Archive for the ‘Tech’ Category
MIT spin-off stores sun’s energy to power the world
September 28th, 2009 | 
Author: CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–MIT professor Daniel Nocera is a “huge centralized energy person” but when he looks at the world’s energy challenges, he thinks the key is to make energy generation cheap and distributed.
MIT last year announced that a technology developed by Nocera’s lab— a catalyst that can split water–could be used store solar energy. Earlier this year, Nocera formed a company called Sun Catalytix, backed by venture capital firm Polaris Ventures, to commercialize that discovery.
Engineers are now working on a prototype design for the system, Nocera said at the EmTech conference on emerging technology last Thursday. He added that the company has also hired Art Goldstein, the retired CEO of water desalination company Ionics which was purchased by General Electric, to be chairman.
Full story :
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10362614-54.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in evironment, Green, Tech | 
Tags: Green, MIT, power, solar power, Sun's Energy | 
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Will Intel and USB make fiber optics mainstream?
Intel’s Light Peak technology uses lasers and fiber optics to transfer data to and from PCs and other devices.
(Credit: Intel)
SAN FRANCISCO–You’ve probably heard about fiber optics for years–some kind of exotic technology used to carry gargantuan quantities of data across continents. But in the not-too-distant future, you might be plugging these tiny glass strands straight into your computer.
That’s if Intel gets its way. At its Intel Developer Forum last week, the chipmaker demonstrated fiber-optic technology called Light Peak for connecting many devices to PCs with fiber optic lines. Intel secured major Light Peak endorsement from Sony and now it’s has begun trying to make it into an industry standard.
But bringing optical technology to the masses will require more than Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner taking the stage to connect a thin white Light Peak cable into the back of a prototype PC. According to sources familiar with the situation, the most likely mechanism to carry Light Peak out of the R&D lab to the edge of your laptop will be the venerable Universal Serial Bus, and Intel has begun pounding the pavement to try to make that happen.
“Now all the pieces are in place,” Rattner said. “We need to get a standard established to turn on the entire ecosystem to Light Peak.”
Even technophobes are familiar with USB. The plug-and-play technology started its journey in PCs and has spread to handsets, consumer electronics devices, digital cameras, and more. And new developments from the group behind the standard, the USB Implementers Forum, could expand adoption more, with a new faster, more power-efficient version and with technology to make it better for charging devices plugged into a computer or power outlet.
The new “SuperSpeed” USB 3.0 has 5 gigabit-per-second data transfer rate, more than 10 times that of the USB 2.0 version that prevails today, and the first USB 3.0 device achieved certification last week. A separate new USB feature increases the amount of power that USB devices can use from 0.5 amps to 0.9 amps while adding another 1.5 amps specifically for charging batteries, making USB for tasks besides just transferring data.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10362246-264.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in Intel, Tech |
Tags: Fiber Optics, Intel, Light Peak, SuperSpeed, USB 3.0 |
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BlackBerry sales and profit disappoint
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said Thursday it sold fewer BlackBerry phones than analysts had expected, and the company’s quarterly earnings were hurt by a legal settlement.
The company said earnings fell 4 percent in the second fiscal quarter due in large part to charges associated with a legal settlement.
For the quarter that ended August 29, the company said it earned $475.6 million, or 83 cents a share, compared to profits of $495.5 million, or 86 cents a share, for the same period a year ago.
Revenue rose to $3.53 billion from $2.58 billion a year earlier.
Analysts had expected earnings of $1 a share on revenue of $3.62 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.
Even though sales were strong and revenue was up, RIM reported it shipped slightly fewer devices than what analysts had expected. The company said it shipped about 8.3 million BlackBerry devices during the quarter, adding about 3.8 million new subscribers. Analysts had expected the company to add about 4 million new subscribers on shipments between 8.5 million and 8.6 million.
But what really hurt the company was a charge of $112.8 million related to the settlement of a patent dispute with Visto Corp. Excluding this charge, RIM said it would have earned $588.4 million, or $1.03 per share for the quarter.
RIM said it expects revenue between $3.6 billion and $3.85 billion for the third fiscal quarter that ends November 28. And the company expects earnings per share to be in the neighborhood of between $1 and $1.08.
Analysts expect RIM to introduce a new version of its touch-screen Storm later this year on Verizon Wireless’s network. This devices is supposed to compete head to head with Apple’s iPhone. But RIM has other competitors in the touch-screen arena as it approaches he holiday season. There are also other devices, such as the Palm Pre and handsets from HTC and Motorola that use the Google Android software.
Source :
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10361155-266.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in Blackberry, cell phone, Communication, Internet, Tech |
Tags: Blackberry, cell phone, smart phone |
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Intel debuts concept notebook with four displays
(Credit: Nicholas Aaron Khoo)SAN FRANCISCO–Talk about extreme multitasking. If two displays on a notebook, like Lenovo’s ThinkPad W700ds‘ Side Panel, don’t do the trick for you, Intel’s about to up the ante with four. Yes, that’s four–one primary LCD screen and three auxiliary OLED screens above the keyboard. The aim here is to allow the user to organize information the way he or she prefers it.
Touted as the world’s first multitouch, multiscreen concept solution, the prototype (code-named Tangent Bay) was unveiled at the Mobility Meetup, an Intel Insiders event for bloggers here. We got Intel rep Renuka Awasthi to demonstrate the touted seamless interaction between the main screen and auxiliary displays.
Intel’s Mobile Product Line marketing manager for Greater Americas showed some music files being dragged and dropped between the OLED panels using a finger, as well as flipped video files being moved up to the main LCD display from the auxilliary panels with ease. One could also contract, zoom, scroll, and pan content from one screen to another.
After the jump, blogger Nicholas Khoo has more photos and videos for Crave.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10358419-1.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Eee PC maker Asus goes gadget
It made a splash with the Eee PC. Now Asus, once known chiefly as a components maker, is looking to make the leap to consumer gadget maker.
One of the largest manufacturers of motherboards for two decades, albeit it a largely unsung one, the Taiwanese company finds itself smack in the middle of a transition from components maker to serious contender in PCs and accessories. Asus (pronounced “ah-soos”) is attempting to establish itself as a brand name worldwide while making new forays into software and design.
The original Eee PC, launched in 2007.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)
In addition to creating a new line of consumer products like TVs, VoIP phones, e-readers, and streaming Web video gadgets, the company’s leadership has its sights squarely set on being the third-largest notebook manufacturer in the world by 2012, while remaining the world’s largest supplier of motherboards. While it sounds somewhat ambitious for a company known more for nuts and bolts, there’s precedent: Fellow Taiwanese company Acer was in a very similar position a few years back and was able to transition from microchip maker to one of the largest laptop producers in the world.
Could Asus could be another Acer in the making?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10356079-92.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
