Thursday, January 29, 2009

New $3 Light Bulb 12 Times More Efficient, Lasts 60 Years [Led]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/3C4TlApluNA/new-3-light-bulb-12-times-more-efficient-lasts-60-years

Cambridge University researchers have developed a $3 LED-based lightbulb that is 12 times more efficient than regular tungsten light bulbs, three times more than low energy ones. It lights up instantly, lasting for 100,000 hours,

The cheap lightbulb could cost the energy bill in any house by as much as three quarters. In fact, if everyone replaced their current light bulbs, the proportion of lighting in electricity consumption would go down from 20 to 5 percent worldwide.

They also avoid using any toxic materials, like lead: The new LEDs use gallium nitride, which until now was too expensive to obtain because it had to be grown on sapphire wafers, which brought the cost of the lightbulbs to $28 each.

The new method, developed by Cambridge University-based Centre for Gallium Nitride, uses silicon wafers, bringing the cost down to $3 each. And if you think this is a thing of the future, think again: Prototypes are already being produced and the light bulbs may reach the market in a mere two years. [Daily Mail]



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Google launches Measurement Lab to monitor the tubes, expose meddling

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/29/google-launches-measurement-lab-to-monitor-the-tubes-expose-med/

There's not exactly a lack of internet measurement tools out there, but there's none quite as ambitious as the new Measurement Lab (or M-Lab) just launched by Google, along with a little help from the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute and the PlanetLab Consortium. While it's apparently just now getting up to speed, the tool will eventually let individuals and researchers of all sorts poke and prod the internet to their heart's content, measuring performance, and exposing attempts by telecoms to meddle with network traffic and clamp down on things like BitTorrent or Skype. Those efforts will be facilitated by 36 servers in 12 locations across the U.S. and Europe that Google will be opening up early this year, and all data collected using M-Lab will be made publicly available for other researchers to expand upon. Complete details are available at the link below, although Google seems to be having some bandwidth troubles of its own with the M-Lab site at the moment.

[Via InformationWeek]

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Google launches Measurement Lab to monitor the tubes, expose meddling originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer uncages AMD-powered Ferrari 1200 ultraportable

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/29/acer-uncages-amd-powered-ferrari-1200-ultraportable/

Wow, has it really been almost a year since Acer's Ferrari 1100 ultraportable was released from the garage? Believe it or not, the proper successor to the aforesaid machine is just now getting its inspection sticker, and it's apparently planning to hit the streets of Britain in the near future. The Ferrari 1200 arrives with an elegant LED-backlit 12.1-inch panel, a carbon fiber cover, a unique ventilation design that "echoes the exhaust pipes of F1 cars" and an "anodized-metal touchpad that resembles the brake and acceleration pedals of a Ferrari car." Corny? Sure, but it's good to know you aren't paying a premium for a logo and nothing more, right? At any rate, you'll also find a bundled BT wireless mouse, an optional Xpress VoIP phone, WiFi module, an AMD Turion X2 Ultra CPU, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a SATA HDD and a fingerprint reader for good measure. Mum's the word on pricing / availability, but we'd bank on "expensive" and "soon."

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Acer uncages AMD-powered Ferrari 1200 ultraportable originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Propel Pro in the wild, caught on camera

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/29/samsung-propel-pro-in-the-wild-caught-on-camera/

More spy shots from the net, eh? This latest set shows what's purported to be the Propel Pro, an update to Samsung's QWERTY that launched last October. There's a more streamlined interface under the screen, including a new optical joystick that according to Boy Genius Report's source is "worthless." The Windows Mobile 6.1 device also sports 3G and a camera of unknown quality, although we expect to at least match its 1.3-megapixel predecessor. Mum's the word on price and availability.

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Samsung Propel Pro in the wild, caught on camera originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Super Talent unloads 32GB / 64GB SSDs for ASUS Eee PC S101

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/29/super-talent-unloads-32gb-64gb-ssds-for-asus-eee-pc-s101/


If your prior budget forced you to select an ASUS Eee PC S101 with just 16GB of succulent SSD storage space, Super Talent has the cure. The outfit has just introduced three new solid state drives made specifically for the aforementioned netbook, all of which tout 90 MB/sec maximum sequential read speeds and up to 55 MB/sec write speeds. You can select from the FPM16RSE (16GB), FPM32RSE (32GB) or the FPM64RSE (64GB), though you'll have to guess on the prices of the first two. As for the big daddy? It'll run right around $169.

[Via HotHardware]

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Super Talent unloads 32GB / 64GB SSDs for ASUS Eee PC S101 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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