Lenovo's new Droids might be shiny and metallic

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2016/05/26/lenovo-new-droids-leak/

See those phones above? They might be three versions of the Droid Lenovo's launching in an upcoming event in June. Evan Blass (aka evleaks), well-known source of device leaks, has posted the photo on Twitter, and people seem to have anointed the black-and-bronze model as the Beyoncé of this trio. While the image only shows the Motorola and the Droid logos, the phone will likely have Verizon's branding somewhere, since the line's exclusive to the carrier.

Blass also tweeted out an image of three swappable backplates called MotoMods, which could be compatible with the upcoming handset. He said the three backplates have different features: one has a projector, another has JBL speakers and the third one has a Hasselblad camera. Those backplates will definitely make the phone more interesting than comparable competitors, but we won't know for sure until the company launches them on June 9th.

The DROIDs you're looking for? pic.twitter.com/j5zqq73Zh2

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) May 25, 2016

By the way, these are (from L to R) the projector, JBL speakers, and Hasselblad camera. https://t.co/7FIk9wA8zx

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) May 26, 2016

Via: The Verge

Source: Evan Blass (Twitter)

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Backpack PCs will help you avoid VR cable catastrophe

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2016/05/27/vr-backpacks-are-now-a-real-thing/

HP revealed an arsenal of new gaming gear yesterday, but it had one more device up it's sleeve. Another PC that's part of the recently announced Omen line is a backpack machine that's VR-ready. It's still in development, so details are a bit scarce at this point, but the mobile setup packs a Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, up to 32GB RAM and everything else you'll need to power an HTC Vive or Oculus Rift. There's no word on the graphics card just yet, but a belt holds two batteries -- one for the CPU and one for the graphics card.

As you might expect, battery life is pretty limited. In fact, HP says those batteries will only last for about an hour. However, you'll be able replace those packs without having to shut the system down thanks to a smaller third battery. In terms of heft, the Omen VR backpack weighs under 10 pounds and offers a wireless display, mouse and keyboard for setup and troubleshooting. Since this device is still in the works, there's no word on pricing or availability. If we had to guess, you'll need to tap into your savings account when the time comes.

HP isn't the only one with a VR backback though, as MSI also announced one as part of its Computex lineup. The Backpack PC (yes, that's the name) carries an Intel Core i7 alongside a Nvidia GTX 980 graphics card. MSI is touting the benefits of "big movements and total immersion," but it too is light on the finer details, especially pricing and availability. Back in April, Zotac put one of its mini PCs in a backpack to offer a VR-ready setup with Nvidia GTX 970, 980 or 980i graphics. There's no word on price here either, unfortunately, but we could hear more at the event in Taiwan this week.

The goal with all of these machines is for users to be able to use a tethered VR headset without being anchored to a desktop machine. In theory, you can plug into one of these backpacks and walk around during the game or other VR experience. Of course, you likely don't have a lot of room to roam in your living room, but places like the VR theme park The Void could be a spot where these devices see the most use. Either way, it beats cramming a computer into a regular backpack that will quite literally get you hot under the collar.

Source: MSI, The Verge

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MIT exploited heat to make the most efficient solar cell yet

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2016/05/26/MIT-solar-thermophotovoltaics/

Sorry, University of New South Wales: Your efforts at shattering the efficiency record for solar cells earlier this month have been, ahem, eclipsed. A group of researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a way to possibly break the maximum efficiency of a solar cell, the Shockley-Queisser Limit. The Shockley-Queisser tops off at around 32 percent, but that's taking standard solar cell setups into account. The MIT scientists switched it up and converted incoming sunlight to heat prior to having it generate electricity, a trick that could possibly double the power produced by a given panel.

These solar thermophotovoltaics (above) take light and pass it through an intermediary part comprised of nanophotonic crystals that outputs thermal radiation -- something that's otherwise wasted using typical means. From there, the radiation is converted to the best-possible light wavelengths, via an optical filter, that a normal solar cell can use.

The school says this method means that in the future, passing clouds or even total darkness (if a thermal storage system is in place) wouldn't affect the system's ability to gather and produce solar energy, respectively. And this is all with what the team refers to as "unoptimized geometry." Meaning, efficiency could go even higher than what was achieved during this experiment. Your day in the sun is over, UNSW.

Via: MIT News

Source: Nature Energy

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New Solar Cell Turns Light Into Heat to Potentially Double Effiency

Source: http://gizmodo.com/new-solar-cell-turns-light-into-heat-to-potentially-dou-1778593027

There’s a annoying theoretical limit on the efficiency of solar cells that limits the amount of electricity they can create from sunlight. But now a team of MIT engineers has developed a system that overcomes the problem by first converting light to heat—and it could double the efficiency of solar cells.

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E Ink announces a color breakthrough, but it's only for signs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2016/05/24/e-ink-announces-a-color-breakthrough-but-its-only-for-signs/

There's a small glimmer of hope for the seemingly doomed dream of color electronic paper. E Ink, which helped pioneer ePaper by providing the technology for Amazon's Kindle, announced today that it's finally developed a display that can show up to 32,000 colors. Dubbed Advanced Color ePaper (ACeP), it's a huge leap above the company's aging Triton tech, which could only display around 4,000 colors. Basically, it'll be clear enough to be practically indistinguishable from color printed onto real paper. But don't get your hopes up for an e-reader with ACeP just yet -- for now, E Ink is positioning it for in-store signage as 20-inch panels.

While it's just as low-power as you'd expect, ACeP isn't as sharp as E Ink's black and white technology yet, which can reach up to 300 pixels per inch. ACeP only has a resolution of 1600 x 2500 pixels, which clocks in at 150ppi. It also takes a full two seconds for the display to refresh. Still, ACeP is a significant move for E Ink, which for years has been struggling to develop color displays that can go against increasingly sharp OLED and LCD screens. With Qualcomm's Mirasol technology floundering, ACeP could end up being the color ePaper solution we've been waiting for.

Source: E Ink (PR)

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