Verizon Employees accessed Barack Obama's Cellphone Account

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Verizon has a little scandal on their hands. Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell McAdam released a statement today that a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorization, accessed and viewed President-Elect Barack Obama’s personal cell phone account. The account has been inactive for several months. The device on the account was a simple voice flip-phone, not the BlackBerry he is seen using most of the time. Read more

Posted on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:49:06 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Black Sony PSP-3000 Media Pack got cancelled

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Sony decided together with U.S. retailers to drop the Black Sony PSP-3000 Media Pack we reported about recently. The PSP Pack was already available on pre-order and was supposed to ship at the end of November.
Now the only PSP-3000 SKU is the silver PSP-3000 inside the PSP Ratchet and Clank Entertainment Pack. Read more

Posted on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:50:48 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

335,000 Cellular Base Stations to go Solar by 2013

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According to ABI Research 335,000 cellular base stations will be solar powered by 2013. The industry is seeing a push by OEMs to solar power and improvements in solar panels mean that solar power is now a viable option for base stations.

Other alternatives to normal electricity for base stations are wind power, compressed air, and fuel cells. In areas where solar power is viable this means that cellular users over the next few years could see less dropped calls and more coverage as towers go up in areas that weren't served previously due to lack of an electrical infrastructure. Read more

Posted on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:20:16 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

LG Elec to build Solar Cell Lines in old PDP Plant

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SEOUL (Reuters) - LG Electronics Inc said on Tuesday it would set up two solar cell production lines at the site of its suspended plasma panel plant, as the company seeks to find a new growth engine in the renewable energy business.
LG, which acquired a solar cell business from LG Chem Ltd in June, said it would spend 220 billion won ($168 million) on the two solar cell lines, which will start mass production in early 2010 and early 2011, respectively.
Read more

Posted on Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:12:49 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Black Silicon seen to have broad Impact on Solar Cells and Sensors

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Black Silicon is a new material developed at Harvard by physicist Eric Mazur. According to the NY Times Harvard is supposed to announce today a licensing agreement with startup SiOnyx to commercialize the new promising material.
Black Silicon was more or less created on a hunch of Dr. Mazur, you could also call it creativity.
Black Silicon is extremely sensitive to light and will find its first commercial use in night vision goggles. Read more

Posted on Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:39:32 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Bollywood goes on Strike, Movie Shoots cancelled

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By Rina Chandran
MUMBAI (Reuters) - More than 100,000 Bollywood and television workers began an indefinite strike on Wednesday, protesting irregular pay and the hiring of non-union members, a move that could delay major releases for India's festival season.
Movie stars, including Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, as well as dancers, writers and technicians heeded a call for an indefinite "non-cooperation" protest in Mumbai, where Bollywood, home to India's prolific movie industry, is located.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 1 Oct 2008 09:10:11 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Plane Quiet Noise-Cancelling Headset for Travelers Announced

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Traveling by plane can be trying for many people. The noise, cramped space and other factors contribute to a bad flight. A new noise-cancelling headset called Plane Quiet has been announced that reduces noise by up to 18db.

The headset has a leatherette headband and ear cups for comfort and a snug fit to help block noise. The headset also includes a carry case and gold plated connectors for use in MP3 players, notebooks, or the plane's onboard audio system. The headset is powered by a pair of AAA batteries. The Plane Quiet Platinum headset retails for $99.95. Read more

Posted on Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:49:28 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Sales of Cellular Broadband modems to hit $22B by 2013

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ABI Research says that despite the ability to use many mobile broadband connected phones as modems with a laptop, the sale of cellular broadband modems is expected to hit $22 billion by 2013. ABI says that for a business user a separate PC card or USB modem is more convenient than using a cellular phone for a modem.

ABI also says that something else to consider in the analysis of the market is the number of notebooks that are now shipping with cellular modems inside. Sprint recently dropped the price of using a cellular phone as a modem and other cellular companies could follow suit. Read more

Posted on Mon, 15 Sep 2008 05:32:49 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Cellcom offers free Mobile Air Time for watching Ads

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TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Mobile phone operator Cellcom on Sunday launched a new advertising model in Israel enabling subscribers to accumulate free air time in exchange for watching commercials.
"Cellular phone advertising will happen in the end and it will be big," Cellcom Chief Executive Officer Amos Shapira told a news conference.
Cellcom, Israel's largest mobile phone operator with 3.1 million subscribers at the end of June, will award customers up to 45 minutes per month of free air time for watching the commercials. At the end, viewers will have to answer one or two advertiser questions to prove they paid attention.
Read more

Posted on Sun, 14 Sep 2008 08:45:04 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Duracell Daylite LED Flashlight Review

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Today we are looking at a very good flashlight from Duracell called the Duracell Daylite LED Flashlight. The flashlight comes in three versions defined by the light output and the battery type used.

The flashlight is available in CR123, AA, and AAA versions. The light produced is very bright and better than many much larger flashlights. Read more

Posted on Mon, 8 Sep 2008 13:50:52 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Duracell Introduces Daylight Flashlights

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Duracell has introduced its latest line of flashlights called the Daylite series, which is available in three models. Duracell uses patented TrueBeam technology that captures, focuses, and projects more light than the typical LED or bulb technologies used on most flashlights.

Duracell says that a standard flashlight only captures 70% of the total light in a 180-degree pattern. Its TrueBeam technology is able to capture and project up to 100% of the light, illuminating dark spots that are common with typical flashlights. Read more

Posted on Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Motorola names Qualcomm COO to head Cell Phones

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Motorola Inc named Sanjay Jha, Qualcomm Inc's former chief operating officer, to head its loss making mobile devices business and become co-chief executive with Greg Brown, the company said on Monday.

Shares of Motorola, which plans to split off its mobile division as a separate company in 2009, rose nearly 4 percent in pre-market trading to $9.15 from their Friday close on the New York Stock exchange of $8.81.

Some investors had worried that Motorola, which has been has been looking for a new chief for its mobile phone unit since early this year, was having trouble attracting strong candidates.
Read more

Posted on Mon, 4 Aug 2008 10:14:56 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Sprint Airwave Femtocell Coming Soon

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Sprint says that its customers around the nation can soon get the Sprint Airwave Femtocell made by Samsung. By adding the Airwave Femtocell to their plans, customers would get unlimited calling nationwide in their home or office.

The Airwave will work with any Sprint mobile phone and broadband Internet connection. When in use the Femtocell provides a better signal in the home or office, which can be the difference in being able to use a phone in certain locations and not being able to use it at all. Read more

Posted on Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:20:26 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

E Ink Displays for Cell Phones

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E ink display tech is showing up all over the place lately. E ink will be the display provider for the first print magazine issue ever to use a digital display on the cover when a special news stand edition of Esquire goes on sale in October as we reported yesterday.

E Ink announced this week that its displays have been chosen by Casio and Hitachi to be used in two new mobile phones. The Casio G’zOne phone uses an E Ink Vizplex display. Details on exactly what the display will be used for won’t be announced until the phone launches. E Ink only says its display will be a silhouette display. Read more

Posted on Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:54:48 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

PolyFuel Notebook Prototype Runs on Fuel Cell

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The future of power for our notebook computers isn’t batteries, it’s fuel cells. The catch is that no one really knows when we might actually begin to see fuel cell powered notebooks on the market. We have seen fuel cell powered GPS devices though, so the time is coming.

PolyFuel has announced that it has a prototype Lenovo T40 ThinkPad that is running on the first functional version of its small notebook-class fuel cell. PolyFuel says that its fuel cell provides the ability for non-stop run times with the swap of small methanol cartridges. PolyFuel says that top notebook makers are looking at the technology for integration in their notebooks. Read more

Posted on Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:48:13 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

New Toshiba Regza ZF LCD HDTV features PS3 Cell Chip

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At the IFA 2008 Toshiba will introduce the first LCD HDTV containing the power of the CELL CPU known from the Sony PS3.

The Cell chip in the Toshiba Regza ZF-series is used for Resolution+. Toshiba's Resolution+ creates upscaled images from SD sources that are supposedly very close to HD quality. Read more

Posted on Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Cell Phones are Growing as Camera of Choice

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If you go to a party or sporting event odds are you will see someone shooting pictures with their camera phone. The good part about a camera phone is that we almost always have our phone on us allowing us to take pictures at any moment. The bad part about camera phones is that the cameras in them tend to be subpar.

Wirefly.com did a survey that shows the camera phone is becoming the camera of choice for many adults. The survey says that 63.8% of adult’s age 18 to 30 say they use the cell phone camera at least once per week and 26.3% say they use it daily. Read more

Posted on Wed, 9 Jul 2008 11:38:20 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Matsushita to sell Home Hydrogen Fuel Cells via Gas Suppliers

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Matsushita (soon Panasonic) has apparently formed deals with gas suppliers in Japan to sell their home hydrogen fuel cells.

Tokyo Gas Co., Toho Gas Co. and Saibu Gas Co. are supposedly in the deal. It makes total sense for Matsushita to partner with gas companies as they use gas to generate hydrogen.
Read more

Posted on Tue, 1 Jul 2008 02:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

National SolarMagic to fight partial Shading on Solar Cells

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The WSJ reports that National Semiconductor will introduce a device today dubbed SolarMagic that can help reduce the impact of partial shading on solar cells.

SolarMagic is able to recoup as much as 40% of the power that otherwise would be lost according to a field test at REgrid Power Inc. Read more

Posted on Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:09:26 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

T-Mobile launches Nokia 6301 and Samsung T339 Wi-Fi Cellphones

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Today T-Mobile USA announced the availability of the Nokia 6301 and Samsung SGH-t339, the newest additions to the growing lineup of phones that support T-Mobile HotSpot @Home service.

Now T-Mobile customers can choose from eight HotSpot-enabled phones, including three smartphones and a variety of Nokia and Samsung phones. The T-Mobile HotSpot @Home service offers unlimited, nationwide calling over any accessible Wi-Fi connection in addition to great in-home coverage. Read more

Posted on Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:46:49 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Sharp to target wealthy Cellphone Users in China

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TOKYO (Reuters) - Sharp Corp will target wealthy users in China with its mobile phone launch later this month, seeking growth in a market that has defeated its Japanese peers.
Read more

Posted on Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:47:29 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr