The activist group Greenpeace has publicly blasted the iPad and Dell over different environmental issues. The organization labels the iPad one of many "quintessential cloud computing devices" that are credited with driving the technology industry's demand for dirty coal power.
The US Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday took a jab at Apple over the company's recent protest resignation from the business group. In a letter to the company's chief executive, the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said that Apple's resignation over the Chamber's lack of support for environmental legislation was premature and misguided.
e-on software today is previewed Vue 7 at Siggraph in Los Angeles. Vue is a 3D-environment solution, which creates, animates, renders and integrates natural 3D visuals, working with Autodesk 3ds Max, Maya, Softimage XSI, Maxon Cinema 4D and Newtek LightWave. Vue 7 will feature a third-generation of Vue's EcoSystem technology (for creating nature-based visuals) and Spectral 2 atmospheric engine. Also new is Vue 7's SolidGrowth 4 HD, a new indoor Radiosity engine.
Greenpeace is again calling Apple out on its environmental practices, citing that the iPhone 3G uses the same toxic building materials that it found in its breakdown of the original device. Casey Harrell, International Toxics Campaigner for Greenpeace, released a note on Wednesday saying he believes that, while the company has made large strides with reducing hazardous materials in its iMac and portable computers, the iPhone 3G remains largely unchanged.
The Alchemist Guild has announced the release of WebScripter 2.0, a new release of the integrated development environment (IDE) for programming in several popular web scripting languages such as: PERL, PHP, CSS, HTML/XML, JavaScript and Ruby. The tool offers features including: text editing, previewing web pages, testing scripts, managing projects, navigating code and FTP integration. The developer says that in this release, the original concept was scrapped and redesigned from the ground up with a modern OS X GUI using tabs for editing and split views for integrating features into a single window. The new design is "compact, concise and helps to keep the user in close contact with the experience. WebScripter 2.0 is priced at $40.
Apple has been ranked the worst among all major PC vendors and other large electronic firms in the fight against climate change. Climate Counts this week released its second annual Company Scorecard hoping to create a "simple, easy-to-understand ranking of companies would motivate both companies and consumers to step-up their efforts on climate change." Apple was ranked in last place among the list of 12 electronics companies, while companies such as IBM, Canon, Toshiba, Sony, and Hewlett-Packard were near the top of the electronics industry. Top honor went to Nike, which passed last year’s high scorer, Canon, to become the top scored company among the 56 companies evaluated. Apple was the only electronic company to receive a "Stuck" designation, with a recommendation as a choice to "avoid for the climate-conscious consumer," because the company has taken "meaningful action against climate change."
