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The new bill attempts to limit the growth of hazardous waste in New York landfills by requiring manufacturers to accept used electronics from consumers. Manufacturers must pay $5,000 to register with the program, and an additional $3,000 each year in reporting fees to report to the state how much material they have recycled.

The bill does allow manufacturers to charge a fee to businesses with more than 50 employees or non-profit organizations with more than 75.

The state legislation would trump New York City’s e-waste recycling program, which has been challenged by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and Information Technology Industry Council (ITI). Panasonic, LG Electronics, Sony and Samsung have objected to the New York City law,arguing that requiring companies to collect used equipment from the homes of consumers in city’s in which they may only have a minimal presence imposes an undue burden. The group has estimated the program will cost companies over $200 million a year.

The event featured more than 60 exhibits and 40 speakers including executives from Panasonic, Flextronics, Oracle/Sun, Blue coat Systems, Techturn, Umicore, Boliden, Redemtech and several other leaders in the electronics recycling industry.
Honorees at the event included Sprint-Nextel for “sustainability leadership” ,1-800-RECYLING received the “best recycling resource” . Eco-ATM was honored with the “most innovative product of the year award” , Green Spot Drop Off was honored as the “collection program of the year”. PowerON Services Inc was awarded as the “fastest growing computer hardware company” . M.A.I.T- India was recognized for it’s responsible e-waste management outreach efforts in India & Creative Recycling Systems Inc was awarded as the “electronics recycler of the year”.

The International Electronics Recycling Conference & Expo has fast become a premier networking & learning platform for electronics manufacturers, resellers, recyclers and other stake holders in the electronics waste management industry.

“The gap between these two has been narrowing, and Nokia is facing a significant threat of being overtaken by Samsung in Western Europe in 2010,” Jeronimo said.

The West European home market has been the key for Finnish Nokia to build its global success, and investors are looking closely at Nokia’s market share development on the market.

Total cellphone sales in Western Europe rose 5 percent from a year ago to 46.8 million phones in the September quarter, increasing for the first time after five straight quarters of declines, IDC said.

Sales of smartphone rose 2 percent from the previous quarter, boosted by growing sales of Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s Blackberrys.

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Operators pushed market share of cellphones running Google’s software a little higher in September quarter in Western Europe, but consumers showed little interest toward them, research firm IDC said on Saturday.

Android has won attention in the mobile industry lately, with Motorola and Sony Ericsson choosing it for their new top models.

Market share of smartphones running Google’s Android operating system (OS) rose to 5.4 percent from 4.2 percent in July-September in Western Europe, a key area for the smartphone market.

“Consumers steer clear of Google’s OS and sell-out is below everyone’s expectations. Consumers recognize the Google brand, but still do not understand what Android is,” IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said in a statement.

“The lack of devices available didn’t help to raise awareness, though this is expected to change, with more handsets from LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, and other vendors hitting the market soon,” Jeronimo said.

Last month Gameloft, one of the largest cellphone game makers, also bashed Android saying it and other software developers were cutting back investment in developing games and other applications for the platform.

Global market leader Symbian — used extensively by Nokia — continued to be the leading operating system also in Western Europe, controlling 48 percent of the market.

This groundbreaking new program is designed to provide companies with a new source for independent, third-party green claims validation. Underwriters Laboratories, a world leader in product safety testing services, launched UL Environment, a wholly-owned subsidiary aimed at providing guidance and clarity of environmental claims to both the consumer and manufacturer.

UL Environment has validated claims for LG’s award-winning SteamWasherTM WM3001HWA and popular 47LH90 LCD TV by performing a variety of laboratory tests. UL Environment purchased LG products from U.S. retailers prior to testing. The SteamWasher was evaluated based on energy and water savings, while the LCD TV was tested for overall energy consumption – both in on mode power and standby modes.

Testing results found that the LG SteamWasher uses a minimum of 50 percent less water and energy than Energy Star® requirements effective July 1, 2009 and exceeds 2011 requirements for energy consumption by at least 35 percent and water consumption by at least 40 percent. The LG LCD TV uses a minimum of 70 percent less energy than required by Energy Star 3.0 requirements in standby mode, while using a minimum of 40 percent less energy in the on-mode than Energy Star 3.0 requirements.“Using this comprehensive UL Environment third-party testing program to validate environmental claims such as energy and water efficiency will instill further confidence in our products’ performance and will help maintain consumers’ confidence in voluntary programs such as Energy Star,” said Teddy Hwang, President of LG Electronics USA.

LG intends to expand its participation in the UL Environment program to cover other product lines, from refrigerator-freezers and dish washers to plasma HDTVs and Blu-ray Disc players.

Steve Wenc, President of UL Environment added, “By applying solid science and more than a century of testing expertise, UL Environment’s validation program brings a new level of confidence to consumers to make informed purchase decisions when shopping for energy efficient products. We commend LG’s leading role as the first appliance and consumer electronics manufacturer to participate in this consumer program.”

UL Environment applies a rigorous, independent testing process to the testing of environmental claims and allows manufacturers that successfully pass the tests to apply the UL Environment service logo on product packaging and marketing materials. This not only protects consumers, institutions and businesses, it also reinforces the credibility of companies that produce products with substantiated environmental claims. Validation also helps companies differentiate themselves in the increasingly crowded “green” product space.

“LG’s focus on environmental issues has resulted in a global environmental vision,” Hwang said, “Across our broad product portfolio, we have incorporated eco-design strategies to reduce the environmental impact of a product’s development, production, and circulation, along with reduced use of hazardous materials and enhanced efficiency of resources and recyclability.”

Analysts say Huawei Technologies is increasingly competing on quality, not just prices, especially in Europe. Above, a Huawei convention booth.
As the telecom industry emerges from the global economic slump, European telecommunication-gear companies—global market leader Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson; Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture between Finland’s Nokia Corp. and Germany’s Siemens AG; and Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent SA—are likely to face increased pressure from world No. 2 Huawei in their own backyard.

Huawei, which like smaller peer ZTE Corp. is based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, was founded 1988, and revenue and earnings have risen steadily.

Its sales increased to $18.33 billion last year, the latest figure available, from $5.98 billion in 2005, while profit rose to $1.15 billion from $681 million.

While European vendors have, to some extent, been able to keep these low-cost Chinese rivals at bay through superior equipment, Huawei is growing quickly both because it offers lower prices than most rivals and because the quality of its equipment is getting better, said analyst Scott Siegler at research firm Dell’Oro, based in Redwood, Calif. “When we talk to service providers that use Huawei’s equipment, we have been told that it is excellent technology, he said.”

Huawei’s share of the global infrastructure market almost doubled in revenue terms to 20.1% from 10.9% in the third quarter from a year earlier, leaving behind Nokia Siemens and Alcatel-Lucent, according to Dell’Oro.

In the same period, Ericsson’s market share remained largely flat at 31.6%. Nokia Siemens’s share of the market fell to 19.4% from 23.7%, and Alcatel-Lucent’s, to 13.1% from 14.3%. ZTE remained the fifth-largest vendor, but its market share rose to 6.8% from 4.2%.

It is in Europe where the battle is really heating up. Norway’s largest telecom operator, Telenor ASA, this month selected Huawei to supply its new Norwegian wireless network, replacing gear supplied by Ericsson and Nokia Siemens.

The six-year contract, which includes services and maintenance, was handed to Huawei on the basis of several criteria, including price and technical specifications, Telenor Norway Chief Executive Ragnar Karhus said.

The quality of Huawei’s equipment has improved and the company is now “completely in line” with the European vendors in terms of technology and services, Mr. Karhus said.

Last week, Huawei won another European deal, to upgrade Belgacom’s radio-access networks under a long-term agreement. Belgacom is Belgium’s largest telecommunications operator.

Telecom operators typically sign contracts with equipment vendors running for several quarters or even years, and this could slow the entry of new vendors to some extent.

Still, operators across Europe are expected from next year onward to gradually introduce equipment based around a fourth-generation standard known as Long Term Evolution. This should give the Chinese vendors another opportunity.

“We expect the transition to 4G will allow Huawei to gain momentum in Europe,” Goldman Sachs said in a recent note to investors. “Clearly there are rising competitive risks in Western Europe.”

That risk was spelled out clearly by Nokia Chief Financial Officer Rick Simonson, who said recently there is increasing price competition “primarily from the Chinese competitors ZTE and Huawei.”

Telenor’s Mr. Karhus said Huawei supplies particularly effective multibase stations, which support several transmission frequencies and technical standards in the same box, increasing operators’ flexibility.

Nokia Siemens in October posted a 21% drop in third-quarter revenue from a year earlier and said it will lose more market share this year than expected, even as it gave a more positive outlook for the overall market.

As Nokia Siemens is consolidated in Nokia’s balance sheet, it has a significant impact on the handset maker’s financial performance. Nokia reported a worse-than-expected third-quarter loss after it booked a €908 million ($1.36 billion) goodwill impairment on the joint venture because of “challenging competitive factors and market conditions” in the network-infrastructure business.

Huawei has so far had much less success in overseas regions outside Europe, including in the big U.S. and Japanese markets. Last year, the Americas contributed only 12% of the company’s contract sales, compared with 47% from Asia Pacific and 41% from Europe, Middle East and Africa, according to Huawei spokesman Ross Gan.

Due in part to political sensitivity, it has been difficult for Huawei to gain a foothold in North America and Japan, the world’s third-largest telecom-equipment market, after the U.S. and China, said analyst Tina Tian at research firm Gartner Inc.

The U.S. government last year blocked Huawei from buying U.S.-based networking-equipment company 3Com Corp. because it had government contracts to provide security software.

Still, Huawei’s Mr. Gan said the company expects business momentum to continue in North America and Japan, adding that its main competitive strength is still to provide services at a lower total cost of ownership.

In the U.S., it provides telecom equipment and services to Cox Communications Corp. and Clearwire Corp.

Robert Fox, chief branding officer of Huawei’s branding division, said in a recent interview that next year it hopes to add 600 employees to its 900 existing staff in North America. Globally, it has more than 87,500 workers.

Despite its rapid growth, it will still take some time before Huawei approaches the position of market leader Ericsson, which has expanded its presence in North America through the acquisition of Nortel Networks Corp. assets and has won a number of large service contracts with operators including U.S.-based Sprint Nextel Corp.

Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent earlier this year also won a major contract to supply Verizon Wireless with its fourth-generation wireless network. Vodafone Group PLC has a minority stake in Verizon Wireless, which is majority owned by Verizon Communications Inc.

Dell announced plans in August to sell smart phones and other mobile devices with wireless partners. The company also is combining its consumer and small- and medium-sized business groups, David Frink, a spokesman for Round Rock, Texas-based Dell, said today in an e-mail.

The unit led by Garriques, who once ran Motorola Inc.’s phone business, will focus on developing more wireless products, Frink said. Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell is expanding into new businesses to revive sales after posting five quarters of declines, with Acer Inc. overtaking it in the latest period.

Dell is selling a Mini 3 smart phone with China Mobile Ltd., and also plans to sell through a Brazilian unit of America Movil SAB by the end of the year. The company hired Garriques, 45, almost three years ago to lead a new consumer unit after failing to win PC orders from home buyers.

The combined consumer and small-business division will be led by Steve Felice, who now runs small business, Frink said. The company also has two other business groups, one devoted to large enterprises and the other for government agencies.

Patent-Pending.

Pre-Order Today at www.fastmac.com. They cost only $9.99 each.

This item is currently waiting on final UL Approval. It is scheduled to begin shipping in early 2010.

TruePower’s custom power outlet solution includes two Universal Serial Bus (USB) charge ports in addition to the two standard three prong power outlet ports. Perfect for charging any USB powered device including- mobile, iPod, iPhone, PDA, MP3, PSP, MP4 player & digital camera.

Specifications:
Input voltage: AC 100 to 240V 50/60Hz
USB input current: 80mA
Output voltage: USB: DC 5.0V 600mA
Operation temperature: -15 to 45 Degrees Celsius
Relative humidity: < 95%
Air pressure: 86 to 106kPa

Installation:
This item can be installed on any existing wall outlet.

We will have an installation video available shortly so that you can see exactly what is involved and if this is something you feel comfortable doing on your own or if you will need assistance.

Please also note that the USB ports only draw power when something is physically connected to the port. Truepower doesn’t want a vampire port that continually sucks and wastes power when not in use so this was one of the features on the top of our priority list during the design phase.

If you have any questions about this specific product please contact mlowdermilk@fastmac.com.

There are millions of consumers aged 50 and over (”Older Americans”) who control billions in disposable income. Technology brands are increasingly seeking out this demographic as they grow in both numbers and economic importance.

This study, conducted jointly by CEA and TNS Compete provides new insights into this unique consumer segment, and reveals:

• Technology usage and overall perceptions of technology
• Which CE products appeal to this demographic and how much they are planning to spend in the next year
• How to reach Older Americans online as they shop for CE products
• Older Americans’ preferences for research and purchase channels, and what factors influence their decision-making
• This study is a must read for anyone involved in the manufacturing, marketing, installing or selling of products and/or services to older Americans.

Key Topics Covered:

• Methodology
• Research Objectives
• Key Findings
• Detailed Findings
• Ce Product Usage
• Technology Usage / Attitudes
• Online Behaviors
• Perceptions / Attitudes Of Consumer Electronics
• Future Purchase Intent
• Shopping Behaviors / Attitudes
• Case Study
• Conclusions
• About Compete, Inc.
• About Tns Media
• The Kantar Group

For more information visithttp://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/e78392/greying_gadgets

Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

]]> http://www.ewastejournal.com/greying-gadgets-how-older-americans-shop-for-use-consumer-electronics/feed/ 0 http://www.ewastejournal.com/u-s-senators-introduce-legislation-to-curb-cell-phone-early-termination-fees/ http://www.ewastejournal.com/u-s-senators-introduce-legislation-to-curb-cell-phone-early-termination-fees/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:21:23 +0000 http://www.ewastejournal.com/?p=622

Four  U.S senators introduced legislationThursday aimed at the fees wireless carriers charge when subscribers change providers before their contracts are up. The bill, dubbed the Cell Phone Early Termination Fee, Transparency and Fairness Act, would cap those early-termination fees based on the price of the phone, and would pro-rate fees based on the time left on the contract.

“Forcing consumers to pay outrageous fees bearing little to no relation to the cost of their handset devices is anti-consumer and anti-competitive,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.), one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a statement.

“It’s allowing consumers more information and also making sure that the industry isn’t sticking it to consumers,” a spokeswoman for the senator added.

Early-termination fees have attracted criticism from some lawmakers, regulators and consumer groups, who say they’re too high and too complicated. Most of the major wireless carriers, including Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint, have faced disputesrelated to their fees.

Carriers say these fees help them avoid losing money when customers back out of their contracts early, since they often sell phones at a discount and recoup the costs through monthly fees.

The bill’s announcement calls out Verizon Wireless, which recently raised its early-termination fee for some smart phones to $350. (The carrier also sells standard cellphones with lower fees, as well as no-contract handsets.)

Jeffrey Nelson, a Verizon Wireless spokesman, pointed out that subsidized options enable consumers to get devices they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. “This is not about collecting fees, it’s about putting state-of-the-art devices into the hands of the most people possible, at affordable prices,” he said.

“Nobody is required to pay an early termination fee,” he added. “You always have the choice of buying a mobile device at full price, or at a discount with a one- or two-year contract. And if you stay with your contract, you don’t pay a fee at all.”

Wireless-industry trade group CTIA, in a statement, called the legislation unnecessary, saying that the competitive nature of the business has already prompted carriers to offer pro-rated termination fees. “This type of prescriptive mandate runs the very real risk of limiting consumer options in the future,” it said.

But Joel Kelsey, a policy analyst at Consumers Union, said that those pro-rating policies usually aren’t enough to make a difference, particularly for subscribers near the end of their contracts. The bill, he said, “would force carriers to make sure that their fee actually represents the discount that they’re giving to consumers for the cost of the device.”

In addition to Sen. Klobuchar, the bill’s other sponsors included Sens. Russ Feingold (D., Wisc.), Jim Webb (D., Va.) and Mark Begich (D., Alaska).

Panasonic President Fumio Ohtsubo said in an interview with the Bloomberg news service this week that growing consumer interest in more efficient products has led Panasonic to decide to develop new core businesses.

“Our growth is not enough . So we want to change our fighting ring from our current categories to a different field,” Ohtsubo told Bloomberg.

The company plans to offer home energy management systems, as well as develop existing interests in lithium ion batteries for electric cars, solar panels, and smart appliances.

Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the world’s leading plasma-TV manufacturer is getting rid of its star product.

As one of its green product ideas, Ohtsubo told Bloomberg about a system in development that would allow people to monitor the electricity generation of their solar panels and the electricity use of their home appliances through their television sets.

One can’t help but wonder if Panasonic’s interest in a new core business was in any way influenced by the U.S. Department of Energy’s decision to curb Energy Star seals for supersized televisions. Very large televisions could fall out of favor if an increasingly energy-conscious public relies on the Energy Star seal when deciding which products to purchase for their home.

It also remains to be seen if this means Panasonic is going to abandon its plasma TVs in favor of the increasingly popular LCD and LED-based LCD televisions. Panasonic already does make LCD televisions, in addition to plasmas.

Amazingly, the feature worked pretty well in our tests, and we hope to see similar automatic turn-offs in future televisions–as long as irate couch potatoes don’t flood Sony’s customer service call centers to complain of malfunctioning TVs. Otherwise the Sony uses about as much power as a typical LCD–it’s nowhere near as miserly as the LED-backlit Sharp’s LC-LE700UN series, for example.

The KDL-VE5 also offers very good picture quality for a standard LCD, but on the downside, it charges a hefty premium over the step-down KDL-V5100 series–the only major differences between the two are styling and the VE5’s presence sensor. If you’re prone to forgetting to turn the TV off, however, the KDL-VE5 might be able to make up the difference in a few years.

To help achieve these dual goals, the US technology bellwether, popularly known as HP, has teamed up with a German company to recycle disposable ink cartridges from HP printers.

Once used, the plastic cartridges would otherwise end up in rubbish landfills or incinerators, aggravating the problem of solid waste pollution. Together with its partner Produkte Durch Recycling, HP is trying to set an example for environmental responsibility, and asking its customers to join in the effort.

Produkte Durch Recycling, which translates as Products Derived from Recycling, or PDR, is one of three recyclers that HP works with worldwide. It handles HP printer cartridges sent for recycling from Europe, the Middle East and Africa; HP has partnered with other companies to recycle cartridges in the Americas and Asia.

PDR has already won several awards in Germany for its recycling expertise. On a recent visit to its facility in the south-central German city of Thurnau, this Khaleej Times reporter found that PDR seems to be meeting expectations.

The firm’s operations take place in a suitably bucolic setting, in a building the size of a warehouse located amid apple orchards and farms a half-hour drive from Thurnau. In an orderly but often noisy process, green-shirted employees work alongside conveyor belts to sort newly arrived cartridges by model type, feed the cartridges into a crusher and then re-sort the pulverised remains.

Workers use pallet jacks to shunt boxes of cartridges from the first sorting station to the crushing machine, which spits out a psychedelic stream of particles, powders and other residue. PDR staff members shout to be heard above the din, but the noise is bearable.

A separate unit the size and shape of a space capsule even bleeds unused ink from each cartridge.

Employees package all the leftover plastics, metals and resins and bottle the unused printer ink. PDR then ships the materials elsewhere to be used in the manufacture of new cartridges.

It’s all part of what HP calls its “Closed-Loop” Inkjet Plastics Recycling scheme. Every step in the process is designed to meet hugh standards of environment awareness and cost-efficiency. But the system depends on individual, green-minded customers who deliver their used cartridges to local HP dealers, which then feed the junk into the company’s international recycling loop.

HP began recycling electronics back in 1987. It officially launched its HP Planet Partners recycling programme for printer cartridges in 1991. Since then, the Palo Alto, California-based company says it has recycled more than 300 million inkjet and LaserJet printer cartridges.

HP Planet Partners tries to make it easy for customers in more than 50 countries to recycle printer cartridges and other IT equipment. In 2007, HP achieved its goal of recycling one billion pounds of equipment and cartridges, and the company aims to double that amount by 2010.

HP hopes its sense of environmental responsibility rubs off on more off               its customers.

“The results are outstanding,” said Bruno Zago, HP’s environmental manager for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. “Since 1992, HP has reduced the number of parts in each LaserJet cartridge by 33 per cent, and the types of plastic resins used by half.”

The Europe, Middle East and Africa region is HP’s smallest territory, accounting for $5 billion in annual sales, but it’s growing fast. The Americas account for $9 billion in sales, while the Asia-Pacific region tops the list with $38 billion.

HP delivers 110,000 printers, 75,000 personal systems and 3,500 servers daily, so the challenge it faces in trying to reduce the environmental impact from all these products is huge. It seeks, therefore, to design its products, tools and services so that they use less energy and conserve scarce resources, and it encourages their reuse and recycling.

HP has identified four areas — energy efficiency, resource conservation, reuse and recycling, and green alternatives — that it believes to be most important to its customers and where it can make the biggest positive impact.