A Shower with a Low Power Mode

Toilets were the first plumbing fixture I'm aware of that can have standby power use (article, picture). Now, a new shower control from Kohler not only can have up to eight shower heads, but it also has a color touch screen and who knows what sort standby power.

New TI Power Controler Chip

TI has released a new chip that provides power supplies with >88% efficiency while at the same time keeping no-load power below half a watt. It also disables the power factor correction stage in standby operation which allows large power supplies with PFC to meet low standby requirements.