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Snowflake-shaped photovoltaic cells bring the holiday cheer
Sandia National Laboratories have unveiled their newest photovoltaic cells -- glitter-sized particles made of crystalline silicon. The cells are made using common microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems techniques, and the results are pretty spectacular to behold. More interestingly, however, is the fact that they use 100 times less material in generating the same amount of energy as a regular solar cell. Here comes the sun Bacteria for better solar panels Because of their size and shape, the cells are well-suited to unusual applications, and researchers envision mass-production of the cells for use on building-integrated tents or clothing, so campers (or military personnel) could recharge their cell phones on the go. Researchers also think that these particles will be inexpensive to produce, but there's no word on when they'll be ready for consumer application. We'll keep you posted -- but hit the source link for more a more detailed description.
Sony Snowflake DSC-TX1 comes with engraved holiday spirit
For a limited time only -- and you should be able to guess how long that is -- Japanese SonyStyle customers can order up the TX1 in the especially wintry attire you see above. Already available in a choice of five colors, the cam will also let you choose between black, silver and pink for the engraved models, and we also hear these snowflakes are part of a wider range of engraved designs. Options titled Safari, Race, and Heart are also available, and you can even add your own message to the front, or just tag it with your name if you're feeling narcissistic. Either way, you can see the other color options after the break, or try out all the different looks using the interactive skinning tool at the source link.
Sony applies next-gen snowflake tech to boost VAIO W's appeal
When Sony's VAIO W netbook was released, we said the company would "have to do better than put a pretty face on a vanilla set of innards to get our next five Benjamins." So what has the company done to raise the appeal of its little netbook? Boosted the processor? Added a big SSD? Lowered the price? Nah, it went ahead and painted some snowflakes on the lid. Pretty though they may be they still hide the same 10.1-inch, 1366 x 768 LCD, 1.6GHz Atom, and 1GB of RAM. There are some improvements: storage is upped a bit, a 250GB HDD instead of 160, and it now includes Windows 7 Starter instead of XP. And there are snowflakes. Still $499. Get yours before they melt!
TUAW Holiday Giveaway-tacular Part Five: the power blogger
If you're looking to start a podcast or blog (or both) in 2009, this will get you started. The Snowflake mic is an awesome and portable audio tool, and MacSpeech Dictate is the "gold standard" of Mac transcription apps. Win both in this giveaway courtesy our friends at Dr. Bott.Don't forget the rest of our Holiday Giveaway-tacular posts and all the loot you can win there as well: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4. Everything ends at the end of December 31, so get to clickin' and good luck! Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment telling us what would be the subject of your podcast, if you had one. The comment must be left before December 31, 11:59PM Eastern Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: Snowball Microphone ($69.95), MacSpeech Dictate ($199) Click Here for complete Official Rules.
IBM apes Mother Nature for faster, more efficient chips
Someone should seriously tell IBM's research and development team to take a much-deserved vacation, as these folks have been cranking out the goods at an alarming rate of late. Most recently, the company has announced the "world's first application of self assembly used to create a vacuum around nanowires for next-generation microprocessors," which just so happens to mimic the natural pattern-creating process that forms seashells, snowflakes, and enamel on teeth. Essentially, the process forms "trillions of holes to create insulating vacuums around the miles of nano-scale wires packed next to each other inside each computer chip," which should aid electrical current in flowing around 35-percent faster while it eats up about 15-percent less energy. This newfangled approach to insulation, dubbed airgaps, creates vacuums that enable the substantial boost in speed, and the self assembling process is reportedly "already integrated" into IBM's manufacturing line in New York. The chips will initially be used in the firm's server lineup sometime near 2009, and shortly thereafter, we can expect IBM to start cranking these out for other companies that rely on its CPUs.[Via BBC, thanks Josh]
