Mobile phone manufacturers agree to universal charger

In what can only be described as sensible behaviour, it's been reported today that 10 of the main mobile phone manufacturers have agreed to adopt a universal mobile phone charger.

The change will take place from 2010 and the all important connector will be a Micro USB (note that after reading comments on Guardian website and consulting with a colleague it has been established this is different from the Mini USB connector as is seen on many digi cameras).

Consumers vent their spleens whenever something like a £20 replacement charger gets in the way of our essential communication tools. Is this the beginning of harmonised electronic equipment? (I don't know what that means, but I like the sound of it)

Mobile Phone Amnesty 2009

Our ever popular and thrilling Mobile Phone Amnesty has just begun. This event promotes mobile phone and PDA recycling (like we always do) but participants get entered into our prize draw and could win one of the following:

1. Elonex Web Book (running Windows XP)
2. A night's stay at the plush Thistle Grand Hotel in Bristol for two people including breakfast
3. A day pass to Centre Parcs Longleat for 6 people
4. Sainsbury's gift vouchers

After a little head scratching at Greensource HQ, Vaughn (the brains behind the Mobile Phone Amnesty) decided to change how we classified all donations.
In short, phones and PDAs are now graded so more valuable models get more chances in the prize draw to win a prize.

We think this is a fairer reflection of rewarding those with top phones as they will raise the most for our charity partner for this event St Peter's Hospice - and of course we reckon it means all those iPhone owners are scrambling to get their buff hardware back to us sharpish!

Top marks as well for the light entertainment legend who hosts the website for us.

Please note this event runs for a limited period so contact us to enter or get more info.

Greensource have PDAs, will sell!

We recently were donated nearly 4000 Dell Axim X51 PDAs by a large pharmaceuticals company.
This is an amazing donation and we have pledged to give 50% of all profits from the sales of these to our charity partners and a charitable Foundation that staff at the company intend on creating.

I hope this means a cheque for big money will be cut for these charities shortly!

For all interested parties these devices will be on sale shortly through our usual outlets.

Nokia are developing a mobile phone that may never need mains charging

Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia move closer to producing a device that will never need plugging in to the mains to recharge!

Ambient electromagnetic radiation--emitted from Wi-Fi transmitters, cell-phone antennas, TV masts, and other sources--could be converted into enough electrical current to keep a battery topped up, says Markku Rouvala, a researcher from the Nokia Research Centre, in Cambridge, U.K. said the Technology Review yesterday.

I won't quote all the details of this development, will just say the ramifications of this are massive and far reaching for electronic equipment that can survive on small amounts of power.

Though it's not new technology (Nikola Tesla discovered this phenomenon) a company like Nokia could pull one of the coups of modern times implementing this - imagine no more chargers and free power.

I also like to hope that once one multinational releases a product with a feature so helpful for the customer and the energy used by us, we consumers will come to expect this and all other businesses will have to follow suit.

Greensource donate £650 to St Peter's Hospice

It's always nice to spread news like this. Airbus in Bristol contacted us recently with a large quantity of printer cartridges surplus to their requirements and after collecting them we have raised £650 for Bristols St Peter's Hospice
We have been a partner with St Peter's Hospice since 2008 collecting empty printer cartridges and mobile phones to raise funds for the work they do.

They are a great charity who provide an invaluable service for those with life threatening illnesses and their families and being local to us makes it all the more worthwhile.

New Sony Ericsson phone looks to have better environmental credentials

The Guardian reported last week that "Sony Ericsson will unveil two "green" handsets tomorrow with a carbon footprint 15% lower than current models."
This model looks pretty snazzy to me and I like Sony Ericsson mobiles so all good to them.
Reading the article shows a lot of "improvements" are packaging based which is all good but doesn't deserve too big a slap on the back in my opinion.

Congratulations to our partner St Peter's Hospice

We at Greensource Solutions are partners with St Peter's Hospice who provide an invaluable palliative care service at two hospices in Bristol - so they are close to our hearts.
The volunteers who work for the charity have just been honoured with the Queens Award for Voluntary Service which is the equivalent of an MBE.
Three cheers for them!