The third generation iPad is setting record sales with 3 million sold during its first weekend on the market as it hit the shelves on March 16. An estimated 55 million first and second generation iPads have been sold and Apple is expected to hit the 100 million iPad mark by the end of the year. That’s a lot of people using iPads! There have been some great sustainability use cases for using iPads in lieu of hefty paper based resources including schools providing iPads to students with preloaded digital textbooks and pilots using iPads loaded with digital flight manuals. What about the environmental impact of the iPad itself?

Apple prides itself on its environmental management of its products. Apple continually designs and engineers products to use less material, ship in smaller and less packaging, be free of toxic substances, and be increasingly energy efficient and recyclable. The iPad is no exception. The iPad 2 was designed to be 33% thinner and 15% lighter than the first generation iPad, thus producing 5% less carbon emissions. The iPad also uses a mercury-free LED backlit display, arsenic-free glass, and is free of brominated flame retardants (BFRs), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and phthalates. It also features a recyclable aluminum enclosure. The iPad uses power-efficient components and intelligent software to manage power consumption. Its 10W USB Power Adapter outperforms stringent ENERGY STAR requirements. The iPad packaging uses 28% post-consumer recycled corrugated cardboard and molded fiber made entirely from recycled content. The material efficiency of the iPad 2 allowed up to 52% more units to be transported in the airline shipping container than the first generation iPad, decreasing the transportation environmental impact.

If your iPad is broken or reaches the end of its useful life it can be easily recycled. Apple has recycling programs in 95% of the countries where it sells its products and has diverted over 115,504 metric tons of e-waste from landfills since 1994. The e-waste is processed locally in the region in which it was collected by regulated recyclers complying with all health and safety laws. The iPad is disassembled and the glass and metals are reprocessed for use in new products. Most of the plastics are pelletized into raw secondary material. With materials reprocessing and component reuse, Apple often achieves a 90% recovery rate by weight of the original product. Consumers also receive incentives to recycle old products, such as Apple Gift Cards or discounts on new products.

For a consumer electronic device, the iPad certainly exhibits some level of green and in certain use cases, further supports environmental sustainability efforts such as paper reduction.

The following resources have more information on Apple’s Environmental and Recycling Programs:
Apple Recycling Program
Apple and the Environment Website
iPad 2 Environmental Report

*This blog post was composed on an Apple iPad 2

Known as the largest gadget tradeshow on earth, the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) gave new meaning to the word “green” in Las Vegas last month. A number of exhibitors rolled the dice in the Las Vegas Convention Center to debut new products for the environmentally conscious consumer. Here is a rundown of some notable green tech gadgets:

• Allure Energy debuted EverSense, an automated home environment and energy management system that uses a mobile application and location services to manage heating and cooling based on your proximity to home.
• The Nest is a thermostat with artificial intelligence that learns your preferences and provides energy saving features to help you conserve heating and cooling energy.
• Revolve keeps your gadgets running with its portable solar chargers made with natural, recycled, and sustainable materials.
• Brunton revealed a new rugged case for the iPhone 4 and 4S with a built in solar panel that swings open to create a stand for the phone.
• The SolarKindle lighted cover from SolarFocus uses a built in solar panel to power the LED reading light and charge the reserve battery that can also provide extra power to the Kindle.

The Consumer Electronics Associate (CEA), the owner and producer of CES, donated $75,000 to local Las Vegas sustainability organizations Green Chips and Repurpose AMERICA. Green Chips supports local solar panel installations and Repurpose AMERICA collects and reuses materials from the show such as signs, banners, and foam boards. While CES held talks and exhibits on topics such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, battery technology, and green labels and standards, some stated that green tech had a much smaller presence at this year’s event. One major disappointment was the relocation of the Sustainable Planet TechZone from the convention center to the Venetian hotel. CES has yet to fully integrate green tech into the show and some sustainable product companies felt slighted by the move and chose not to exhibit this year. Although some great products were debuted this year, it appears there is still a long way to go to make green the ace in the hole for the largest gadget tradeshow on earth.

For more information on the green gadgets at the 2012 CES, visit Treehugger’s recap.

I wrote this article as a primer for users to understand security in the mobile world and for IT/Security Admins to use as an awareness piece for their users.

Download: Securing the Mobile Device…and it Users

Having experienced the East Coast Earthquake and Hurricane Irene in succession I have observed a number of activities that hampered communications during these events. I would like to share some advice on communicating during events, both expected and especially unexpected.

1. Refrain from using the phone system, both land lines and cell. Both of these infrastructures suffered a denial of service (DoS) during the earthquake and for some time afterwards. Update your family/friend/work communication plan to include alternate methods of communication such as text messaging and social media. Text messages often go through even when cell calls aren’t. Instant messaging, twitter, and Facebook were working flawlessly during and after the earthquake and I used those methods to connect with people. This is how I found out the phone systems were down. People were tweeting that they couldn’t make calls and people were IMing me saying they were trying to call me. Use internet technology if it is available during the event to connect, let others know you are ok, and move on. Leave the phone lines for those who need emergency assistance.

2. Don’t call 911 unless it is a real emergency. Local 911 communications were also suffering from a denial of service because loads of people were calling to report the earthquake, or to ask if that was an earthquake. Do not call 911 unless you need emergency assistance.

3. Have a two-way radio/walkie talkie plan. We created a neighborhood two-way radio communication plan in the event of an emergency or cell/land line disruption. We agreed in advance on the channel to use for communicating and we break out the two-way radios when needed. You can get two-way radios now that cover many miles (for example 35 miles). Its a good idea to keep one in your car too.

4. Make sure these tips are incorporated into your business/IT disaster response plan. After the earthquake I heard many IT teams and businesses stating a huge flaw in their disaster plan. Most plans involve carrying a list of key personnel and their cell phone numbers. With cell service disrupted, team members without a backup plan were unable to communicate. Make sure to incorporate the tips above into your professional life as well.

I’ve been testing out the new Skype for iPad app and so far I like it. I tested an iPad-to-iPad connection, one on Wifi and the other on 3G. The latency wasn’t too bad, about a half second. I liked that it gave me a warning on the 3G connection about carrier charges, because I don’t always remember to disable cellular and connect to Wifi. Next I tested between a 3G connected iPad and a Macbook Pro. This connection seemed to have a lot more latency, sometimes 2 or 3 seconds. It could possibly be that my 3G was having tower issues. Since Facetime only works on Wifi I was really interested in how 3G held up with Skype. It was definitely usable and given that in my current location the AT&T 3G network is very weak, I expect it would perform just fine in a stronger coverage area. Like Facetime, Skype lets you use either the front or back cameras, and easily switch between. One feature Skype has over Facetime is the ability to chat while video calling. However, for privacy reasons you will want to make sure you aren’t logged in on multiple devices. I forgot that I had Skype open on my laptop and while I was testing the chat feature on the iPad app, the entire chat log +timestamps was also being displayed on my laptop in the Skype chat window. I can see THAT causing some issues for some people… Have fun and let me know what you think about Skype for iPad. Also happy Wifi day 8.02.11, how appropriate.