[MobileRatty] tag: potential

Power-sipping Eco Ride urban transportation system to hit Japan

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:43:00 +0000

Japan's not hurting for trains, but what's the addition of another going to hurt? Senyo Kogyo and Senyo Kiko have jointly announced plans to construct a test line for an energy-saving urban transportation system this October. Dubbed Eco Ride, the "roller coaster-like" system in the Chiba Prefecture will operate "using the height difference on the railway," and furthermore, there will be drive units (complete with clanks and clangs, we bet) "installed at various points on the railway so that the Eco Ride can obtain the potential energy to run." Reportedly, Eco Ride would likely remain just a short-distance transportation system even if expanded, but no matter how you slice it, it sure beats taking the Segway to work.

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iPhone Nike+ Interface Leaked!

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:17:51 +0000

Here’s some leaked pics of what the Nike+ would look like working with the iPhone. You do have to admit iPhone is useless for fast internet browsing on the go but it may proved to be a very good tool for running around like crazy and graphing out how you ran.

the biggest improvement over the old Nike system may be Google Maps support:

We don’t know just how robust the Nike+ maps support will be, but mapping routes directly on the iPhone could make for more organized training sessions. If only we had the coordination to use the iPhone’s touch interface while running.

via gizmodo, iPhone.fr, Ubergizmo

Brought to you by: Zedomax.com

iPhone Nike+ Interface Leaked!

Google.org invests more than $10 million in breakthrough geothermal energy technology

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:26:00 +0000

Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) could supply thousands of times US energy needs

Mountain View, California (August 19, 2008) – In the continuing effort to develop electricity from renewable energy cheaper than from coal, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), through its philanthropic arm Google.org, announced $10.25 million in investments in a breakthrough energy technology called Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). Today's announcement also includes funding for research on next-generation geothermal resource mapping, EGS information tools, and a policy agenda for geothermal energy.

EGS expands the potential of geothermal energy by orders of magnitude. The traditional geothermal approach relies on finding naturally occurring pockets of steam and hot water. The EGS process, by comparison, replicates these conditions by fracturing hot rock, circulating water through the system, and using the resulting steam to produce electricity in a conventional turbine.

A recent MIT report on EGS estimates that just 2% of the heat below the continental United States between 3 and 10 kilometers, depths within the range of current drilling technology, is more than 2,500 times the country's total annual energy use.

"EGS could be the 'killer app' of the energy world. It has the potential to deliver vast quantities of power 24/7 and be captured nearly anywhere on the planet. And it would be a perfect complement to intermittent sources like solar and wind," said Dan Reicher, Director of Climate and Energy Initiatives for Google.org.

Google's Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal initiative focuses on solar thermal power, advanced wind, EGS and other potential breakthrough technologies. Google has set a goal to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity, enough to power a city the size of San Francisco, in years, not decades.

To advance EGS, Google.org announced funding for two companies and a university:

AltaRock Energy, Inc.: $6.25 million investment to develop innovative technologies to achieve significant cost reductions and improved performance in EGS projects. For more information, please visit http://www.altarockenergy.com/.
Potter Drilling, Inc.: $4 million investment in two tranches, to develop new approaches to lower the cost and expand the range of deep hard rock drilling, a critical element to large-scale deployment of EGS. For more information, please visit http://www.potterdrilling.com/.
Southern Methodist University Geothermal Lab: $489,521 grant to improve understanding of the size and distribution of geothermal energy resources and to update geothermal mapping of North America. For more information, please visit http://www.smu.edu/geothermal/.
"Innovation is the path to massive quantities of cleaner, cheaper energy. The people we're funding today have a real shot at lowering the cost of EGS, and bringing us closer to our goal of Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal," added Dr. Larry Brilliant, executive director of Google.org.

"EGS is critical to the clean electricity revolution we need to solve the climate crisis, but EGS hasn't received the attention it merits. That's why we're pressing for expanded support from government and increased investment from the private sector," said Reicher, "We're big believers in EGS and we're looking for more opportunities."

Ongoing Commitments

Today's announcement represents the latest step in Google's commitment to a clean energy future.

Google has been working hard on energy efficiency and making its business environmentally sustainable. To this end, the company has taken concrete steps to reduce its carbon footprint and accelerate improvements in green technology, including:

Developing cutting-edge energy efficiency technology to power and cool its data centers in the U.S. and around the world using 50% less energy than the industry standard
Generating electricity for its Mountain View campus from a 1.6 megawatt corporate solar panel installation, one of the largest in the U.S.
Accelerating development and adoption of plug-in electric vehicles through the RechargeIT initiative (http://www.google.org/recharge/)
Joining with other industry leaders to form the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, a consortium that advocates the design and use of more energy-efficient computers and servers (http://www.climatesaverscomputing.org/)
Working on policies that encourage renewable energy development and deployment, such as a U.S. Renewable Energy Standard
For more information on EGS, including a 3-D model of a project in Australia, a Google Earth layer, an introductory YouTube video, and our policy brief, see http://www.google.org/egs/.

For more information on the Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal initiative, including $30 million in investments to advance solar thermal and advanced wind technologies, see http://www.google.org/rec.html.

For broadcast-standard video and other multimedia files for the announcement, see http://www.thenewsmarket.com/google.

For more information on Google's commitment to a clean energy future, see http://www.google.com/renewableenergy.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements relating to our ability to develop electricity from renewable energy cheaper than from coal, the development of EGS technology, the expected supply and delivery of energy through EGS technology, our ability to produce renewable energy and the cost of EGS. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted. The potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ include, among others, risks related to the development of EGS technology and our ability to identify and pursue the technologies necessary to achieve these goals, as well as those risks and uncertainties included under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, which is on file with the SEC and is available on our investor relations website at http://investor.google.com and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. All information provided in this release is as of August 19, 2008, and Google undertakes no duty to update this information.

About Google Inc.
Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit http://www.google.com.

About Google.org
Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, uses the power of information to help people better their lives. We develop and invest in tools and partnerships that can help bring shared knowledge to bear on the world's most pressing challenges in the areas of climate change, economic development and global health. For more information, visit http://www.google.org.

Apple and Sonys Newest Idea: Viewing Goggles

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:04:05 +0000

We have covered viewing goggles like the Vuzix iWear and myvu before, and these have yet to catch on to the general populace. Maybe it’s the way they look, because no one wants to walk around looking like Cyclops from the X-men films.

There is a rumor going about that Apple is working to change the portable viewing arena with some fancy goggles that will allow portable viewing of video files. These video files can be taken off of an iPod or other Portable Media Player (PMP).

I have even heard that electronics giant Sony is working in partnership with Apple to perfect the technology of the screen inside the goggles. Of course, I really don’t have any validation of these rumors, other than the source I have listed below. I’m surprised all the other gadget blogs aren’t abuzz about it. Maybe they will be by the time this posts.

Well, if anyone can bring the portable video viewing market to its full potential, it’s Apple. I seem to recall a certain MP3 Player market that didn’t exist about five years ago until Mr. Jobs stepped in with a certain iPod device that is now synonymous with MP3 Players as Kleenex is to tissue.

I suppose we will need to wait and see what the future brings as far as this rumor is concerned, as well as the future of portable video watching.

Source

[ Apple and Sony’s Newest Idea: Viewing Goggles copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.

Eco Ride-energy-saving automated short-distance transportation system

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:53:08 +0000

Senyo Kogyo Co Ltd and Senyo Kiko Co Ltd announced that they will build a test line for "Eco Ride," an energy-saving urban transportation system, in October 2008. The line will be constructed in the Chiba Experiment Station of IIS in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The size and weight of the cars can be reduced because the system eliminates the need for a drive unit on the cars. This leads to a reduction in the size of the railroad, the supporting structures and the stations, etc. The target construction cost per kilometer is about 1/10 of the cost of a small-size subway, or 1/5 of that of a monorail or a new transit system in Japan, according to the companies. In addition, the light cars consume less energy. Eco Ride is expected to be used as the automated short-distance transportation system with a total railway length of up to 10km.

The new transportation system operates using the height difference on the railway. Drive units to pull the cars up are installed at various points on the railway so that the Eco Ride can obtain the potential energy to run. This is the same principle as a roller coaster. Senyo Kogyo and Senyo Kiko specialize in the construction and sale of amusement facilities, etc. They installed and managed similar light transportation systems at the Tsukuba Science Expo (in Ibaraki Prefecture), the Nagoya World Design Expo (in Aichi Prefecture), Expoland (in Osaka) and other places.

Mobiado Luminoso Lucido is made for 200 quickest buyers with deep pockets

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:27:55 +0000

Mobiado is out with yet another luxury phone that puts form over function - Mobiado Luminoso Lucido. The 3G-enabled device combines such such materials as sapphire crystal, stainless steel and aircraft aluminum. Only 200 of these will be made, giving potential buyers yet another reason to sign-up and differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack.

Specs wise, the Mobiado Luminoso Lucido is a mid-range phone, sporting a tri-band GSM radio, 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, music player (supported formats include MP3, MP4, eAAC+ and AAC) and a microSD memory card slot.

No word on pricing is given, so if you’re that eager to be one of the 200 lucky rich buyers, you’ll have to contact Mobiado. Be prepared for a shock, though.

One more image follows after the jump.

[Via: Unwired View]

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Japan investigates exploding first generation iPod nanos, again (update: issues consumer warning)

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:29:00 +0000

Filed under: Portable Audio

Look, it's pretty clear that the lithium-ion battery in the first generation iPod nano has the potential to burst into flames. Seriously, how many more cases do we have to see? Even after giving Apple a stern talking-to and ferocious wag of the finger back in March, Japan's government is once again investigating possible battery defects that caused a pair of Tokyo nanos to burn: nano model MA099 recently singed a piece of nearby paper while a model MA005 nano burned a traditional tatami mat in January (no injuries were reported).

Presumably Apple is calculating the cost-of-recall at this very moment. In other words, take the number of 1st gen nanos in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, they don't do one.

Update: Japan has issued a warning to iPod nano users saying, "Users need to be careful about overheating of the machines," particularly when charging the players. Japan's government has reported a total of 14 similar incidents to Apple related to models MA004J/A, MA005J/A, MA099J/A and MA107J/A all sold between September '05 and September '06 -- two of which resulted in minor burns. NHK claims that Apple does not plan a recall but is ready to exchange defective parts.

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iPhone 2.0.2 Hits The Deck

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:08:33 +0000

iPhone 2.0.2 has just been released on iTunes, and this is a bug fix release with very little information known about it. Tradition dictates that you can download this straight off Apple’s servers or through iTunes, depending on your preference. As with any other firmware update, version 2.0.2. will de-pwn your beloved iPhone assuming you have taken that route before. For our dear readers who have already upgraded, have you found any improvements in your user experience? Are there any niggling doubts, questions or information that you would want potential upgraders to take note of? Kindly leave a comment below.

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Apple pushes out Apple iPhone OS 2.0.2 through iTunes

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:06:06 +0000

Well that sure was quick. It seems like just an eye-blink ago that Apple released their iPhone 2.0.1 OS for iPhone and iPhone 3G owners looking to get enhanced performance out of their sometimes laggy iPhones. And, following on the iPhone Dev Team’s release of the iPhone 2.0.1 OS-jailbreaking solution, Pwnage Tool 2.0.2, Cupertino has released their latest iPhone OS.

iPhone OS 2.0.2 isn’t yet officially supported by PwnageTool 2.0.2, so if you want to preserve your jailbreak you’ll want to wait for the DevTeam to announce iPhone 2.0.2 OS compatibility for PwnageTool. The new iPhone 2.0.2 OS presumably comes bundled with that new baseband firmware that the DevTeam warned could potential kill any future iPhone 3G SIM-unlock solutions, so updating your iPhone 3G without first “pwning” the firmware file could leave you without an unlockable handset (when, and if, the DevTeam releases an iPhone 3G unlocking solution).

Apple vaguely lists “Bug Fixes” in the iPhone 2.0.2 OS changelog, which doesn’t help pin down the iPhone 2.0.2 OS’s improvements over iPhone 2.0.1 OS. But, some users are reporting that web browsing has been improved, typing lag reduced, and transition from music list to CoverFlow has been updated.

We’ve previously speculated that a new iPhone OS update could bring with it a solution to fix iPhones with shifty 3G signal reception, but it’s not yet clear if the iPhone 2.0.2 OS fixes these reception woes. If you update your iPhone 3G and find that your signal reception has taken a turn for the better, please drop us a line and let us know.

Grab the iPhone 2.0.2 OS through iTunes (after connecting your iPhone, that is).

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AT&T offers $10,000 to help catch copper-wire thieves

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:27:07 +0000

Stealing copper wiring from the telephone poll down the street is one way to make money fast. But for companies like AT&T, such theft is a major headache because it then has to buy new cables, pay for repairs and deal with unhappy customers whose service was disrupted.

AT&T California said today it is offering up to $10,000 for “information that helps identify and prosecute those responsible” for cutting and stealing its cables.

Thieves sell the copper to scrap metal companies, which buy them for between $1.50 to $3 a pound, says Stewart Shirk, director of security at DBW Metals Recycling in Anaheim. The lucrative market has at least two California legislators working on a law to tighten the rules on the sale and payment of scrap metal (AB 844 and SB 691).

Shirk said that if he knows that the copper or metal is stolen, he won’t accept it. But people still try. Last June, a man with a bandaged right arm walked in trying to sell him ground wire that was obviously from Edison. Shirk told the guy he was calling Edison and could come back the next night. The man did! Shirk had to call the cops — the guy probably didn’t mind the police intervention because he was badly in need of medical attention, Shirk assumed.

According to AT&T, copper-wire thievery has occurred in San Diego, Riverside, Lake Tahoe, Grass Valley, Fresno/Visalia, Vallejo, and Stockton. The amount has varied from less than 100 feet to more than 1,000 feet.

Stealing the wires can also be dangerous. An AT&T spokeswoman who responded to my questions, said thieves must climb a telephone poll to cut the wires!

“This is incredibly dangerous. The wires often have a high degree of tension, and when they are cut there is the potential for a pole to snap or break. In addition, our lines usually co-exist with electric wires. If a thief comes in contact with the wrong wire, the results could be tragic,” said Katie Farnham, with AT&T.

Farnham adds one note: AT&T’s cable is not dangerous, but often times other cables on the same pole can cause serious injury or death.

Anyone with information can tip off AT&T at 1-800-807-4205.

If you’re sniffing for clues, here are some recent copper-wire theiving headlines:

Brothers arrested in copper-wire thefts (San Diego Union Tribune)
Wire thefts raise road risks (San Diego Union Tribune)
Scrap metal sellers could be required to provide photo ID, thumbprint (LA Times)
Metal Thieves Growing Bolder at Building Sites (San Diego Business Journal)
Thieves make off with 1,000 metres of copper wire (The Western Star in Canada)

Read the complete press release here.

[MobileRatty] tag: potential

Power-sipping Eco Ride urban transportation system to hit Japan

iPhone Nike+ Interface Leaked!

Related posts

Google.org invests more than $10 million in breakthrough geothermal energy technology

Apple and Sonys Newest Idea: Viewing Goggles

Eco Ride-energy-saving automated short-distance transportation system

Mobiado Luminoso Lucido is made for 200 quickest buyers with deep pockets

Japan investigates exploding first generation iPod nanos, again (update: issues consumer warning)

iPhone 2.0.2 Hits The Deck

Apple pushes out Apple iPhone OS 2.0.2 through iTunes

AT&T offers $10,000 to help catch copper-wire thieves