Hasta La Gadget!

Rugged? Check. Built-in flashlight? Nod. Solar panel on the rear? Yep. Android 2.2? For sure. All of the essentials (and then a few extras) have been tossed onto the Umeox Apollo smartphone, shown off for the first time today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It’s hardly a high-end device — in fact, at just $100 off-contract, it’s bound to be one of the less-capable Froyo handsets on the market. But considering that this is positioned to put Android into the hands of those who aren’t exactly champing at the bit to spend a month’s wages on a phone, we’d say it’s a huge step in the right direction. When asking about specifications, we were told to expect a MediaTek processor, microSD card slot, rear-facing camera and a SIM card slot. The unit on display was a non-working mockup, with an on-site representative noting that shipments should begin to Europe, Latin America and India this May (with other nations to follow). The device felt satisfactorily solid, but unfortunately, no technical details were available regarding the solar panel on the rear.

In related news, the company was also showcasing a couple of other innovations: a new solar cell microchip and its first solar cell. Prior to this week, Intivation only sold the microprocessors, forcing partners to go and find their own panel supplier. Now, it’s entering another business with the Sunboost3 all-in-one solar module, and if it’s hopes and dreams come true, you’ll start seeing these on a slew of upcoming handsets. Hit the PDFs below for more of the nitty-gritty, and peek the Apollo mockup in the gallery below.

Intivation intros Umeox Apollo smartphone: $100, solar-powered, Android 2.2 (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 23:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Intivation (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

You think the rent’s too high? Try buying a depressed property with a hope that it’ll appreciate. As of today, the vast majority of EV chargers are being marketed towards those who have garages to install ’em in. While that’s all fine and dandy for Mr. and Mrs. Suburbia, it’s a bit of a stretch to ask the modern day apartment dweller to install one on the nearest street corner. In an effort to make electric vehicles more feasible for renters, 350Green is envisioning a vast network of chargers near places of work, and it’s getting things going in the Bay Area. Thanks to a little financial help from the folks at Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the aforementioned company will be installing a range of fast chargers in six cities around the area: Albany, Menlo Park, Milbrae, Palo Alto, San Francisco, and Sunnyvale. We’re told that 100 percent of the plazas will be installed in the parking lots of select, high-traffic retail locations, at no cost to the host location, with specific locations to be named in the coming weeks. If all goes well, NorCal’s gem will be hooked up by June of 2012, with additional markets around the US to be addressed following that. Jump on down and mash play to see how it’ll work, and while we’re on the topic, good luck securing one of those HOV stickers for your future EV. Ain’t no lane like the fast lane, ya heard?

Continue reading 350Green plans EV charging network for apartment dwellers, Jimmy McMillan

350Green plans EV charging network for apartment dwellers, Jimmy McMillan originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Feb 2011 09:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Autoblog Green, 350Green  | Email this | Comments

Solar power is the most egalitarian of all energy sources, yet residents in many parts of the world still lack access to electricity. Three University of Michigan engineering students have created an affordable solution to this problem — to the delight of camping geeks everywhere — with the Emerald, a portable solar panel that does double duty as both a cellphone charger and personal light source. We’ve seen the personal solar panel idea before, but the price of entry made it an untenable solution for developing nations. Solar-powered light bulbs have been around for a while too, but the Emerald’s light lasts for eight hours on a charge (as opposed to the bulbs’ two to six hours), and it’s able to fully charge a phone in the same time it takes an outlet to do the job. They aim to sell the device for the low, low, price of under twenty bucks for customers in the developing world, which is 90 percent cheaper than other solutions and 100 percent more awesome.

Continue reading UM students make cheap and portable solar charger / light source for developing nations

UM students make cheap and portable solar charger / light source for developing nations originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  University of Michigan  | Email this | Comments

One big sticking point for those still unwilling to embrace the eco-friendly credentials of electric vehicles is the undeniable fact that building an EV costs plenty in terms of resource and energy use. Hoping to counter this concern, Genovation is working on developing a new G2 electric car (the G1 was a Ford Focus modified with off-the-shelf parts to run on batteries), which will try to maximize the use of renewable and recycled materials in its construction. It’s just completed the first phase of its development, where quarter-size models have been built by Tata Technologies and a bunch of simulations, analyses, and performance tests have been run. Phases two and three will involve the building of functional prototypes and pre-production road vehicles, with phase four presumably being the onset of our sustainable living utopia.

Continue reading Genovation G2 aims to be the greenest thing you can drive, will be made from renewable and recycled parts

Genovation G2 aims to be the greenest thing you can drive, will be made from renewable and recycled parts originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 05:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Autoblog Green  | Email this | Comments

Here’s a shocker in more ways than one. Earlier this month, Enterprise Rent-A-Car announced that it would soon be offering Chevrolet’s Volt at the company’s Mark Christopher Auto Center in Ontario, California, and we reasonably assumed that renters best watch out for any unforeseen charges that may arise from returning it with a dead (or near-dead) stash of batteries. For anyone who has rented a gasoline-powered automobile in the past score, you’ll know that returning a whip with a fuel tank that’s just 90 percent full won’t quite cut it, and you’ll be stuck ponying up for your oversight. Thankfully — at least at Enterprise — a similar surcharge setup will not be applied to electric vehicles. Lisa Martini, a spokesperson for Enterprise, got in touch with us to clarify the outfit’s plans, and they’re shockingly consumer-friendly:

“[Enterprise] does not plan to charge customers for bringing back EVs without a full charge. Enterprise is installing charging stations at locations that will offer EVs, and plans to charge the vehicles once they’re returned.”

That pretty much sums it up for at least one major rental company, and we can only hope that everyone else publishes similar intentions before their accountants publish something to the contrary. Power to the people, eh?

Will rental car companies ding you for returning half-charged electric vehicles? Enterprise won’t. originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Jan 2011 12:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments