Read/watch the presentation Coolest Eco-Friendly Technologies at CES 2015
published at http://konwersatorium1-ms-pjwstk.blogspot.com/2015/01/week-9-1901-250115-coolest-eco-friendly.html and comment
on/discuss it here.
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I would like to try "Automatic", sadly information about it are not sufficient. Would be nice to know something more, technical details and so on. Connector types, application, compatibility.
ReplyDeleteIn my honest opinion Helios is useless, too big and it's 90 minutes to charge your phone. Maybe on the beach it's nice, but in normal working days it's just useless.
Tzoa looks promising, if they manage to put it into smaller form. I would like to have it in my phone or watch for example. Or maybe not, we are living in polluted environment, maybe it's better to live in unconsciousness...
Not many details about all this gadgets...
ReplyDeleteAs far as Tzoa is concerned I don't feel it...
The other two are quite interesting, but as goes with Automatic it will only works with new cars.
Helios... looks quite big and nowadays we have battery bank which could be charged at home before we leave.
I agree with you @Przemek that descriptions are too poor so it is difficult to evaluate values of those gadgets ;) Nonetheless I’ll try!
DeleteAutomatic – If it really works, it could be useful but I am a little skeptical about it because that device would require a lot of sensors to work.
Tzoa – it is definitely not for me. I don’t get this idea but maybe it could be pretty useful for someone else :)
Helios smart – nice idea but one more time I am skeptical. However, I would like to check this gadget -but only if it is not too expensive…
I'm usually a sucker for eco-friendly gadgets but those just don't seem very green to me.
ReplyDeleteI mean Tzoa has nothing to do with reducing pollution or anything else that we came to associate eco-friendliness with.
I actually supported them on Kickstarter (which went belly-up unfortunately) - there is some real value in there if you e.g. cycle a lot and want to know the quality of air you're breathing.
The solar battery is by no means a new technology. I've checked on Amazon and there are easily ten other, more established brands. Some of them have larger capacity than the 5000mAh in the Helios Smart. They also charge much faster.
My biggest concern with those is that I seriously doubt they live up to their stated purpose of reducing pollution created by you charging your phone. I have no hard data on this but manufacturing the battery, the solar panel, and everything else has to have a larger carbon footprint than the creation of energy you would've taken from the grid had you not purchased this charger.
Considering the battery will die in a couple of years and will not be disposed of properly (let's be honest here, a majority of those will end up in landfills) I actually think it has a considerable net negative environmental impact.
They are great if you are camping, I just don't think they should be marketed as "green".
Automatic is the only one I can get fully behind. On-board diagnostics ports have been a standard for ages now so there is a good chance you've got one and not know about it. I know a person who's been using a very similar system and it's pretty amazing how small changes affect the overall gas consumption.
I don't know why those are "the coolest". I get the idea that being eco-friendly is trendy (lame rhyme alert), but the design of those products is rather shitty and the ideas aren't new at all. Maybe they're more efficient than other products, but I don't know why it should make them "cool".
ReplyDeleteIf someone wants to be cool and eco-freak, he should turn off lights, do not take long baths, recycle etc rather than use more eco-friendly gadgets.
But if I had to pick eco-gadget wich I would use, my choice would be:
- The eco-charger - http://www.unwiredview.com/2009/02/20/carphone-warehouse-outs-eco-charger-for-nokia-samsung-sony-ericsson/
- Bedol Water Clock - http://www.bedolwhatsnext.com/water-powered-clock-c-89_199.html
- GOTA Dishwasher - http://www.geek.com/gadgets/gota-dishwasher-for-those-small-loads-of-dishes-712221/
Let's don't get lame on showing how eco-friendly we are, because that's what's gonna happen to us:
http://southpark.cc.com/full-episodes/s10e02-smug-alert
I’m really excited with new technological inventions! The device for downloading car’s data might be very useful to avoid high expense meeting with a mechanic. If we want to limit our car’s gas consumption, nothing comes as handy as “Automatic”. Recently there was an Intel’s competition called “Make It Wearable” concerning projects which are handy in everyday’s life. In fact it's not straightly connected with eco-friendlyness, but some Poles recently won a 50k $ reward for an invention called “Snowcookie” which helps to gather information about your body and skills during skiing or snowboarding. Could be useful for professionals. The first team has created the flying camera which all in all is minimalized version of a flying drone. Who should win? I expected something a little bit more advanced than a drone taking the first position in this competition :)
ReplyDeleteIs Automatic a new thing? I have seen similar thing when my friend bought one on allegro for ab. 100PLN.
ReplyDeleteIt collects data like acceleration, some errors from computer. Is that an eco gadget? I don't think so.
Tzoa may be interesting if there will be apps using from it. Now it's nothing but sensors.
Helios? Just a big phone charger with solar panels. But someone may like it.
About presentation - it's nice to read but a little too short.
For me Helios Smart looks prommising. Currently all mobile device have the same problem, short battery life. Helios Smart and projects simillar to it (solar energy) as for me are the future of this kind of devices. Even in poland thay have a lot of sense. You can just put your device on table and charge your battery. At the moment I'm thinking about buying something simillar. I would like to charge more things using solar energy. Unfortunatly it is still a bit expensive thing. Lets hope that in future, when the technology will be better, this devices become a lot chiper and more accessible
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of solar power but we are yet to see a practical, working device that really uses it well (apart from huge solar panels). As Dawid said it looks very promising and solves the major issue when it comes to mobile phones. The first gadget seems obsolete, because most of new cars already have all the data right on their displays. Tzoa, the environmental senson, seems like a cool idea but if you're not the quantified-self type of person you won't find much use for it. I know I would love to get one because I regularly collect loads of unnecessary data about my everyday life, like recording sleep cycle, my expenses, diet and distances covered.
ReplyDeleteOnly Automatic seems to be interesting... It stores useful data which can be used for example to make savings on fuel. It makes sense. I would buy it :)
ReplyDeleteBut who needs something like Tzoa? I don't need information about UV in my environment..
These gadget are quite interesting, nothing revolutionary though.
ReplyDeleteThe car I drive has more issues with incorrectly working sensors, then issues with the functioning of diagnosed components, so I think if your car is older then a few years - this device might be only moderately useful.
Tzoa - I live in Kraków. where pollution levels are ridiculously high, so I would prefer not to have a constant update on that....
Helios smart - It seems quite efficient, I don't have a solar mobile charger and I don't know how useful it would be in our weather in the winter for example.
Helios Smart is definitely my thing. I bought a Logitech wireless keyboard (K750) a few years ago , powered entirely by solar energy and it is simply magnificent - it just charges itself and frees the user of worrying about having to change batteries or trying to get it into the light. All handheld devices batteries should evolve into getting energy from sunlight, because it seems impossible for researchers to invent something more efficient than current home appliance or smartphone batteries.
ReplyDeleteI really like gadgets and products of hi tech. However this presentation didn't show anything new for me. Presentation is very simple and boring. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMichal Rogalski hahahahah the hell? :-))) At least try to add some cool facts maybe dude? :-) LOL that "automatic" thing is really a cool stuff for anyone really. Because to have such diagnostics you would probably have to pay alot of money for some better equipped car with advanced computer on board. And that little thing can do all that stuff. For example new mercedes has all that stuff built in - measuring driving skills, changing engine parameters to your skills etc, but you can try to guess the number that's above 30k zł and you are correct - this is how much you have to pay for this additional little piece of software in your car lol
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of Tzoa. It is amazing that you can have a portable environmental sensor in your pocket. Firstly it is just cool thing, but what is more it can be very useful, especially in big cities. Cracow, the city I used to live in, is one of the most polluted cities in Europe. Portable device tracing air quality could be useful there. Helios smart is clever device too. Portable, solar phone-charger, it is really amazing idea! I am just wandering how it would works in out polish cloudy climate.
ReplyDelete