With the world is going eco-friendly (and smaller!), why should Dell be left behind?

Back in April 2008, there were rumours about the launch of Dell's smallest, greenest PC. That was then. Yesterday, Dell finally revealed the little green machine for all to see. The Studio Hybrid, as Dell chose to call it, is claimed to be 80% smaller than a mini tower and consumes 70% less energy. It also comes in an eco-friendly packaging with a system recycling kit bundled along.The machine looks similar to a large capacity external hard drive and as Dell says,it is "about the size of a collegiate dictionary". The Studio Hybrid can be set up in either a vertical or a horizontal orientation, and be personalized with a choice of seven optional and interchangeable sleeves: Bamboo, Emerald, Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, Slate and Topaz.

With a starting price of $499, the Studio Hybrid is powerful enough for basic web page designing, editing and uploading videos and digital photo albums. It comes with an HDMI port as standard and can be customized with an optional wireless keyboard, Wi-Fi networking, a Blu-Ray Disc drive for watching high-definition DVDs, and a TV tuner.

This makes it a pretty capable PC and it should be an attractive proposition for buyers who were looking for an energy efficient, powerful computing device, in a space-saving package.

"Our goal was to design a desktop that fits in the office or in the living room, or anywhere space is at a premium," said Michael Scheschuk, desktop product marketing. "We've created a desktop PC category that combines style, performance and a high degree of energy efficiency."

Along with the Studio Hybrid, Dell also introduced two new Inspiron PCs, including the Inspiron 13 -- a sub-$800 13-inch laptop.

Fabrik has launched a new SimpleTech [re]drive, calling it the world's most energy-efficient, resource-conscious, Turbo USB 2.0 external storage and backup drive.
The drive has a bamboo and recyclable aluminum enclosure, and an Energy Star power adaptor. With Turbo USB 2.0, it delivers up to 25 percent faster performance than USB 2.0 and the [re]drive has plug and play simplicity for both Mac and PC users. The SimpleTech [re]drive has automated backup software that saves copies of stuff on the drive, and on encrypted, secure servers using Fabrik Ultimate Backup (www.FabrikUltimateBackup.com) for online backup protection."Many consumers are concerned with helping solve the most important environmental issue of our time - protecting our planet from the threats of climate change," said Matt McRae, vice president of marketing at Fabrik. "At Fabrik, we're making an effort to support the environment, while adapting our products to better meet consumer needs and interests. We know we have a lot more work to do across the board as a company, but we're committed to change and hope we'll make a small dent in improving the environment - through our products, services, partner choices and company best practices."

A simple-to-use wizard guides users through a one-time set up process, where one can easily select what day, time, or specific files or folders they want protected. For PC users, virus protection is included to help prevent the transfer of infected files before the backup occurs. Free updates are continually made available to provide ongoing protection from the latest viruses. The backup software also lets users create a disaster recovery CD that can be used to boot the system in case of system failure.

Fabrik's new SimpleTech [re]drives Turbo USB 2.0 external drives are available online at an MSRP of $159.99 for 500GB.

Like Nokia, Samsung is also getting into the environment friendly mobile groove and has launched 2 new handsets - W510 and F268 recently showcased at the World IT show in Seoul, Korea - with that motif.

W510 is Samsung's first mobile phone with 'bio-plastic' made from natural material extracted from corn. Samsung has been making an effort to develop more renewable and eco-friendly material compared with common plastic produced from petroleum. Even while producing the W510 handset, the company did not useany heavy metals, such as Lead, Mercury, and Cadmium, and applied water-soluble coating.Samsung F268 with all the accessories including charger and headset does not contain BFRs (Brominated Flame Retardant) or PVC. In addition, the handset has an alarm function to encourage users to unplug their charger when the devices are fully charged. The product is also following the Energy Star requirements as well, which is strict energy-efficiency guidelines set by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy.

"Samsung is striving to continue to be a strong corporate citizen that contributes to environmental sustainability," said Geesung Choi, President of Samsung's Telecommunication Business. "Now we are trying not only to launch more environmentally-conscious products with more renewable material and less energy consuming, but also to expand proactively set up a phone recycling system."

For now the W510 has been launched for the Korean market and F268 for the Chinese market. Hopefully they’ll make it to India as well, as keeping the environment safe should be a major concern here too.