gGadget.org

Last night my friend (and Flip Video For Dummies co-author) Drew and I crashed out in front around my iPad to watch John Cassavettes’ brilliant film “Husbands” (1970). Both of us were fading to black before reaching The End so we opted to pause and finish watching another night.

Drew this morning was saying how it would be cool if the Netflix app was available for the iPhone too so he could finish watching on the train, and low and behold, that feature (plus iPhone touch streaming) was added to the app today.

Key features of the Netflix app include:

• Watch as often as you want
• Resume watching where you left off on your TV, computer, iPad or wherever you last watched
• Browse movies and manage your Instant Queue right from your iPhone or iPod touch (or iPad)

Download the Netflix app from the iTunes App Store here: Netflix.

via Netflix for iPhone and iPod touch streams the big screen to the small screen | JOEyGADGET.

NYTimes.com > Green Inc.: Are E-Readers Greener Than Books?

By Joe Hutsko

Published: August 31, 2009

A new study analyzing the Amazon Kindle electronic book reader’s impact on the environment suggests that, on average, the carbon emitted over the life of the device is offset after the first year of use.

Source: Green Inc.: Are E-Readers Greener Than Books?

Android App Tackles Carbon Footprints

By JOE HUTSKO

While downloadable applications for the iPhone have enjoyed most of the spotlight since they began shipping, momentum is building for apps that run on the Google Android operating system, which drives the first retail Android device, T-Mobile’s G1.

One application to catch my eye is Ecorio, a carbon footprint calculator that taps into the G1’s GPS feature to track movement. Mode of travel choices include automobile, public transit and bicycle.

Link to full story: Android App Tackles Carbon Footprints – Green Inc. Blog – NYTimes.com.

GoodCleanTech.com reported today about a sighting of the Sony Ericsson GreenHeart Concept phone in Copenhagen. The concept embodies the synthesis of several green-tech considerations including recyclable materials and bioplastic shells, ebook manuals instead of paper ones and eco-friendlier packaging.

As reporter Mariella Moon points out in her post the phone’s design probably won’t incite technolust, but the concept phone does warrant bragging rights when it comes to its charger, which sips a mere 3.5mW once the phone’s battery reaches full-charge capacity. That’s a ten fold improvement over current energy-efficient chargers.

Unfortunately the phone’s talk and standby times are reportedly on par with existing phones so there’s not a lot to get excited about on that front when it comes to practical use scenarios.

Then again it may not matter either way since the phone is after all only a proof-of-concept, and whether it ever becomes something you can hold in your hand remains to be seen.

Ditching your old mobile phone for a better-stronger-faster iPhone 3G or Blackberry Bold? Great, but be sure to do the world a favor and dispose of your old phone in a green-tech friendly such as those described in the EcoLocalizer story Five Green Ways to Dispose of That Old Cell Phone.

Here’s a brief excerpt from the story, FYI:

Cell phones contain a number of toxins that build up in the environment over time, like arsenic, antimony, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc. These chemicals are linked to all sorts of nasty health problems, such as neurological disorders and cancer.

As for the smashed-screen iPhone in the picture, that was mine. I dropped it the night before the new iPhone 3G went on sale. I’d had no intention of buying the new iPhone 3G right away, and was going to wait for the crowds to die down and bug fixes to take care of any first-run issues that would likely crop up. But fate stepped in and somehow my hand knocked the device off my desk and onto the floor with all the grace of the Diving Horse that used to plunge from its perch atop a pool on Atlantic City’s Steel Pier. Ironically enough I wound up at the Apple Store on the Atlantic City Boardwalk to stand in line with more than a hundred others to acquire the new model (though not without some bribery on my part on account of I needed to get to NYC before 5 p.m. to talk about the new iPhone 3G on Fox’s Happy Hour program).

Despite the smashed screen my old phone fetched more than $200 on eBay – an option that isn’t mentioned in the EcoLocalizer story but one worth considering if your “old” mobile phone is still new enough to fetch a good price on eBay or Craigslist.org.