Inhabitat’s Week in Green: Solar-powered yachts, windmills and Apple car rumors
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.
Tesla has owned the electric car space in recent years, but another major Silicon Valley company could be nipping at its heels — rumor has it that Apple is developing an electric “minivan-like vehicle” of its own. It’s not clear if the rumors are true, but this week electric vehicle battery manufacturer A123 Systems sued Apple for poaching its employees. Porsche is also taking aim at Tesla with plans to launch an all-electric rival to the Model S by 2019. In other green transportation news, Volkswagen has announced plan to build 100 fast electric car-charging stations in the US, and it will invest $10 million to support electric vehicle infrastructure by 2016.
Italian designers Marco Ferrari and Alberto Franchi developed a solar-powered yacht for the Young Designer of the Year 2015 contest. The yacht would feature sails that are actually made from flexible solar panels that generate energy for the boat’s luxury amenities. Biking in the rain isn’t much fun, because there’s no way to avoid getting wet — until now. A London-based team recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for the world’s first umbrella for your bike. The design is basically like a narrow windshield that protects your face and body from the elements. Although much of the country is still in the depths of winter, it isn’t too early to start thinking about summer adventures. One look at this geodesic dome-inspired portable camper will have you dreaming about hitting the open road. Ever wonder what it would be like to live in a bus? In a short essay about her adventures, Inhabitat writer Michelle Kennedy Hogan explains what it’s been like living in a converted school bus with five kids for the past six months.
Tesla is developing a new type of battery that could power not only your car, but also your house. In an investor call this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced plans for a battery that could take your home off the grid, and production could begin within the next six months. In other clean energy news, the UK just signed off on what will soon be the world’s largest offshore wind farm. The wind farm, which will be located about 80 miles off the Yorkshire coast, will consist of about 400 wind turbines. Meanwhile, Portland is generating renewable energy by taping an unusual resource: its plumbing pipelines. Turbines installed within the city’s pipes generate energy every time a tap is turned on or a toilet is flushed. China is one of the world’s biggest energy users, but it is quickly moving toward renewables. In 2014, China increased its wind power output by 23 percent and now wind provides 2.8 percent of the country’s total energy. The Dutch invented the windmill, so it makes sense that latest windmill innovation would take place in the Netherlands. The Dutch Windwheel is a concept for a sustainable landmark that would house 72 apartments within a circular steel and glass frame that contains a silent, motionless wind turbine. And in Israel, an energy company has solved the problem of how to generate solar energy when the sun sets. Brenmiller Energy is planning to develop a new solar facility that uses biomass as a backup during the four hours when the plant is not generating electricity.
On the green architecture front, British megafirm Foster + Partners recently opened a new Apple store in Hangzhou, China to usher in the Chinese New Year. The modernist store features glowing ceilings, a cantilevered floor and glass staircases. The new headquarters for Intecs Spa recently earned Casaclima Class A certification for energy efficiency, making it the first non-residential building in Rome to earn the distinction. And in Poland, a team of architects provided new space for apartment dwellers by building a swirling green pathway that extends from a balcony out into the sky. Star Wars fans rejoice: Lego has announced plans to release 32 new Lego Star Wars sets depicting scenes from the previous six movies. If you love Lego and hate making pancakes the old-fashioned way, this is for you: Designer Miguel Valenzuela has created a Lego robot that makes perfectly round silver dollar pancakes. And on the wearable tech side of things, Epson launched its new SureColor F7170 digital fabric printer at New York Fashion Week. The new printing technology will enable fashion designers to create virtually any kind of color or pattern they can dream up.
Filed under: Misc, Household, Transportation, Science
From the Editor’s Desk: MWC in T-minus 7 days …
The clock is ticking. We’re now a week away from one of the busiest days of the, both as fans of newfangled smartphones as well as of the extremely lucky press corps that gets to cover them.
And if you’ll allow me but a brief second of complaint — it’ll be a miracle if we survive March 1. That’s a good thing, of course. (And chances are I say it every year.) But I wish I could share what our calendar looks this time next week. And that’s still a day before Mobile World Congress even opens in Barcelona.
MEElectronics Air-Fi Rumble Bluetooth Headphones Review: Are you ready to Rumble?
Our overview of MEElectronics’ CES 2015 line-up last month definitely gave the impression that MEElectronics is aiming at starting 2015 on the right foot, but before we move onto their latest products, we have to cover one of their headphones that launched late last year. The MEElectronics Air-Fi Rumble Bluetooth Headphones are the latest thing in […]
The post MEElectronics Air-Fi Rumble Bluetooth Headphones Review: Are you ready to Rumble? appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
These iPhone 6 hybrid cases are on sale today for only $10.95
This case features a hard polycarbonate outer shell and a shock absorbent TPU underneath for double the protection against impacts. Best part is you’ll be sporting this level of protection with a slim design! The back of the X Series Case has a glossy finish while the sides provide softer edging for a comfortable grip.
This Lumia 822 hybrid case has a built-in kickstand and is 55% off today!
This dual-layer case provides serious protection against drops and scratches while sporting a built-in kickstand that can be used for watching movies and more. The inner-most layer is made of a shock absorbing silicone that sits underneath a thick plastic exterior. Get yours on the cheap today for only $8.95
Cortana going to the Brit Awards with Clean Bandit in latest Microsoft UK ad
The Brit Awards is one of the biggest nights in the UK music industry and Cortana will be going with the Grammy winning act, Clean Bandit. Microsoft UK’s latest ad sees the group putting Cortana to work ahead of the big night, including reminding Grace not to dance on any tables.
Oh, and Cortana will be wearing a phone down the red carpet. Of course.
Hot Tub Time Machine available as a free rental on Xbox Video this weekend (US only)
The unrated version of 2010’s Hot Tub Time Machine is available for free to rent (not own) on Xbox Video. The offer is available through this weekend only, for both the HD and SD versions of the film.
Amazon Echo review
Everything has to be smarter these days. Connected to something. Connected to everything. And these days we have to talk to those things.
Google brought us, well, Google Now. But excellent as it is, you’re taking to a machine. Apple personified things with Siri. And now Amazon has Alexa in its Amazon Echo Bluetooth speaker. Why? Oh, why not. On one hand you’ve got a decent speaker that ties into Amazon music. And lets you make shopping lists for later. On Amazon, of course.
But really that’s just the tip of the iceberg with Alex. And it’s a bit of an odd product, not available for general purchase. You register your interest with Amazon, finally are given the opportunity to buy, and then wait a few weeks until it ships. Maybe available will expand, maybe it won’t. It took about a month for ours to arrive, a few minutes to get it set up, and not much longer to see that this thing has some serious potential. The question is whether that potential leads to anything on down the road.
And if it does, the likes of Google and Apple are going to find themselves with even more of a competitor in Amazon.
Evidence points to a Lumia 635 with 1GB of RAM heading to some carriers
The Lumia 635 is nearly a perfect budget phone. It has an excellent display with ClearBlack, a modern design with replaceable covers, and it even handles Windows 10 with ease. However, it does have a few faults, including the lack of a front-facing camera and 1GB of RAM. Indeed, the 512 MB currently found on the Lumia 635 seems antiquated and too little for modern phones.
An early report cited a Lumia 635 with 1GB of RAM on Telenor’s website in Hungary. However, it does not take long to find carriers mislabeling devices – even with the wrong OS – to cast some skepticism on the hardware change. However, corroborating evidence has now been found to suggest that indeed, Microsoft is set to fix the Lumia 635 that was previously released under Nokia.
Developer MohammadAG gets Android Wear to work with iPhones, sort of
Google has hinted that it could eventually make Android Wear work with iPhones, but as the wearables platform is getting close to its first birthday, we’re yet to see an official integration. The good news is, if you really want to use your Android Wear smartwatch with an iOS device, an unofficial solution may be coming.
Android developer Mohammad Abu-Garbeyyeh, widely known on XDA as MohammadAG, found a way to push notifications from iOS to AW. MohammadAG, who is known for his work developing Xposed Framework modules, used a feature called Apple Notification Center Service (ANSC) that was first introduced on iOS7. This is the same feature that allows Pebble to receive notifications from iPhones via Bluetooth. Because it’s built into the operating system, making use of ANSC doesn’t require a special app – notifications from any app can be pushed automatically to a connected smartwatch.
To enable the feature, MohammadAG created an .apk that needs to run on the smartwatch, and the developer said he’s considering open-sourcing it. You will still need an Android device to set up the smartwatch and get apps on it, but the good news is you can use any iOS7 or higher Apple device, no jailbreak required.
Now, the Android Wear experience is more than just notifications and MohammadAG admits that this ANSC-based implementation is limited. But if you just want simple notifications, this could do. We’ll keep an eye on this little project and let you know when, if ever, becomes available.
AIVAnet 