GreenMeter: iPhone App Measures Your Car’s Carbon Footprint

The idea of being able to measure one’s personal carbon footprint continues to gain steam as the technology to accurately measure such a complicated figure becomes easier to use and more accessible. One of the newest developments on this front has been produced for the ultra hot iPhone/iPod Touch platforms, an application called greenMeter which purports to measure the carbon used by the operation of a car.

Designed by Hunter Research and Technology, and destined to be utilized by hypermilers everywhere, greenMeter uses the accelerometer of the iPhone to measure the exact fuel economy of a vehicle by measuring the coefficient of drag, vehicle weight, rolling resistance, even weather conditions and the current price of fuel. The app converts said information into a dynamic graphical display which can inform a driver of the energy used by the car over a period of time.

Priced at $5.99, greenMeter probably won’t have a huge take rate among the merely curious driver, but six bucks still seems pretty reasonable for anyone truly interested in cleaning up their driving habits—or fiddling with the performance of their vehicle.

+ Cellphone Beat

GreenMeter: iPhone App Measures Your Car’s Carbon Footprint

The idea of being able to measure one’s personal carbon footprint continues to gain steam as the technology to accurately measure such a complicated figure becomes easier to use and more accessible. One of the newest developments on this front has been produced for the ultra hot iPhone/iPod Touch platforms, an application called greenMeter which purports to measure the carbon used by the operation of a car.

Designed by Hunter Research and Technology, and destined to be utilized by hypermilers everywhere, greenMeter uses the accelerometer of the iPhone to measure the exact fuel economy of a vehicle by measuring the coefficient of drag, vehicle weight, rolling resistance, even weather conditions and the current price of fuel. The app converts said information into a dynamic graphical display which can inform a driver of the energy used by the car over a period of time.

Priced at $5.99, greenMeter probably won’t have a huge take rate among the merely curious driver, but six bucks still seems pretty reasonable for anyone truly interested in cleaning up their driving habits—or fiddling with the performance of their vehicle.

+ Cellphone Beat

Thinking about an iPhone 3G? Not so fast — check out these 4 iPhone killers first

When you're as popular as the iPhone, you're bound to have some enemies. The competition is catching up, but the impression the iPhone has made on them is undeniable. Full-bodied touchscreen phones that do more than just enable calls and grainy pictures are now a hot item thanks to Apple — though maybe you're still on the fence as to whether or not the iPhone 3G is right for you. Maybe you're in the middle of your current plan and don't want to switch, or maybe AT&T's coverage isn't all that great in your area. Either way, you've got options.

Click Continue to see what phones are looking to settle the score.

1. HTC Touch Diamond
HTC finishes cutting its 3G diamonds in July for a variety of carriers. The Diamond does a lot to distinguish itself with its looks and interface, and yet its clickwheel won't help you forget how iPhone-influenced it is.

Like the iPhone:
• Virtual keyboard
• Turn-by-turn GPS directions

Not like the iPhone:
• Glossy frame with angles to resemble cut diamond
• Horizontal menu system (rather than a panel of favorites)

Secret weapons:
• iPodesque clickwheel and four buttons
• 3.2 megapixel camera for stills and video
• Choice of cellular carriers

Weaknesses:
• 4 GB of internal memory
• Smallish 2.8-inch touchscreen

Want to know more?

2. Samsung Instinct
Samsung comes out swinging in 3G for Sprint on June 20th. The Instinct does a lot of things right, but, at the same time, almost everything it gets right the iPhone did first. Including the case design.

Like the iPhone:
• 3.1-inch touchscreen
• 2 megapixel camera for images
• Upgradable memory up to 8GB
• Virtual keyboard and 3 hard buttons
• Turn-by-turn GPS navigation

Not like the iPhone:
• It... Ah... Hmm...?

Secret Weapons:
• Camera can also record video
• Customizable favorite menu buttons

Weaknesses:
• Relies on Sprint's proprietary services for music and video, among other things
Want to know more?

3. LG Vu
LG's 3G "TV phone" is already available, also on AT&T, and shares a lot with the iPhone. One big problem with that: it competes directly with the iPhone for AT&T's customers.

Like the iPhone:
• 3-inch touchscreen
• Virtual keyboard and 3 hard buttons for phone control
• 2.0 megapixel camera

Not like the iPhone:
• Navigation screens categorized into segments

Secret Weapons:
• Vibrating feedback for the touchscreen
• Streams AT&T's Mobile TV service
• Allows for voice and data use simultaneously
• Camera also shoots video

Weaknesses:
• Competing with the iPhone on its own network
Want to know more?

And there's one more shadowy contender off on the horizon, where a storm's certainly brewing — the recently announced Blackberry Thunder. When the first iteration of the iPhone was released last year, it took a lot of heat for not offering a full corporate suite of software that has Crackberry users loyal to the brand. And now RIM is planning on a full, touchscreen Blackberry with the Thunder:

Thinking about an iPhone 3G? Not so fast — check out these 4 iPhone killers first

When you're as popular as the iPhone, you're bound to have some enemies. The competition is catching up, but the impression the iPhone has made on them is undeniable. Full-bodied touchscreen phones that do more than just enable calls and grainy pictures are now a hot item thanks to Apple — though maybe you're still on the fence as to whether or not the iPhone 3G is right for you. Maybe you're in the middle of your current plan and don't want to switch, or maybe AT&T's coverage isn't all that great in your area. Either way, you've got options.

Click Continue to see what phones are looking to settle the score.

1. HTC Touch Diamond
HTC finishes cutting its 3G diamonds in July for a variety of carriers. The Diamond does a lot to distinguish itself with its looks and interface, and yet its clickwheel won't help you forget how iPhone-influenced it is.

Like the iPhone:
• Virtual keyboard
• Turn-by-turn GPS directions

Not like the iPhone:
• Glossy frame with angles to resemble cut diamond
• Horizontal menu system (rather than a panel of favorites)

Secret weapons:
• iPodesque clickwheel and four buttons
• 3.2 megapixel camera for stills and video
• Choice of cellular carriers

Weaknesses:
• 4 GB of internal memory
• Smallish 2.8-inch touchscreen

Want to know more?

2. Samsung Instinct
Samsung comes out swinging in 3G for Sprint on June 20th. The Instinct does a lot of things right, but, at the same time, almost everything it gets right the iPhone did first. Including the case design.

Like the iPhone:
• 3.1-inch touchscreen
• 2 megapixel camera for images
• Upgradable memory up to 8GB
• Virtual keyboard and 3 hard buttons
• Turn-by-turn GPS navigation

Not like the iPhone:
• It... Ah... Hmm...?

Secret Weapons:
• Camera can also record video
• Customizable favorite menu buttons

Weaknesses:
• Relies on Sprint's proprietary services for music and video, among other things
Want to know more?

3. LG Vu
LG's 3G "TV phone" is already available, also on AT&T, and shares a lot with the iPhone. One big problem with that: it competes directly with the iPhone for AT&T's customers.

Like the iPhone:
• 3-inch touchscreen
• Virtual keyboard and 3 hard buttons for phone control
• 2.0 megapixel camera

Not like the iPhone:
• Navigation screens categorized into segments

Secret Weapons:
• Vibrating feedback for the touchscreen
• Streams AT&T's Mobile TV service
• Allows for voice and data use simultaneously
• Camera also shoots video

Weaknesses:
• Competing with the iPhone on its own network
Want to know more?

And there's one more shadowy contender off on the horizon, where a storm's certainly brewing — the recently announced Blackberry Thunder. When the first iteration of the iPhone was released last year, it took a lot of heat for not offering a full corporate suite of software that has Crackberry users loyal to the brand. And now RIM is planning on a full, touchscreen Blackberry with the Thunder:

iPhone Nano, GPS Are More Important to Apple Than 3G: Analysis

3G? Video? That's old news. Rival companies tell PM's senior tech editor they're shaking in their boots over the prospect of Steve Jobs enabling iPhone 2.0 with GPS, and a stripped-down cellphone might even outsell the original. A modest proposal for June's WWDC keynote.

It's that time of year again, when rampant speculation from fanboys, "inside sources" and journalists alike (over)anticipates another Apple product launch. On June 9, as everybody who follows this stuff knows, Steve Jobs is set to unveil the 3G update to the iPhone. (We'll be live on-hand with all the details.)

Now there are plenty of theories about how AT&T's HSDPA network will effect the iPhone 2.0: Will the high-speed connection make the cellphone bulkier? What about battery life? Those aren't the only questions, of course. Bloggers have been obsessing over every potential tweak: Will the camera be updated? Will there be streaming video? Will a Wi-Fi antenna still be necessary? Will the Bluetooth spec finally be updated to allow for data streaming and wireless stereo headphones?

All these elements would be important—if incremental—improvements in the iPhone's functionality. But Jobs could make two announcements on June 9 that would have far bigger implications for the future success of the iPhone than even fast Internet may provide.

The first would be the addition of a GPS antenna. I recently sat down with the president of a GPS navigation system manufacturer to ask him how he felt about the prospect of a GPS-enabled iPhone. "Scared [expletive]-less," he said. Hardly a rarity in the handset world, GPS functionality is already used by many carriers to sell location-based services and for Emergency 911 (or E911). And the iPhone already does rough location positioning by cross-referencing tower triangulation with a database of known Wi-Fi hot spots.

Yet the iPhone has the potential to leverage true GPS functionality better than any other device. It already has a large, 3.5-in touchscreen interface, external speakers and an elegant Google Maps interface. All you'd need to add to a GPS-enabled iPhone is a suction-cup windshield bracket (sold separately, of course), and you'd have a fully-functional, pocket-portable car navigation device. People already pay hundreds of dollars in droves for this increasingly popular segment of devices, and the iPhone could essentially challenge an entire product category with one add-on feature.

The second huge announcement that Jobs could make would be that's he's introducing not one new iPhone—but two. He's stated that his goal is to sell 10 million iPhones in 2008, and a new 3G iPhone with better e-mail support for corporate networks could certainly help toward that goal (even old iPhones are supposed to get an upgrade to work with Microsoft's ActiveSync in June).

But I can't help wondering how long Apple will continue with a single-phone strategy. After all, what turned the iPod from a revolutionary product for a limited market into a true juggernaut was the addition of Minis and Nanos and Shuffles—in other words, a complete product line. The iPhone is a force to be reckoned with in the smartphone category, but a smaller, cheaper iPhone Nano with a couple of gigabytes of storage and basic music functionality has the potential for truly explosive sales. It may not happen next month, but its time will come.

Source: popularmechanics

iPhone Nano, GPS Are More Important to Apple Than 3G: Analysis

3G? Video? That's old news. Rival companies tell PM's senior tech editor they're shaking in their boots over the prospect of Steve Jobs enabling iPhone 2.0 with GPS, and a stripped-down cellphone might even outsell the original. A modest proposal for June's WWDC keynote.

It's that time of year again, when rampant speculation from fanboys, "inside sources" and journalists alike (over)anticipates another Apple product launch. On June 9, as everybody who follows this stuff knows, Steve Jobs is set to unveil the 3G update to the iPhone. (We'll be live on-hand with all the details.)

Now there are plenty of theories about how AT&T's HSDPA network will effect the iPhone 2.0: Will the high-speed connection make the cellphone bulkier? What about battery life? Those aren't the only questions, of course. Bloggers have been obsessing over every potential tweak: Will the camera be updated? Will there be streaming video? Will a Wi-Fi antenna still be necessary? Will the Bluetooth spec finally be updated to allow for data streaming and wireless stereo headphones?

All these elements would be important—if incremental—improvements in the iPhone's functionality. But Jobs could make two announcements on June 9 that would have far bigger implications for the future success of the iPhone than even fast Internet may provide.

The first would be the addition of a GPS antenna. I recently sat down with the president of a GPS navigation system manufacturer to ask him how he felt about the prospect of a GPS-enabled iPhone. "Scared [expletive]-less," he said. Hardly a rarity in the handset world, GPS functionality is already used by many carriers to sell location-based services and for Emergency 911 (or E911). And the iPhone already does rough location positioning by cross-referencing tower triangulation with a database of known Wi-Fi hot spots.

Yet the iPhone has the potential to leverage true GPS functionality better than any other device. It already has a large, 3.5-in touchscreen interface, external speakers and an elegant Google Maps interface. All you'd need to add to a GPS-enabled iPhone is a suction-cup windshield bracket (sold separately, of course), and you'd have a fully-functional, pocket-portable car navigation device. People already pay hundreds of dollars in droves for this increasingly popular segment of devices, and the iPhone could essentially challenge an entire product category with one add-on feature.

The second huge announcement that Jobs could make would be that's he's introducing not one new iPhone—but two. He's stated that his goal is to sell 10 million iPhones in 2008, and a new 3G iPhone with better e-mail support for corporate networks could certainly help toward that goal (even old iPhones are supposed to get an upgrade to work with Microsoft's ActiveSync in June).

But I can't help wondering how long Apple will continue with a single-phone strategy. After all, what turned the iPod from a revolutionary product for a limited market into a true juggernaut was the addition of Minis and Nanos and Shuffles—in other words, a complete product line. The iPhone is a force to be reckoned with in the smartphone category, but a smaller, cheaper iPhone Nano with a couple of gigabytes of storage and basic music functionality has the potential for truly explosive sales. It may not happen next month, but its time will come.

Source: popularmechanics