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The US' TV energy ratings don't reflect the real world
If you were hoping that your new, energy-efficient TV might help save the planet (and your power bill), you're in for bad news. Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group, has published research showing that the US' energy ratings for TVs (such as EnergyGuide and Energy Star) don't line up with consumption in the real world. Tests on 2015 and 2016 sets from LG, Samsung and Vizio show that they use "up to twice" as much energy as claimed, often by turning off power-saving features with "little to no" warning. Some switch off the eco-friendly mode if you so much as change the picture settings, for example, while high dynamic range video will jack up the energy draw by 30 to 50 percent. Even the test footage used for government tests doesn't reflect the electricity you'd use in real-life viewing, the Council adds.
California energy standard could cut PC power use by a third
Computers aren't the power hogs they used to be, but California's Energy Commission believes the industry can do better. It just revealed the likely final version of standards that would reduce PC and monitor energy use in the state, and likely the rest of the US by extension. By requiring technology that reduces idle power draw (like more efficient power supplies), the Commission estimates that it could cut about 1,636 gigawatt-hours of electricity use per year in California, or just under a third of the state's PC energy consumption.
Qualcomm will pay $975 million in anti-monopoly fines to China
It looks like Qualcomm has more troubles than just possibly losing Samsung as a customer: the firm is paying out nearly $975 million (over 6 billion Chinese yuan) in fines to the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission as a result of the NRDC's anti-monopoly investigation. Furthermore, Qualcomm has agreed to not contest China's legal decisions and has to give current OEM customers the chance to renegotiate their contracts in light of new, mandated price adjustments. Oh, as well as a few more concessions...
NRDC: Wii is greenest console of them all
The NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) recently decided to put all of this generation's consoles through their paces and see which console reigns supreme in the eco-friendly department. As we've heard in the past, the Wii has pretty much dominated all of the competition in each field of study. When looking at power consumption, the Wii only uses 16 watts, compared to the 119 watts of the Xbox 360 and 150 watts of the PS3.The full NRDC study can be seen here. Warning: it's pretty much all in pdf format.See also: Nintendo vs. Greenpeace[Via Examiner]
