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Dell has made their eco-friendly and small desktop PC available, the Studio Hybrid, which is not your typical low-cost mini PC. Dell has managed to offer the Studio Hybrid at a fair price, beginning at just $499, but also managed to get some decent specs in there as well as keep it both energy efficient and stylish.

The Studio Hybrid, which was originally shown off back in April had the bamboo exterior, however they will ship with seven interchangeable sleeves, which include the original bamboo, as well as emerald, quartz, ruby, sapphire, slate and topaz.

The base model offers a 1.86GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and an 8x CD/DVD burner. The Studio Hybrid also offers a standard DVI and HDMI connector, five USB 2.0 ports, Firewire, a line-in jack on the front, a line-out jack on the rear and a wired Ethernet port.

The Studio Hybrid also has optional upgrades to include built-in Wi-Fi, Blu-ray and a wireless keyboard and mouse. The PC, being touted as eco-friendly and green was noted as using 70 percent less energy while still being 80 percent smaller than a “typical desktop minitower.” It also has an Energy Star 4.0 rating and has its packing material made from 95 percent recyclable material.

Product [Dell]

Held just this past week in San Jose was the Plug-In 2008 conference; where automakers, utilities, battery manufacturers, and academics, along with plug-in advocates from all over, were all there with one goal in mind: how to figure out how to get these cars on the road in big numbers. They realize that this change isn’t going to be simple, whether needed in many ways or not. The automakers have to figure out a way to market the technology to consumers who for the most part know nothing about it. On the part of utilities, they have to develop the infrastructure that would enable millions of people without a garage to plug in their cars. And it’s up to all of them to figure out a way to make the vehicles affordable. Joe Consumer probably isn’t going to buy it if it costs as much as the Batmobile, even if it does save him on gas.

Some of the main issues tackled at the conference addressed just these concerns. First and foremost obviously being, that you have the advocates claiming how the electric cars will save the planet. Hurrah! While most of us by this point are kind of selfishly just wanting something that doesn’t cost so darn much every time we go to the gas station. Hey, this way we can save the earth and our stomachs. Win/win. 

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Those staggeringly high numbers at the gas pumps got you down? Well, then you just may be especially interested in BMW’s latest brainchild, their remake of the Mini Cooper.  Over the next 18 months, BMW plans to use several hundred of their Mini’s to test electric powertrains.  They haven’t leaked much detail-wise, regarding motors or batteries; although they say details will will be forthcoming by the end of the year. 

However, the plans to test are just that...tests. They don’t plan to roll them out onto the assembly line for consumer purchase any time soon. Finally jumping on the environmentally-friendly bandwagon that the other Big Two German car makers, Volkswagen and Daimler, are already on, BMW is now committing to testing completely electric vehicles, but not quite ready to take the plunge to actually market them. As for hybrid cars that use a traditional gasoline engine combined with an electric motor, they should arrive “at the end of next year,” a company spokesperson for BWM was quoted as saying.

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Considering how much gas prices have been going up, it is no surprise that alternative energy cars are starting to make some serious headway in the international auto market.  Not only are the hybrid electric/gas cars becoming more and more common, but some designers are experimenting with solar panels on automobiles. 

A recent development by a Swiss company named Mindset AG has put solar panels on their prototype model, the Six50.  The designer, Mura Guntak, expects this car to run 62 miles per charge.  The car itself is a 2+2 seater, and is about 13 feet long.  Not only that, it can also go 0-60 in about 7 seconds. 

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Another day another product leak from the FCC, the latest is the Starmate 5 from Sirius, which in by itself would not be that exciting. However in this case based on a memo that switched hands from a “testing firm and the FCC authorization staff” included the possibility of the Starmate 5 supporting Sirius channels as well as XM.

“We used the satellite radio signal coming from either XM or Sirius,”

Which assuming that happens, and note as of now its just speculation as nothing official has been announced, this would be the first hybrid satellite radio receiver. Sounds like a great move, however a very risky move, while the DOJ has given their seal of approval on the merger, its still pending FCC approval which is not expected to take place until sometime late in May or possibly into June.

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MIU has announced a new product in the Korean electronics market – the Hybrid Dual Portable Computer (HDPC). The HDPC is equipped with a dual OS, which is a choice between Windows XP and Windows CE or Windows XP and Linux Qplus.

Staying true to its name, the HDPC also supports two functions, that of dual-mode and wireless internet. Actually the HDPC is all about giving users two options on both software and hardware depending on the user’s needs. Being a hybrid of portable devices, the HDPC integrates the different technologies of portable devices such as mobile phone, navigation, PMP, MP3, UMPC, electronic dictionary, internet phone, PSP, digital camera, mobile IPTV and voice recorder, all into one nifty device.

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A Daimler Chrysler Smart forFour has been converted into a plug-in hybrid by Lithium Technology Corp. and Zytek Systems. The lithium-ion battery, created by automotive power train and power management company, Zytek, can propel the vehicle up to 84 mph and last on its own for up to 20 miles. It can be charged by either plugging it into an electrical outlet or the internal combustion engine combined with regenerative braking. The engine is a combination of a 68 horsepower, 1.5 liter, 3-cylinder turbo charged diesel engine and two high-efficiency permanent-magnet electric motors. An internal battery management system helps to maximize the vehicle’s efficiency. Zytek was awarded £1.8 million by the Energy Saving Trust for the “Ultra Low Carbon Car Challenge” project.

Via [The Energy Blog] Site [Lithium Tech. Corp.] Site [Zytek Systems]

Green Car Journal has named the 2007 Toyota Camry hybrid as the Green Car of the Year. Selling for around $26,000 and getting 40/38 mpg, the hybrid system is essentially the same as the Prius with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and aerodynamic design. Toyota is hoping to sell more than 300,000 hybrids by the end of 2007, which shouldn’t be too hard considering rising gas prices and, oh yeah, the Camry is already the top-selling car. No matter how you might feel about hybrid cars’ effect on the environment, they may at least help curb our dependency on foreign oil and “stick it to da man,” even if just a little.

Read [Green Car Journal] Via [Treehugger]

Apaprently even already economical modes of trasportation are feeling the price crunch. Dutch industrial design grad student Crijn Bouman has created the first hydrogen hybrid scooter. Named FHybrid, the front-wheel-driven, hydrogen-powered prototype uses a lithium-ion battery to power an electric motor. The plan is to have a final version for city driving that can reach 40 mph and travel more than 120 miles on one tank of hydrogen. FNow FThat’s FRiggin’ FCool.

Read [Technoride] Read More [TreeHugger]

If you’re worried about switching to HD-DVD cold-turkey, Warner Home Video’s got a solution for you.  They just announced that the first HD-DVD/standard DVD hybrid discs will be available on May 9th.  Do you know what that means?  One side of the disc plays in your HD-DVD player and the other in your standard DVD player.  Excellent move on Warner’s part in an effort to take the stress of switching off your back.  Now you can wait until the prices of the players go down and you’re already on your way to building back up your movie collection.  It’s a shame that the first launch title is Rumor Has It (which is a screwed up movie might I add).

Read [eHomeUpgrade]