Tech & Gadget Stream

The folks at AU KDDI and Sharp will soon release a brand new cell phone in Japan that will come with a solar panel built into its lid, allowing you to juice up your handset wherever you go as long as there is sufficient sunlight. Of course, we're pretty sure this will also come with a power adapter for those moments when you're relegated to working in a cubicle that has no window, hence cutting off your handset from the precious rays of the sun. A 10 minute charge under direct sunlight is good for 1 minute of talktime or 2 hours of standby time. Being waterproof and scheduled for a June release, we think we've found our perfect summer phone. Hopefully it makes its way out of Japan though.

Alcatraz, or better known as The Rock, sees up to 3 million visitors each year, and all of them are ferried over from San Francisco's bay area. When you think of all the trips taken, the carbon footprint left behind is no longer negligible, which is why Alcatraz Cruises has just rolled out their own green solution in the form of the Hornblower Hybrid ferry. This multi-hulled hybrid boat relies on a couple of wind turbines and a solar array in order to power its navigation tools, lighting as well as a segment of its propulsion system. Maximum passenger capacity stands at 160 people, and whenever the Hornblower Hybrid is idling or in low propulsion mode, it will sip juice from its batteries. When power is required, it will kickstart its Tier 2 marine diesel engines that are touted to be cleaner in comparison to standard catamaran engines. Nice to see the tourism industry take yet another step in keeping the earth green - let's hope other cruise agencies follow suit.

Of all the sweet and chic cases available in plenty for your iPhone, why would you want to even glance at this leather iPhone case which, at best, can only be termed an ugly duckling ? Because, forgetting its ungainly looks for a moment, it is a solar powered case which can juice up your iPhone perhaps during that unexpected emergency when your phone’s completely dead and an alternate power source is hard to find. The leather case conceals a rechargeable battery that you can charge either by solar power or via USB. Then transfering the power to your iPhone takes just a few simple steps – just insert the iPhone into the case and you are done. The iPhone fully charges up in less than 3 hours provided the battery within the case has been fully charged. Cons ? The battery itself takes an agonizing 12 hours to charge on solar power, and you will have to part with an unreasonable $48 to bring home this beast.

Louis Palmer from Switzerland will be attempting to go around the globe in his solar-powered car. His long journey began last year when he set out from Lucerne, Switzerland last July, and over a year he has traversed Europe, the Middle East as well as India. This three-wheeled, two seater comes with a "Taxi" sign that offers rides to whoever is interested in his journey to create history. Louis will be in Bali, Indonesia this week. The Solar Taxi pulls a trailer along with additional solar panels, resulting in a total cell area of 65 square feet. To date, Louis has covered nearly 9,000 miles and ought to make his way to the US sometime next year before he reaches home sweet home.

A few days ago at 3GSM in Barcelona, Iqua (in partnership with Suntrica) showed off their solar-powered bluetooth headsets. Modeled on their existing Vogue headset (pictured above), I assume it’ll have some solar panels on the outside, which can be used to charge the internal battery. The only hard numbers available say it’ll weigh 14 grams (no details about talk time, charge time, or battery life), and if it’s got the same specs as the Vogue, it’ll be a pretty typical headset otherwise. From the press release: Imagine sailing with friends – most of them have mobile phones, digital cameras, MP3 players and laptops on the boat. When there is an opportunity to charge the batteries, everyone rushes to get their device plugged. With the new elegant Iqua headset, you can just relax, sunbathe and let its battery charge. With the BHS-603 SUN, you not only look stylish, but save energy at the same time. Yeah, my friends and I go sailing (?) with our laptops (??) all the time. What concerns me ...

Do you take your laptop camping with you? Or live in fear of a blackout? Either way, Earthtech Products is offering a solution: a combined Solar Laptop Charger and Portable Power Kit . The foldable solar panel takes about 11-12 hours to charge the 300W PowerPack, which can then provide up to six hours of laptop runtime. Ahh, clean energy. And it's not just for laptops, of course; according to the website, PowerPack can run a "hand-held blender"--one can only imagine why you need to do this in an emergency-or jump-start a car. Excellent. Other uses come to mind: charging cameras or cell phones, for example. All for only $478.95.

Not so long ago the only way to share your music with the great outdoors was to lug a ghetto blaster around the garden or buy a really long cable for your stereo speakers and pray for dry weather. But not any more, because the nifty Wireless Solar Speaker renders the aforementioned practices obsolete. Simply plonk this discreet device on the grass or hide it in the hedge and its 5w speaker will pump out up to 70dbs of punchy music al fresco. How? Easy, because the speaker itself contains an eco-friendly solar panel to charge the onboard battery directly from the sun's rays and an accompanying mains-powered transmitter plugs into your MP3/CD player/radio and beams the music to the speaker from up to 150ft away. Brilliant! Whether you're chillin' in the garden, partying on the patio or boogie-ing round the barbecue, the Wireless Solar Speaker is bound to become an indispensable outdoor accessory. Yes, you can listen to your MP3s outside via headphones but that's no good w...