Apple is not the first to consider solar power For Mobile Devices
Apple is reportedly looking into solar panels as a power source for mobile devices. A recently published patent application discovered by the Apple enthusiast site MacRumors.com describes a technique in which solar panels would be built behind a portable device’s LCD screen. From that location, the panels could absorb ambient light that passes through.
The technique would eliminate the need for Apple to redesign its iPods and laptops to make room for the new technology. Among the problems with using solar panels on devices are durability and the need to take up valuable space on the compact devices.
Apple isn’t the first to consider this technique for using solar power. Motorola describes a similar approach in a 2001 patent.
Apple and technology companies routinely apply for patents on technology that may never find its way into products.
Touch Wall-Microsofts New Cheap Touchscreens
Bill Gates has demoed a vertical version of Microsoft’s coffee table computer, the Surface, at the company’s CEO summit.
Describing a future where cheap touchscreens will cover various surfaces in homes as well as offices, Gates said that he expects the technology to be “absolutely pervasive” in the near future.
Calling the Touch Wall, “new, risky and exciting”, Gates told attendees: “Our view is that all the surfaces - horizontal surfaces, vertical surfaces - will eventually have an inexpensive screen-display capability and software that sees what you’re doing there, so it’s completely interactive”, he told attendees at the summit.
Standing beside a 4 x 6ft screen, fitted with a camera to detect touch, Gates said that the technology is still at the research-and-development stage, but the company is using components of its interactivity at all levels, adding that he expects this technology to be affordable.
“This kind of whiteboard, with a little bit of hardware advance over the next couple of years, will not be an expensive thing, and that’s why we’re saying that it will be absolutely pervasive,” Gates claimed.
watch the demo video
Motorola RAZR V9 Ferrari Limited Edition soon
Motorola is still managing to hook up with the big names like Ferrari and apparently launch a few Limited Edition handsets with the renowned car maker.
The MOTO Z8 Edition was launched at the end of last year and this souped up RIZR Ferrari colored handset came also included videos, wallpapers and ringtones as well as a rather generous pre-registration to the official Ferrari website.
MOTO’s latest, it seems, is the RAZR V9 that will also bear the famous Prancing Horse, and come with a lamb-skin case that will have the Ferrari logo. The handset’s specs won’t be any different. Some of the features include a 2MP camera, Bluetooth with A2DP, MicroSD card support and a secondary 2-inch semi-touch sensitive, external display.
These darn Limited Editions cost a bundle. No price has been officially pinned to the handset yet.
source:read
New Silver-zinc Battery provides longer Battery Life for Laptops & Mobiles
Silver-zinc batteries pack more energy than lithium-ion batteries, giving laptops 40 percent more run time, according to Dueber. If a laptop runs for two hours with a lithium-ion battery, it should run for closer to three hours with a silver-zinc battery.
The batteries will be available in consumer and business laptops from major PC makers starting in August, according to Ross Dueber, the CEO of ZPower, although he declined to name any of the vendors on Thursday.
The battery’s water-based chemistry also makes it nonflammable, compared to lithium-ion, which uses dimethyl carbonate, a flammable liquid. Cells can go off “like firecrackers” in lithium-ion batteries.
It also remains to be seen if silver-zinc batteries can compete on price, since lithium-ion is relatively cheap. The silver-zinc batteries contain silver, which can be expensive.
