Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Yes, right now, South America is buzzing with trucks delivering goods.  All these trucks are hoping to blow a tire as soon as possible, so they pour on the miles and take the bumpiest route all in an effort to protect your iPhone, laptop and other gadgetry.  OK, so the trucks may be doing nothing of the sort, but at the end of the day, their tubes have been burned releasing toxins into the air.

But not so much now, thanks to Tread.  Tread is currently buying the butyl rubber, no joke, from pit stops in Quibdo, Columbia.  The company’s employees then make cases out of this, relying on the material’s super resistance to scratches, wear, and UV light .  The company offers many styles of cases for phones (such as the iPhone), iPods, and laptops.

The company behind this, Better Energy Systems is the maker of the Solio solar recharger and of course they offer a case for the Solio.  These cases are another great way to keep that green thing going.

You can find these recycled cases at places like Best Buy, Amazon and REI for reasonable prices.  For example, the Sportster featured in the image above sells for $29.99.  Suggest they ship it by truck.

Product page: [tread]

• Amazon’s deal of the day: PS3, NBA 09 and Blu-ray remote for $400
• Patriots QB joins forces with OLPC
• iPhone is number 1 in mobile ads

Mobile phones and laptops will no longer have to run empty while people are on the go and outside of the house. These modern gadgets can now tap solar energy through the use of a 20000 ma/H solar battery and charger for recharging anywhere. The battery charger can be plugged in the car, or in any ordinary wall plug to quickly recharge its power to be used as a backup battery for your device, and it can also fully tap the suns power by using the built-in solar panels to power your device.

MORE »

GM has chosen its factory in northeastern Spain to be a suitable location for rooftop solar panel installation. The predicted 10-megawatt solar station will be used to supply the plant with most of its power needs, thereby taking the title as the largest rooftop solar station in the world. To get an idea of the scale of this thing, imagine being able to power 4,600 households each year with a constant source of electricity. Now that must be big. How big you ask? GM plans to blanket about 2,000,000 square feet with about 85,000 panels by the end of September. Though, this is nothing for GM. They currently own the two largest solar panel installations in the United States and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. Next stop, Saint Petersburg, Russia. Take that, Al Gore!

Via [PhysOrg]

• Chinavision intro’s solar powered battery charger for mobile phones, laptops
• Intel-powered Solar Tech
• South American inner tubes defend your gadgets

The Eclipse Intuit Phone may very well be just a concept, but its one that is hard to deny has some good looks. In the past, as nice an idea as a solar powered gadget would be, the overall look has not really been visually pleasing, however these images hardly reflect that feeling.

In addition to the “chemically based thin solar skin” that will be able to power your phone, the Eclipse Intuit also a 5-megapixel camera with built-in photo editing software, a large touchscreen display, slide-out QWERTY keyboard with tactile feedback.

The Eclipse Intuit also appears to offer up a variety of ‘buttons’ on the top depending on which mode the handset is in. Everything ranging from left/right buttons with a navigation pad to dedicated camera buttons when in camera mode.

Sadly this is nothing more than a concept, but this is one that would be really nice to see come to life. Keep reading to see a few more images…

MORE »