It's hard to really understand the results of efforts to cut electricity consumption
Toshiba has developed applications that realize "visualization"

"We are trying to save electricity saving but we can't really tell if what we do is effective." "We can't see how much our electricity saving actions have contributed"

Even though you are making efforts to save electricity, do you know how much you are saving? It's difficult to feel that you are making a difference, right?

At Toshiba, we want to continue to support you in your future efforts to save electricity, and we are doing this by promoting applications for the "visualization of electricity saving" in such products as our PCs and TVs. Beyond this, in the field of external storage devices, which are finding more and more uses, we continue to develop technologies that reduce the amount of electricity consumed.

Technologies for reducing electricity consumption and saving energy are now an important part of daily life, and with this in mind we want to introduce some of Toshiba's work in this area.

In 2009 we realized graphing of electricity savings, and in 2011 we took that to the next stage with "leaves have grown on the tree" visualization

Work on the eco utility began in the winter of 2008, when we set up an in-house project to develop "environmentally friendly PCs". On the hardware side we promoted reductions of hazardous substances, energy saving and preservation of resources. On the software side we thought about how we could to contribute to the environment, and came up with the idea of an "Eco Utility" that allows users to confirm electricity savings with their own eyes.

PCs loaded with the Eco Utility were first announced in March 2009 in Europe, where there is a very high awareness of environmental issues, and the idea met a very warm response. At first the display was just values with a line graph, but pushing further forward with visualization we added the "growth process of plant life" feature, which give people even more of a feeling of saving electricity.

Eco is fun
Enjoy yourself while you save power

Eco Utility supports electricity savings with four kinds of visualizations.

1. Look at your score and check the value of your electricity saving level
2. Check your electricity saving level visually with the score image
3. Check your previous eco scores using the score history
4. Get advice on how to use your PC in order to further contribute to electricity savings

"You are saving more electricity today than yesterday", "follow the advice and see if you can save even more electricity this week". We hope that messages like these will encourage people to enjoy cutting power consumption and not find it a burden. If our users think that "eco is fun" then our engineers will feel they have succeeded.

"RZ electricity saving remote control" responds to forecasts of power demand and switches the REGZA to electricity saving mode

In the hot Japanese summer, as electricity consumption increases, each power company issues a daily forecast of the anticipated electricity supply and demand. Everyone, regardless of whether a company or an individual, is encouraged to help make sure that actual demand does not exceed the supply.

Based on "electricity forecasts" from Yahoo! Japan and data on the status of electricity usage from the power companies, the Toshiba LED TVs LCD TV, uses the API, an "electricity usage status meter" produced by Yahoo! Japan, and automatically switches to electricity saving mode (*1) or turns off the power of the Toshiba LED TVs LCD TV. This is done with an application developed for use on smartphones and tablet PCs (*2).

（*1）Automatic switching of the electricity saving mode can be done only when the "RZ electricity saving remote control" is in operation
（*2）Applications for devices using the Android™ OS and versions of iOS.

Toshiba has led the way with development of the "RZ electricity saving remote control" and has applied for a patent to cover the technology

Visualization of electricity saving with the RZ electricity saving remote control

Level meter:
Forecast values are on a bar graph and the actual values on a line graph, as published by the power company
Settings bar:
This is used to set the level at which each electricity saving mode is automatically switched on, based on forecast values. Once the set level is exceeded the switch to electricity saving mode is automatic
Electricity saving button:
Used to manually switch to electricity saving mode
Electricity usage % display:
Uses different colors to provide information on the current recommended electricity saving level (level of urgency)

The "RZ electricity saving remote control," including the specific ways it can be used, is a unique technology that Toshiba planned and developed ahead of its rivals (patent pending).

Demand for HDD is increasing. Improved energy consumption efficiency is a key target

HDDs are the workhorses of information storage products and have long been installed on PCs and servers. With the digitization of consumer electronic appliances, such as TVs, recorders, car navigation systems and home game consoles, wider use of HDD in the home and by individuals is growing fast.

Toshiba is making advances in low power consumption efficiency(*1) HDD, by increasing the amount of data that can be stored on the same sized magnetic disk.

We are also further promoting low electricity consumption by making use of a function that fine tunes the HDD operating mode to that of the equipment in which the HDD is integrated – for example, in standby mode or in operation. Our most recent 1TB storage HDD (*2) has been awarded Toshiba’s coveted designation as an "Excellent ECP" (Excellent Environmentally Conscious Product)

(*1)What is "energy consumption efficiency"? As defined by Japan's Law Concerning the Rational Use of Energy it is the storage capacity measured against the amount of electric power consumed. Criteria for both factors are defined by the law.
(*2)Toshiba introduces a new 2.5 type mobile HDD with a 1TB storage capacity.(Japanese only)

Storage Products: HDD and Enterprise SSD

Contributing to the transition to electric power saving social infrastructure by integrating HDD and SSD

Toshiba delivers storage products, HDD and SSD, those are used in vast numbers by server farms and data centers, the infrastructure that is supporting the transition to a "cloud society" and the further penetration of information throughout society.

HDDs are highly suited to handling large data capacities and, compared to SSD, have low costs. SSDs have different characteristic and are very strong at meeting random access demand. In facilities that rely on huge amounts of storage, Toshiba is proposing a shift in approach that will cut power consumption by approximately 40% from traditional approaches. The basis for this is a system that combines storage products in a hierarchy of different transfer speeds and storage capacities.

From components all the way through to finished products, Toshiba continues to contribute by providing total solutions in energy saving technologies.