From the category archives:
Ridgeblade is a device that sits on the roof of your home and contains a rotor that can generate power when wind hits it. It’s different to the more conventional generators that are seen and sits quite neatly on the roof of a home.
The Ridgeblade was designed as part of the 2009 Dutch Postcode Lottery Green Challenge and is touted by it’s designers as being an “innovative, affordable and effective way of harnessing the winds power to produce renewable energy.” [click to continue…]
Neatorama have gathered some interesting facts about Google and put them all in a single blog post over on their site. The various facts include a lego storage case that held 10 x 4GB hard drives allowing enough storage capacity for their PageRank algo to be tested successfully. Another fact mentions that the I’m Feeling Lucky button costs Google around $110 Million a year in lost ad revenues and if you want to know how many servers Google has… you might find out in the blog post, or you might not.
For some interesting facts for a few minutes of your time check out the post.
Windows 7 launched just recently and has already achieved a 3.48% market share according to figures collected at the end of October. These figures only represent installed copies and do not include shipped copies that have not been installed just yet.
Windows 7 has been around for a number of months now in beta. Just before the 21 October release date figures showed a share of 1.89%. The 1.89% representing beta installs also counts towards the total 3.48% reported. [click to continue…]
A patent filed by Apple [AAPL] has revealed that the company might be working on a headset with iPod functionality built in. The patent shows a set of earphones with the lower one in the drawing housing an iPod shuffle type device. A small screen can be found on the side of the earphones and the opposite channel either goes around your head with a band, or a loose wire as shown in the diagram.
Features included in the patent show it has speakers, voice command and processor, transceiver, button, antenna, battery, memory, display, media player, connector and microphone. All of these lead towards it being some kind of bluetooth enabled media device to carry music around. [click to continue…]
After hearing about fuel cell’s being the future for the last few years we actually see that this might just be the case as Toshiba have launched their fuel cell over in Japan. Fuel cells allow instant power by topping up the battery with concentrated methanol. They are ideal for items such as laptops where you could simply top them up with fuel and work away without the need to recharge or plug in.
The new Toshiba fuel cell called the Toshiba Dynario acts as a battery charger with 50mL being capable of charging your mobile phone or other USB connected devices a couple of times before needing to be refilled. If you travel a lot then this type of charger could be handy. [click to continue…]
Changes to the iTunes store’s terms and conditions have been spotted that mention a new version of Apple TV. Apple [AAPL] has not made it clear yet if the update is just to software or if a new version of the Apple TV may be coming soon.
“iTunes LP and iTunes Extras Products are usable only on computers with iTunes 9 or higher and Apple TV with software version 3.0 or higher.”
Looks like both TomTom [TOM2] and Garmin [GRMN] might be hating life right now thanks to Google Maps Navigation that was announced. As can be seen in the graph here, things are heading in the wrong direction.
Perhaps the regular GPS/Satnav makers can hang on to one thing which is that the new Google Maps Navigation is available on Android 2.0 at the moment which doesn’t even have a market share yet, (ok, 2 things), and that it relies on having the said phone available on a network to download the maps real time. After a recent trip to the middle of nowhere I found that my online navigation just didn’t function when it had to replan a route. With nav systems like TomTom and Garmin they do store data off line on the memory card, so they do have a good benefit for some. [click to continue…]
Google [GOOG] have launched the Google Powermeter service for people in the UK. The tool is based online and allows households to monitor their energy usage so that you know exactly what could be switched off.
The system has already been trialled in the US, and makes use of smart meters to relay information over to the web about how much power you are actually using. If you don’t have a new smart meter then you can purchase an add-on clip that works with regular power meters.
Once your meter is hooked up to the web and the Powermeter service from Google you can then log on from anywhere in the world to see how much power your set-top box and any lights left on are actually using which by being shown in graph form could help sway you to think if you actually need something switching on and left in standby while not in use. [click to continue…]
If you are planning to fly on a Virgin America plane between the dates of November 10 this year and January 15 2010 then thanks to Google you’ll be getting a free wi-fi connection to use. TechCrunch has reported that Google will be footing the bill for all passengers who wish to use the wireless service on VA’s aircraft that support it over the 8 or so week period.
It’s a smart move in my opinion as a number of people find that sitting a few hours on a plane can be a boring time where you could put that time to better use by keeping in contact with the world. However, some may see that as a bad thing as it is one of the very few places where you can actually disconnect from the web and people and take time to relax. Whatever your thoughts are on this, it’s still a nice little bonus for those flying who want to make use of the service. [click to continue…]
Google have announced that they are launching Google Editions, an online electronic book store. The service plans to allow users to buy ebooks available for view on mobile devices and possible ebook readers too.
Launching next year the service will offer around half a million books for download on to various devices that have a web browser built in. Once the book has been downloaded the first time, it will then be kept for offline viewing. As you’ll be using a regular internet connection on your mobile devices it will make the ebook store available in a number of places around the globe. [click to continue…]
Google [GOOG] have announced that their YouTube service will now be showing full length shows from Channel 4 in the UK.
The service will allow users to watch Channel 4 shows in full and free-of-charge as well as being on demand.
The service should be launching in 2010 and by that point a full catalogue of catch-up TV should be available along with a mixture of about 3000 hours of programs already broadcast. The programs include Skins, Brass Eye, Teachers and Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. [click to continue…]
If you are living in Finland as of next July, you’ll legally be entitled to receiving broadband at a minimum speed of 1Mbps, or I should say “accessing” broadband at 1Mbps. The move comes thanks to Finlands Ministry of Transport and Communications who have passed the law to say that 1MB is a legal right.
However, it doesn’t stop there as this will be ultimately bumped up to 100Mb in the not too distant future. The 100Mb legal right was mentioned just over a year ago to be put in place by 2015 and this 1Mb rule seems to be a step in between. Maybe they can expect 10 Meg late next year followed by 25Meg, on to 50Mb and then by 2015 hit the big goal. [click to continue…]
Although we are still waiting for the launch of Windows 7 that will be in the next couple of weeks, ArsTechnica are reporting details on Windows 8 and Windows 9. The information/rumours are saying there is a strong possibility that the next generation OS could be 128-bit. The information was grabbed from a LinkedIn profile of Robert Morgan who is a senior R&D guy over at Microsoft. Information on LinkedIn has since been removed.
Information found in his profile said… “Working in high security department for research and development involving strategic planning for medium and longterm projects. Research & Development projects including 128bit architecture compatibility with the Windows 8 kernel and Windows 9 project plan. Forming relationships with major partners: Intel, AMD, HP, and IBM.
Robert Morgan is working to get IA-128 working backwards with full binary compatibility on the existing IA-64 instructions in the hardware simulation to work for Windows 8 and definitely Windows 9.” [click to continue…]
About a month ago, Microsoft gave out 40 pressure sensitive keyboards to international teams who were each charged with the responsibility of making something cool and useful out of them. The keyboards were to be used as part of a competition to create the most innovative use for the said keyboards.
The results are now in and some of the teams have come up with some fantastic results. In first place for the “Most Useful” category was the team (Jeff Allen and John Howard) who created Safelock. Safelock uses the pressure sensitive keyboard to track not only what your password is, but how you type your password. The system biometrically authenticates a user based on an eight character password but also tracks four attributes about each of the keystroke which includes, flight time, hold time, maximized pressure and a curve fit to measure pressure over time. By working this way your password gets another secure level meaning that if someone knows what your password is they are very unlikely to know exactly how you type it. Check out the video below. [click to continue…]
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A few months ago it was also rumoured that an October release date for the device in the UK was happening, so as we are in October now then maybe it will happen.
“The key things they needed to tie up have been tied up. The rumours I’ve heard are all saying next week.” The source confirmed that publishers had signed non disclosure agreements so would not be able to comment on the record. But added: “I’ve heard it from multiple reliable sources. I think they want to avoid the general kerfuffle of Frankfurt.”
