The ‘Will it Blend’ Guy Puts New iPhone 3G in the Blender

This gives a new meaning to ‘Apple sauce’. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen this guy’s other ‘Will it Blend’ videos, but he basically takes stuff like tin cans full of pork and beans (like, the entire can) and sticks it in his blender to see if it will work. It’s all part of a viral marketing campaign for Blendtec, and I must say, the blender is obviously pretty powerful. Watch the video below:

So, Mr. Will it Blend, Tom Dickson, stood in line to get a brand new iPhone 3G and dropped that baby in his blender to see what would happen. It was completely obliterated, and when Tom peeled the lid off the blender, a nasty puff of smoke and tiny particles of who knows what wafted in front of his nose. Let’s analyze what was in that toxic burst of air that he just inhaled. How much time will that knock off his life?

InfoWorld kindly provided us with a breakdown of some of the nastiest materials in the iPhone:

According to Greenpeace, an independent lab tested 18 internal and external components of the iPhone and confirmed the presence of brominated compounds in half the samples, including in the phone’s antenna. A mixture of toxic phthalate esters was found to make up 1.5 per cent of the plastic (PVC) coating of the headphone cables.

“Two of the phthalate plasticisers found at high levels in the headphone cable are classified as ‘toxic to reproduction, category 2′ because of their long-recognized ability to interfere with sexual development in mammals,” said Dr. David Santillo, senior scientist at the Greenpeace Research Laboratories, who coordinated the project and deconstructed the iPhone for analysis. “While they are not prohibited in mobile phones, these phthalates are banned from use in all toys or childcare articles sold in Europe. Apple should eliminate the use of these chemicals from its products range.”

Gross. I hope Tom’s not planning on having any more children. Obviously, most of us are not going to be in a situation where we’ll be inhaling iPhone dust anytime soon, but it still makes you wonder about putting that thing next to your head and mouth every day.

Link [Neatorama] + [InfoWorld]

Edible Landscaping Advocates Wait a Week in Line for iPhone 3G

If you’re wondering what edible landscaping has to do with the iPhone, you’re not alone. Undoubtedly, people who were waiting in line for the iPhone 3G were wondering the same thing about the group of five activists who were first in line when the phones went on sale last Friday. They had been there for seven days and seven nights, seeking the Guinness World Record for “longest time waiting in line” and also a little publicity for their cause.

From Fortune:

Who’s crazy enough to camp out for a week on the streets of New York City for a chance to be first to buy an iPhone 3G?

TheWhoFarm, that’s who, a newly minted publicity-seeking environmental collective with an agrico-political mission: to persuade the 44th President of the U.S. — whoever that turns out to be — to transform the White House’s 17-acre lawn into an organic farm.

“We’re here to restore the edible landscape,” says Daniel Bowman Simon, 28, the group’s organizer and spokesperson and a young man given to making grand pronouncements. “We want to bring seeds of change back to the White House.”

Nice green activism publicity hack. In an open letter to several leaders including Sen. Hillary Clinton and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, TheWhoFarm listed the tasks it wished to accomplish during their week waiting on line, which included using mobile solar power, drinking NYC’s tap water, eating local food delivered by NYC community gardeners and talking to anyone who would listen about local organic farming. And, they got iPhones out of it as well. Not bad, not bad.

Link [Fortune]

Apple Working on Solar Powered Portable Devices

There’s no way around it: portable electronic devices are here to stay. We’ve all got them: cell phones, electronic organizers, laptop computers, mp3 players and other handhelds. While it’s great that many of them are getting lighter and smaller, what we’d really love is to be able to charge them with the power of the sun. Well, we’re getting closer.

TrendHunter Magazine has it:

Imagine your iPhone or iPod automatically charging by the sun as you use it. A new Apple patent promises exactly that, by exploring the use of solar power in various versions of their mobile devices: iPhone, iPods and portable computers. The mechanism augments the devices, including the transparent screens, with layers of solar cells,.

According to the patent, “Solar cells are typically stacked with other layers made of transparent or semi-transparent materials… Some of these layers may be used for display or input purposes, and some layers may be coated with various materials or they may be etched with product logos or other patterns.”

We have all of our fingers and toes crossed on this one. How great would it be to sit on the beach or in your garden, with your phone and iPod charging next to you, no cords required? Steve Jobs, you’re our only hope, give us solar powered handhelds!

Link [TrendHunter Magazine]
Photo credit: Flickr user ernop

Guy Kawasaki Wants to Invent 500 MPG Car But Fears Valleywag and TechCrunch Won’t Like It

OK, this is a little tongue in cheek, but whatever- it’s Friday.

I got sent a link for an interview with famed (if you’re a geek) Apple Software Evangelist Guy Kawasaki over at Red Herring where he wraps up the interview by saying:

RH: Truemors has been much criticized for its cheap interface and for collecting more spams than news. How do you feel when you read the virulent attacks of your critics?

G K: Well I am a big target and no matter what I do I am a target. Let’s imagine that one day I invent a car that goes 500 miles per gallon with zero emission, and let’s say that TechCrunch writes that up, or Valleywag. The commentaries would be “it’s not that hard to do, this car could have been designed in one hour; and the only reason why Guy is getting attention about this car is because 25 years ago he worked for Apple.” It’s just my life.

Don’t let the haters hold you back Guy. If you feel there’s a 500 MPG car inside you, let it out. Al Gore will protect you from those meanies Michael Arrington and Owen Thomas.

Link [Red Herring]

Photo credit: Flickr user Randy Stewart