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Inhabitat Earth Day special: seven gadgets that help you save energy
The Week in Green is a new item from our friends at Inhabitat, recapping the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us. Today is Earth Day, so we're happy to have Inhabitat contributing this energy saving guide for you. Each day Engadget dishes the dirt on the latest gadgets that make your life easier, more efficient, and just plain keep you entertained. But all of those high-tech gadgets have the potential to put a serious strain on your electricity bill, not to mention the environment. Fear not - this Earth Day Inhabitat is here to help with a set of energy-saving devices that will save you some green while dialing back your utilities bill and lowering your carbon footprint. From household energy monitors that help you understand your power usage to smart home control systems, to ingenious energy-visualizing gizmos, check out our top energy-saving gadgets after the break!
Inhabitat Earth Day special: how to go off-grid with your gadgets
The Week in Green is a new item from our friends at Inhabitat, recapping the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us. Today is Earth Day, so we're happy to have Inhabitat contributing this How-to guide for us. Earth Day isn't just a time for Birkenstock-clad hippies to preach about living off the land. It's also an opportunity to stop and think about some of the easy ways we can lighten our load on the planet, and disconnect from the tether of the electrical outlet and the office cubicle and enjoy the great outdoors. For gadget lovers, that means going off the grid -- whether with mobile solar, wind, hand crank chargers, or hydroelectric power. Below, take a look at some of our favorite off-the-grid gadgets.
Designer clock for iPad available free for Earth Day
I love clocks. My house is filled with different digital and mechanical clocks. I've always loved the Alien Clock, and I have an Atmos Clock I picked up on eBay a few years ago. Now a nice designer clock has made it to the iPad and today only it is free to commemorate Earth Day. click.clock HD presents a striking display of time as the digits rotate around the screen. You can tap the screen and get iTunes controls. To skip from one track to another, drag your finger to the left or the right. Tapping and holding the screen will dim the clock, and if your are connected to external power the iPad auto-lock is disabled and you have a nice animated clock to display on your desk or a table. The clock works in either portrait or landscape mode. Negatives? I'd like to see an alarm clock function. I was surprised the Apple clock app didn't make it over from the iPhone. I liked the world clock, and the alarms on the Apple app. Even the timers were handy. Remember, click.clock HD is free today only in honor of Earth Day. Grab it if you 'have the time.'
Earth Eternal celebrates Earth Day with in-game contest
Many MMOs celebrate the same events in game, such as Thanksgiving/Fall, and the various winter celebrations, but Earth Eternal takes a bit of a different approach in celebrating Earth Day. It's an obvious choice for Earth Eternal, where the storyline revolves around a world in which mankind has wiped itself out, and anthropomorphic beasts have reclaimed the planet. All is not well in this alternate earth, though. Sinister Rotted Treekin are showing up in part of this two-day Earth Day event. Rotted Treekin will spawn throughout the world, threatening Innocent Treekin, who will call for players to come to their aid. Players who respond will be able to enter the contest and compete for some great prizes: "Participants will be competing for the esteemed title Boss Lumberjack, complete with winning a collectable plush Shroomie hat and a forum article dedicated to their combat prowess." The contest kicks off on Earth Day, which is this Thursday, April 22, and continues for two days. Take a screenshot of your battle and send it in to enter. The winner will be announced in-game at 5 p.m. PST on April 23, so good luck to all of you!
Lenovo to launch new ThinkPads, probably on April 22
Those wily social media hounds over at Lenovo are at it again, this time teasing us with a crossword puzzle relating to a new "ThinkPad Series" of machines. Referencing our handy, and so far wholly accurate, leaked slide from February shows that the only Think-branded laptops not yet revealed are the midrange L series. Positioned to replace the aging R models, the L400 and L500 are expected to slot in as bulkier alternatives to the premier T-label ThinkPads. This puzzle tells us that whatever the new computers, they'll be firmly focused on energy and resource efficiency, and for an extra bit of PR kick, they are likely to be announced on Earth Day 2010, which just happens to be this April 22nd. Let's wait and see what Lenovo does to justify the name change and grab for green attention, eh?
NASA celebrates Earth Day with some HD
As has become customary, NASA is celebrating Earth Day with some HD video on NASA TV. The broadcasts have been on all day until 2 p.m., and then from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT. Hit up NASA's website on the read link for details on how to tune into the satellite broadcast, or just check out the YouTube video embedded after the break.
Sony to donate up to $10,000 in celebration of Earth Day
Want to do something green? Why not play a video game or watch a movie? Sony will donate $1 to Conservation International for each "unique paid transaction" made on the PlayStation Store on Earth Day (April 22), with a maximum contribution of $10,000. Each purchase must be made from the PlayStation Video Store.The PlayStation Store currently features a "Save Our Earth" section featuring a rather eclectic mix of sort-of-Earth-related games, including PixelJunk Eden, Flower, Flock! and er, Burn Zombie Burn.
Verizon's FiOS TV expansions: April 18, 2009
This week Verizon announced it was including the YES Network in its package nationally (sans-Yankees games) in addition to all the VOD from last week. Expect those expansion announcements to start picking back up now that the Allentown, PA city council's approved FiOS TV for the area, however with an eight year window to become available, who knows when that could hit, and finally, a few reminders of how to stay Green on Earth Day.Read - Allentown, Pa., Residents Major Step Closer to Verizon FiOS TV -- a Better Choice for Cable TV ServiceRead - 10 Simple Tips on How Technology Can Help Everyone Be Green on Earth Day - and Every DayRead - Verizon to Distribute the YES Network Nationally in High Definition to FiOS 'Extreme HD' Subscribers, Under Multiyear Agreement
NASA's HD Earth Day celebration
A 24 hour concert it's not, but NASA's celebrating Earth Day in its own way, airing an hour of HD footage collected from various trips in space on NASA TV. A silent edition of the broadcast hit Friday morning, which will repeat between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. Monday April 21, and on repeat from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Earth Day, April 22 featuring commentary from NASA scientist Dr. Justin Wilkinson. You can catch the stream online, or the NASA TV channel if you have it, we hear that in HD you can totally see your house from there.[Via Sun Herald]
Corporations finding green in going green
A select few have already discovered just how lucrative going green can be, but for mega-corps around the globe, this year's Earth Day was just as much about earning green as it was recycling. While throngs of companies have already instituted programs to recollect and recycle customer's obsolete gear, outfits are now looking for easy money in selling scrap material, used plastics, hardware components, and "refurbished PCs," all while tooting their own horn and eliciting a good bit of positive PR love along the way. According to IDC analysts, the global demand for such junk unusual treasures is on the rise, making it easier for companies such as Dell, Apple, and Sony to flip the returned hardware for extra cash. Furthermore, some say that these in-your-face recycling programs could even entice users to scrap their current PCs faster than they otherwise would, which could also lead to more business with said companies as they plunk down for yet another computer that they honestly didn't need. Sure, the motives behind going green in the tech industry could be swaying, but as long as hardware retirement and disposal is being handled in an environmentally-friendly way, we suppose there's not much room to repine.
Joystiq at the Pokemon launch party in NYC
Thousands of Pokemon fans stormed the Nintendo World Store for their incredible Pokemon Diamond & Pearl launch party. Getting into the event was no easy task, as the line stretched across a New York avenue. Once inside, fans were treated to equally long lines to purchase the game, and a myriad of activities to partake in. A scavenger hunt had Pokemaniacs survive the heat and go through all the stations set up for fans.Junichi Masuda and Shigeru Ohmori from Game Freak stopped by to answer fan's questions and sign autographs. In spite of the surprising success of the Pokemon franchise, the two were incredibly humble and seemed jovial in the presence of their adoring fans. Children (of all ages) crowded the plaza for a chance to meet some of the people responsible for this global phenomenon.To end the festivities, Nintendo made an incredible donation to Earth Day NY: a giant check (is there any other kind?) for $10,000 was presented to the eco-friendly charity. The event was a blast, and everyone appeared to be in high spirits. Considering the thousands of people in attendance, it's safe to say that the Pokemon phenomenon is still going strong.%Gallery-2731%
Apple gets going on recycling program
After announcing their free computer take-back program in April -- just in time for Earth Day -- Apple is finally getting the program off the ground and are now accepting any old Mac or PC with the purchase of a new Mac. When you purchase a computer from the Apple Store or an Apple retail location, you can opt for the program and Apple will email you instructions and a shipping label to get your old box to their recycling center. We're not sure it'll quiet the company's detractors on environmental issues, but it sure makes for a fancy press release.
