Clipmarks | musichunter85's clips

2 New Devices to Cheapen Solar Energy

Sat, 03 May 2008 19:07:46 GMT

clipped by: musichunter85
clipper's remarks: OK, now when will I have the ability to use one of these two?

SUNRGI, University of Tel Aviv boast of solar power advances

For its part, SUNRGI claims that its "concentrated photovoltaic" system (pictured above) can produce as much electricity as much larger solar panels thanks to its use of lenses that magnify sunlight 2,000 times. That, they say, could allow the system to produce electricity for as little as 7 cents per kilowatt hour, or roughly the same price as coal -- and as soon as mid-2009, no less.

Not to be outdone, some scientists at the University of Tel Aviv say they've managed to create some super-efficient photovoltaic cells of their own that cost "at least a hundred times less than conventional silicon based devices." The key to their system, it seems, is the use of some good old fashioned photosynthesis, which they were able to achieve not-so-old-fashionedly with the aid of some genetically engineered proteins and a little bit of nanotechnology.

Focused Microwaves Could Enable Wireless Power Transfer

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 19:56:59 GMT

clipped by: musichunter85
clipper's remarks: That's another huge step closer to a completely wireless world.

Clip Source: slashdot.org

esocid alerts us to news out of the University of Michigan, where physics researchers have found a way to focus microwaves to a point 20 times smaller than their wavelength using a new 'superlens'. Such resolution was thought to be impossible until recent years, and it could bring about the capability to transfer power wirelessly. "No matter how powerful a conventional lens, it cannot focus light down to more than about half its wavelength, the 'diffraction limit'. This limits the amount of data that can be stored on a CD, and the size of features on computer chips. The new lens is a 127-micrometer-thick plate of teflon and ceramic with a copper topping. 'The beauty of these is that they're planar,' Grbic says, 'they're easy to fabricate.' The lenses can be made through a single step of photolithography, the process used to etch computer chips."

Tags: energy, power, electricity, batteries, wireless

Electric Car to Launch Soon

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:55:27 GMT

clipped by: musichunter85
clipper's remarks: At last, another electric car that sees the light of day (or manufacturing, in simple English).

Any other company like to join the trend?

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

Electric Think City car sets sights on North American launch

You totally thought that "Think" operation you heard about last summer was nothing more than yet another electric car dream that would never see reality, didn't you? Turns out, the endeavor could be more successful than anyone originally imagined, and if all goes to plan, the Think City should hit US shores later this year. Beyond that, the company is assuming that it "could be selling as many as 50,000 units in two or three years," and with pump prices soaring and a sticker of around $25,000, we don't have much reason to doubt that. The 110 miles-per-charge vehicle, which touts a top speed of 65MPH and reportedly meets all US / European safety standards, would likely be assembled in Southern California (at least, ones sold over here), but we've no idea if swarms of Think dealerships will start popping up after all this goes down.

Tags: car, hybrid, electric, vehicle

New CompactFlash-SATA Adapter

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:32:07 GMT

clipped by: musichunter85
clipper's remarks: If I had a CF card, I would definitely want to lay my hands on this one.

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

Century's SATA adapter supports 3 CF cards: cheap SSDs for all

While we patiently wait 18 to 24 months for the CFast CompactFlash cards to arrive, there's always this: the DIY Century Compact Flash to SATA adatper. We've seen these adapters before of course, but this is the first we recall supporting 3x cards. That's a quickie 96GB SSD for about $450 (plus $192.57 for the adapter plus shipping) given current on-line prices. Not bad when you consider the $1,000+ price tag for a smaller 64GB SSD. Better yet, performance should be rock solid based on earlier reviews. In stock with RAID 0 / 5 support starting May 1st.

Tags: computers, ssd, hd, sata

Eee PC Helps Robbers...

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:50:22 GMT

clipped by: musichunter85
clipper's remarks: That's awesome!

I mean, in a wickedly evil way...

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

Thieves use Eee PC in Brazilian ATM scam

Man, that tiny Eee PC can be used for just about anything: surfing the web, blogging, surreptitiously hiding inside an ATM machine and stealing your identity. You know, the usual stuff. Yeah, so three creative Brazilian thieves were recently caught stuffing a black Eee into an ATM, where it replaced the ordinary magical-money-making workings and instead stole unwitting customers' card numbers and PINs. The thieves didn't stop there, however -- they purposefully damaged all the other nearby ATMs so that theirs would be the only one in service. Clever! Of course, that doesn't explain why it was so easy to crack open the target ATM in the first place -- we'd pretty much consider our cash flow problems solved if we could pull that trick. Check out the Brazilian TV report after the break -- any Portuguese speakers care to translate?

Tags: asus, eee, atm, rob, scam, identity theft

New Portable Speaker Book

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:15:12 GMT

clipped by: musichunter85
clipper's remarks: In one word: COOL!

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

Targus unveils NXT-based Portable Speaker Book

We've seen some far-out portable speakers, but Targus is keeping it simple with the upcoming Portable Speaker Book. The folding speakers feature NXT flat-panel Balanced Radiator drivers, and can be powered by either four AAs or USB power. We've no word on pricing, but we wouldn't expect to break the bank when these hit the UK sometime this summer.

Tags: speakers

"scroll" - A Nice Concept PDA/UMPC

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:23:29 GMT

clipped by: musichunter85
clipper's remarks: I wouldn't mind checking this one out...

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

"Scroll" concept device packs everything but a sense of reality

Sure, there's plenty of far fetched concept devices from big players like Nokia, but it's nice to see that folks without millions of dollars in research funding can also come up with equally unrealistic devices, as evidenced by this so-called "Scroll" contraption created by 13 Tech Design. What's more, this one doesn't get by on looks alone, with it packing a touchscreen-based cellphone, a 10 megapixel camera and 1080p camcorder, various media-playing features, built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, and a full-fledged computer that runs on Vista or XP. That's right, it seems that even fantasyland gadgets need to fall back on XP.

Tags: nokia, cellphone, umpc

Microsoft's New Vista-Promo Video

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:56:52 GMT

clipped by: musichunter85
clipper's remarks: That's maybe the most retarded thing I've ever heard.

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

[Video]

Seagate to Sue Numerous SSD Makers?

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:50:24 GMT

clipped by: musichunter85
clipper's remarks: Wow, it takes a lot of courage to start suing such large companies like Samsung and Sandisk.

I'm looking forward for the next chapters in this matter.

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

Seagate sues SSD maker STEC

Seagate was talking a big game last month about how SSD makers like Samsung and Intel were infringing its patents, and the company wasn't joking around, following up all that tough talk with... what appears to be a test case against relatively minor vendor STEC. Seagate says STEC's drives violate four patents it holds on SSD interfaces and that while "it's not a big financial issue yet," the company wants "to set things straight." As you'd expect, STEC doesn't feel quite as casual about the situation, saying that it's been making SSDs since 1994, before any of Seagate's patents were filed, and that it's going to aggressively defend Seagate's "desperate" claims and seek to invalidate its patents. many of which it believes aren't even relevant to SSD technology. That sounds like a fight to us -- get ready for some nonstop ~~paperwork~~ legal thrills, people.

Tags: ssd, solid-state drive, hard drive, patent, seagate

HCL and Microsoft team up for "world's cheapest Windows laptop"

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:44:29 GMT

clipped by: musichunter85
clipper's remarks: It looks like Microsoft is starting to freak out about all the Linux-based cheap laptops, so they've teamed up with that minor gadget maker in attempt of having their own Windows-XP based low-cost laptop.

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

HCL and Microsoft team up for "world's cheapest Windows laptop"

India's HCL is certainly no stranger to low-cost laptops, and the company is now apparently looking to expand its budget-priced empire even further, with it recently announcing that it's teamed up with Microsoft to roll out what it claims to be the "world's cheapest Windows laptop." While the company isn't exactly saying as much, the new laptop, dubbed the MiLeap H, appears to be a revamped version of the company's MiLeap Y unit, with it boasting the same swiveling 7-inch touchscreen, an unspecified Intel processor and Intel 945 GU Express chipset, 1GB of RAM, a 30GB hard drive, an integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam, built-in WiFi and, of course, Windows XP Home for the OS. No word on a release date just yet, but those in India can expect to pay 17,000 Indian rupees (or about $425) for the laptop.

Tags: microsoft, windows, xp, linux, olpc, cheap, laptop

Ships in Custody Bail Out?!

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:19:39 GMT

clipped by: musichunter85
clipper's remarks: O.K - That's the weirdest story I've ever heard. Ships in custody? Bail? "The release of its ship"?!

Is it me, or does it sound like an April Fool Day prank executed too late?

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

UAE nabbed a pair of ships suspected for undersea cable cutting

Turns out the United Arab Emirates took two ships into custody on February 19th after those infamous cable cuttings. Wayward anchors are suspected to be at fault, and the Korean company responsible for one of the vessels just agreed to fork over 60 grand in damages in exchange for the release of its ship. The other ship, which is owned by an Iraqi company, is still under Dubai custody, and the two sailors on board were arrested and are awaiting prosecution next week. As for us, we're standing by our space aliens in league with garden gnomes theory. It all just adds up.

IBM says Next-Gen Data-Storage Tech Available in a Decade.

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:36:00 GMT

clipped by: musichunter85
clipper's remarks: Am I supposed to be thrilled?

I bet another company will amaze the world with a rival in 3-4 years.

IBM - Start speeding things UP!

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

IBM's racetrack memory dashing towards commercialization

So, how do you go about impressing the world after busting out a few systems based around the "fastest chip on Earth?" By getting us all worked up for a little thing called racetrack memory, that's how. Far from being the first memory technology that runs laps around the DIMMs we're relying on today, IBM researchers are suggesting that this iteration could enable users to store substantially more data at a lower cost and be available in around a decade. Put simply, the gurus working the project have discovered a way to overcome the prohibitively expensive process of manipulating domain walls in magnetic storage, essentially making a long-standing approach entirely more viable. If you're totally in nerd heaven right now, we assure you, checking out the explanatory video waiting after the jump is a must-do.

It's Not a Laptop - It's a Monster

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:24:09 GMT

clipped by: musichunter85
clipper's remarks: Wow, laptops are truly starting to overcome Desktop PC's in two many ways.

I bet laptop sales this year will be at least twice as high as PCs'...

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

ASUS lets loose terabyte-packin' M70 laptop

We got our hands on ASUS's beefy M70 laptop way back at CES earlier this year, but it looks like the company has just now gotten around to letting the monster loose on the general populace. In case you missed it, this one packs up to one terabyte of storage (in the form of two 500GB drives), along with a 17-inch WUXGA display, your choice of Core 2 Duo processors up to a T9300, ATI Mobile Radeon HD3650 or HD3470 graphics, and an optional Blu-ray drive, among other expectedly top-end features. To make sure no one else but you gets to toy around with all that, ASUS has also seen fit to include not one but two security measures, including the usual fingerprint scanner and ASUS's trademark

SmartLogon face-scanning technology. No word on a price, but we're guessing that's a detail best kept on a need to know basis.

[Via PC Launches]

At Last: Battery Tech Gets Promoted

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:52:14 GMT

clipped by: musichunter85
clipper's remarks: I've been waiting for the battery universe to evolve for so long!

I hope it's not the last chain - only the first.

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

Researchers improve Li-on battery life, increase capacity 30 percent

Although's Moore's Law continues to race along, battery tech hasn't nearly kept up pace -- so we're excited by developments like the one just announced by Argonne National Labs, which has managed to increase Li-on capacity by 30 percent while making the batteries safer and longer-lasting. The secret ingredients in Argonne's new juice box are a new composite battery material that's partially electrically inactive and manganese oxide-based electrodes in place of the traditional cobalt oxide. Argonne says it's already licensed the tech to Japanese manufacturer Toda Kogyo, which has the capability to produce 30 million laptop batteries a year, but the lab is still working on improving charging rates -- while it's adequate for laptops and cellphones, the battery will need to discharge at least three times faster to work in a car.

Microsoft: Gates Talking Nonsense.

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:30:39 GMT

clipped by: musichunter85
clipper's remarks: Microsoft declared it has no intention of releasing Windows7 before the beginning of 2010.

But the real question, of course, is whether the company will keep up to its own planned deadline. The answer to which is: Probably not!

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

Windows 7 still slated for 2010 says Microsoft, Bill Gates just crazy-talking

If your pants / panties were in a "bunch" upon hearing news that Windows 7 would be headed into your ever-loving arms "next year," you might just want to hold off on those party invites for a little bit. Sure, Bill Gates just happened to mention that we'd see a new version of the OS "Sometime in the next year or so," but it's looking like that "or so" makes a world of difference. Microsoft wants to chill everyone out with the somber news that its got no plans to introduce Windows 7 any earlier than January 2010 (three years from the launch of Vista), and reassure us that crazy old Gates may have just been talkin' developer speak.

Tags: bill gates, microsoft, windows 7, vista