I once posted a news story on how well computer manufacturers are treating the environment according to the Greenpeace organization. Well I'm going to give you a little update on that story today. Last time Nintendo was the worst among worst when talking "green" and this year it is strengthening its position even more. From zero to eleven in being "green" (zero means worst) Nintendo scores the whooping 0. HP, Microsoft, Lenovo and Dell are next to have poor scores when it comes to preserving the world we live in. According to Greenpeace only Apple is "truly kicking the habit", maybe that's because they have an apple as their logo. Philips learned a lesson from last Greenpeace research and the company jumps from 15th to 4th place this year, well done Philips. The two best "green" manufacturers as of March 31st 2009 are Samsung and Nokia.
Nokia today announced plans to make Microsoft Silverlight available for S60 on Symbian OS, the world's leading smartphone software, as well as for Series 40 devices and Nokia Internet tablets. Adding support for Silverlight will extend opportunities for developers to create rich, interactive applications that run on multiple platforms in a consistent and reliable way.
Nokia promised a little while ago to "go green", and today it seems they are living up to their promise. Nokia recently announced plans to halve the power consumption of battery chargers to their various devices, including cell phones and PDAs. Since you obviously don't get something for nothing, the secret behind this decrease in power consumption lies in increasing the power efficiency of the original units. Nokia has already done quite a few things to help with the eco-friendly movement, including make several handsets out of recycled materials. They've also devised AC adapters that are 94% more efficient than EPA standards require.
Ever since the first flash cards came out, it seems as though you have to switch memory storage mediums every time you get a new camera/digital device. Flash memory card manufacturers decided that this was no way to do business. Hence, Nokia announced today that it will be working with several business competitors to create one common format. Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Micron Technology, Spansion, MTMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments are now officially working on a new flash standard, to be standardized by the JEDEC Solid State Technology Association. The new system, which at this point will be called Universal Flash Storage (UFS), "aims to remove some of the confusion and need for adapters to accommodate the market's current cluster of memory card sizes." There is no word as to when we can expect to see actual UFS cards or adapters.
Nokia is bringing games to their current and future N-series cell phones. The new service entitled "N-Gage" will provide gamers with download access to applications, games, challenges and contests. Games are priced from $8-$10 and are currently compatible with N73, N81, N95 series, N93 series and more coming.
A U.S. research institute has sued Nokia, Samsung Electronics and Matsushita-owned Panasonic for violating a patent for Bluetooth technology, potentially putting the free wireless standard at risk. The Washington Research Foundation, which markets technology from the University of Washington, is seeking damages from the three mobile-phone makers for using a radio frequency receiver technology without paying royalties, according to court papers obtained by Reuters on Wednesday. Nokia, Samsung and Panasonic declined to comment the story.
