Posted 11/03/09 at 09:00:54 AM by Paul Lilly

Want to get in Mother Nature's good graces and maybe save a buck or two while doing so? Combine Samsung's memory chips with Microsoft's operating system. That's the message in a nutshell the two companies will work together to promote.

"There is not doubt that the combination of Windows 7 and 40nm DDR3 in new PCs will make users very happy," said Dong-Soo Jun, executive senior vice president of memory marketing at Samsung Electronics. "If you opt for 4GB of memory in a Windows 7-based system, over typical 2GB-based systems used today, you'll see an increase in performance, while using less power thanks to the efficiency of Samsung's 40nm DDR3 DRAM."

If this all sounds a little bit hokey, you may just have to get used to it. Depending on how this marketing campaign plays out, Samsung suggested it might further collaborate with Microsoft on more green IT efforts on a global scale.

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Posted 10/15/09 at 08:48:06 AM by Paul Lilly

Dell in the past 12 months has been making a concerted effort to reduce its carbon footprint and go green, but according to Newsweek, Hewlett-Packard is the greenest Fortune 500 company around. That's an interesting position to put the OEM in, considering Greenpeace ranked HP No. 14.

So why the disparity? Well, according to Gizmodo, Newsweek takes a holistic view when ranking companies, which includes greenhouse emissions, water consumption, and supply chain management. Greenpeace, on the other hand, is about the benchmarks, such as how much toxic chemicals are being used.

One specific area in which the two rankings disagree is with HP's use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardant (BFR). Greenpeace was critical of their use, while Newsweek praised the company for its diminished usage.

As for Dell? The OEM still ranked high in Newsweek's report, taking the No. 2 spot. The rest of the top 5 included, in order, Johnson & Johnson, Intel, and IBM.

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Posted 08/07/09 at 02:00:36 PM by Paul Lilly

Sprint on Thursday announced the Samsung Reclaim, the first phone in the U.S. constructed from eco-friendly bio-plastic materials. In addition to being constructed from 80 percent recyclable materials, Sprint said it will donate $2 to The Nature Conservancy's Adopt an Acre program each time a customer purchases a Reclaim.

"This generous donation from Sprint will help us protect and restore some of America's most beautiful and ecologically-important landscapes for future generations to enjoy," said Mark Tercek, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy. "We applaud Sprint's sustainability efforts, as innovation and new technology are crucial to the future of conservation."

Features of the Reclaim include a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard, Sprint Navigation with GPS support, 2MP camera with 3x digital zoom and camcorder, expandable memory up to 32GB, and an integrated web browser.

The Reclaim will be made available in choice of Earth Green or Ocean Blue starting August 16 for $50 (after $30 instant rebate and $50 MIR) with a two-year service agreement.

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Posted 06/05/09 at 10:14:10 AM by Paul Lilly

Maingear this week announced the Pulse gaming PC, the first Ion-based rig to sport upgradeable Nvidia graphics. The company also claims its Pulse is the "world's greenest gaming PC."

Built around Nvidia's Ion platform, the Pulse comes standard with an Intel 65W Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad processor, integrated GeForce 9300 graphics upgradeable to a discrete 9800 GT ECO card which the company says consumes 40 percent less power than a standard 9800 GT, up to 8GB of DDR2-800 memory, up to a 500GB hard drive or 160GB SSD, and an 80+ certified 300W power supply.

"The Maingear Puls with Nvidia graphics perfect for anyone who wants a small, energy efficient, and stylish PC," Maingear stated in a press release. "With its Nvidia Ion-based motherboard, the Pulse delivers the best graphics solution available for low-power, small form factor designs.

The Pulse is available now starting at $800.

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Posted 04/27/09 at 11:30:17 AM by David Murphy

Green. It's all the rage in the technology world nowadays. You've got green hard drives. Green laptops. Green desktops. Green printers (with soy ink!). Green displays. Green power strips. Louis Armstrong saw skies of blue and clouds of white, but any geek worth his electric bill sees nothing but green. It's the color of the environment, and it's the color of all the cash you'll be saving by using green-themed applications to curtail your out-of-control PC habits. Or normal PC habits, because anyone can benefit from the open-source and freeware applications we're profiling in this week's software roundup. Best of all, most of these applications automatically take care of your green actions for you--set them up to run, and you won't have to lift a finger to tap into increased savings and Captain Planet-style goodwill.

The power is yours... after the jump!

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Posted 03/17/09 at 04:05:23 PM by Paul Lilly

Microsoft makes its way to the increasingly popular green movement by announcing to its more than 90,000 employees plans to reduce its carbon emissions by more than 30 percent by 2012.

"As a technology company, we believe that our footprint goals will be met by leveraging software and technology," Microsoft's sustainability chief Rob Bernard wrote in a blog post. "We will work to provide advances in our building operations, we will continue to expand our use of our Unified Communications tools...and will look for new ways to reduce our use of resources in our datacenters by continuing to push the envelope on innovation in how datacenters are designed, built, and operated."

Bernard said Microsoft's goal can be achieved by improving energy use in its buildings and operations, reducing air travel, and increasing the use of renewable energy. Some of that work has already begun, and Bernard claims Microsoft was able to save over $90 million on travel by utilizing remote conferencing.

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Posted 03/04/09 at 11:07:02 AM by Paul Lilly

Dell has announced a new 24-inch LED widescreen display the company says will help cut energy costs and environmental impact. In addition to LED technology, energy saving features of Dell's new green G2410 display include the use of "recycled materials and other environmentally preferable components," less than 0.15W of power consumption when in sleep mode, manufacturing free of PVC, BFR, CFR, arsenic, and mercury, and reduced waste due to up to 20 percent slimmer panel than comparable models.

The G2410 sports a 1920x1080 screen resolution, which might be disappointing for some gamers hoping for 1920x1200, however it's enough for movie buffs to get full 1080p content. Other specs include a 1000:1 contrast ratio, 16.7 million color support, a 5ms response time, and 250 cd/m2 brightness. Connectivity options are limited to VGA and DVI-D.

The G2410 is available now for $349.

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Posted 02/10/09 at 10:21:48 AM by Paul Lilly

Big blue is seeing green, and it wants its business partners to see the same color. To that end, IBM has launched its "Ready for Energy & Environment" validation program for business partners, which currently sits at 100,000 strong. But out of those, only a very small number will qualify.

"We've set a fairly high bar," said IBM's ISVs and developer relations VP Chris Wong. "Only 30 or so partners will make it through the first year."

IBM says that in order for a business partner to pass validation and earn an endorsing mark, its products and services must first meet "stringent criteria" geared towards reducing energy, water, and paper materials. IBM didn't say what those criteria are, saying only that they were "established by the IBM Energy & Environment Review Board" and "are based on IBM's long history of environmentally responsible practices in its own operations."

Business partners who meet IBM's eco-friendly requirements will be allowed to market their product or service as "Ready for IBM Energy & Environment," as well as participate in various IBM marketing campaigns.

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