Greenpeace has released their "Guide to Greener Electronics" which scores the 18 top manufacturers of gadgets and devices according to their policies on toxic chemicals and recycling.

Apple, which was under Greenpeace's black books for the iPhone, got a better score this time around. Among the three console manufacturers, Sony scored the best. Microsoft was third to the last and Nintendo was in last place (because both are new entries to the guide).

Healthcare consumers will soon be able to access their personal health records through their mobile phones thanks to CapMed's acquisition of Juke System's ICE First technology.

The patent-pending ICE First technology is expected to enhance CapMed's suite of personal health management solutions. It gives healthcare consumers immediate cell phone access to emergency and routine health information for themselves and up to 10 family members. Personal health information can also be updated through a web-based database.

"By combining ICE First technology with the award-winning products from CapMed, users of ICE First are better positioned to monitor and manage their own health, as well as the health of family members," said Keith Buckley, president and CEO of Juke Systems.

"The ability to access up-to-date health information from cell phones will go a long way toward improving consumers’ interactions with physicians and clinicians and with the entire healthcare system.”"

Supported mobile phones will include popular brands from Nokia, Palm, Blackberry, Motorola, LG and Samsung. Apple iPhone support is also in development. ICE First is now available for download by individual patients and healthcare consumers.

Apple, Acer, Motorola, and Lenovo are among the worst polluters, according to Greenpeace, while Nokia and Dell just barely passed. Greenpeace ranked major electronics companies according to what they were doing to remove the harmful chemicals in their gadgets, phones, and computers. Also, Greenpeace ranked the companies according to their policies about taking responsibility for their products when these are thrown away by their customers (for example, companies should recycle old components as much as possible and they should process and dispose of the chemical waste properly). Like all other piles of garbage, the amount of toxic waste caused by electronics ("e-waste") is growing, and it often gets dumped in poor developing countries.

Greenpeace's rankings (points are out of 10; 10 is the highest possible score):

7: Nokia - Needs to improve recycling program.
7: Dell - Some models still have the worst chemicals, but has a good program of taking back their toxic trash.
5.7: Hewlett Packard
5.3: Sony Ericsson
5: Samsung
4.7: Sony
4.3: LGE
3.3: Panasonic
3: Toshiba
3: Fujitsu-Siemens
2.7: Apple
2.3: Acer
1.7: Motorola
1.3: Lenovo

Greenpeace will update the rankings four times a year. And as for Apple scoring so low, the Greenpeace article had this to say: "It is disappointing to see Apple ranking so low in the overall guide. They are meant to be world leaders in design and marketing, they should also be world leaders in environmental innovation."