The Sacramento Bee, Calif., Plugged In Column: Don’t Travel With Recharger – Plug a Battery into the Sun
By Clint Swett, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.
Apr. 12–When traveling, your cell phone, iPod and digital camera inevitably need recharging. But there’s no need to haul along a separate charger for each — or even be within reach of an electrical outlet.
A Berkeley company called Better Energy Systems LLC has produced the Solio, a solar-powered multipurpose charger that stores its energy in an internal battery.
The $99 Solio can be charged in four hours from an electrical outlet or eight hours in direct sunlight. It will contain enough juice to charge most cell phones, music players or digital cameras at least twice.
Each Solio comes with adapters for the iPod and mini-USB-equipped digital cameras. It also includes adapters for some models of Samsung, Nokia and Motorola cell phones.
For more information, go to www.solio.com.
Google exec to keynote tech conference
Vinton Cerf, one of the Internet’s pioneers who is now a Google executive, will be the featured speaker Monday at a technology investors conference in Davis.
Cerf, whose Google title is chief Internet evangelist, will speak on the Internet’s future at 7 p.m. in the Veterans Memorial Center.
His speech kicks off a two-day investor conference sponsored by local technology networking group TechCoire.
On Tuesday, executives of 14 technology start-ups will present their ideas and products to a panel of investors, including area venture capitalists. That session is already sold out.
Tickets for Cerf’s speech, including a wine reception from 4 to 7 p.m., are $50 for TechCoire members and $70 for the general public. More information is available at www.techcoire.com/investorfest.
Frontier raises stakes with its Net speed
Facing a challenge in high-speed Internet service from both Comcast and SureWest Broadband, Frontier Communications in Elk Grove has begun offering DSL Internet connections at 12 megabits per second.
That compares with the 6 megabit speeds typically available from Comcast and the 10 megabit connections from SureWest.
Frontier’s new Internet customers can receive the faster service for $12 a month for three months if they combine it with a nationwide calling plan. After three months, the price climbs to $52 a month, or $92 a month including phone service.
Current Internet customers with 8 megabit service will pay an additional $12 a month for the faster speed.
Free recycling of broken appliances
Broken or unneeded appliances and electronics, ranging from computers to water heaters, can be recycled April 21 in Parking Lot F at Raley Field in West Sacramento.
Sacramento recycling company Appliance Distribution will be accepting the items at no charge.
Eligible electronics include computer monitors, televisions, printers, telephones, radios, DVD/VCR players, shredders and fax machines.
Appliances include refrigerators, washers, dryers, dishwashers, air conditioners, cooktops and microwave ovens.
The event runs from 8 a.m to 3 p.m. More information is available at www.appliancedistribution.com.
—–
Copyright (c) 2007, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
NYSE:NOK, NYSE:MOT, NASDAQ-NMS:GOOG, NASDAQ-NMS:CMCSA, NASDAQ-NMS:SURW,