We need more green technology that saves us gr€€n. There's a smoldering move towards greener tech and we must all show our support by selecting devices based at least in part on their power management. The
PowerUSB Bar empowers you to put your old devices on a diet by programming when to shut off power to them. It looks like a standard 4 port power strip but 2 of the for outlets are programmable and there's a 6 ft
USB cord coming out of it. Attach printers, chargers, speakers or external drives and let the PowerUSB Bar govern their power consumption.
Power is controlled not only with a timer similar to the
CheckTap, but can also fire on an event. You can set a printer to only be powered on whenever an item is printed, or maybe just when Word is running so you don't have to wait for it to warm up. Default states can also be managed to have devices power up or down along with your computer. On top of that you can define hot keys that control the devices as well for rapid access without having to crawl behind your machine. The truly hardcore can control the device with an API that's available to control the power outlets from home grown software. Price isn't available now but with any luck we'll be able to pick up the 30 of these that we can think of uses for right now with a bulk discount.
Solar Bonsai Tree USB Charger is Green
By Paul McCollum on July 7th, 2010
