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The trouble with trying to save energy is that we don’t really know how much we actually use.  I mean, I get an energy bill every month, but what good is that information in real-time?

I suppose this is why devices like the EnergyHub were created.  This UMPC looking device puts the energy consuming information in the hands of the user.

The EnergyHub has a touchscreen that acts as a “dashboard” which allows the user to set monthly consumption targets, and some great info about their current energy consumption.  This information is also available by the user over the Internet. 

So, with all of these graphs and readouts on the EnergyHub, we really have no excuse for wasting energy.  Maybe someday households can have contests to see how saves more.  The company believes that this device will save individual homes up to 20 percent of their normal energy consumption. 

Unfortunately, we do not have any word about a release date or pricing.  Most of the information I have on EnergyHub comes from websites that appear under construction. 

Read [EnergyHub] Via [inhabitat] Via [Engadget]

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Pixlr, a program from Sweden that some compare to Photoshop Express, is a web-based photo editing software that really holds it’s weight.  When you click on the Pixlr.com link, you will immediately be brought to the site and invited to “jump right in” and begin using the software. Flash based, it is actually really rather simple to use for anyone even vaguely familiar with photo editing.

It has some of the same options that you’ve probably seen if you have worked in PE, though I certainly wouldn’t go so far as to put them in the same class. The windows can be moved anywhere in the open space that you like, and you also have the option of moving the toolbars wherever you are comfortable positioning them (same as Photoshop). Speed was decent in my opinion. It took 4 seconds for the program to upload a 1200x800 photo from my computer for me to edit. You obviously don’t have all the editing selections you have in Express, but for someone looking for the basics, and ahem, a free program, this could definitely work just fine. It offers editing options like Brightness/Contrast, Hue/Saturation, the obvious ability to crop and layer photos, it even offers what it calls “Old Photo” (which is kind of a cross between sepia and black and white).

When you are finished editing, you simply click on “Save” image, and you are able to save your edited image to your computer. For a free web-based photo-editing program, it isn’t bad.

Via [drollthings]

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The Japanese government cited overheating ipod nanos as the cause behind three fires. The trade ministry believes the overheating is due to a battery defect in the nanos. Apple has not provided an official statement regarding the incidents, but the Japanese government said Apple reported two cases where people suffered minor burns, according to a Reuters story.

"We are not in the position to speculate on the outcome of the investigation. But after several incidents like these, it would be appropriate for Apple to take some measures to raise the public's awareness," a trade ministry official told Reuters.

Incidents of potentially hazardous iPod nanos aren't isolated to Japan, either. Just recently an iPod nano owner recounted his experience to Consumerist about his media player exploding. A Gizmodo reader reported having the same experience in March

Roger Kay, an analyst and president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, pointed out that Apple has had battery-defect issues in the past with notebooks. In 2006, Apple issued a recall for iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 notebooks, because their batteries contained cells manufactured by Sony, which were causing batteries to explode.

Sony's battery fiasco heavily damaged the company's reputation, but Apple's image escaped unscathed, Kay said.

"I do think the reality distortion zone is a real phenomenon," Kay said. "The same things that damage companies don't damage Apple as much: There's a combination of downplaying, obfuscation and 'No comment' along with the occasional gallant move in which they say we'll take them all back or give a coupon. Typically they try not to respond."

Kay added that it makes sense to see potentially hazardous defects in the iPod nano in particular, given its miniature size.

"If there's anything that's out of control in there there's very little room for error, and I'm not surprised it's happening to the nano," he said. "You're asking it to do a lot in a very, very small package and that's pushing the envelope."

Apple did not return phone calls for comments.

(Photo credit: Stephan Dinges/Flickr)

Lenovo is taking a new mobile Internet device, the IdeaPad U8, to the Beijing Olympics.

The device is about the size of a Sony playstation Portable, with a similar shape, and has a 4.8-inch touch screen. It weighs 12.3 ounces and has Wi-Fi, EDGE access, two cameras and up to 2 GB of memory. It also supports mobile TV, GPS navigation and has free live coverage of the games through China Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting.

The IdeaPad U8 will be available either in all black or a black-and-silver finish. But for the Olympics, Lenovo has created a special commemorative edition that has bright red, yellow and pink stripes on the back.

Lenovo has handed out about 1,000 of these devices to Olympic bloggers and athletes in Beijing, says an Intel evangelist who has the device.

The IdeaPad U8 will be available in Asia only. Lenovo hasn't revealed the pricing or when it will go on sale.

For now though the company will be showing off the device at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco.

Photo: Lenovo IdeaPad U8 (Flickr/Josh Bancroft)

Selling for ¥137, or about $1.25 a can, the official Mega Man drink (aka Rockman in Japan) promotes the ninth installment of the 21-year-old video game series. Capcom has slated Mega Man 9 for a September 2008 release.

The Mega Man energy drink's can design is based on the energy capsule that the Mega Man character consumes to rejuvenate special weapons and health. Maybe I should order some of these to recover my soul after writing for an automotive web site last year. Neer.

Dengeki Online [via Technabob]

Intel has a new vision for the future, and one of them is a mobile mood ring concept that is able to recognize a person from the heartbeat, speech pattern, movements and appearance, helping keep your private information by blocking it from others who it does not recognize. This same device could see use at hotel desks int he future, where checking in will allow this mobile mood ring to run a scan through you, automatically sending your personal preference in room temperature, TV channels and special requests to your suite before you even go up the lift. In addition, this ring is able to track your mood as well as the moods of others, warning you if somebody you don't like is in the area. It will be a long time in coming before something like this can be realized as the technology involved to create this almost-sentient ring would be enormously difficult.

Some people think that solar panels are part of the solution to our energy problem, while another team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) thinks that a solution may be right underneath our feet or, more accurately, beneath our cars. A WPI research team is advancing the idea of using heat absorbed by pavement as an inexpensive source of electricity and hot water. The idea has already been patented by Novotech, Inc. whose president, Michael Hulen, requested that WPI take on the project to perfect the technology.

The research behind the idea of using pavement to generate energy was presented by team members earlier this week at the International Society of Asphalt Pavements in Switzerland. Some of the advantages of using pavement, as presented by the team, is the fact that no new land needs to be secured for the energy source like you would need to do with solar farms and that since roads are resurfaced every 10 to 12 years the technology could be implemented within that normal cycle. Another advantage to a blacktop surface is that it stays hot even when the sun goes down.

The team has been able to demonstrate a proof of concept based on the technology using small slabs of asphalt and halogen-lamps to simulate sunlight within the lab and larger slabs of asphalt outdoors. During tests it was discovered that a special paint could be used to reduce heat reflection and aggregates like quartzite could increase heat absorption which would maximize the asphalt’s ability to produce energy. It seems the final step to perfecting the technology would be to use specially designed pipes to soak up as much heat from the asphalt as possible compared to using simple copper pipes as was used during initial tests.

Read more from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute press release.

Brian’s Opinion

This is the kind of out-of-the-box thinking we need to encourage in order to meet the world’s ongoing energy needs. It seems that we’ve all been stuck on nuclear, solar and wind power as some of the only viable solutions. Who would have thought that a solution existed which used a man-made resource which already has tons of real estate across the world?

I’ll admit that we clearly have not taking nuclear, solar and wind energy to their full potential. Honestly, that’s because of the infrastructure and the investment needed to make them work. Considering we already tear up roads every now and then it would seem that the investment in this new source of energy would be minimal and that the returns would be great.

Just think about. A state could basically lease the use of the road as an energy source to power companies. The revenue could then be used to reduce existing power costs for residents or perhaps beef up state budgets. I would like to think it could also do away with the need for toll toads, but I have a hard time believing that any state government would actually give up revenue even if replaced by another.