Western Digital has debuted a new 2TB Green Power hard drive. The drive earns the “green power” designation because it uses variable spin speeds, lower temperatures and quieter decibel levels than your traditional drive.  “While some in the industry wondered if the end consumer would buy a 1 TB drive, already some 10 percent of 3.5-inch hard drive sales are at the 1 TB level or higher, serving demand from video applications and expanding consumer media libraries,” said Mark Geenen, President of Trend Focus.  The drive is currently available at “select retailers” for an MSRP of $299, quite a deal for that much storage. [via ArsTechnica]

Bored at home? Why not make your own energy with Sofian Tallal’s mPower. It’s as simple as stepping onto the two leaf-shaped pads, pressing the fingerprint detector and shifting your weight from one pad to the other every 10 seconds. Hydraulic cylinders beneath each pad pass fluid back and forth with each step, generating power through a micro-hydro turbine. To keep you occupied, an interactive touch screen takes a bit of the power to browse the Internet, play games, listen to music and view advertisements — which help offset the cost of the device. Energy is then sold to the electric company. Tallal suggests that the mPower could even be provided to the homeless as a source or revenue. Typically, we’d like to see some numbers associated with such a fanciful idea — something to the effect of “‘X’ minutes of use can power your computer for ‘y’ minutes” — but this is just a concept, so we’ll let it slide. [Sofian Tallal via Tuvie]

We know what you’re thinking: Isn’t a sunlight-powered light a little redundant? But with six hours of juice after four hours of charge, you could easily take Miniwiz’s Solar Bulb into darker locales once it’s fully powered. The bulb, a a 0.07 W high output LED with magnifying lens, comes in a Big Mac-esque package. It’ll screw onto any standard water bottle or Miniwiz’s own POLLI-brick interlockable bottles, making for a convenient handle. Also from Miniwiz, the miniNOTE solar card and battery transfers its stored power to PDAs, iPods and other portable devices via USB. “From” and “To” notes on the cardboard packaging suggest a fun gift for your green-obsessed pals. [Miniwiz via NotCot]

At this year’s CES in Las Vegas, Kinesis unveiled a 2-in-1 handheld recharger aimed to solve the sweet irony of seeing gadgets run out of battery.  Reminiscent of the HyMini, the K2 uses both solar power and wind energy, ensuring you never have to see that ‘battery low’ sign again.  The Kinesis K2 packs a battery that is large enough to charge your mobile 5 times over; something no one else has on offer. You can either leave it in the sun or hang it from your vehicle to plug into both solar and wind power. At $100, K2 look s like a real hit. [via Dvice]

Looking to go green with your iPhone…or at least be able to get power when there isn’t an outlet around? This solar powered iPhone case from SolarArcadia can re-charge a completely empty iPhone battery in three hours using the power from the sun (or course the case will have to set in the sun for 12 hours beforehand to make that magic happen). While not exactly the most useful for normal everyday use it could be a pretty solid option for backpackers and the like who are away from power for a period of time. [via TUAW]

Hemp and video games.  Does anything go together better?  The enterprising modder DHRECK has moded the first ever WiiMote encased purely in hemp twine.  This fully functional WiiMote is covered — from the tip of the Wii chuck all the way to the sensor on the WiiMote — in pure hemp rope.  While our days of hemp and video games are in our past, we must give DHRECK a strong salute to this mod, it is certainly an instant classic.

In stark contrast with the original Wii-mote set, what was once sleek, cold, white and hard plastic has now become a slightly fuzzy, natural, warm and textured concoction. No more bland, branded and boring but mottled, flawfull, rough and a tad sweat absorbing.

While your intial response might be to toss in some shells and wrap it around your neck (or to try and smoke it), the Hemp-Mote will fit comfortably into your gaming routine.  Naturally, we’re curious about the response of buttons and the stick, but hopeful that their use is not hindered by this mod.  In all, this is the most creative thing we’ve seen all day…  Kudos, DHRECK.  [dhreck]

Ever feel like you’re not involved ENOUGH in the process of charging your laptop? Yogen Max has just introduced a laptop charger that charges your PC via foot pedal. That’s right, a foot pedal. The green gadget will supposedly work with other small electronics like digital cameras, PDA’s and cell phones. While you’d definitely draw some stares whipping out one of these out in the airport, the idea is a good one for people who take their electronics on large trips where they might not have a power source handy like camping. [via Coolest-Gadgets]

How many times have you been out soaking up rays only to discover your favorite gadget is losing battery power? Rather than make you head in out of the sun for a recharge the iPower SX solar powered charger charges your gadgets for you outside using the power from the sun.

The device captures solar energy in a 2200mAh battery that once charged is said to be able to power an iPod for FIFTY hours. The iPower also claims to be able to charge the iPhone, most Nokia devices, some other mobile phones, portable gaming consoles, cameras, and MP3 players…so pretty much any small device that takes a battery is what is sounds like to us.  If you live in a hole, or hate going in the sun you can also charge the battery through the USB port on your computer, although that sort of defeats the purpose.  Get one now in the UK for around $62. [via Electronista]

Want to convert a few calories into some power for your gadgets? The Potenco PCG1 Power Generator is a pull-cord generator that creates electricity for portable gadgets with far greater efficiency than hand-cranked devices. It weighs 14 ounces, has both an internal NiMh battery and a mini-USB output jack and convert two minutes of effort into 40 minutes of cellphone talk time. It’s a brilliant idea and one that we can imagine a lot of people would want to talk advantage of. It’s only a concept for the time being, but expect it to be around $99 when it goes on sale.  [potenco]