in. Just know that when you see the next Bond girl communicating with Daniel Craig via her haute tech outfit, we had the idea first. A closeup of the dress and processor awaits after the break.

Continue reading Diffus pollution dress is turned on by CO2, prefers a clean environment

Diffus pollution dress is turned on by CO2, prefers a clean environment originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re into real life bunny wabbits and other such wildlife, but not a fan of the cold, wet and windy outdoors, what do you do? We’d say just boot up the console and shoot you some pixelated peoples, but Steve Norris’ idea might be just a tad more practical. He has authored the above mobile snap-station, which is equipped with an infrared video camera, a Nikon DSLR, and pairs of motors, 10Ah batteries, and solar panels. Power flows from the latter into the former to turn wildlife stalking into a pleasurable pastime for even the most indoorsy of folks. Video demonstration of the hardware after the break.

Continue reading CoolerBot photographs nature, gets its power from it

CoolerBot photographs nature, gets its power from it originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Good news, kids — the solar-powered jet with globetrotting ambitions has started sneaking out of the hangar and onto the runway for some mild exercise in the form of landing gear and taxi testing. Captained by Bertrand Piccard — a real person — the Solar Impulse project is still on track for a 2012 globe circumnavigation attempt powered only by the sun’s rays from above and the well-wishes from below. The humongous bird is described as having “the wingspan of an Airbus and the weight of a car,” and its recent outdoorsy jaunts have done nothing to dampen spirits, making that roadmap for its first flight early next year seem entirely viable. We’ve got no less than three videos for you after the break, but we won’t mind if you only watch one.

Continue reading Captain Piccard’s Solar Impulse starts runway testing

Captain Piccard’s Solar Impulse starts runway testing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google has its PowerMeter, Microsoft has its Hohm and Obama has his “smart meters.” Got it? Good. Around two years after UK taxpayers began footing the bill for in-home energy monitors, it seems as if America’s current administration is looking to follow suit. While visiting the now-open solar facility in Arcadia, Florida today, the Pres announced that $3.4 billion in cash that the US doesn’t actually have has just been set aside for a number of things, namely an intelligent power grid and a whole bundle of smart power meters. Aside from boring apparatuses like new digital transformers and grid sensors (both of which are designed to modernize the nation’s “dilapidated” electric network), 18 million smart meters and 1 million “other in-home devices” will be installed in select abodes. The idea here is to give individuals a better way to monitor their electricity usage, with the eventual goal set at 40 million installed meters over the next few years. Great idea, guys — or you know, you could just advise people to turn stuff off when they aren’t using it, or not use energy they can’t afford. Just sayin’.

Filed under: Household

US government lays out cash for wall-based, in-home ‘smart meters’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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