Acer LumiRead e-Ink eReader with QWERTY Keyboard

The rising sun marks the end of night just as the birth of digital brings forth the death of paper. Well maybe not quite so dramatic, but eBooks are definitely changing the way we read. With more and more companies jumping on board the cost of eBook readers have been steadily decreasing, and now there is another company on the eBook wagon; Acer, with its new LumiRead to go on sale towards the end of 2010.

eBook readers have been produced since the 1990’s, the first models utilizing LCD screens, much like PDA’s or handheld game machines. Later in 2000’s Sony became the first company to utilize electronic ink; a method of displaying type that is easier on the eyes and very similar to that of traditional paper. After Sony, Amazon came out with the Kindle in 2007. Now a multitude of companies are producing readers, ranging from Dell to Samsung.

So what about Acer’s LumiRead?

The LumiRead uses a pretty standard 6 inch screen, about the size of a paperback’s page. It boasts WiiFi and will possibly utilize 3G technology in future models; allowing users to download titles or surf the net while they are on the go. Unlike the Sony eBook reader but similar to Amazon’s kindle the LumiRead will also have a QWERTY keyboard allowing readers to become authors or (much more likely) simply allowing readers to write emails. It will also have 2 gigabytes of built in memory giving the reader the option of storing 100o’s of titles, pictures and songs.

So why eBook?

That’s a good question. Online there are tens of thousands of free titles ready for download, but most free works with mass literary value are usually classics no longer protected under copyright laws (unless you use less legal methods). As for purchasing eBook titles, their costs are usually very similar to buying the actual print book itself.

The main advantage to eBook readers such as the LumiRead seems to be convenience and the love for all gadgets new and cool burning in our soul. And when the technology becomes more widespread, its affordability will increase to the point where even the most frugal electronics lover will be willing to buy one.

Acer LumiRead e-Ink eReader with QWERTY Keyboard

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The truth about "zero emissions" vehicles

Everyone wants to go “green”, in theory anyhow. And it has been asked many times why the electric car is not more commonly used, as it is said to give off “zero emissions”. And recently with Tesla motor company joining forces with Toyota to create the Model S electric sedan, it seems it’s time to really evaluate just what “zero emissions” means in the USA.

First, we should examine where our electricity comes from. It is estimated that in the USA about 50% of electricity is derived from coal.  After coal, the second most common energy source is natural gas, which produces about 20% of the USA’s electricity.

The final 30% of the USA’s electricity comes from non-combustible resources (gives off no CO2), what one could consider “green”; Nuclear, Hydro, and finally about 2% of electricity is derived from “renewable resources” Solar and / or wind.

The 2010 Tesla Roadster boasts a 0 – 60 mph time of under 4 seconds, a fine time for any automobile; but even more impressive when one considers that the Roadster is an electric car. Acceleration like that must need a lot of power. According to the Tesla website the Roadster’s motor puts out about 288 hp, or 215 kilowatt’s. So we can assume that if we were driving the Roadster for one hour, at full throttle, we would use at least 215 kilowatt/hours of electricity.  Or closer to 86 kilowatt/hours at 40% throttle.

As was stated earlier coal power is the most common form of electricity in the USA (and Canada). So just how much coal would need to be burned to power a Tesla Roadster at full throttle for one hour?

One Kilogram of coal can produce 6.67 KWh. Unfortunately a coal power plant is not 100% efficient, in fact it is only about 30% efficient, the rest of the energy being lost to heat and friction. A kilogram of coal actually only produces about 2 kilowatt hours of electricity. Meaning, to drive a Tesla Roadster for one hour (215 KWh) at full throttle we would need to burn over 100 kg’s of coal, or 30-40% of that in actual daily driving conditions.

What about gasoline?

Gasoline at full efficiency produces 13 kilowatts per kg. Of course a car’s engine isn’t 100% efficient, though it is much more efficient than a coal power plant. It can be estimated that the average car engine is about 40% efficient, of course power is also lost through the transmission, so in the end we can estimate that about 20% of the energy given off by the gasoline is actually reaching the wheels. So to produce 215 KWh’s of power a car’s engine would have to create 288 HP (1HP is 746Watts) which is unrealistic.  But 86 HP is more attainable and is 30% of the power; more in line with daily driving conditions.  That would require approximately 5.1 L, or 6.6kg of gasoline.

What does this mean for “zero emissions”?

With over half of the USA’s energy coming from coal, driving any electric vehicle more often than not would be creating more CO2 than if one drove a standard gasoline based vehicle:

1 Kg of Coal produces 1.83 Kg’s of CO2, 1 Kg of gasoline produces 3.2 Kg’s of CO2. If we drove our Tesla Roadster at 30% throttle for one hour, using 65 KWh’s of electricity, the electric car using coal power would create about 55 Kg’s of CO2, the gasoline based car would clearly need much less.

Now of course these numbers are rough, as no one drives a car the same or necessarily at 30% throttle all the time. But as you can see per kilowatt hour coal actually produces far more CO2 than gasoline.

So why do we call it “zero emissions”?

The truth is an electric car does give off zero emissions, at the tail pipe. But to create that electricity pollution is given off a few hundred miles away at the nearest power plant.

Does “zero emissions” exist?

“Zero emissions” only exists in cases where energy is not derived from combustible sources. As was stated earlier, 30% of the USA’s energy comes from non-combustible sources, such as Nuclear and Hydro. Technically, both these forms of electricity give off zero emissions, but both still create other forms of pollution. So in a short answer for all practical purposes right now “zero emissions” is a myth.

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Nissan Leaf electric car coming December 2010

The sale of Nissan’s new hatchback electric car, the Leaf (acronym for Leading, Environmentally Friendly, Affordable, Family Car) is set to begin in December 2010.

The four door electric car is powered by a 480 pound lithium ion battery pack. With a range of about 100 miles per fill, and a fill time of between 8 and 16 hours depending on the outlets used, the Leaf is primarily aimed towards city driving.

If the Leaf sounds like the car for you now’s the time to place a pre-order as initial worldwide production targets are not particularly high. So far more than 17,000 pre-orders have been placed in the USA and Japan, a number that should take the first half of 2011 to fill.

Nissan will initially produce the Leaf in a Japanese plant, and is planning on opening additional plants in the USA and England. Once all plants are up and running worldwide production target of about 200,000 a year can be expected.

The Leaf is being marketed as “zero emissions”, though on Nissan’s website there’s a small disclaimer at the bottom of the page adding “at the tail pipe”. The Leaf will create zero emissions at the tail pipe as it doesn’t actually burn fuel, a feature that helps to keep city air smog free. But the Leaf will certainly not be pollution free. In the USA 70% of power plants run on either coal or natural gas, both which produce their fare share of emissions. As lithium ion battery packs begin to lose charge capacity after several months of use, and have a very limited life span, the target production of battery packs will be significantly higher than that of cars.  As sales of electric cars, such as the Leaf, increase we can expect to see hundreds of thousands of battery packs in the land fill or otherwise being disposed of.

The Leaf will be priced at roughly $33,000 US, though many countries and states will be offering zero emissions tax deductions. A federal tax deduction of $7,500 US will lower the American price to around $25,500 per unit, many states such as California will offer further tax deductions helping to make the Leaf an affordable electric car.

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Tesla Model S Sedan

It was recently announced that California electric car manufacturer Tesla would be working with Japanese automobile producer Toyota to produce the Tesla Model S sedan, a high end electric car.

For those not current on their electric car data, Tesla which was incorporated in 2003 and is known for producing high powered electric sports cars. The 2010 Tesla Roadster boasts a 0-60 time of around 4 seconds, with a range of about 250 miles between charges.

Toyota will invest $50 million into Tesla in return for a tax abatement from the state of California. The tax abatement will amount to about $20 million dollars.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk (also cofounder of PayPal and SpaceX) estimates that the production of the Model S sedan will employee about 1,000 workers. Production will take place at NUMMI, the former Toyota / GM auto plant that was closed down in April leaving several thousand workers jobless. The production of the Model S is planned to begin in 2012. The 2012 timeline is not without skeptics however, many believe that a year and a half is too short a time to re-condition the NUMMI auto plant. A spokesperson for Tesla has stated that during a worst case scenario construction crews may be on site for up to 20 hours a day.

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Kiwi U-Powered Solar Charger

How many times have you been on the go, out the door, and then found that your cell phone battery is at one bar? Or on a ride only to realize you forgot to charge your iPod or any other mobile device? It’s happened to the best of us at the worst of times. Of course you could always use a car charger, but what if you were on a bike? On a hike? In the forest with nothing but a backpack, a cellphone, your iPod and a can of bear mace? Your best bet is going to be a solar charger. The company KiwiChoice has a new charger that may be right for you.

The Kiwi U-Powered charger is a compact device with it’s own built in lithium polymer 2000 mAh battery that is good for more than one thousand charges. The economically priced charger folds out from a central pivot revealing three solar panels, when closed the device fits in the palm of your hand. The back side of the unit has a magnet so it can be stuck to metal objects, if you have no metal it can be hung from a backpack, maybe put on a hat (direct rays!), or lay out on the grass while you and that special someone enjoy a picnic or play a PSP game in the sun. The device also has a USB port and car charger function, so the battery can be charged prior to an outing then tapped as needed.

According to the website the built in battery takes about seventeen hours to charge in fairly decent sunlight, much longer under moderate cloud cover and probably would never charge on a real gloomy day. To those who need power but have no access to an outlet this solar feature still brings hope. And of course the solar energy is completely “green”.

Or is it? Before all our environmentally minded tech brothers start hugging each other, or trees, let’s not over look the estimate that the average solar panel needs about seven years of continuous use to generate as much power as was used to manufacture it. When all is said and done, even if the panel was used as a primary charging device for several years your carbon dioxide footprint would still be larger than if you just charged your phone or other portable device from the wall. Not to mention the amount of gasoline burned, energy used and carbon dioxide released driving to and from the electronics store to buy the gadget.

Still back on the bright side, no pun intended, the Kiwi U-Powered charger is affordable being listed on it’s website for $49.99, convenient, and probably a lot of fun.  It’s quite similar to the first generation of Soldius solar chargers we took a look at a couple years back, just a tad more affordable.  Eco friendly or just plain friendly, this device is worth checking out if you often pull yourself away from a conventional power source, but still can’t pull yourself away from the mobile devices you love.  Keep in mind it’s far from revolutionary,

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Visa contactless iPhone payment solution Photo: Tech Crunch

The history of our monetary system is a long and exciting tale; barter turning to the use of gold in some places, wampum (shell beads) in others. Sixty years ago the first credit card, Diners Club, came into existence. Today almost all North Americans are packing plastic, if not credit then certainly debit. Within the past fifteen years we’ve seen the rise of e-commerce with companies like PayPal, creating economies within economies. So what’s next on our path of monetary madness? Well if you’ve recently been to Japan, or are dating a Japanese lady (recommended) you probably already know the answer: wireless payment via your cell phones.

That’s right, soon you will be able to convert your iPhone into an NFC style payment system. For those who are unfamiliar with NFC it is an acronym for Near Field Communication, basically a system that transmits a weak radio signal and with it a small amount of information to nearby devices within a ten centimeter distance. NFC is really just an extension of the already commonly used ISO smart cards which act as replacement for keys in many office buildings or bus passes in some cities. The system comes in the form of an iPhone case built by the company DeviceFidelity. The case will allow the iPhone to use DeviceFidelity’s In2Pay micro sd NFC technology. DeviceFidelity has also been collaborating with Visa to expand NFC technology. “Visa is working to bring the security and convenience of digital currency to mobile users around the world,” said Dave Wentker, Head of Mobile Contactless Payments at Visa Inc. “Our collaboration with DeviceFidelity can extend the reach of Visa mobile payments to millions of iPhone users.”

The iPhone is by no means the first phone to utilize NFC, throughout Asia, particularly in Japan but also in countries such as Malaysia NFC is already being used on a large scale. The main advantage is said to be speed and efficiency, plus it’s a pretty cool way to pay. The user can leave his/her purse or wallet at home, carrying only a cell phone; when it’s time to pay, simply place the phone near a small contactless terminal and like magic, the transaction is done. Buying from a street vendor just became that much more convenient.

When are we equally tech hungry North Americans going to have access to this technology? Patience nerd Skywalker, the NFC force will be with you soon enough. According to DeviceFidelity’s website trials on the iPhone NFC system will start the second quarter of 2010.

So what is in store for our NFC future? Well, it’s possible that in the future NFC could replace not only credit cards but all cards in general. Swim passes, gym passes, adult video store rental cards may all be amalgamated into one NFC chip. One day we may no longer need to carry ID, as the phone/card will carry it all for us.

What about security? As with anything else in life NFC technology is not without its risks. Identity theft is always an issue and information will be password protected, so even lost phones will remain safe.

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