Archive for December 19th, 2007
This is quite exciting for solar energy fans: nanosolar is shipping their first panels and so far, here are where the three first ones are going (from the nanosolar blog):
Panel #1 will remain at Nanosolar for exhibit. Panel #2 can be purchased by you in an auction on eBay starting today. Panel #3 has been donated to the Tech Museum in San Jose.
If you don’t know what nanosolar does, their mission basically makes cheaper solar panel than anyone else (as measured in $/Watt). According to nanosolar, their panel costs $1/Watt.
I’m not shopping for solar panels often, but I think that a good price used to be $4/Watt, so it would be a significant edge. What do you think? Real or hype?
nanosolar website
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December 19th, 2007
Toshiba is working on a small-scale, self-contained nuclear reactor that measures only 20 x 6 feet and can produce 200 kilowatt for as long as 40 years without further maintenance. Obviously, Toshiba thinks that the system is safe enough to be installed in cities and hopes to install the first units in Japan next year. I wonder… would you like to have this near by your home?
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December 19th, 2007
Nokia is trying to make its phones more intuitive by using magnets that would provide a “repulsion” effect when attempting to plug a cable in the wrong port (let’s say the charging cable into the jack audio).
It is certainly an interesting idea, but first, could we have USB charging and a USB charging cable with all Nokia phones?
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December 19th, 2007
I have not seen the ad on TV yet. It’s a pretty cool ad that is a welcome change from the Office and Live Search ads… We’ve played with Sync, and I have to admit that it is better than most voice recognition systems that you can find on more expensive cars.
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December 19th, 2007
From time to time, I go to the Google language tools and translate something there. Now Google just made it a little easier for me: I can just send my message to one of the Google Chat Bot. The bot will instantly reply with the translation. If you use the Google translation a lot, this is much faster than using the HTML-based version. From the Googletalk blog:
“For more languages, just add any of the 29 23 other translation bots. They’re named using two-letter language abbreviations as “[from language]2[to language]@bot.talk.google.com”, and the supported language pairs are: ar2en, de2en, de2fr, el2en, en2ar, en2de, en2el, en2es, en2fr, en2it, en2ja, en2ko, en2nl, en2ru, en2zh, es2en, fr2de, fr2en, it2en, ja2en, ko2en, nl2en, ru2en, zh2en. So, for French to German translation, talk to fr2de@bot.talk.google.com.”
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December 19th, 2007
The Japanese love their cell phones, but not an iPhone; since it hasn’t made it to the far east. But that may all change sooner rather than later.
The Japanese love their cell phones, but not an iPhone; since it hasn’t made it to the far east. But that may all change sooner rather than later. Tech.co.uk is reporting that Apple is in serious talks to bring the iPhone to Japan and it won’t be like the current model either. That’s because Japan does not have a slow Edge network like the iPhone is married to here in the U.S. and Europe. No, the Japanese know their gadgets, especially cell phones and they only demand the best.
Word on the street has Apple in talks with NTT DoCoMo, the biggest network in terms of subscribers, and Softbank Mobile, the third biggest in Japan, over the terms of any deal. While there’s little doubt DoCoMo is favourite - 53 million customers to Softbank’s 17 million - the smaller firm could yet pull a swift one and surprise us all.The key to the talks will inevitably be Apple’s business model, wherein it reaps a chunk of whatever iPhone users spend each and every month on top of whatever the hardware itself costs.
This means a 3G iPhone would be needed to enter the Japanese market and succeed. Hopefully this means an iPhone using the faster network will be here sooner that we think.
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December 19th, 2007
This small LifeStation box seems to use Windows Media Center (integrated in Vista) and has a Blu-Ray/HD-DVD combo drive. The case is said to be in aluminum and it is using only passive cooling (no fans!).
Despite its small size, the manufacturer says that it can accommodate up to 1.5TB of storage. On the video side, it seems to use a Cirrus Logic chip, which is a little scary, but I’ll reserve my judgment for now. The LifeStation is part of a larger digital media line-up. Take a look at Passive’s website. Price: unknown, but probably steep.
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December 19th, 2007
Wi-Fi Army is a mix between a first person shooter and a spy game… in the real world. The game knows where the players are, thanks to the phone’s GPS and when an opponent enters a 300feet (100m) radius, his/her profile will pop on your phone and you’ll have to find them on Google Maps and engage then in a phone-fight…
The basic game is free, but it is possible to buy some upgrades. At the moment, it is in beta and it can handle 500 players per city. We have not tested the game. Video in the full post.
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December 19th, 2007
This ultra mobile PC (UMPC) from Belinea seems pretty cool. It is powered by a VIA platform (C7-M processor, Unichrome graphics). On the right side of the display, you can see an internet phone. With more storage and a DVI port, the belinea-S might seduce many Eee fans (who can’t get their hands on one right now), although it does not have the Asus Eee clean design, in my opinion. It is definitely an UMPC that is worth looking at.
SpecificationsVia C7-M CPU (1.2Ghz)7” touch display (800×480)1GB RAM80GB HDDWiFi b/g970gr (2.13Lbs)DVI portFlash card reader
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December 19th, 2007
You might have heard of Prof. Kawashima, as he is the developer of Brain Training, a mega-hit on Nintendo DS among older (and younger) people. Toyota realizes that there might an automobile market for the elderly, just like there’s a cellphone market for this population– at least in Asia.
The project is also on the drawing board at this point, but an elderly-friendly car could include features like intelligent acceleration/braking, better climate control (hey, I could use that too), and subject monitoring to make sure that the driver stays alert. It’s not clear if the project will eventually become a product and if so, what the legal ramifications are. Assisted driving is not a new idea, but the shift in responsibility from the driver to the manufacturer has been holding the industry back for decades. [via Daily Mail]
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December 19th, 2007
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