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Many accuse large companies of overusing green terminology as a fashion term to win new customers without their products necessarily being helpful to the environment. The automotive industry however has entered a difficult period, with cars indeed being responsible for a part of the planet’s problems. Despite some sectors -see shipping for example- doing nothing for the time being, automotive pollution has become a prime target because it is something we produce, see and smell in our cities first-hand.

The German automotive industry has become a victim of its own success. It produces a huge number of luxury models, with large capacity engines and a large environmental footprint. Recently it has become a major discussion topic, following EU plans to limit the exhaust gases to be emitted by each car. Therefore it is natural that we should expect some radical action with moves to more environmentally sound solutions. Continue Reading »

Since last month, photography and tech blogs are busy reporting rumours about a new half-body full-frame Nikon body. Apparently, the timing was perfect. The new D700 will be sold as early as this month at $3,000.

Why is it so desirable? Continue Reading »

I have to admit that since I started this blog back in November 2007, I did not expect it to become so addictive. Writing daily became an enjoyable activity, despite the difficulty of trying to combine it with my job activities. My wife’s technical background and ideas were also very motivating, she provided much needed support for new posts and site improvements. Making ElectronRun a hosted site after almost five months of activity at Wordpress has been hard on visitor numbers, however this has not subtracted from the enjoyment of contributing as much as I can and writing my opinion on various tech issues.

Last week though I realised the limitations of been a sole blogger. Having to travel on business to the Netherlands, I was too busy to even get online. A tight schedule on the preceding days did not allow me to prepare the posts I would like to publish on the days I was away. So although my online absence was short, it was enough to lead to the realisation of how hard it is to be the sole person writing for a blog. Continue Reading »

Guess where they met! [Source: Make via Gizmodo]

When getting up from your desk make sure you disconnect your USB powered tie do you don’t destroy your laptop… [Source:Akihabara]

Namba Parks, landscaped architecture in Osaka, Japan. Cities have gone too far with concrete. Now it is time to reverse this trend, unfortunately the hard way… [Source: Freshome]

Denon is soon releasing in Japan the RCD-CX1 combo. It is the merging of the separate DRA-CX3 amp and DCD-CX3 SACD player, and will cost about $1,700. Power will be 75W/4ohms or 35W/8ohms.

Of course SACD is long ago a dead format, but since no changes were required from the DCD-CX3 player it is not an unwelcome feature. Looking at recent audio equipment news and magazines I cannot help but point out that what one mostly sees is TV sets and 2.1 home cinema combos, or very expensive out-of-this-world high-end components. The new Denon is firmly in the first trend as part of home electronics companies’ efforts to keep turnover healthy from falling Hi-Fi sales. Continue Reading »

Since 1998 BusinessWeek is annually compiling a list of the best performing tech companies. Although Amazon and Apple top this list, US companies are fewer in number than ever before, a sign of IT spread to many parts of the world.

The 33 US companies this year were 43 the year before (!) and 75 in 1998. Europe tends to be strong in telecommunications, while Asia is more strongly entrenched in hardware and manufacturing.

[BusinessWeek]

Super Hi-Vision is a crazy project, but that doesn’t stop Japanese manufacturers from developing hardware for it. NHK’s pictured prototype system achieves the 32 megapixel resolution with two LCoS projectors and includes a 22.2 sound system! Now let’s find some applications to use it [Source: CNET]

Remember all the netbook noise back in May? Computex seems months old and in the meantime we have had many distractions in the form of new camcorders, cameras, TVs, iPhones, audio equipment… But the netbooks are coming, and even if there is some delays like in the case of the MSI Wind, the market will have several models to choose from by the end of the summer. And then it will be time to pose some questions concerning the state of the PC and mobile markets, where they are going, or very importantly where they should already be by now! The following are questions that arose immediately when I learned netbook specs and prices during Computex. And I feel that they are far too important to ignore:

1. Why are traditional laptops so expensive? This has bugged me for some time. The better machines tend to be disproportionately expensive. Surely having small components fit inside a light and portable package has its costs, but now netbooks prove that it is not that expensive! And not only that, the smaller screen you want, the more prices become unreasonable! Going from 15.4 to 13.3 inch screens can easily double the price, unless you are willing to settle for no graphics card, low memory, limited storage capacity…
2. What distinguishes netbooks from laptops apart from size? See #1 above, in other words the price! OK, netbooks do not have large storage or so high processing performance, but in fact they are no pretenders and do what we normally expect from their larger brothers. In other words word processing, spreadsheets, web surfing and the occasional photo viewing. Continue Reading »

If anything AVCHD above $1000 could lead to a divorce, Sony comes to the rescue with the HDR-CX12. It will cost about $900 and offers 1920×1080i resolution in AVCHD format. Like in the case of the new JVC Everio GZ-HD30/40, you may also choose the 1440×1080i HDV option!

There is a new CMOS sensor -same as on the A700 DSLR- BIONZ processing and only flash storage in the form of Sony’s usual Memory Sticks. Features for more casual users are smile shutter action and face detection. Size is very small, no as extreme as that of the Sony HDR-TG1, but convenient for anytime, anywhere…

[Akihabara]

A few days back it was the D10, now it resurfaces as the D700 with the same 12 megapixel full-frame sensor and 51-point autofocus as the D3.

Is it something to believe? There is no smoke without fire, so even if the predicted features do not find their way in the final model, definitely expect some full-frame fury by September. Continue Reading »

With enough LED lights to compete with New York’s Times Square, Japanese Dekotora trucks are easily the world’s brightest road distraction. Of course they are just a hobby for space truckers… [Source: Japanite]

Panasonic couldn’t be very far from the new JVC Everio videocamera models covered earlier. They sport 3MOS sensors, Panasonic argues that these are more sensitive than standard CMOS version, something to be of course proven in practice. Otherwise, both have a 2.7 inch screen, HDMI, full HD 1920×1080 resolution and 5.1 Dolby Digital sound.

AVCHD is already Panasonic’s format of choice for this category of cams. The HDC-HS100 has 60GB hard disc storage, while its HDC-SD100 stores your videos -as the name betrays- on SD/SDHC cards that at the moment reach up to 32GB. Continue Reading »

Vincent Callebaut’s architectural exercise is an impressive floating city for a population of 50,000 inhabitants. The idea is that in a future of rising sea levels and natural catastrophic events provoked by climate change, these islands will be refugees for the few lucky thousands.

Green walls, solar panels, massive landscaped areas and energy saving take center stage to arrive at a theoretically self-sufficient community. It’s all so impressive, but is it feasible? At the moment definitely not. The steel superstructure to support such a huge artificial island doesn’t exist and the energy amounts to build such a humongous thing defy the eco-logic behind its existence.

Of course a design exercise is meant to provide food for thought. On the more pedestrian side of life, it is a bit early to talk about eco-refugees, there is still a lot we can and ought to do before rushing onto floating arks. Given that not all of us live exactly where the waves break, I suppose designing and proving that a creation of similar size could achieve sulf-sufficiency on firm ground would be a more logical step. Continue Reading »