The Sun Fold Bike concept

Posted in Concepts by Conner Flynn on August 11th, 2008

Sun Fold Bike concept
This one was conceived as a green and portable commuter transport. What we have here is a fold-up bike that runs on solar power obviously. The name says it all. Power is stored in a battery that you can use at night, and you can even power your other gadgets, like your iPod.

It looks kinda cool in bike form, but when you fold it up it resembles an alien egg that appears to be sending signals to it’s home world. In fact it’s not sending signals, but it’s pointed upward so that it can track the sun’s movements in order to maximize the power it’s sucking down. Even so, it’s still creepy. One day it might get it in it’s head that you belong in that egg so it will keep you there as it points toward the sun, warming you in your egg, so that you can hatch out as a new lifeform.

solarDAB: world’s first solar-powered DAB radio

Posted in Radio by Conner Flynn on July 1st, 2008

solarDAB: world’s first solar-powered DAB radio
The solarDAB is what I would call retro-ugly. Meaning that it reminds me of some of the uglier aspects of yesterday’s gadgets…today. Ugly it may be, but it is the world’s first solar-powered DAB radio, from Roberts. It sports a top-mounted solar panel along with an indicator on the display that shows you the strength of the solar level being absorbed.

With the rechargeable batteries fully sun kissed, you’ll have tunes for an amazing 27 hours. Looks like they have a variety of colors to choose from for $158. Ugly, yes. But 27 hours of music is pretty awesome.

Intuit concept phone loves the Sun

Posted in Concepts by Conner Flynn on June 7th, 2008

Intuit concept phone loves the Sun
Here’s another great concept phone. Aside from being a slider, the Intuit is a new approach as far as design. It takes after the iPhone as far as having a touch screen and even has a second screen for user input. It also sports a 5 megapixel camera with built in editing software, a touch keypad with tactile feedback, and even a chemical-based solar skin that will charge the battery when exposed to the sun’s rays. I don’t know about you, but I was taught to never leave my phone in the hot sun. Anyway, it certainly looks pleasing. Is it intuitive or not? Hell if I know. If it ever gets released, I guess we’ll find out.

Solar-powered iPhone in our future?

Posted in iPhone by Conner Flynn on May 26th, 2008

Solar-powered iPhone in our future?
Is Apple getting into solar power? It looks that way. According to Tradethenews.com, the company filed a patent involving placing solar cells on portable devices. This means that Apple’s iPhone or other devices could have photovoltaic cells stacked underneath LCD touch screens, which maximizes the area available for harnessing and soaking up the power of the sun.

According to the filing, performance info in regard to the performance of a device’s solar cells could be displayed on the main screen next to battery power, which makes sense. It could also appear on top of the actual cells, which could be displaying the Apple logo. Imagine less charging of devices. Then one day no charging at all. Nice.

Lumeta’s “peel & stick” solar panels

Posted in Solar Powered by Conner Flynn on May 12th, 2008

Lumeta’s “peel & stick” solar panels
You want some of that sweet solar juice, but you don’t want to tear up your roof just to get solar panels installed. Lumeta’s PowerPly could be the answer. The panels use traditional roofing adhesives, that most roofers will be familiar with, and the process means that there is no need to drill holes and bolts as with most other systems required to mount solar panels. It’s also faster. They can do an entire roof in 35 minutes!

It’s targeted at commercial projects for the moment, but hopefully residential houses will soon be getting the opportunity. Video below.

Ravi solar charger looks like an alien flower

Posted in Solar Powered by Conner Flynn on February 22nd, 2008

Ravi solar charger
The Ravi solar charger hopes to steer you toward greener living with it’s attractive flower-like design. The Ravi solar has photovoltaic arrays attached to petal extensions. The flower aspect is not just symbolic, it actually absorbs energy from the sun during the day, storing it in an internal battery. It gets some points for coolness due to the fact that the petals glow once the battery is charged. At night, you would have a kick-ass glowing garden. You would then remove the battery packs to power all of your home appliances.

The idea is that with gardens of Ravi portable solar generators in a neighborhood, enough power could be generated to supply the community, and if that can not be managed, it would at least lessen energy needs. It’s a pretty cool idea, but it has a kind of War Of The World quality that scares me.

Strapya mini solar cell phone charger

Posted in Chargers by Conner Flynn on February 14th, 2008

Strapya mini solar cell phone charger
Here’s another great gadget for those who are environmentally conscious. The Strapya mini solar cell phone charger is smaller than an iPod, and when it has 6-10 hours of sunlight it becomes a dependable backup power source for your cell phone.

It hooks up to your phone using an adapter and you can get 3 hours of energy. Not only is it useful and environmentally friendly, but the price is not outrageous at about $17.54. So it wont “Strapya” for cash. And hey, sunlight is free.

Sun To Build Servers With Windows OS

Posted in Microsoft, News, Servers, Sun Microsystems by Darrin Olson on September 12th, 2007

Sun will start building servers in house with Microsoft Windows operating system installedIn a seemingly surprising twist, Sun Microsystems has announced that it will start building servers with its once-rival Microsoft Windows Operating system pre-installed. According to a statement by the company, they will start installing Windows Server 2003 on its servers that run Intel 64-bit processors and they will be available for purchase in about three months.

Due to the history Microsoft and Sun share of being bitter rivals this news comes as a surprise to many, although in reality Sun seems to have changed its …





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