Sony unveils hand-powered digital camera

Sony unveils hand-powered digital camera

Japan's electronics giant Sony employee Mariko Yamabe displays the world's first battery-less digital camera "Twil N Take." Sony on Thursday unveiled a prototype digital camera shaped like a pizza cutter with a wheel that can be turned to generate enough power to take pictures.

The "Twirl N' Take" camera generates enough electricity for one snap if the the wheel is moved for some 15 seconds, according to a Sony official. A digital camera similar to those used in mobile phones is installed in a handle attached to the wheel, which is equipped with a power-generating device, she said. Moving the wheel and taking pictures would appeal to children but the company has no immediate plan to commercialise it, she said. As the camera has no screen monitor, users must connect the device to a computer to see their pictures. The camera is the latest addition to Sony's "odo" line of hand-powered prototypes aimed at raising environmental awareness. Other products include a "Crank N' Capture" video camera, which is charged by cranking a lever, and a "Spin N' Snap" camera, which has a hole to enable users to spin it with their finger.

Electric scooters in Bangalore

BANGALORE: The world is waking up to the problem of carbon footprints and burning of fossilfuels, and people are looking for greener alternatives. Bangalore already has an electric car (REVA) www.revaindia.com and electric scooter (EKOVEHICLE)www.ekovehicle.com locally manufactured and now there is Yeoman Bike, an electric scooter for young people.

Cheaper alternative Launching the scooters that run on an electric motor and battery here on Tuesday, the Managing Partner of Yeoman Bike, K.M. Gopi, said the chief objective of launching these two-wheelers was to create a cheaper alternative to travel around the city.

Two models

Two models were launched. The first, Cedar 250, is a single-seater scooter priced at Rs. 29,100. It can travel 100 km after the battery is charged for four hours. The cost for a kilometre works out to around 6 paise. It can take a load of 90 kg, he said.

The second model is Engreen MX, which is priced at Rs. 35,950. It has a maximum speed of 60 km an hour and can take a load of 120 kg.

These scooters are fuel-free, noiseless, eco-friendly, maintenance-free and light-weight.

The company has opened its showroom at No. 56, CMH Road, Lakshmipuram, Bangalore 560 048.

Google and Intel head energy saving initiative

Global giants to save earth

Google and Intel are to co-operate on developing more energy-efficient computers and server systems. The world's number one Web search company and the leading chip maker have announced a broad programme designed to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Called the 'Climate Savers Computing Initiative', the initiative will set new efficiency goals for computers and software tools that manage power consumption. Computer makers Dell, HP, IBM and Lenovo have already singed up, as have Microsoft, the US Environmental Protection Agency and more than 25 environmental groups, companies and universities.

The programme comes at a time when Silicon Valley has made clean technology a priority as it seeks to play a greater role in reducing the harmful effects of climate change attributed to global warming.

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin have thrown capital behind numerous environmentally friendly ventures, including the installation of one of the largest solar energy systems to power their sprawling headquarters.

More efficient computing could trim the use of electricity that now is being wasted as heat, which in turn, especially in large server centres, requires more power for air conditioning.

'Today, the average desktop PC wastes nearly half of its power and the average server wastes one-third of its power,' Holzle said.

A 90 per cent standard would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 54 million tons a year and save more than $5.5 billion in energy costs, he said at a meeting at Google's headquarters in Mountain View.

The program also includes the World Wildlife Fund, which licensed the initiative from its WWF Climate Savers program, and California utility PG&E, which offers rebate programs for energy savings products.