IBM solar collector will concentrate the power of 2,000 suns, keep its cool
Modern
solar collectors can concentrate only so much energy for safety's sake:
too much in one place and they risk cooking themselves. An
IBM-led
group is working on a new collector dish that could avoid that damage
while taking a big step forward in solar power efficiency. The hundreds
of photovoltaic chips gathering energy at the center will be cooled by
the same sort of microchannel water cooling that kept
Aquasar
from frying, letting each chip safely concentrate 2,000 times the solar
energy it would normally face. The collector also promises to do more
with sunlight once it's trapped: since the microchannels should absorb
more than half of the waste heat, their hot water byproduct can either
be filtered into drinkable water or converted into air conditioning.
As
you might imagine, IBM sees more than just the obvious environmental
benefit. When a receiver will generate about 25kW of energy while
costing less to make through cheaper mirrors and structures, a fully
developed
solar array
could be an affordable replacement for coal power that delivers greater
independence -- picture remote towns that need a fresh water supply.
IBM doesn't estimate when we'll see production of these collectors
beyond several prototypes, but the finished work will likely be welcome
to anyone frustrated by the scalability of current solar energy.
Filed under:
Science
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Source: IBM
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How would you change Nintendo's 3DS XL?
The
Nintendo 3DS XL
improved on the original in a wide variety of ways, including better
ergonomics and playability. The chunkier body and bigger screen was key
in helping to coax the console
out of the shadow
of its predecessor, and we were full of praise when we reviewed it. But
the experience of living with a device is so different from reviewing
it, that we'd like to ask you what, if Nintendo was asking, would you
have changed?
Filed under:
Gaming
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Refresh Roundup: week of April 15th, 2013
Your
smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to
time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug
fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are
floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the
mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every
possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find
during the last week and crammed them into one convenient
roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
Filed under:
Cellphones,
Cameras,
Tablets,
Mobile
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The Weekly Roundup for 04.15.2013
You
might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news.
Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This
is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top
headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here
at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
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Switched On: How HP learned to stop worrying and love Android
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
Only
those who were at the highest levels of HP at the time will likely ever
know the full story of the spectacularly botched $1.2 billion
acquisition
of Palm and webOS. In the span of only eight months in 2010, the IT
giant's plans for the operating system underwent a titanic turnabout --
from a foundation technology that would infiltrate every crevice of its
device business to an orphaned open-source project ultimately sold to LG
Electronics. Was the shift driven by core business softness that
precluded further investment, the personal fiat of a short-tenured CEO
or a justifiable reaction to disappointing sales? All three likely
played some role.
HP purchased Palm because it was dissatisfied
with the options it saw in the mobile operating system landscape. Beyond
the deep relationship the company had with Microsoft for PCs, it had
dabbled with Windows Mobile on a couple of smartphones such as the HP
Glisten that never saw broad distribution. It had also produced an
Android device, an obscure netbook called the
Compaq AirLife 100 that lacked Android Market and was distributed exclusively via Spanish telecom giant Telefonica.
Filed under:
Cellphones,
Software,
Nokia,
Blackberry,
HP
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Watch live: Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket to lift off on test flight (update: success!)
SpaceX may be the only private outfit currently
shepherding cargo to the
International Space Station, but
Orbital Sciences, which is the second party in NASA's
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services effort,
is taking a step towards its own ISS resupply missions. Today, the
firm's Antares rocket will undergo its very first test flight, taking
off from the space agency's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island,
Virginia. Liftoff is slated for sometime between 5PM and 7PM, with an 80
percent chance of favorable weather, as opposed to the 45 percent odds
and high-altitude winds that foiled its initial attempt yesterday. To
watch Antares embark on its maiden voyage, hit the jump for a live video
feed.
Update: Antares blasted off at a hair past 5PM and
successfully separated from its mock payload. The live stream has
wrapped up, but we'll slot in a video of the launch as soon as we get
ahold of one.
Update 2: NASA just posted its footage of the rocket taking off, and we've placed the video after the break for your viewing pleasure.
[Image credit: NASA,
Flickr]
Filed under:
Science,
Alt
Comments
Source: NASA (1),
(2),
Orbital Sciences
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Black HTC One peeks out of AT&T and Sprint web stores, promises to be available soon
Torn between getting an HTC One
right now
and waiting for that sleek black variant? We know the feeling, and the
folks at Sprint and AT&T aren't making it easier: both providers
have tossed up a product page for the color. Unfortunately, a solid
street date is nowhere to be seen -- Sprint only promises that it'll be
available "soon." The tease won't make the wait any more bearable, but
if you want to ogle that
press image a bit more, check out the product pages at source.
Filed under:
Cellphones,
HTC,
Sprint,
AT&T,
AMD
Comments
Via: Phone Arena
Source: Sprint,
AT&T
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Inhabitat's Week in Green: Ekinoid, HDlive ultrasound and the world's lightest electric vehicle
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.
It's been an exciting week for
green building as
Inhabitat
reported that some of the world's top architects unveiled plans for
high-tech developments with light environmental footprints.
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) won an international design competition for Europa,
a new green-roofed city outside of Paris. Construction began last week on
a new solar-powered stadium for the Euro 2016 football championship designed by Herzog & de Meuron. San Francisco celebrated the
reopening of the Exploratorium
this week in a new net-zero building along the city's waterfront. In
Mexico City, a helipad on the roof of an office building was converted
into
a co-working space with a gorgeous rooftop garden. And we also profiled the
Ekinoid, a spherical, self-sufficient home that sits on stilts and is built to withstand disaster.
Filed under:
Misc
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GoComics app released for iOS, Android and Windows Phone, digitizes the Sunday funnies
If you're an avid reader of the many
comic strips
on Universal Uclick's GoComics website, you'll be pleased to know the
company's recently released its first app for mobile devices. Optimized
for tablets and smartphones running Windows Phone, Android and iOS, the
company states that the free app serves as the "official home" on mobile
for its syndicated comics. Notably, this includes the likes of the full
Calvin & Hobbes archives, along with Universal Uclick citing it
as the exclusive portal to Dilbert strips on mobile. We won't keep you
any longer now that you know, so head over to the appropriate source
link if you'd like to download it for yourself.
Filed under:
Misc,
Software
Comments
Source: Univeral Uclick (App Store),
(Google Play),
(Windows Store)
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Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 hits the FCC, sports AT&T compatible HSPA+
Samsung's
Galaxy Mega 6.3
still doesn't have an exact launch date, but it has made its way to the
FCC. While the Mega was announced with LTE and HSPA+ radios, it appears
that this version, model I9200, only has the latter onboard (I9205 is
the LTE-equipped variant) -- the Galaxy slightly-less Mega, it seems.
It's a safe bet that this particular model won't officially make it
stateside, but the reports seem to indicate that it'll play nice with
AT&T's HSPA+ bands. In case you're thinking of importing this
1.7Ghz device down the line, you can have a look at our
hands-on here. Otherwise, you can have a look at the filing by heading to the source link.
Filed under:
Cellphones,
Mobile,
Samsung
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Source: FCC
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Virtuix hooks up Oculus Rift to its Omni treadmill, shows off 'True VR' (video)
Sure, Omni-directional treadmills are
nothing new, but Virtuix's take is worth a mention now that it's been shown off working in conjunction with the
Oculus Rift. The company's been posting videos of its Omni treadmill working with
Kinect
for months, but last Thursday it upped the ante by adding the Rift. All
told, it makes for what looks to be an intense VR session of
Team Fortress 2 -- one-upping
SixSenses' Razer Hydra demo
for the VR headset. The company's been working on this unit as an
affordable solution for households, aiming to eventually try for funding
via Kickstarter. Catch the video demo after the break and please resist
throwing money at the screen in an attempt to get in on the action
early.
Filed under:
Gaming
Comments
Via: Mashable
Source: Virtuix (YouTube)
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Yahoo axing six more apps and services as part of streamlining effort
Get ready to say goodbye to another another batch of
Yahoo products at the end of this month. As the company continues to
streamline and focus
its services, March 31st will be the last day of stand-alone existence
for Upcoming, Yahoo Deals, Yahoo Kids, Yahoo SMS Alerts, Yahoo Mail and
Messages for feature phones. Noting an aim to slim down to roughly 15
offerings from 75, as
The Register points out, this follows a few
weeks after the company nixed other services like its BlackBerry app.
Additionally, if you've been hanging onto the old version of Yahoo Mail,
you'll have no choice but to switch to the new version by June 3rd.
There's not word on what we can expect next, although EVP of Platforms
Jay Rossiter notes that cuts like these are needed so it can focus on
more experiences like its new
Mail and Weather apps. You'll find the details for each cut at the source link.
Update: The total number of offerings being killed this time around is six, not seven as initially reported.
Filed under:
Internet
Comments
Via: The Register
Source: Yahoo
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