Inhabitat's Week in Green: solar supertrees, pee-powered plasma and a bug-eyed mantis shrimp with a serious right hook

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/18/solar-trees-pee-plasma-boxing-mantis-shrimp/

Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.

It's been a big week for energy-efficient breakthroughs in the scientific community. Scientists at MIT developed a new type of textured nano surface that could reduce the thickness of silicon used in solar panels by more than 90 percent, bringing down the cost of photovoltaic technology. Meanwhile, in the land down under, researchers at the Australian National University are working on a pee-powered plasma thruster that could make deep space missions more feasible. Also this week, a team of engineers from MIT developed a new glucose fuel cell that runs on the same sugar that powers the human body and could be used for brain implants.

Continue reading Inhabitat's Week in Green: solar supertrees, pee-powered plasma and a bug-eyed mantis shrimp with a serious right hook

Inhabitat's Week ! in Green : solar supertrees, pee-powered plasma and a bug-eyed mantis shrimp with a serious right hook originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jun 2012 07:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verzion intros FiOS Quantum, officially priced up to 300Mbps

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/18/verzion-intros-fios-quantum-officially-priced-up-to-300mbps/

What's faster than FiOS internet service? FiOS Quantum evidently, as Verizon's latest high-speed internet service gets an official name and pricing. Effectively doubling every tier -- except the entry-level 15/5 -- each can be acquired with or without a custom bundle, double or triple play, and range in price from $65 to $175 a month -- except the 300 down / 65 up which is only available by itself for $210 a month. Willing to commit for two years? Well, then you can save yourself a few extra bucks a month. Existing customers won't have to pay an upgrade fee to take advantage of the new speed, but their bill will probably go up about $10 to $15 a month -- depending on what other changes they might make to their bundle. The real question is can one even take advantage of these crazy speeds, but we for one would love to find out.

Continue reading Verzion intros FiOS Quantum, officially priced up to 300Mbps

Verzion intros FiOS Quantum, officially priced up to 300Mbps originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jun 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mozilla's 'Junior' iPad browser prototype keeps it simple

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/18/mozillas-junior-ipad-browser-prototype-keeps-it-simple/

Love your iPad, but hate Safari? Mozilla's Alex Limi can relate, it's "a pretty miserable experience," he says. So what's he doing about it? Building a replacement, of course. In a recent presentation showing the fruits of the Mozilla Product Design Strategy team's labors, Limi offered a glimpse at Junior, an iPad browser that hopes to redefine how we view the internet on tablets. The prototype browser eschews the traditional address bar / tab layout in favor of a minimalistic, full screen experience, flanked by only two obvious toggles -- a back button, and a plus symbol that opens a menu containing favorites, recent pages and a URL / search bar. Other common options such as reload, forward and print are hidden away, but accessible. The idea is a simple browsing experience that's more fun, engaging and ergonomic. "It's very simple," Limi summarizes, "it's a browser." He stresses that Junior is still just a prototype, albeit a compelling one. Interested? Check out Limi's full product design presentation at the source link below.

Mozilla's 'Junior' iPad browser prototype keeps it simple originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jun 2012 01:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NNSA Sequoia supercomputer takes worlds fastest title, prevents nuclear testing

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/18/nnsa-sequoia-supercomputer-takes-worlds-fastest-title/

Fujitsu's 10.51 petaflop K supercomputer is pretty fast, but does it pack enough computational oomph to stave off underground nuclear testing? Probably -- but the NNSA's new sixteen petaflop rig does it better. According to the National Nuclear Security Administration, a supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, dubbed Sequoia, is now the fastest Supercomputer on the planet, clocking in at 16.32 sustained petaflops. "Sequoia will provide a more complete understanding of weapons performance, notably hydrodynamics and properties of materials at extreme pressure sand temperatures," says NNSA Director of Advanced Simulation and Computing Bob Meisner, explaining that supercomputer simulations will "support the effort to extend the life of aging weapons systems." Translation? Sequoia will help the NNSA keep the US' nuclear stockpile stable without resorting to nuclear testing; more computers, less explosions. We can't think of a better thing to do with 98,304 compute nodes, 1.6 million cores and 1.6 petabytes of memory spread across 96 racks -- can you? Check out the official press release after the break.

Continue reading NNSA Sequoia supercomputer takes worlds fastest title, prevents nuclear testing

NNSA Sequoia supercomputer takes worlds fastest title, prevents nuclear testing origi nally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jun 2012 03:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung's new CEO promises 'particular focus' on software, UI and design

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/18/samsungs-ceo-ui-design/

There's nothing worse than complacency in an incoming CEO, so it's fortunate that Kwon Oh-hyun is prepared to openly address weaknesses in his empire. He used his inaugural speech to declare that "a particular focus must be given to serving new customer experience and value by strengthening soft capabilities in software, user experience, design and solutions." Behind the corporate language, it sounds like he could be getting at the same issue we found with the Galaxy S III: Sammy is unrivalled when it comes to technology and specs, but its sense of aesthetic and UI arguably still needs some work. Equally, he could also be referring to an ongoing desire to expand the Bada mobile OS and the ChatON messaging service. The question now is how much of Samsung's river of cash he's planning to divert to his developers.

Samsung's new CEO promises 'particular focus' on software, UI and design originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jun 2012 05:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AOC Aire iPlay desktop LCD docks iPhones and iPods, rocks the joint (modestly)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/16/aoc-aire-iplay-desktop-lcd-docks-iphones-and-ipods/

AOC has a bit of a long-term memory issue: it claims the Aire iPlay E2343Fi is the first computer monitor to have a built-in iPhone and iPod docking station. Nope. But don't let that deter you from checking out the new 23-inch LCD, whose cradle in the base will both keep your Apple gear topped up as well as play movies and music through the display. The 10-watt speakers won't exactly bring the house down, though they will let you take the headphones off. As an actual computer display, it's a typical TN-based panel with a 1080p resolution, a quick 2ms pixel response time and a boldly claimed 50,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. Those who find a separate dock or (gasp) wires too much can officially spend $280 for an Aire iPlay of their own today; Amazon and other shops have already knocked the price down to a more palpable $230.

AOC Aire iPlay desktop LCD docks iPhones and iPods, rocks the joint (modestly) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 14:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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These Super-Efficient Reflectors Could Light an Entire Room With Just a Single LED [Lighting]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5918928/these-super+efficient-reflectors-could-light-an-entire-room-with-just-a-single-led/gallery/1

The same company that made it impossible to forget things thanks to a small sticky note, could one day revolutionize interior lighting with a highly-engineered reflector that's capable of spreading the light from a single LED bulb over an incredibly large area.

3M actually worked with designer Todd Bracher to develop what it's calling its 'Virtual LED' technology which can illuminate a series of lighting fixtures with just a single LED bulb. The reflectors are not only covered with a special 3M film that reflects over 98 percent of light, they're also engineered to redirect and bounce that light from one reflector to the next. So it looks like a series of them are glowing, when really only one is hiding the actual light source.

Of course, a single LED can only produce so much light, so it's not like the system could be used to illuminate a room bright enough to perform delicate surgery in. But even using just a handful of LEDs and a wall covered in these reflectors would result in a surprising amount of light with minimal energy consumption. [3M via designboom]

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Samsung refreshes Series 5 laptops with AMD Trinity processors

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/15/samsung-refreshes-series-5-laptops-with-amd-trinity-processors/

We recently got a look at Samsung's new Ivy Bridge-enhanced Series 5 laptops, but it turns out that's not the only refresh the line has gotten this month. Samsung's also now rather quietly introduced a pair of new AMD-based models on its website, including an $850 14-inch version with a quad-core A10-4655M APU, and a $700 13.3-inch model with a quad-core A6-4455M (both otherwise known as Trinity processors). You'll also get an AMD Radeon HD 7500G GPU on the 13.3-incher (while the 14 relies on integrated graphics), but their specs remain pretty much in line with their Intel-based counterparts beyond that, including a standard 4GB RAM on both models and 500GB or 750GB hard drives. You can find the full rundown on each at the links below.

Samsung refreshes Series 5 laptops with AMD Trinity processors originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 19:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung T-Mobile slider flashes Chiclets for Mr. Blurrycam, could be the SGH-T699

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/15/samsung-t-mobile-slider-shows-chiclets-for-mr-blurrycam/

If you're a fan of old-school QWERTY, it seems T-Mobile will soon have a clicky Samsung slider friend for you. The leaked image from TMoNews could also clear up a mystery and put a face to the name SGH-T699 we saw last month in a leaked user agent profile. From that we gleaned a 720P display, and new info points to a 5MP rear camera, Qualcomm S3 or S4 chip and Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich to boot. We'll keep the skep-o-meter turned up high till we have confirmation for all that, but tactile keyboard phone lovers might want to start making plans.

Samsung T-Mobile slider flashes Chiclets for Mr. Blurrycam, could be the SGH-T699 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 02:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AMD previews FirePro W9000 graphics, possibly throws in dual-chip Radeon HD 7990 for good measure

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/15/amd-previews-firepro-w9000-graphics-possibly-throws-in-radeon-hd-7990/

AMD's CTO Mark Papermaster may have just dropped a minor graphics bombshell at the end of the AMD Fusion Developer Summit. His presentation was officially to show off the FirePro W9000, a beast of a workstation graphics card with 6GB of GDDR5 memory, a 264.8-megapixel fill rate and four teraflops of single-precision math. While the screen behind him showed the one-fan FirePro card, however, he was clearly holding another, three-fan card in his hands -- and though it could be that the W9000's cooling system went through a major revision between presentation slide and production, it may be a clue to a gamer-friendly Radeon part instead. Attendees like Tweakers.net have reason to believe it might be the Radeon HD 7990, a long-rumored dual-chip version of the 7900 series for the very upper echelons of gamers. If so, the bets are on it keeping up the tradition of having two slightly underclocked versions of AMD's fastest chip (here the Radeon HD 7970) working in tandem to produce a big leap in speed despite occupying the same two card slots. AMD hasn't set the matter straight with either a yea or a nay, but with NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 690 largely cor! nering t he high-end market unopposed, it's tough to picture AMD simply twiddling its thumbs.

AMD previews FirePro W9000 graphics, possibly throws in dual-chip Radeon HD 7990 for good measure originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 02:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Imagination goes 'all out' with bigger PowerVR graphics cores: the G6230 and G6430

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/15/imagination-powervr-g6230-g6430/

Imagination Technologies has launched two new variants of its Series6 "Rogue" GPU, giving manufacturers more choice for the loadouts of next-gen mobile devices, TVs and dash systems. The PowerVR G6230 and G6430 differ from the earlier Series6 cores in one single respect: they're bigger, which means they're designed for those who want to go "all out" for better performance. At this point it's not clear just how much extra juice they'll deliver, but in general the Rogue architecture is all about being "scalable" -- Imagination can simply add more "compute clusters" to boost frame rates at the expense of power consumption and it says "further cores will be announced" that will extend the eye-candy possibilities even further.

Continue reading Imagination goes 'all out' with bigger PowerVR graphics cores: the G6230 and G6430

Imagination goes 'all out' with bigger PowerVR graphics cores: the G6230 and G6430 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo's IdeaTab 2110a transforming tablet hits the FCC, doesn't mind the mess

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/15/lenovo-ideatab-s2110a-fcc/

From the looks of it, the coffee-chugging folks in the FCC's underground bunker were so excited about investigating Lenovo's IdeaTab 2110 that they didn't have time to clean up. The transforming tablet (with optional keyboard dock) was splayed and tested to determine if its 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 radios were safe for human consumption -- with the thumbs up meaning that it shouldn't be long before the hardware arrives stateside.

Lenovo's IdeaTab 2110a transforming tablet hits the FCC, doesn't mind the mess originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 08:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vizio details its first laptops: two thin-and-lights and a mainstream 15-incher, available now for $898 and up

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/14/vizio-first-laptops/

Back at CES, Vizio taught us a valuable lesson: you don't need to be a seasoned PC maker to build a beautiful laptop. The outfit, best known for its value-priced TVs, didn't dip its toes into the personal computer market so much as plunge in, head first: it teased three notebooks (along with two all-in-ones), each bearing a clean, surprisingly tasteful design. Now, right on schedule, they're finally going on sale. The company just announced that its first laptops, the 14-inch Thin + Light, the 15-inch Thin + Light and the 15-inch Notebook, are available now, each starting at $898.

Funnily enough, as much as we've written about these laptops, we didn't know their names (much less specs) until now. So listen up: it's time for a quick (and long-overdue) run-down. First up, there are two "Thin + Lights" (Vizio isn't using the word Ultrabook). These come in two sizes: a 14-inch version with a 1600 x 900 display and a 15-incher with a 1080p panel. Aside from the resolution, the two models offer similar specs: Ivy Bridge processors, Intel HD 4000 graphics, SRS Premium Sound HD audio and battery life rated at seven hours. There's also a mainstream laptop, appropriately dubbed the 15.6-inch Notebook, which offers similar innards, except it has an unspecified Kepler GPU from NVIDIA. It, too, is rated for seven hours of runtime.

Across its PC lineup, Vizio will be including a so-called V key on its keyboard, which will serve as a shortcut to services like Hulu Plus, Amazon, Vudu and Netflix. (If you were wondering how Vizio would incorporate its TV know-how, this is it.) The peculiar thing is, none of these services will come installed by default as bloatware. The point is, the key is there to use as a shortcut if you chose to enable these services, and Vizio says these multimedia partners plan on offering deals specific to Vizio PC owners.

That's all she wrote for now, but we've got the full PR after the break, along with some hands-on photos of the finished goods.

Continue reading Vizio details its first laptops: two thin-and-lights and a mainstream 15-incher, available now for $898 and up

Vizio details its first laptops: two thin-and-lights and a mainstream 15-incher, available now for $898 and up originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vizio's 24- and 27-inch Ivy Bridge all-in-ones get official: on sale today for $898 and up

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/14/vizios-ivy-bridge-all-in-ones-get-official/

Vizio recently announced that its first PCs -- the ones we glimpsed at CES back in January -- will ship in June. From our previous hands-on time, we already knew that the company's 24- and 27-inch all-in-ones sport 1080p screens and include HDMI passthrough for using them as HDTVs even with the PC portion turned off. And the company clearly drew on its TV know-how to turn out desktops with nice and thin profiles: the power supply is integrated into the subwoofer, and the pivoting neck is a single piece of aluminum connected to an invisible hinge.

At the company's press event in NYC today, the all-in-ones got extra official -- as in, we have complete specs and pricing info. Both the 24- and 27-inch models feature Intel Ivy Bridge processors, NVIDIA Kepler GeForce GPUs (the base configurations ship with Intel HD Graphics 4000), 1920 x 1080 displays and 2.1 surround sound audio with SRS Premium Sound HD. Storage options start at 500GB of space (for the smaller model) and top out at a 1TB hard drive paired with a 32GB SSD. The PCs include dual HDMI inputs and ship with a remote control (hence Vizio's TV background). The 24-inch model will start at $898, while the 27-incher goes for $1,098 and up.

As with Vizio's just-announced laptops, the desktops include a "V key" on the wireless keyboard, w! ith shor tcuts to media services like Hulu Plus, Vudu andI Netflix. Interestingly, none of these will come pre-installed, though the company said the services will offer special deals for Vizio PC owners. The PCs are now available online and at retailers such as Costco, Target and Walmart.

Gallery: Vizio 24- and 27-inch All-in-Ones (hands-on)

Gallery: Vizio 24- and 27-inch All-in-Ones

Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.

Continue reading Vizio's 24- and 27-inch Ivy Bridge all-in-ones get official: on sale today for $898 and up

Vizio's 24- and 27-inch Ivy Bridge all-in-ones get official: on sale today for $898 and up originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chuo University builds hybrid NAND-ReRAM unit that's faster than a speeding SSD

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/14/chou-university-builds-hybrid-nand-reram-unit/

A team from Chuo University, has reportedly developed a hybrid SSD that's reportedly 11 times faster than your average solid state unit. Combining NAND Flash with ReRAM, the magical union consumes 93 percent less power and lasts nearly seven times as long as pure-NAND products. Despite the high cost of ReRAM, if it enables data centers to save on continuously replacing worn-out SSDs, and could very be rapidly adopted if worked into a commercial system. The findings will be unveiled at the Hawaii Symposium on VSLI Circuits through tomorrow -- after which time, the team can reasonably expect to spend some time on the beach.

Chuo University builds hybrid NAND-ReRAM unit that's faster than a speeding SSD originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jun 2012 18:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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