Wattson Energy Monitor

Take a look around your living room. It’s full of electrical gadgets isn’t it? Not that that’s a bad thing, but all that electricity has to come from somewhere and that somewhere is usually pumping CO2 into the atmosphere at a rather alarming rate. If only there was some way we could monitor our electricity usage on a daily basis.

Wattson is the funky gadget that’s here to save the future. Don’t be fooled by its size – this piece of kit may just be the most useful thing you’ll ever buy. And it will save you money while you’re trying to save the world.

It’s all very simple – Wattson comes with a sensor clip that attaches to one of the mains cables leading to your fuse box (don’t panic, there’s no need to dust off the soldering iron, it just clips on) and it will transmit information about your electricity usage to the Wattson which will then calculate the data into watts or, if you’d prefer, how much money your electricity is costing you and show it off on the LED display. Not only that, but the funky lights on the underside of the Wattson will change colour depending on whether you’re using less ‘leccy than usual or going way over your average amount. As you switch gadgets off around the house the colours will change until finally the Wattson settles at a mellow blue glow. The display unit is wireless as well, so you can take it with you wherever you are in the house within a 30m radius. If only they’d had this gadget in the 70′s – Bruce Dern might not have had to send all those trees into space. Wait, that’s ‘Silent Running’ we’re thinking of, isn’t it?

Something that looks this cool, emits a soothing glow and displays useful information should use an awful lot of electricity, but, and this is the good bit, the transmitter is battery powered and the Wattson’s rechargeable battery only uses on average around 5 watts of power. To put that into perspective, a kettle can use up to 3000 watts just making a cup of tea.

The Wattson can store up to 28 days of data concerning your electricity usage on its 32Kb memory. Why is this useful? Because you can hook it up to your PC via USB and download the free software, Holmes (see what they did there?), to chart your energy savings and even publish and compare them online with other Wattson users, trading hints and tips on how to save energy and make your house super efficient. It’s not too late to make a difference.

Features

• A wireless energy monitor that emits funky mellow light and can be placed anywhere in the house.
• Includes a sensor clip and a transmitter so you can get it to work straight out of the box.
• Incredibly easy to set up – you won’t even need an electrician.
• The Wattson glows 3 different colours depending on how much energy you’re using: Blue means you’re using less than normal, Purple is average and Red (unsurprisingly) means you’d probably better think about switching something off.
• The 14 segment LED digital display will show how much energy your saving in Watts or by the amount of money you’re saving.
• Currency can be displayed as Pounds or Euros. 32kb memory stores all of your electricity data for up to 28 days.
• You can download energy monitoring software Holmes, so that when you connect the Wattson up to your computer by USB, you can keep a record of the amount of energy you’re saving and publish your results for other users to see.
• USB 2.0 compatible.
• Compatible with both PC and MAC.
• Includes 9V charger for the display unit.
• Requires 4x AA batteries (not included).
• Suitable for ages 16 years +.

Size:-

• Display: 10.5 x 17 x 5.5cm.
• Transmitter: 11 x 8.4 x 2.6cm.

New Apple iPod Touch

touchArcade reports that the new 2nd Generation Apple iPod Touch has the fastest 3D rendering performance of all devices in its class, making it even faster than the new iPhone 3G in this regard:

The most clear difference is that fact that the iPod Touch’s processor was quietly boosted to 532MHz (up from 412MHz) with the 2nd generation model introduced in September. Meanwhile, the iPhone 3G, Original iPhone and 1st Generation iPod Touch continue to run at the original 412MHz. Though not the intended purpose, this video from Handheld Games Corp shows that the app load time of the 2nd Generation iPod Touch is notably faster than the 1st Generation model.

It seems that there are additional factors, however, as there are performance differences even found between the models that run at the same speed. The models rank in the following order (fastest to slowest) for 3D rendering, with the 2nd Generation iPod Touch being the fastest “by far”.

We love Apple’s discreet way of introducing products that offer enhanced functionality like gaming without shouting “Hey look now it does this too!” from the rooftops. The new Touch is easily our favorite gadget of the year so far – with the ability to check email, browse the web, play games, view photos, listen to music and watch videos AND run cool apps we’re as happy as we can be!
(Image Courtesy of Apple)

Twin Mount Windscreen Holder

Drive down any road or motorway in the UK and you will see many vehicles have a TomTom or other satnav device stuck to their windscreen. Now that we all have a number of little devices to carry around a company has made a Twin Mount Windscreen Holder for you to put TomTom and your mobile phone in to it.

In my opinion it’s a crazy device as adding another distraction of a phone to your view is just asking for trouble. I can see why a single mount is good because a satnav can help with road safety as your not faffing about not knowing where to go anymore… but to throw a mobile phone mount along side it… why??? I don’t get it or get the need for it. When your driving you

should be doing just that. Anyway, it costs $25.99 and is available from USBFever.

NASA Invites Students to Name New Mars Rover

NASA is looking for the right stuff, or in this case, the right name for the next Mars rover. NASA, in cooperation with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures’ movie WALL-E from Pixar Animation Studios, will conduct a naming contest for its car-sized Mars Science Laboratory rover that is scheduled for launch in 2009.

The contest begins Tuesday, Nov. 18, and is open to students 5 to 18 years old who attend a U.S. school and are enrolled in the current academic year. To enter the contest, students will submit essays explaining why their suggested name for the rover should be chosen. Essays must be received by Jan. 25, 2009. In March 2009, the public will have an opportunity to rank nine finalist names via the Internet as additional input for judges to consider during the selection process. NASA will announce the winning rover name in April 2009.

Disney will provide prizes to students submitting winning essays, including a trip to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., where the rover is under construction. The grand prize winner will have an opportunity to place a signature on the spacecraft and take part in the history of space exploration.

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