D-LINK PIONEERS GREEN HOME WI-FI

In light of rising energy bills combined with growing pressure to reduce carbon footprint, D-Link has introduced the first eco-friendly home Wi-Fi routers capable of reducing energy usage by up to 40%.

The use of Wi-Fi networks in homes and offices is growing at a considerable rate. For home users that enjoy surfing the web, streaming movies from their PC to their TV or making internet phone calls, they can now do so knowing that they will not only be helping address the need for homes to reduce their carbon footprint, but also enjoy savings on their next electricity bill in the process.

The latest Wi-Fi routers integrate D-Link Green Ethernet; an innovative energy-saving technology that automatically detects connectivity status and cable length, and then adjusts power accordingly. The routers also feature Wi-Fi scheduling that allows users to easily program when the Wi-Fi radio signals are turned on and off to further save energy consumption.

“D-Link is proud to be taking the lead in integrating innovative, power-saving technology into its home and business networking solutions that doesn’t sacrifice performance or functionality,” said Andrew Mulholland, Marketing Manager at D-Link. “By offering green upgrades to our most popular Wi-Fi routers, we’re helping protect the environment whilst our customers save money in the process.”

The D-Link Green Wi-Fi Routers achieve optimal energy savings when used with the Wi-Fi Scheduler, which provides a user-selectable radio shutdown option (adjustable by day and start/end times). Under the most favourable conditions with no wired links active and Wi-Fi turned off, users may achieve the following power savings when compared to a D-Link conventional router without Green technology: DIR-655, up to 32% and DIR-855, up to 41%.

The introduction of the Green Ethernet enabled D-Link Wi-Fi router series is part of an ongoing company-wide Green computing initiative that includes manufacturing environmentally-responsible products, optimising devices for ENERGY STAR certification and providing consumer education and recycling programs.

The incorporation of Green Ethernet technology into Wireless N series routers re-emphasises D-Link’s strong commitment to protecting the environment, leading to the development of eco-friendly products that comply with RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) and WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directives. The RoHS directive limits the use of specific hazardous materials during the manufacture of electrical and electronic goods while WEEE applies standards for proper disposal and recycling of products.

“The time is right to offer consumers and organisations innovative Green technologies that embrace environmental concerns, offer cost savings and maximise performance,” Mulholland added.

The first products incorporating the Green Ethernet technology are the D-Link Wireless N Gigabit Router (DIR-655) and the new D-Link Wireless N Quad Band Gigabit Router (DIR-855). D-Link offers a free firmware upgrade at dlink.co.uk/support for customers who bought either of these products before the current Green firmware release.

Source:hexus.net/content/item.php?item=14795
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EDsys Computers builds greenest computer

EDsys Computers has won the inaugural Green PC Competition and picked up a Toyota Prius Hybrid car as a result.

The campaign, open to resellers to build Australia’s greenest PC, was sponsored by Western Digital, Gigabyte and Intel.

It was judged by APC Magazine and measured idle power consumption and underload in kWh. The judges final score was calculated using a formula based on Microsoft research for averaged “real world” usage models for PC activity breakdown in the workplace.

General manager Greg McDougall said: “We are thrilled to win this award. Our industry as a whole generates an enormous amount of waste and it is up to all of us to take a proactive role in doing what we can to reduce our environmental impact.”

McDougall added: “Winning the Toyota Prius is a great bonus, however the fact that we were able to demonstrate that EDsys Computers can build energy efficient PC’s is a bigger success for us, we believe that the prestige accompanied by winning this award and the recognition of our efforts in Green Technology is more important.”

In March 2008 the company signed up with Carbon Neutral to educate people in reducing the emissions of their systems. It will use the Toyota to replace one of its fleet vehicles.

The company contributes quarterly to Carbon Neutral for tree planting to offset the carbon emissions created by their systems. Over the next 12 months they expect to fund the planting of in excess of 25,000 trees.

EDsys Computers supplies peripherals, notebooks, workstations and servers to government and education markets. It re-uses and recycles all packaging, paper and plastics and is working to become ISO14001 compliant.

Source:crn.com.au/News/82111,edsys-computers-builds-greenest-computer.aspx
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PC World preparing to launch 'green' PC

PC World is finally gearing up to launch its green PC – a full 12 months after it was due to hit the shelves.

It was initially hoped the machine – dubbed the world’s first carbon neutral PC – would be released by last autumn.

But the high-street chain says it’s taken longer than anticipated to develop the technology for the eco-friendly computer.
Testing

A PC World spokeswoman said: ‘As with many innovative projects where we are developing groundbreaking technology, it has taken us a little longer to realise our ambitions than we initially hoped.

‘We will not compromise on the quality of our final product. For example, we have removed the energy hungry fan from the PC therefore we needed to develop an alternative safe and efficient cooling system.

‘We are extremely proud of this product which is currently going through the final stages of testing and we expect to be announcing its arrival shortly.’
Recycled materials.

PC World says its green PC will be made from recycled and recyclable materials where possible, and will also include energy-efficient components.

It also plans to buy carbon offsets to cover the environmental impact of manufacturing the PC.

Source:which.co.uk/news
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Free energy-saving PC software: Edison

Although power management software has been around for years, there's clearly room for improvement, particularly with rising energy prices and environmental awareness.

Start-up Verdiem on Wednesday released software called Edison that makes it easy for people to schedule when a PC goes into a low power consumption mode at home or at work.

Verdiem's CEO, Kevin Klustner, is scheduled to highlight Edison and PC energy consumption during a conference call with Microsoft's chief environmental strategist, Robert Benard, and Intel's Lorie Wigle, president of the Climate Savers computing industry consortium.

PCs can consume as much as 10 percent of a home's energy bill and give off as much carbon dioxide as a family car. Even when a PC's screen saver kicks on, the machine can still consume between 100 watts and 250 watts.

The Edison software doesn't completely shut a computer off but rather moves it to a "suspend" state, which uses less energy. Users can also schedule to shut down the screen and hard drive before going into suspend mode.

The tool lets users have work and home settings. It has a read-out of how much electricity you are saving, also translated into reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and dollar savings.

Estimates will vary widely, depending on electricity rates and type of computer, but Verdiem says the average savings is 410 kilowatt hours a year, or $36.50.

Verdiem, which is bankrolled in part by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, was founded by people who were looking better power management software than what's built into Windows.

But developing the free Edison software isn't entirely altruistic. The sign-up process promotes Verdiem's power management software for businesses, called Surveyor, which the company says can pay for itself within a few years.

The license for Edison is for one person. It runs on Windows XP or Windows Vista.

Source:/news.cnet.com
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US SMBs Waking Up to Green Computing

Are SMBs (small and medium businesses, or companies with up to 999 employees) in the United States concerned about global warming? Does Green IT have any influence on SMB ICT adoption patterns? Do environmental concerns influence what IT SMBs buy and from which vendor?

These are some of the issues that the latest study from New York based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners Inc. focuses on. "US SMBs will see a 17 percent increase in PC shipments - and a whopping 40 percent increase in server shipments - over the next four years," says AMI's New York-based Research Analyst, Vittesh Kalambi. "SMBs are gradually becoming convinced about the positive outcome of Green IT in reducing overall running costs, TCO (total cost of ownership) and increasing savings. As such, SMB bottom-lines are being redefined to include sustainability."

An AMI study points out that over the next 12 months, just over 50 percent of small businesses (SBs, or companies with up to 99 employees) and 91 percent of medium businesses (MBs, or companies with 100-999 employees) intend to purchase PCs (either desktops or notebooks). Green computing is broadly defined as the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently. The primary objective of such a program is to account for "the triple bottom-line". This is an expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational and societal success with an aim to cut use of hazardous materials and maximize efficiency of product life while promoting recyclability. Thus, the key driver for SMBs embracing Green PC measures is cost savings.

"The recently concluded G8 summit in Japan brought into focus the environmental concerns affecting the world at large, and more specifically that the US and China are the largest contributors to greenhouse emissions," Mr. Kalambi says. "Thus, reducing the carbon footprint of the nation is increasingly coming under scrutiny. Green IT or green computing offers a number of benefits, including cost reductions."

Modern IT systems rely on a complicated mix of people, networks and hardware. As such, a green computing initiative must be systemic in nature and address increasingly sophisticated problems. Elements of such a solution may comprise items such as end-user satisfaction, management restructuring, regulatory compliance, disposal of electronic waste, telecommuting, and virtualization of server resources, energy use, thin client solutions, and return on investment.

"SMBs are increasingly appreciating the value of going green given the wide range of benefits that accrue from prolonged usage of environmentally friendly products and lifestyles," Mr. Kalambi says. "For most large businesses with extensive IT resources, the primary focus has been data centers. These account for the majority of resources used. SMBs do not have similar scale, but can still be environmentally conscious by opting for green solutions such as EnergyStar rated appliances, low power consuming electronics, blade servers and virtualization technologies, among others."

Here's a peek at some Green IT initiatives:

* Key players such as HP and IBM have now begun to manufacture low power consuming servers and PCs which utilize roughly 66 percent of the power requirement of older systems.
* Blade servers, though still nascent in adoption, are technological breakthroughs in servers which provide the same computing power with much lower power utilization.
* Thin clients have quite a few advantages such as space-savings, easier to secure, and cost reductions due to lower IT management expenses, reduced energy consumption (a typical thin-client uses half the energy of a desktop) and more efficient use of computing resources.
* A basic power management technique on computers can result in substantial energy savings due to their sheer number in the market.
* Recycling is quite an under-leveraged technique for being green. Recycling in the business space can be achieved not just in paper usage, but also in how electronic waste is handled. Paper waste can be minimized by double-sided printing, reusing single side printed sheets of paper and other methods.
For e-waste such as electronic hardware, retailers such BestBuy have an e-waste recycling program for consumers and all their stores have recycling centers for cell phones, batteries, PCs, TVs etc.

Source:ciol.com/SMB/News-Reports/US-SMBs-waking-up-to-green-computing/5808108662/0/
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D-Link Looks to Green its Routers

As you look across your desk at all of the blinking lights from your computer gear, have you ever wondered how much energy your router sucks down? On the one hand, probably not that much. On the other hand it is on all the time. You could find out with a guilt-trip power strip. Or, you could turn to D-Link. D-Link is proposing a sort of middle ground by using its Green Ethernet technology on select wireless routers.

D-Link says it is the first to market with "green home network Wi-Fi routers." While that might just be a bit of marketing mumbo, it is nice to note this technology is reportedly capable of saving up to 40 percent in power usage. Several products across the company's Xtreme N line of routers, including the D-Link Xtreme N Gigabit Router DIR-655, D-Link Xtreme N Duo Media Router DIR-855 and the D-Link Xtreme N Gaming Router DGL-4500, are now making use of this Green Ethernet to "decrease energy costs by reducing power consumption without sacrificing performance." Could go very well with your new green Dell computer, and sweet external hard drive.

One can apparently get even better energy savings by using D-Link's Wi-Fi Scheduler, which provides a user-selectable radio shutdown option (adjustable by day and start/end times). Other initiatives focused on more environmentally friendly technology from D-Link include compliance with with RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) and WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directives and optimization for Energy Star certification.

Source:ecogeek.org/content/view/1945/71/
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Dell Launches Ads to Promote Green PC

Dell is going green with its new Green PC, the Studio Hybrid. The desktops are about the size of a college dictionary, which Dell says is about 80-percent smaller than standard desktops. Other green factors include 70-percent less energy used than standard desktops, 30-percent less packing materials used and those packing materials are 95-percent recyclable.

Dell kicked off its online ad campaign for the Studio Hybrid this week. Print ads are also scheduled to run this month. A spokesperson for Dell says the ads won't fully center around the energy efficient message but more focus will be on the design.

Should the energy efficiency claims and other green factors be the star of the ads as opposed to the new design?

What do you think?

Source:advertising.about.com
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