September 2008 Archives

As the country was gripped by economic uncertainty, which came to a head just now, one sector had plenty of venture capitalists pouring money into it. Deborah Gage at The San Francisco Chronicle reports that cleantech funding remained robust during the third quarter.

Clean technology startups once again raised a record amount of venture capital in the third quarter, $2.6 billion, with 42 percent of it going to companies in California, according to a new report.

More than two-thirds of the funding went to firms in the United States.

But the torrid pace may not continue, she writes. Eventually, the economy will catch up with everyone.

Although the sector is expected to continue to attract investment, certain players may feel the squeeze. Brian Fan, senior director of research at the Cleantech Group, noted, for instance, that "the cellulosic guys are years away from production," limiting their attractiveness to venture capitalists that will obviously want to see returns sooner.

A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study (press release) found that while IPOs are at a 30-year low, VC activity pressed on, particularly in cleantech.

VC investment in start-ups has remained strong, while funding of capital-intensive sectors such as Cleantech and Life Sciences companies has continued. This suggests a continued trend of more accelerated investment at both ends of the pipeline -- in Start-up/Seed companies and in more mature companies, especially those in the Later stage, based on MoneyTree Report findings.

They also note that the extended funding cycles create an expectation of big IPOs and acquisitions when the markets cooperate. So you'll likely see some big deals when Wall Street gets back to normal. Whatever that is these days.

Want an effective strategy to cut emissions? Start from the top.

That's the message from Cameron Scott of the SFGate.com's The Thin Green Line. Armed with EPA data that pegs electricity generation as the top source of emissions, he argues that meaningful carbon reductions can only take place if we start at the top.

Electricity generation: There are two major things you can do to reduce the GHG emissions that power plants put out. First, use the political system to push for your area to require a certain percentage of its power to come from renewable sources. Second, reduce your energy consumption. There are many relatively painless ways to do that: replace old appliances with EnergyStar models; replace conventional lightbulbs with CFLs; unplug electronics when not in use; turn the heat down a bit and the AC up a bit; do your cleaning with cold water.

Then its time to tackle (in order) the transportation, industry, agriculture, commercial and finally residential categories. Read the rest of Scott's article here, but I suspect that many of you are already following his advice.

Why 1UP, a video game site, cares what its 18-34 audience drives is anyone's guess. But you can bet automobile advertising somehow factors in.

In any case, some gamers were able to tear themselves away from WoW and Rock Band to weigh in on their automotive opinions. And now 1UP has some interesting findings to share with us.

Although the majority of gamers currently own American-made cars (Ford or Chevrolet), 86 percent are planning on purchasing an import for their next car (51 percent Honda; 50 percent Toyota; 30 percent Nissan).

Environmentally-conscience automobiles are on the rise; 91% of 1UP Network gamers indicated that they were interested in a fuel-efficient vehicle.

It's no secret that imports have been making a killing recently because they are widely considered to be more fuel efficient. Though in fairness, US automakers have come off their SUV high.

Also, a 91% interest in fuel-efficient cars?! How times have changed!

A new Twitter follower! We don't get one every day, so humor us...

Urban dwellers can be a green bunch, honestly (and I type this with a straight face).

It can be argued that by just living in walkable, mass transit-friendly cities, citizens can enjoy a pretty low-impact, sustainable lifestyle -- air quality notwithstanding. But then the moment comes that you choke on diesel fumes while waiting for a bus and you look around and ask yourself, how the [bleep] is this supposed to be green?!

Enter Stacey Frost's Urban Re:Vision, sponsors of "competitions for visionary thinkers."

Re:Vision is a diverse group of people focused on changing the urban landscape by reimagining all the components that make up a city block. From energy to transportation to commerce to community, we believe that by finding innovative, healthy and sustainable ideas to help revitalize one urban block, we can create a blueprint for better cities everywhere.

The site provides tons of resources to explore green urban architecture, transport and what it takes to make neighborhoods sustainable and accommodating to residents' needs. There's even some insightful Q&As with Steve Wozniak, GM's Vicki Vlachakis and Earth Day Network's Sean Miller. Give it a visit.

Follow them on Twitter here (and us here).

Treehugger has a neat story on astronomer Mike Davis and his quest to create inexpensive solar panels for his remote (read: off the grid) property in Arizona

Tools of the trade? Ebay, some geeky know-how and elbow grease. The full howto is over on Mike's site where you can see that he's added a little wind turbine to the mix. Good going!

It's no surprise that the Europeans are a little ahead of the green curve. Although that's changing in certain areas.

Nonetheless, here's another example. Stuart Handley at Dell's Inside IT blog has some observations regarding IDC's Green IT Barometer.

Your interpretation of the results will be influenced by whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist. Almost exactly half of European enterprises now have a formal green IT strategy in place (if you’re a pessimist, almost half don’t!). But those that do have a green IT strategy predict they’ll save money this year. These are large companies, spending on average 160 million euros per year on IT. Those with a green IT strategy expect to deliver 14.5% real cost savings in the next 12 months – that equates to an massive 23.2 million euros per year.

There are many hurdles for firms to overcome on the way to establishing a formal green IT strategy. The most frequently mentioned challenges were lack of in-house skills and expertise; other constraints and priorities which are not compatible with a green IT strategy, and plain lack of time.

The results were taken from 459 IT directors at organizations with 1,000+ employees.

[via Twitter - Follow us here: http://twitter.com/eITplanet]

Exciting news!

By 2010, Dell expects to have transitioned their entire laptop catalog to LED backlights. It starts this December with the Dell Latitude E4200, E4300, E6400, E6400 ATG and E6500 as well as the Precision M2400 and M4400.

Dell makes it a point to mention that two-thirds of those Latitudes will ship with LED standard, likely due to suppliers issues.

Why is this such a big deal? I'll let Dell explain...

In addition to being mercury-free and highly recyclable, LED displays deliver significant energy savings compared to cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) technology. For example, Dell’s 15-inch LED displays consume an average of 43 percent less power at maximum brightness, resulting in extraordinary cost and carbon savings. The company estimates customer savings of approximately $20 million and 220 million kilowatt-hours in 2010 and 2011 combined, the equivalent of annual CO2 emissions resulting from energy use of more than 10,000 homes.

See? If you're planning to get a laptop from Dell in the near future, be sure to keep an eye on the specs.

[via EcoGeek]

Remember the utter lunacy of Yahoo's toasty datacenters? Well, now InternetNews' Andy Patrizio clues us into another discovery, this time by Intel: outside air!

The thought of all that largely unprocessed atmosphere touching your systems may give you the heebie-jeebies, but the fears are unfounded says Intel. Oh, and did I mention that the datacenter they used in this experiment was in New Mexico? A dry heat, but still...

With the economizer instead of air conditioning, the power draw was reduced from 111.78 kilowatts to 28.6 kilowatts, a 74 percent reduction in energy consumption. The server failure rate was 4.46 percent, not much worse than the 3.83 percent with air conditioning.

Based on that 74 percent decrease in power consumption, and being able to use air economizers for 91 percent of the year (weather conditions permitting), Intel estimates it could save approximately 67 percent of the total power used annually for cooling. That would translate into $143,000 for a small 500-kilowatt datacenter, or $2.87 million for a 10-megawatt datacenter.

There's also mention of Sun going to the depths of the earth in Japan to keep a datacenter cool.

Today, I did something I swore I'd never do. I visited Second Life.

Not that I hate the concept of virtual worlds, it's just that Second Life never held any appeal for me. Judging by screenshots I had seen here and there, I felt no love for the user generated content -- and the all the kitsch it implies -- that Linden Labs prides itself in.

But, how else to experience IBM's Virtual Green Data Center first hand?

After a quick online registration, a free 30+ MB download and some futzing with the preferences, I was off to see what all the fuss was about.

Image Credit: Tom Raftery via Flickr - Creative Commons

Slow weekend in Second Life? Why not head over to the Virtual Green Data Center (VGDC) at IBM's Virtual Business Center Island?

VGDC is part of IBM's Project Big Green, a $1 billion a year effort to explore and develop energy efficient and sustainable technologies for the data center. And they've decided to showcase their green technologies in an interactive facility in Second Life's virtual playground.

Through the use of avatars, visitors are able to explore the green data center by taking a self-guided, individual, or group tour. The VGDC is available 24 hours a day and, with IBM's Virtual Business Center staffed by live multi-lingual sales avatars five days a week, it is very easy for visitors to get the information and answers they need.

Part of IBM's Roadmap to a Green Data Center, the VGDC enables clients to get the experience of walking through a data center, without the travel costs associated with a physical visit. In addition, this opens up the doors of a data center to a larger audience who, due to security or other restrictions, might never be able to enter a real IBM data center.

In somewhat related green news, IBM has come up with a way to produce 22nm chips. Just imagine how energy efficient those will be.

ServerWatch's Amy Newman attended VMworld, and while the show's over, some themes became prevalent, intentionally or not. For instance, the stock market's wild gyrations weighed heavily on the minds of attendees...

Instead, the economy remained the elephant at the show. Whether it was casual hallway conversation or presentations, Wall Street loomed larger than Silicon Valley on everyone's mind. VMware spared no expense at the show, from the Wednesday night party at the Las Vegas Speedway to amenities throughout the show, and it seemed both incongruous and surreal. More than one attendee commented that it felt very much a it was a last hurrah.

On the technology side, there was a noticeable shift toward desktop virtualization. Is server and storage virtualization already passé?

Even more interesting was the focus on the desktop, or rather, the "client." Mobile devices may well be what ultimately drives acceptance of virtualization into the user side of the enterprise. In fact, client-side virtualization seemed to occupy the "hottest angle" role that storage previously held, perhaps because virtual storage has gained mainstream acceptance, and client-side virtualization will actually impact storage.

Catch the rest of her VMworld coverage, here and here.

Richard Adhikari over at InternetNews reports on VMware's focus on Virtual Appliances, the company's term for prepackaged virtualized computing environments.

VMware already has 900 software vendors who are offering virtual machine packages through its Virtual Appliance Marketplace, formerly known as the VMTN Virtual Appliances Directory.

VMware Studio, which can be downloaded from VMware's Web site, enables vendors to build customized virtual appliances that can be shipped in Open Virtual Machine Format (OVF), a set of guidelines developed by a number of virtualization industry players.

Adhikari also covered the keynote where some of the themes included envisioning IT infrastructure as a "a single giant computer on which applications can be provisioned" and the future of application development.

VMware will evolve its infrastructure so that any management changes to the infrastructure do not impact the application layer at the load level, Maritz announced. "We want to help IT make sure the infrastructure is reliable, robust, secure without having to predict how it impacts their application load."

That distinction is critical because application development is changing, Maritz said. He said that the OS as we know it will be deconstructed and made more applicable to the application framework.

Did you attend VMworld? What was your take?

LCD monitors are pretty green, right? Compared to nearly extinct CRTs, sure.

But among LCDs, there's green and then there's really green.

Lenovo today unwrapped six new ThinkVision monitors that are EPEAT Gold rated and GREENGUARD certified. But the most impressive one, in this writer's opinion, is the 24 inch widescreen L2440x.

The new line-up includes the flagship ThinkVision L2440x Wide monitor, Lenovo’s first 24-inch, low-halogen display that provides up to 225 percent more work area than many ultraportable notebook screens. Using highly efficient White LED backlight technology, the L2440x Wide requires only 29 watts of power to operate3. In addition to providing exceptional picture quality, the L2440x Wide is mercury and arsenic free for a safer computing experience in environments such as offices, stores, classrooms and homes.

24 glorious inches of gaming productivity real estate powered by just 29 watts. That, and LED backlit goodness... I wouldn't mind one of those on my desk, but it would have to be significantly discounted from its $750 price tag.

The other new models, ranging from 17 inches to 24 inches, include the L1700p, L1940 Wide, L1940p Wide, L2240p Wide, and L2440p Wide. The entire line consumes 30-60 percent less energy than older ThinkVision models, according to the company.

Expect them all to arrive by October, with the exception of the Euro-only L1940 Wide, which ships on September 19.

Hardly a surprise to anyone that's been watching, GM officially unveiled the 2011 Chevrolet Volt today. Despite the leaks, it was a pretty momentous occasion since it allowed so many journalists (and their cameras), to get up close to production-spec sheet metal.

There are also plenty of pics of the futuristic interior with the conspicuous, iPod-esque center stack. Other techie delights include a configurable LCD gauge cluster and 7" nav screen and touch controls throughout.

Wired.com has an article on the Volt's design challenges, particularly crafting a car that doesn't look like a hybrid (read: Prius).

Bottom line: I'll take it!

CallWave took the wraps off FUZE, a web-based service that works through your browser (though software is required for some handhelds) to deliver online conferencing and collaboration, and even high-def video. You can read about the specifics in my article on the main site.

Here I'm going to fill you in a little about my experience behind the wheel, so to speak.

Let's be honest; online meeting software is hardly new. But FUZE (all caps) has some nice things going for it.

Last week, I was on a conference call with CallWave's CEO, Jeff Cavins, with FUZE as both the subject of the call and a backdrop. For starters, the default interface is quite nice: slick and tastefully dimmed so that the main window is the center of attention. Everything else (chat window, roll-call widget...) is arrayed pretty logically. What you see on the FUZE site (above) is pretty much what you get.

The best part, in my opinion, is the main viewing area.

Sure, usually PowerPoint presentations go there, but with FUZE you can stream HD-quality video (YMMV). Those with fat pipes will surely enjoy some great-looking online training sessions; doctors and scientists can zoom into the tiniest details of an x-ray, CAT scan or computer rendering; and video experts can pick apart the latest footage and edits.

On the technical side, FUZE sports a lot of features such as Outlook scheduling, negotiating VoIP gateways, Active Directory support and all those other checkboxes that make IT staffers happy.

From a user's perspective though, it's nice to finally attend a web meeting without crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. Everything pretty much worked smoothly on my aging 1.4 GHz ThinkPad laptop running XP and Firefox with a scant 768MB RAM, including the synchronized video streaming, dramatic image zoom-ins and all manner of interactive elements. I've had web conferences that refused to work on anything else but IE, and even with that requirement met, even static presentations crawled.

You might think it's time for a better laptop, and you might be right. But think about this. Today's netbooks don't have that much more horsepower than yesterday's laptops, if that. And which one would you rather be lugging around?

I can't speak to the meeting organizer's dashboard and its ease of use, but my time with it as a participant was pretty flawless. It's also eye pleasing. I know, they say content is king, but there's no harm in having a nice wrapper too. And if you want to uglify it, FUZE is customizable.

In short, my 45 minutes or so with FUZE revealed a web-based conferencing and collaboration product that's pretty polished at this early stage. And having sat through countless web meetings, that's saying a lot.

According to Gartner, by the year 2011 46.6 million folks will work from home one day a week, with a whopping 112 million telecommuting at least one day a month. Decent news for the green crowd, of course, with it's inherent reduction of carbon output and gas utilization.

But as many telecommuters will attest (I among them) working from home is not always the blissful experience it's made out to be. In addition to obvious potential shortcomings such as connectivity/configuration problems, gear failures, and home network bandwidth contention, is the often overlooked social aspect of home-based workers. In brief: Working from home can be an often too-solitary experience. You may not always like your coworkers. But you may be surprised at how much you miss them when there aren't any around for days at a time.

Dubbed the Cisco Virtual Office and already in use by some 12,000 Cisco employees (a number the vendor expects to increase to 20,000 in 2009 and 30,000 in 2010), Cisco's latest toolset for remote access consists of multiple components that seek to alleviate the most common problems facing teleworkers today. Among them: A home router with a "Zero-Touch" methodology that makes the VPN setup and connection largely plug-and-play (and hopefully reduces overall IT help desk calls from stressed and disconnected teleworkers):

"Once the [home router] is connected to the Internet, it "calls home" and automatically downloads a pre-defined configuration that syncs with headquarters." - Cisco PR

Cisco goes on to note that back-end pieces to the platform include the Cisco Configuration Engine, which can manage image distributions to some 10,000 home routers.

Enabling the above is Cisco's 881w Integrated Services Router, which--in combination with a Cisco 7200 Series router on the back-end--facilitates the teleworker's secure connections with the corporate network, while also allowing other family members to establish and utilize their own secure Internet connections simultaneously. But the Cisco suite doesn't stop with providing access to data and applications: Also included in the package is an IP phone, potentially with both video and VoIP capabilities, providing voice and video connections between teleworkers and their peers. According to Cisco, a teleworker can even keep their standard VoIP number/extension when calling from home.

A complete solution to the isolated teleworker syndrome? No. And with a starting price of $700/seat, not the least expensive of remote options, either. But it's certainly a step in the right direction; at least until Holodeck technology progresses to the point where we can all be in the same virtual room at the same time.

More Cisco Virtual Office details on the Enterprise IT Planet Product Guide.

No more fuzzy footage or tactically photographed quarter panels. Real, honest-to-goodness images of the Chevy Volt have escaped GM's PR department in what's being described as a bout of "human error."

The bad news is that the images are contaminated by GM execs, including one of Lutz very nearly draped over the vehicle. *Shudders*

View the images over at Autoblog Green.

While covering Apple's "Let's Rock" event, Engadget's Joshua Topolsky delivers the news green geeks have been awaiting for. Steve Jobs told the crowd, "We think these new nanos are the cleanest we've ever built."

Take that, Greenpeace!

Visit their live coverage of the iTunes/iPod festivities.

Update: Same goes for the iPod Touch! - Gizmodo

Today has turned into a day of green computing launches for Intel.

First, there was the launch of the company's "Harpertown" Xeon 5400 series of processors. The quad-core 45nm, halogen-free parts are among the most energy efficient server chips from Intel, with the low-voltage versions consuming "50 watts of power or just 12.5 watts per core."

They are solid performers as well. According to Intel, a SuperMicro server with a X5470 under the hood set a record on the SPECint_rate2006 benchmark with a score of 150.

Below are the details of the Xeons that went on sale today, including pricing in per 1,000-unit quantities.

• Quad-Core Intel Xeon L5430, 2.66GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 50W, $562
• Quad-Core Intel Xeon X5470, 3.33GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 120W, $1,386
• Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor, 3.4GHz, 1600MHz FSB, 150W, $1,493

The dual-core, 3.5GHz X5270, which goes on sale later this fall, consumes 80 watts and will sell for $1,172 in 1,000-unit quantities. X5400 series Xeons are currently shipping, expect them to pop up in servers from HP, Dell, IBM, Sun... You know, the usual suspects.

On the storage side, Intel has started shipping X18-M and X25-M solid state drives. The 1.8" and 2.5" SATA drives pack 80GB and draw just 0.15 watts during drive activity.

They don't come cheap, though. Each costs $595 -- you guessed it -- in 1,000-unit quantities.

It’s been a while since Power over Ethernet (PoE) has crossed my mind, which has been haunted of late by SSDs, virtualization, power management software, netbooks and the like. Essentially, PoE delivers power (and connectivity, of course) to compatible devices over the network infrastructure.

Aside from office phones and surveillance cameras, I haven’t heard much on the PoE front, which is unfortunate considering how many power bricks the technology could potentially eliminate.

Luckily, there appears to be some progress on that front. James E. Gaskin at PC World tells us:

Moving ever forward, if slowly, the standards groups are working on 802.3at, now lamely labeled "PoE Plus." What happens when they upgrade again? PoE Plus Plus?

Imagination deficient name aside, PoE Plus products should handle at least 24 watts, and some optimists say up to 60 watts. The range of supported devices will then explode, as more power via Ethernet ports meet lower power devices fighting for the "Green" label.

The upcoming standard requires better Ethernet cables, but not much. All new Ethernet cables for 15 years or more are Cat 5, compared to earlier Cat 3. Common today are Cat 5e and Cat 6. By refusing to support the really old Cat 3 cables, new PoE standards will pump more juice through regular Ethernet cables.

PCWorld's article Green PC Needs Less Juice Than a Light Bulb talks about a new British PC that seems perfect for the new PoE standard. It needs only 55 watts in use, yet includes an Intel Core2 Duo processor running at 3.0 GHz and a 1280x1024 LCD monitor. Dell's new Studio Hybrid desktop pulls about 45 watts, but you need an external monitor for that system, just like the Mac Mini.

Stay tuned...

Dell's netbook finally went on sale today and Ubuntu fans looking for some very portable Linux computing will want to consider the base model.

Starting at $349, Dell is offering the Inspiron Mini 9 with Mini OS (Ubuntu 8.04 in netbook guise). Though the specs are modest, even by netbook standards, Ubuntu's resource-light footprint should lend itself nicely to the task at hand. This model ships with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, half-gig of RAM, and 4GB SSD.

For those that can't live without Windows, or were mourning XP's twilight, there's the top-of the line model that starts at $449. That much coin get you the following:

8.9-inch, 1024x600 LED backlit display
Intel Atom N270 Processor
1GB DDR2 16 GB
SSD
Windows XP Home
802.11g Wi-Fi
Integrated Intel 950 Graphics

Ports:

Three USB 2.0 ports
Ethernet 10/100 LAN
15-pin VGA video connector
1-line out, 1 Mic-in
3-in-1 Media Card Reader
AC adapter

For a little more, you can splurge on:

1.3 MP Webcam $10 (.3 MP Standard)
Bluetooth $20
White cover $25 (black standard)

You'll have a bit of a wait ahead of you, however. The earliest shipping date is 9/18/2008 as of this post. And you'll want to wait at least one more day before pulling the trigger. That is, if you're in the market for a non-ultraportable laptop.

Tomorrow, Dell will be running a promotion that will score you a Mini for just $99 if you buy a Studio 15, XPS M1530 or XPS M1330. The deal ends Tuesday, September 9, 6 a.m. Central.

I noted it earlier in today's roundup, but this one deserves a closer look.

During the Home Entertainment Design Challenge, HP won Walmart over with the Pavilion dv6929 Entertainment Notebook. As a piece of technology, the $800 Walmart-exclusive will likely be a decent performer but it won't floor any hard-core gadget geeks. However, HP's approach to packaging will earn it raves, and deservedly so.

You see, gone is the box and assortment of packing materials that get relegated to the attic or garage. Instead, buyers will walk out of Walmart (or Sam's Club) with the laptop, its documentation, disks and accessories, safely tucked away in a stylish messenger bag made of 100 percent recycled fabrics.

This means less overall weight and no box to carry home. According to HP, this results in a 97 percent reduction in packaging for the customer or 65 percent if you factor in the master carton that ships to Walmart.

Either way, very healthy reductions. And overall, this translates into energy and transport costs savings, since HP can ship the laptops to Walmart (3 per box, according to that picture) using fewer materials.

It also should be noted that the dv6929 did earn an Energy Star rating and Silver registration in the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) so the story doesn't end at the bag.

A win-win!

Where McCain and Obama stand on cleantech, oil and other factors shaping the energy debate ahead of the elections.

Drilling down on McCain, Obama energy plans - Cnet

After examining voting records and public statements, research firm New Energy Finance concluded that there are significant differences between the energy stances of Democratic candidate Obama and Republican candidate McCain.

A McCain White House would favor free-market economics and rein in the role of federal government policy on energy. Obama, meanwhile, would seek a more active role for government in promoting the clean energy industry.

Closing the Green Storage Gap - Enterprise Storage Forum

In short, the 'green' message preached by vendors and the industry may be lost on customers, who are far more concerned about the other kind of green — their bottom lines. But the two sides have far more in common than is getting across, and therein lies the opportunity: what is good for the environment is also good for the bottom line.

The green gap consequence can be viewed as one of perception. IT organizations are not, in general, placing a high priority on 'green' even as they address other issues that have ecological and economic implications. The IT industry's messaging is not effectively communicating the availability of green solutions to help IT organizations address their issues. By addressing IT issues today that include power, cooling and floor space, along with asset disposal and recycling, the byproducts are economically and ecologically positive. Likewise, the shift in thinking from power avoidance to more efficient use of energy moving forward helps from both an economic and ecological standpoint.

10 tips for implementing green IT - TechRepublic

Modern operating systems running on Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)-enabled systems incorporate power-saving features that allow you to configure monitors and hard disks to power down after a specified period of inactivity. Systems can be set to hibernate when not in use, thus powering down the CPU and RAM as well.

HP laptop-in-a-bag wins Walmart 'green' challenge - Electronista

HP says it has found a way to reduce notebook packaging materials by 97 percent, and cut transportation costs by 31 percent. The computer giant has won Walmart's "green" Home Entertainment Design Challenge, by packaging a Pavillion dv6929 in a messenger bag capable of doubling as a shipping container.

Panasonic $3,500 AE3000 Projector: Green and Smart with Crazy Contrast - Gizmodo

The $3,500 system handles motion blur withsomething like the 120Hz seen in LCD flat panels: 120 frames per sec for 60Hz content; 96 frames per second for 24P content. It's smart on power consumption, reducing the drain on the lamp according to the scene's requirements.

Saving energy is on everyone's mind lately, and Adaptec today tackles power management for drives on a RAID controller with technology that promises to reduce the power storage systems consume by "up to 70 percent without sacrificing performance."

Really?

You see, the company has baked Intelligent Power Management into its Series 5 and Series 2 Unified Serial RAID controllers. The functionality is designed to help datacenters conserve some power, especially in cases where their apps aren't hitting the drives 24/7.

Accessed through Adaptec Storage Manager software, Intelligent Power Management supports both SATA and SAS drives and is ideal for applications with large blocks of idle time, such as disk-to-disk backup, e-mail archiving and file and print servers. It allows drives to be operated in three power states: 1) Normal operation: full power, full RPM (revolutions per minute); 2) Standby: low-power mode that spins disks at lower RPM during idle periods; and 3) Power-off: disks not spinning. In addition, blackout periods can be set in which power management features are disabled, such as during peak IT activity periods.

The scheduling angle is interesting, but another idea they're pushing is reduced wear and tear. Either way, it's going to take a little management on the part of storage administrators to achieve those savings. So far, the technology is compatible with 122 drives, including the Seagate Barracuda ES SATA, Hitachi Ultrastar SAS drives and an array of Western Digital SATA models.

View the press release here.

Unseen by US Open attendees, and millions more television viewers and online visitors, a small army of USTA and IBM staffers toil under the Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong stadiums. And this year, they are tasked with doing just about everything in an environmentally friendly way as part of an all-encompassing green initiative.

During my visit, Michelle Wilson, chief marketing officer, USTA listed the many ways this year's tournament is driving the green theme home. In addition to hiring environmental consultants, the USTA is investing in energy credits to offset the US Open's impact; expanding its on-site bottle recycling efforts; encouraging the use of mass transit with Metrocard giveaways (60 percent of attendees already take the subway); adding hybrids to its fleet of player transport; and has filmed PSAs that play on several of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center's video boards and air on USA and CBS.

Technologically, the most obvious examples are the scoring and statistics operations and the heavily-virtualized USOpen.org web infrastructure. InternetNews.com's Christopher Saunders paid a behind the scenes visit to the operation's guts. Besides some pics (like the one above), he lends insight into the role of how energy-efficiency and cost-savings are shaping how sporting event employ technology.

At the heart of all this are the half-dozen IBM p6 550 servers, spread across three U.S. datacenters.

The machines use virtualized Linux partitions for Web serving using IBM HTTP Server, with AIX partitions for WebSphere Application Server -- handling some of the site's interactive features like commenting, feedback and player search) -- and WebSphere Business Integration Message Broker for real-time scores and match status updates.

The savings from all this is immediate and sizable: Energy consumption costs have dropped by 23 percent, while costs per visitor are down 38 percent -- even as the site experiences record-breaking demand.

Big Green indeed.

Bamboo is the new go-to material for green gadgetry, it seems. And as implementations go, there have been some hits and misses.

Now Asus has finally started production on the EcoBook, the laptop that first made tech junkies sit up and take notice of the pleasant aftermath of Bamboo's run-in with technology.

EcoBools will ship with 1,280 x 768, 11.1" or 12.1" screens and a choice of Intel Core 2 processors, hybrid drives (spindles + flash), various Vista flavors (though Vista only) and even WiMAX (check out the EcoBook product matrix here). One of the most interesting features to emerge is Asus' real-time power management, called Super Hybrid Engine.

...Super Hybrid Engine can extend battery life between 35% and 70% as compared to notebooks with the same specifications but without the technology, and yet enable users to boost their systems' performance by up to 23%. It achieves this by intelligently monitoring the power requirements of the notebook's components and automatically adjusting the power levels in real-time to match the current consumption needs, thus optimizing both system performance and power efficiency.

No word on pricing yet, but if Dell's nature-loving "sleeve" for the Studio Hybrid is any indication, expect to pay a premium.

[via Engadget]