Month: December 2011

Google’s letting it shine as it nears $1 billion investment in solar energy

Google’s feeling charitable this holiday and has pumped $94 million into a Californian solar-energy project. The photovoltaic power plant (which is a posh way of saying “lots of solar panels in the Sacramento desert”) currently being built by Recurrent Energy will generate 88MW, enough juice for 13,000 homes. Additional investment is coming from equity fund KKR, who has already sold the first 20 years of energy to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. It brings the search giant’s investment in clean energy projects to $915 million — with the company expected to cross the billion dollar mark some time next year, when we hope it’ll get a nice loyalty bonus from Mother Nature.

Google’s letting it shine as it nears $1 billion investment in solar energy originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | sourceGoogle | Email this | Comments

View article:
Google’s letting it shine as it nears $1 billion investment in solar energy

Video: Japan Gets Vending Machine 2.0 With See-Through Full HD Display, Facial Recognition

sanden feat

There can be no doubt that Japan is the country of vending machines, and this newest model is perhaps the most advanced yet. Developed by Japan-based tech companies Sanden and Okaya (and Intel), this “vending machine 2.0″ features a 65-inch see-through display with full HD resolution as the biggest selling point.

When there are no potential customers around, the display shows a digital clock and various animations to attract people. Once a person is standing in front of the machine, a facial recognition system determines the gender and approximate age and serves up personalized ads.

Maker Sanden says the machine’s display can produce text, pictures or animations in HD quality.

The company commands a 30% global market share for vending machines and is also active in the US, meaning this prototype could also make its way over to North America one day.

This video, provided by Diginfo TV, shows how the vending machine works (in English):

Originally posted here:
Video: Japan Gets Vending Machine 2.0 With See-Through Full HD Display, Facial Recognition

Office 365 phone support for small businesses? No promises, Microsoft says

We recently asked businesses and schools using Google Apps to rate Google’s customer support, and found that it often falls short of being business-worthy. But Google is trying to change its reputation with 24/7 phone support to all Google Apps customers for any issue, which should theoretically alleviate some problems.

So what about Google’s cloud competition over at Microsoft? The folks at Redmond continually trumpet their enterprise experience and scoff at Google’s supposedly immature products and support system. But at least on the one issue of phone support, Microsoft’s policies prevent most customers from reaching technical support by phone.

Read the rest of this article...

Read the comments on this post

Read More:
Office 365 phone support for small businesses? No promises, Microsoft says

Firefox 9 now available, boasts speedier JavaScript handling, Lion optimizations

Internet feeling a bit sluggish recently? Yeah, we get that — but before you sail the malware-laden sea of software that promises to “speed up” your computer, you may want to check out Firefox 9. Mozilla’s latest browser update features a tweak in its Javascript engine that boosts its benchmark performance by over 30 percent — meaning that the new Firefox ought to give script heavy websites a run for their money. In addition to the new Javascript trick, which is called Type Inference, Firefox 9 improves theme integration and swipe navigation for Mac OS X users. Have a need for (javascript) speed? Hit the source links below to get your fix, or simply wait for your browser to auto-update.

Firefox 9 now available, boasts speedier JavaScript handling, Lion optimizations originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Dec 2011 01:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink ExtremeTech | sourceMozilla (Windows), (Mac), (Linux), (Release notes) | Email this | Comments

Follow this link:
Firefox 9 now available, boasts speedier JavaScript handling, Lion optimizations

Apple Wins Injunction Banning Import of HTC Devices


Newly accepted submitter squish18 writes “All Things D reports that Apple has won an injunction banning the import of some HTC phones starting in April 2012. The ruling by the ITC stems from two claims of the ‘647 patent concerning software used to enter personal data in mobile devices. It is interesting to note that the ITC has also reversed previous rulings regarding regarding infringement of two other ‘647 claims, as well as patent ‘263 claims.”

It looks like Apple’s victory is relatively minor. They lost claims on all patents except for one, and HTC/Google can work on implementing similar functionality in a non-infringing way.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Read the article:
Apple Wins Injunction Banning Import of HTC Devices

Find My Car Smart app uses Bluetooth 4.0 to help iPhone 4S owners do the obvious

Do you have an iPhone 4S? Do you drive a car? Do you have amnesia? If you answered yes to at least two-and-a-half of these questions, you’ll probably be interested in Find My Car Smart — a Kickstarter project that wants to help dudes find their cars, with the help of Bluetooth 4.0 technology. The system is relatively straightforward, consisting of nothing more than an iOS app (available now on iTunes for $0.99), and a USB-based Bluetooth proximity adapter. All you have to do is download the app, stick the dongle in your car, and let your iPhone 4S automatically mark your parking spot. Whereas similarly-designed apps typically require users to manually record their car’s location before leaving the lot, Find My Car Smart allows you to forget even that, since the app will automatically record your GPS coordinates. FMC Smart says it won’t start shipping adapters until it reaches its Kickstarter funding goal, though it’s aiming to deliver its first 500 devices by January. For more details, hit up the links below.

Find My Car Smart app uses Bluetooth 4.0 to help iPhone 4S owners do the obvious originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TUAW, Mac Rumors | sourceFind My Car Smart | Email this | Comments

More:
Find My Car Smart app uses Bluetooth 4.0 to help iPhone 4S owners do the obvious