
Along with last year’s release of their zero-watt monitor, Fujitsu Seimens also has a line of Esprimo Green PCs, which use less than a watt while in standby mode. Added to this line is the Esprimo 7935 PC, the zero-watt model. So how does the zero-watt standby work? Traditional computers use a small electrical current when in standby to catch the power signal quickly and come back to full power. At Fujitsu Seimen’s however, their standby mode uses a switch that allows the monitor to completely shut down when not in use and to come back on when a signal from the computer instructs it to. At least, this is how the zero-watt monitor works.

LEDs are very well known for their recent use in Christmas lighting, but OLEDs are a little different. OLED stands for organic light-emitting diode and is praised mainly for its properties concerning energy usage. Because the diodes can emit light without a backlight they can be used in much thinner devices and can run for longer on the same charge as a traditional LCD screen. OLED screens also be produced at a fraction of the cost of LCD screens because the diode printing process can be performed on a variety of surfaces even with household inkjet printers. In addition if the diodes are printed onto a flexible surface this creates the possibility of flexible screens of light, a method that is key to the future of roll-up and fabric displays.
Intelligent furniture, that is furniture with built-in electronics capabilities, is becoming more and more popular as home electronics become sleeker, smaller, and easier to integrate. One of these is the MECO, or MediaCore, a home entertainment mecca of sorts, consolidating your PC, DVD player, TiVo, digital television and any other home entertainment equipment you use. Encased in MECO’s sturdy wooden frame is hidden a PC running Windows Vista Ultimate, a quad-core Intel processor, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a 4TB hard drive, WiFi connectivity, 8-channel HD audio, and room for more.
The MECO also featured a state-of-the-art cooling system to keep all your gear running, as well as allowing accessibility from the front and back of the unit for use and maintenance. So what makes the MECO different from other home entertainment systems? The truth is at first glance, not much, but it’s the look of the piece that is its real selling point.


U.S. patent application number 20080319910. Behind those digits lies a potential future of owning a Personal Computer. A patent applied for by the Microsoft Corporation, published on Christmas Day, reveals the details for a pay as you go-approach to owning a computer with the the initial unit coming at little to no cost to the consumer. But in the world of uber-affordable Netbooks and the growing popularity of ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ smartphones, is the idea of quasi-coin-operated computer going to fly?
In its most rudimentary form, the patent outlines a subsidized or free computer that then charges a fee based on usage. The criteria for the cost is a combination of time spent and level of performance demanded.
“A computer with scalable performance level components and selectable software and service options has a user interface that allows individual performance levels to be selected,” reads the patent abstract. The application goes on to state that “The scalable performance level components may include a processor, memory, graphics controller, etc. Software and services may include word processing, email, browsing, database access, etc. To support a pay-per-use business model, each selectable item may have a cost associated with it, allowing a user to pay for the services actually selected and that presumably correspond to the task or tasks being performed.” The application was filed back in June of 2007.




