Digital Power Unleashed

Easier Green Plug Implementation Options

Green Plug-enabled smart power adapters communicate with compatible electronic products so that all of them are able to power any device, regardless of voltage needs.  Our Greentalk^TM power protocol and Greenwire^TM multi-function physical layer let power supplies dynamically adapt to use patterns, saving energy.  The technology also reduces solid waste by allowing consumers to keep these smart power adapters and battery chargers for use with future products long after their current products have become obsolete.

What's New

Part of our technology (the Green Load Processor – GLP) exists on the product side and is licensed free of charge to strategic adopters.  The GLP offers a wide range of implementation choices that can be done for little or even no added BOM cost as a compilable macro for an existing chip in the product. 

Imagination Technologies, a leading provider of System-on-Chip (SoC) intellectual property (IP), is the first manufacturer to make Greentalk and Greenwire available in its core products.  That means any vendor that uses chips based upon the Imagination SoC can easily turn on the Green Plug functionality in its products without adding any parts or cost..  Green Plug makes money by selling a Green Power Processor (GPP) chip that provides power supply control and communication.  Vendors will sell smart power adapters using the GPP as a paid-for option to customers wanting to have a more functional, eco-friendly power solution for their electronic products.  Consumers will have the choice of getting the conventional power adapter at no charge or paying a premium for a better power adapter or smart power hub.

Green Plug is talking with several popular chip companies that make chips that go inside many electronic products about incorporating the free product-side IP into their chips.  This will give vendors even more choices for turning on the Green Plug functionality without adding new components or increasing BOM costs.

 

On Helping Raise Awareness for Universal Power

The responses to our thoughts on GSMA's recent news, and on bringing the world closer to a universal power standard, have been outstanding. Two recent examples are Gadgetell's post written by Heather Wood, and The Industry Standard's writeup, by Lincoln Spector. Thanks to them, and to the many others who are helping bring this issue to the forefront. 

In order to address some of the questions that have surfaced, I present my thoughts (originally pulished as a comment on the previously-mentioned Gadgetell post):

While the GSMA is standardizing both the power adapter connector and the cell phone device connector, Green Plug has taken an approach similar to what China mandated as law.

To sell a cell phone in China, that phone must get power from a power adapter that has a USB-A connector.  So phones can use whatever connector they want and still be able to interoperate with any standard USB power adapter.  All that needs to be device-specific is the power cord.

When you consider the vast number of device types, shapes and sizes (Bluetooth headsets, notebook PCs, digital picture frames, portable game controllers, etc.) we agree that it can take a while to standardize on the device connector.  That’s why Green Plug does not mandate a universal device connector, but does require the power adapter to use its innovative power adapter connector.

It’s innovative, because we license it free of charge and it accepts any standard USB-A plug. It also has extra power pins to enable it to power devices up to 180W each with a single power port - many times more power than USB provides for.

The Alliance for Universal Power Supplies will encourage the development of a universal device power connector. But, as you point out, that may take a while.  Getting the world to standardize on a reusable, convenient and interoperable power connector on the power adapter side, however, should not be difficult. That is why China took their approach, and Green Plug also focused on standardizing the power adapter side first.

Thank you again for helping make the world aware of how important it is to eliminate the unnecessary disposal of power adapters that are in perfect working condition, simply because they are incompatible with other products. This costs manufacturers money, consumers hate it, and it is bad for the environment.  

The change is simple.

Our thanks also go out to all of you, like MacsiumusNews,  The greeen frog from silicon valley,  and ZDNet's Heather Clancy who are helping to spread the word about I Want My Green Plug. Every vote counts.

Green Plug and Innergie

If the theme of 2009 is hope, rejuvenation, and new beginnings, then Green Plug is definitely right on track.

Just prior to the new year, we announced a new partnership with Innergie - developers of the world's smallest universal power adapter - and the introduction of the first implementation of the Green Plug protocol: the Greentalk-enabled Innergie mCube90 (pictured).

Green Plug's Greentalk open system universal power interface enables any consumer electronics product to obtain power from any compliant external power adapter.

As GigaOm's earth2tech illustrates "The new adapter is green in two ways: it cuts phantom power usage because it matches each gadgets’ power needs, and because it works with a variety of consumer electronics, it allows manufacturers to skip making the bulky adapters that are sold alongside most consumer electronics.

Further at this week’s CES in Las Vegas, Green Plug showed off how to use its power adapter with a range of consumer electronics — from 5V cordless telephones to 19V flat panels — that would normally require numerous adapters and power cords to let them do their thing. A four-plug version is also in the works, which should cover the Best Buy of gadgets we roll with these days. "

The reality of a universal power adapter seemed to excite quite a few people - and we're certainly included on that list.

As always, we encourage you to let your voice be heard, and to take action by clicking to vote for universal power supplies - with all consumer electronic devices. It takes only seconds - just go to I Want My Green Plug.

Thank you!

What a Waste: Billions of External Power Supplies Sitting in Landfills

Seattle artist and former corporate lawyer Chris Jordan has taken it upon himself to create art in images that make it easy to visualize and understand the aftermath of our consumer culture.  Chris recently spoke  here in San Francisco.

I wish I had the chance to thank him personally for taking this photograph at a dump in Atlanta. To me, it is the most powerful way to convey the wastefulness of the current method of powering consumer electronics. You can read more about his recent exhibit in San Francisco and see more of Chris' work, here.

The numbers are staggering: according to Gartner, this year 3.2 billion external power supplies will be  manufactured worldwide.  Meanwhile, approximately two billion of them will go into landfill. As our CEO Frank Paniagua pointed out, 379 million external power supplies will go in landfills in 2008 in the U.S. alone. As the number of cell phones, iPods, laptops and other consumer electronic products that are manufactured each year continues to grow, older models (and their external power supplies) will become obsolete, be discarded, and continue to threaten the future of our planet.

The Power Model is Broken! And We Need To Fix It.

For years, I've wanted a better solution to having to carry four or five power adapters and battery chargers with me when I travel. And, to the cluttered tangle of black bricks and power cords in my home office.

My personal breaking point was over two years ago, when my wife and I traveled to a good friend’s wedding in Chicago. We found ourselves having to repack our bags to accommodate the nine chargers we needed to bring with us.  When we arrived at the hotel, I was forced to start moving beds and coffee tables in our room just to find places to plug everything in. Even then, there weren’t enough outlets.

I remember thinking to myself: “This is crazy! We do not have to do this. The power model is broken. And we have to fix it.”

In addition to the terrible inconvenience in our lives, that unsightly tangle of wires, black bricks and wall warts which supply power to your laptop, printer, cordless phone, cell phone, toys, cordless power tools, and so many other electronic products, typifies a problem that plagues consumer society. Multiply what's at your feet by millions: a staggering 379 million discarded and obsolete external power supplies are destined to end up in U.S. landfills this year alone.

Our planet needs a single, universal power architecture for electronic devices. Such a standard could prevent hundreds of millions of power supplies every year from being tossed into landfills - maximizing resources, minimizing solid waste, and conserving energy.

This was the genesis for starting Green Plug.

The way our technology works is pretty straightforward: Green Plug provides the enabling technology that makes any electronic product capable of getting power from any power supply. We sell chips to manufacturers that allow them to make intelligent multiport chargers that can provide a wide range of power from cell phones to laptops. At the same time we supply, for free, software that goes on the product for the client side. This way, the chip recognizes that device and says, "Hi! You're a Blackberry: you need 5 volts." And gives it to it. When the device no longer needs power, the power supply shuts off, saving energy.

In addition to providing information, and sharing our knowledge and experiences, we started this blog to start a conversation. We want you - people like us who are sick and tired of the inconvenience of having multiple external power supplies, and who have great concern about the future of our planet - to voice their desire for manufacturers to Green Plug-enable their consumer electronic devices.   

We have some exciting plans in motion to allow you to voice your opinion, and help us send a positive, yet strong message to consumer electronic manufacturers. This will soon be unfolded, but for now I'll hand over the reigns to Seth Socolow, our Vice President of Corporate Marketing. Seth is passionate about leveraging the power of the web to fix this broken power model for electronic devices, and will be the main voice for this blog.

Thank you for listening, and I look forward to achieving the goal of One Plug, One Planet - together.

Frank Paniagua, Jr. is CEO and founder of Green Plug. His bio may be found here.