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Wysip’s Photovoltaic Film Hopes To Turn Your Cellphone Into A Solar Panel

March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Wysip Photovoltaic Film Turns Cellphone Into Solar PanelFrom an article on LaptopMag.com

Wysips might have created a truly Jubbling technology that could change the way we charge our cellphones. Their product is a super-thin, transparent photovoltaic film that sits on a cellphone screen and according to the Wysip, the photovoltaic film will not affect the accuracy of a phone’s touchscreen. The photovoltaic film, which is 100 microns thin, sits on the screen for the demo only; future models of the Wysip photovoltaic film will be integrated into your phones LCD.

An important feature pointed out in the video below is how the Wysip photovoltaic film will continuously charge a cellphone as long as the screen is facing light and whether it’s in use or not. To charge a typical cell phone battery, it would take Wysip’s photovoltaic film 6 hours of outdoor light, indoor charging would take considerably longer. Wysip’s goal for the second-generation of their product, which is due out next year, is 30 minutes of talk time after an hour of charging. Not quite the speed of AC or USB charging but definitely more Jubbling.

On Wysip’s website, they calculate how a nuclear reactor’s worth of production of electricity could be saved by porting their technology to the 2 billion mobile phones being used today. Vampire draw would also be an area for saving with the Wysip photovoltaic film. Future applications and integration of Wysip’s photovoltaic film technology would be in laptops and e-readers.

After reading about $60 million wave power farms and researching the heck out of the Solar Bra, I’ve become a little cynical of all of the crap labeled as green. It’s nice to see a Jubbling idea that may actually work and change the way we currently consume.

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Filed Under: Consumer Electronics, Featured Jubbling, Gadgets, Reduce, Renewable Energy, Solar, Solar Gadgets Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Wants To Help You Reduce Standby Power and Vampire Draw

March 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Lawrence Berkeley National Labs Standby Power and Vampire Draw DataLawrence Berkeley National Laboratories resource for calculating standby power and vampire draw is not new but the information never gets old. Standby power is the power consumed by an appliance when it is turned off and vampire draw refers to charged devices, like cellphones, that continue to consume electricity when fully charged. It’s amazing how much energy is consumed by all of the devices in our homes that are not in use. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory offers clues to easily identify those items:

  • Includes remote control
  • Has external power supply
  • Digital display, LED status light, or digital clock
  • Contains a battery charger
  • Has soft-touch key-pad

According to LBNL’s FAQ, standby power and vampire draw accounts for 5 – 10% of the electricity we consume. They also point out that with some changes, this could be reduced by 75% .

I’d swear the set-top box DVR for cable tv and satellite was developed by electric companies; it’s the only device I found in the list that consumes nearly as much electricity OFF as it does ON. One of the easy solutions suggested for reducing standby power and vampire draw is the use of power strips because they allow you to disconnect multiple devices at one time.

You probably do not have to get all freakish about reducing standby power and vampire draw; that would be my tendency. So we will re-post this article every 6 months and hopefully each time, you’ll find one area that you can make a change and reduce your consumption.

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Filed Under: Gadgets, Home, Home Theater, Office Technology, Reduce, Useful Jubbling Tagged With: , , ,

Tango Group Creates Shower-Powered Radio

March 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

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Shower Powered RadioIt runs without batteries but is it Jubbling? Tango Group’s H2O shower powered radio is exactly what its name says; it attaches to the water source before your shower head and uses water to power a radio. According to Vivian Blick, one of the creators of the product, the shower powered radio combines two things the British public loves, “showers and radios.” Lucy Siegel of The Observer wondered if the product would encourage people to stay longer in the shower wasting heated water to listen to their favorite song. Mr. Blick pointed out that this was only the first generation. A future version will include a shower timer and by the third generation, H2O hopes to incorporate an shower powered LCD screen that displays how much you are spending on your shower.

Now, is it Jubbling? Hard to tell but thankfully, they did not include “eco” or “green” in the product name because then, it definitely wouldn’t be. But I’d like to help Tango with Jubbling up their next product and again, this is a freebie.

Dear Tango Group Ltd.,
I just wanted to let you know that I’ve read about your H2O shower powered radio and I think it’s cool. My only reservation is that it’s more than likely going to be powered by hot water. If a good song starts playing, a shower radio user is less likely to get out which is kind of a waste of hot water. So maybe having the volume level determined by how cold a shower is might be a good idea to implement. But I’ve got an even better application for your shower powered radio.

WhizCeiverWhat we need to do is attach a funnel to the top of the H2O shower radio and then here’s the kicker – we’ll put it in a urinal. Peeeak of Jubbling! You can strip out the volume control and the tuner because nobody is going to want to change either. Then give those in need of relief a nice target to aim for; like a funnel with a bullseye. That’s because adding the funnel and rewarding the whizzer with music not only encouraged them to whiz on the target, instead of whizzing the floor, but it may also get your male patrons to consume more beverages so they can finish a song. Double win!

Bars, restaurants, sports arenas, stadiums and even shopping malls will line up for this product. And another nice byproduct is that men may even share a urinal, saving water, in order to complete a song or raise the volume (a feature we could add in version 4.2). What to call it? How about the WhizCeiver?

Anyways, we look forward to hearing from you.

XO XO
Jubbling

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Filed Under: Featured Jubbling, Food and Drink, Gadgets, Hygiene, Reduce, Renewable Energy, Sports Tagged With: , , ,

Science&Sons Phonofone III Or Ceramic Coffee Cup?

December 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Ok, the Phonofone III is a great idea. It’s a self-powered ceramic iPhone 4 speaker that kicks out sound in much the same way as the old gramophone wind-up phonographs worked. Your iPhone 4 sits in a base with its speakers pointed down and the audio is channeled, amplified and sent out of the cone shaped speaker. According to Science&Sons’ website, the Phonofone will amplify your iPhone’s audio 4x’s elevating it to 60 dB without the need for electricity. The Phonofone is currently being sold directly by Science&Sons for $195 + shipping.

Done deal – let’s buy one, right? Not really. Gizmodo, one of my favorite sites, always encourages visitors to post comments about the article they just read and the Phonofone III had its share. One of the recurring themes in the comments pushed the idea that the Phonofone III is cool but can be easily duplicated by putting your iPhone 4 in a ceramic coffee cup. I had to try it myself and not surprisingly, it worked great. I didn’t measure how much the audio amplified in the coffee cup but it was a obvious improvement. Changing the angle of my iPhone 4 in the coffee cup also tweaked the bass and treble levels.

Don’t get me wrong, I still like the Jubbling built into the electricity-free Phonofone III but I’m just not in a rush to go out and buy one. Maybe a smaller and less expensive version that also worked as a coffee cup might be enough to justify my purchase. Or maybe Science&Sons could create a version that was clear and let your iPhone 4 sit behind magnified glass – then you could amplify your audio and magnify your video. Or maybe I should just stick with the coffee cup for now.

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Filed Under: Consumer Electronics, Featured Jubbling, Gadgets, Macgyver Jubbling, Movies, Music, Office Technology, Reduce Tagged With: , , , ,

Belkin Conserve’s Insight Energy Use Monitor Is The Peak Of Anal Retentive Jubbling

September 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Belkin Conserve Insight Energy Use MonitorHow cool would it be to walk around your house and see how much electricity every plugged-in device was consuming? Well now you can with Belkin Conserve’s new Insight Energy Use Monitor. Not only will the Belkin Conserve Insight Energy Use Monitor measure energy consumption and standby-draw, but it will also calculate the cost of operation, CO2 generated and the actual wattage consumed.

Thanks to Belkin Conserve’s Insight Energy Use Monitor, you can take off your running shoes and put and end to the whole “turn off a light and run to the meter” old school energy monitoring. Now you can monitor consumption at the source.

How much power is your 65″ plasma consuming in standby mode vs complete shutdown? How much more power does your refrigerator consume when it’s set to “4″ versus being set to “2″? Track it for two hours or two days using Belkin Conserve’s Insight Energy Use Monitor.

You can order Belkin Conserve’s Insight Energy Use Monitor through Amazon.com.

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Filed Under: Consumer Electronics, Featured Jubbling, Gadgets, Jubbling At Home, Office Technology, Reduce, Technology Tagged With: , , ,

Mobile Treadmill Brings Jubbling To Senior Citizens?

September 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Ok, it’s probably way out there but the mobile treadmill out of Japan is worth a post. The mobile treadmill, which is like a human-powered Segway, was developed by Fujie Lab at Japan’s Waseda University. Here’s the video:

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The mobile treadmill amplifies a walker’s normal pace and allows the user to travel 1.5 – 3 times faster than normal walking. Targeting seniors, the mobile treadmill would enable its senior user to move through crowds easier and reach their destination a little quicker. I’m sure a turn signal could be added and a horn. But the seat-belt dragging on the ground outside the driver’s side door is going to be more difficult to replicate.

Wall-e Movie Captain McCreaIs it truly viable? Probably not. Is it Jubbling? A little. Ideas like this are more about research and it does bring to mind what would’ve happened if the Segway took off the way they expected it to. I think the movie Wall-E does a good job of capturing the results of a Segway powered society.

Article found on dVice.com.

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Filed Under: Commuting, Featured Jubbling, Gadgets, Is it Jubbling or Not?, Reduce, Transportation Tagged With: , , ,