The real genius is figuring out what electrochemical mechanism creates electricity within trees, and then harnessing it for useful power. It's based on a pH difference between soil and tree. I think there may be other approaches. Tapping into the xylem and evaporating liquid at an external surface and using the temperature difference across a thermoelectric to drive current... for example.

You don't have to be from MIT (yes, I went there) to come up with great ideas -- they come easily. It's implementing them in a practical and useful way that is invention.

@narutogrey: How many nanotech device components do you know of?? Carbon nanotubes have been around and talked about for so long, and yet getting a gram of it will cost you a fortune. And MEMS, well there is always the promise of low cost. Do you know TI worked on the DLP for 20+ years before it came out as $1000 chip?? Get real.

"easily best solar cells in efficiency and production costs"

Total B.S. So you have a finely tuned antenna for one frequency of the electromagnetic spectrum, abut then have to reject the rest. BTW, more energy is stored at higher frequencies which will require even smaller devices, and will exhibit all sorts of quantum mechanical problems.

Found a likely typo:

WXGA+ W/LED Backlight (1680x1050, 129dpi, 200+ nit)

This from the specs for a 14.1" T400. Highly unlikely. If they erred and meant so say WSXGA+ that would be awesome. Many people have been asking for it since the SXGA+ (1400 x 1050) has disappeared from the US Lenovo lineup.

I am not holding my breath.

They are likely designed to cover up the manufacturer of the tuner chips. A piece of plastic (like that) would hold in heat, not give it off.

I would be interested in the demographic cross-section that shows anyone who wants to own a $150 mouse but does not have BT (likely built-in) and does not know how to pair. Incidentally, you don't see too many high-end cell phones without BT and/or with their own proprietary RF link.

The only issue I could see would be speed/lag with BT especially with if the MEMS are designed for "high speed".

What's new here is the size. There has already been lots of work on energy harvesting/scavenging (google this) and as some of you mention it manifestation in consumer products, Seiko kinetic watches and shake-activated flashlights.

The problem with size is that the amount of power harvested is generally proportional to the size. The fact that they were able to couple it to an accel is an accomplishment. The question is efficiency - how efficiently do they convert vibration energy into electrical energy.

Note also that anything that takes away vibration energy is a damping mechanism. This is why energy scavenging in shoes feels like walking on sand -- I'm exaggerating, but you get the point.

This is supposed to be a reflective display that doesn't need a backlight. eInk and a few other are doing something similar but they don't used MEMS. I think it works by applying some voltage and causes these tiny mirrors on the size of pixel to deflect or modulate light. When I googled MEMS mirror displays I came across this: http://www.terahz.org/_html/18SampledStudies.html
which is an analysis of the TI MEMS mirror. Those mirrors are used in DLP projectors.

Their own website does not claim MP4 compatability, though MP4 is in the name of the product... that's confusing.

I have the 1GB MuVo TX FM & voice recorder. I think its great, and it's a nice slip into the front pocket, and I think it's better than all the other form factors on the market. The only problem is its quiescent power drain, i.e. current draw when it's off is significant enough that it'll drain a AAA battery after a month of no use. I now take out the battery when I'm not using it, but a mechanical slider switch (vs. a software on/off switch) would be preferable, or just better integrated low-power wake-up electronics.