Apple is not well known for its social causes, but the company is now looking for a makeover. Recently, it published a responsibility report which detailed all the eco-friendly efforts made by the company. The new recycling plan will help you in getting rid of your old iPod, iPad, Macs and iPhones and will help you in making some money that way. Apple is also accepting non-functional gadgets. Though, the pricing seems to be on conservative side, but at least you can rest assured that your gadget is being disposed off in an environment-friendly way.

Depending on the condition of your product, you might be offered credit or Apple would recycle your product free of cost. According to Apple website, “Apple’s commitment to the environment includes finding the most efficient ways to reuse or recycle electronic equipment at the end of its useful life.” So go ahead, do your good deed of the day.

Apple Kicks off electronics Recycling Program in UK is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Back when the disaster had just occurred and Japan was gripped with fear and panic, Google did its bit to help. Person Finder, which was originally developed after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, was launched less than two hours after the Japanese quake, allowing families to connect with each other; offering a form of a reassurance in a time of fear.

Now that the initial disaster has passed the hard work of recovery has begun and Google have sent out their street cars in order to visual capture the destruction and reconstruction of affected areas. The street cars will allow the world to see both the terrifying power of nature and the resilience of Japan.

Mayor of Kesennuma Mr Sugawara said: “I’d like them to record Kesennuma’s streets now, then I’d like them to come back, when the city is like new again, and show the world the new Kesennuma.”

The people of Japan are noticing Google’s commitment to their country but will this result in a wider share of one of the world’s biggest web markets (currently dominated by Yahoo)? Analysts say it is too soon to tell.

Google Send Street Cars To Tsunami Ravaged Japan is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

And if Obama gets his way there will be one million electric vehicles to get used by 2015. With cars like the Nissan Leaf electronic travel is fast becoming a reality. But like all new technology there’s problems. The obvious issue is the lack of electric pumps at garages, and something you may not have considered, the noise of an electric car, or rather, the lack of noise.

We all know to look left and right, but as well as our eyes it’s also our ears that keep is in one piece when crossing roads. The University of California have found that an internal combustion engine (i.e. a standard car engine) can be heard 36 feet away, but the electric car is only audible 11 feet away. If you’re view is obscured you can imagine the problem a silent car could pose.

In order to combat the issue plans are being considered to put the type of warning beeps used by large trucks and vans. You know the noise, then one that nasty people use to bully the fat friends.

Warning Beeps Will be Installed In Electronic Cars is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Google launched Prediction API from the Google Labs last year. The system is designed to give an application information about a user’s past actions so that it can predict future behaviour, and iconic car manufactures Ford want in. API will be built into future Ford vehicles in order to track a users individual driving style. Information on a driver’s preferences behaviour could be stored in a profile in the cloud and accessed later.

It means that the program will predict the destination of the current trip based on the cars recent ‘driving history.’ Where the technology truly shines is its energy saving capabilities. Once the ‘predicated’ trip is confirmed by the driver the system will plot out the most efficient route and not only that but it will indicate when the car should be petrol powered and when it should switch to battery.

It all may seem a bit alarming but Ford assures us the aim is not to control or change driving behaviour or force cars to stick to the speed limit but instead, they’ve brought Google in so that they can allow their vehicles to save energy by adapting to a driver’s behaviour.

This is probably just the start too. Don’t be surprised if we see Android tablets being built into cars. Think about it. Digital, petrol/speedometer, GPS, entertainment, window/air condition control all on one panel, and Angry Birds when you’re stuck in traffic!

Google Take Over The World Part I: Google And Ford Motors is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Inuits
Polar bears
The O-Zone
The Ice Caps

Wi-Fi

That’s right, the internet could be the latest victim of our envrionemental neglect. According to research wireless internet could be hit by by disruption due to climate change. Roads, railways, power and water supplies are also said to be at a moderate to serious risk. To tell the truth, unfortuantely, not enough of us care enough about the enivornment. Maybe it’s hard to connect with a slab of ice or a rare animal you’ve never seen/never will see but the internet is a global tool shared by the entire world and the threat posed by Climate Change may at last force people to take notice.

UK Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said higher temperatures and rainstorms could disrupt wi-fi communications. She also said that wetter winters and drier summers might lead to increased subsidence, damaging underground cables and masts.”If climate change threatens the quality of your signal, or you can’t get it because of extreme fluctuations in temperature, then you will be disadvantaged, which is why we must address the issue” she said

Of course the doom-mongering worst scenario card was played-

“And just imagine in the height of an emergency if the communications system is down or adversely affected.” She’s right though. I said the same thing about GPS systems a while ago.

Her comments come as a report published today outlines how planning and design of new infrastructure needs to take into account the impact of climate change – especially as many projects will still be in place in 50 to 100 years time. It seems we’ve moved on from preventation to damage limitation which is worrying. But if we really cannot reverse climate change then damage limitaton is better than sitting back and letting the weather pull the world apart. When your internet goes down you’ll wish you used less plastic bags!

Climate Change Will Disrupt Wi-Fi According to Environmental Secretary is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

The shut down could not have come at more unfortunate time. Just when NASA and other research bodies are discovering newer and newer celestial bodies, thus increasing the chances of finding extraterrestrial civilizations, the Hat Creek Facility found that it cannot afford to spend $1.5 million per year required to keep running it.

SETI started operating some 50 years back and had its fair share of detractors. Back in 1993, Congress actually went ahead banned funding for the institute. Interestingly, Allen Telescope array was initially funded by Microsoft co founder Paul Allen, who donated $25 million for the project.  The institute is still looking to shore up its funds and hopes to collect enough money to restart the project in 2013. We just hope that our little extraterrestrial friends will wait till then.

Fund Paucity Leads to SETI Shutdown: ET Quest Forsaken is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Apparently, Rees has widened the boundaries of understanding about the physical processes that define the cosmos, including speculations on the concept of ‘multiverses’ and infinite universes.

During his career, Rees has made important contributions to support the theories of the Big Bang, the explosive start to the universe 13.7 billion years ago, and of the existence of massive “black holes” in space in which even light can be trapped.

Rees has also hypothesised the end of humanity. In a 2003 book by the astrologist the odds of our present civilisation surviving to the end of the present century are said to be no better than 50/50.

He says there’s a whole host of things lining up to take us out including natural events, such as super-eruptions and asteroid impacts, and man-made disasters like engineered viruses, nuclear terrorism and even a take-over by super-intelligent machines.

Hmm which one will it be? My money’s on nuclear terrorism at the moment.

Black Holes and UFOs: UK Astrophysicist Wins Templeton Prize is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

The challenge, open to anyone, is to re-use and mash-up existing technologies and products to come up with bright new ideas to tackle environmental issues.

My idea is to use Peer to Peer software to provide instant warning to potential ‘flood victims.’

An expert panel will go through all the concepts and choose the best one for development. Sony will invest engineering and R&D resource to develop the idea into a proof of concept stage and the results will be released to the public domain so they can be used by other parties for environmental good.

So come on, get your thinking cap on and save the planet.

Here is the brief and the homepage if you want more information.

Finally here are a few ideas (using existing Sony technology) to get your imagination running.

So go on, what’s stopping you.

Here are the Open Planet Ideas

Join the challenge and Find Out More About Open Planet Ideas

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Open Planet Competition: How Can Technology Help The Planet? is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

We have already talk about our top 5 mobile recycling sites, MoPay, Envirofone, Mazuma, Mobile Phone Exchange and Fonebank, but there are plenty more sites which can offer you cash for your mobile.

It would appear that UK mobile phone carrier, O2 has caught onto the idea and have launched their very own online service that claims to make it easier for people to recycle handsets in return for cash.

The service can be used by anyone in the UK, regardless of the network and they will also redeem your old MP3 Players, Digital Cameras, Games Consoles and much more. So if you’re interested in converting cash for your gadget stash then all you have to do is follow these 6 simple steps?

1. Visit the O2 Recycle Website
2. Enter the details of your device
3. Get an estimated value
4. Print off the Receipt
5. A prepaid postage envelope is sent to you to put your receipt and phone in
6. Once the phone is received and shows it is in good working order you’ll receive a text saying the money has been transferred into the account.

Plus, what is even fantastic about this is that for every device, O2 donates £1 to “It’s Your Community” charity and your products are sold onto global markets by a company called Redeem.

With my iPhone 3G up for renewal this month, I’ll soon be getting an upgrade so I thought I would check out how much cash I could get for my current iPhone 3G, which is a staggering £173! If that’s the case then all I can say is bring on the cash O2 Recycle!

Has anyone else used O2 Recycle to redeem their gadget stash for cash? Or did you opt in using another mobile recycling site? Share your experiences and leave a comment…

Mobile Phone Recycling from O2: Redeem Your Gadget Stash for Cash is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Make yourself feel a little bit better by investing in the Water Powered Clock. No mains power used, no batteries to throw into land fills, just six weeks of time keeping on only water with a splash of lemon juice.

Ok, so Duracell might last longer, but water is 100% natural – and it’s completely free (except the price of a Jiff lemon anyway).

£12.99 Gadgets Quick

Water Powered Clock: 100% Natural Time Keeper is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com