Shades of green

It didn't matter how fast, how cheap or how innovative a new product was at this year's Consumer Electronics Show — if it wasn't green, it wasn't making headlines. The environment was a favorite theme of this year's giant device show, with every company emphasizing at least one aspect of eco-friendliness. The Greener Gadgets Tech Zone, which was introduced last year in a 520-square-foot area, this year took up 3000 square feet of the show floor.

Greenpeace reviewed purported green technologies from 15 companies at CES and found that although this year's products fared better, there still were gray areas along the industry's path to green. More than two-thirds of consumers surveyed by the Consumer Electronics Association indicated interest in purchasing environmentally friendly technology, but they too were skeptical that companies overstated their green credentials. Here are some of CES's notable claims and first steps:

• Hitachi, LG, Panasonic and Samsung all emphasized energy efficiency in their latest lines of flat-screen TVs. Samsung introduced LED TVs that consume 40% less power than LCD TVs, while LG's new 32-inch TVs boasted 50% less power consumption than the average LCD.
• 4Home won the Best of Innovations for eco-design and sustainable technology for its 4Home's energy management system, which controls home energy usage.
• Panasonic unveiled a Blu-ray Disc player that uses 50% less power than its previous model.
• Hewlett-Packard's new line of printers saves energy by only switching on when a print job is sent.
• Motorola's new, carbon-neutral Renew wireless phone was made from recycled plastic bottles.
• LG Electronics demoed and gave away HFB-500 Solar Car Kits that use solar power to charge Bluetooth speakers, providing one hour of talk time for every two hours of charging.