Second Huge Solar Plant In California

Solar Panels

BrightSource Energy, the California startup that is building the first large-scale solar thermal power plant to break ground in the United States in 20 years, on Friday filed a license application with California regulators to build a second huge solar complex that features new technology.

The 500-megawatt Hidden Hills Solar Electric Generating System would be built in two 250-megawatt phases on 5.12 square miles of privately owned Mojave Desert land in California’s Inyo County on the Nevada border. The site is 45 miles west of Las Vegas and north of BrightSource Energy’s Ivanpah facility now under construction on the California side of the border.


The project is the first to seek approval from the California Energy Commission since regulators rushed to approve nine large solar thermal power plants last year so their developers could qualify for billions of dollars in federal loan guarantees. The loan guarantee program is set to sunset on Sept. 30 and Hidden Hills will test financiers’ appetite for such projects absent such a subsidy.

BrightSource, which is backed by French energy giant Alstom, Morgan Stanley, Google, Chevron and NRG Energy, filed for a $250 million initial public offering in April and has signed contracts to deliver 2,610 megawatts of electricity to utilities Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison.

The company deploys vast fields of mirrors called heliostats to focus the sun’s rays on a water-filled boiler that sits atop a tower. The resulting steam drives an electricity-generating turbine.

In a sign that solar technology is unlikely to stand still for long in the race to bring more efficient power plants online, BrightSource has increased the height of its “power tower” at the Hidden Hills project to 750 feet from the 459-foot height of those being built at Ivanpah. Each tower at Hidden Hills would be surrounded by a field of 85,000 heliostats.

“The new, higher, 750-foot solar power tower allows the heliostat rows to be placed closer together, with the mirrors at a steeper angle,” the company stated in its license application. “This substantially reduces mirror shading and allows more heliostats to be placed per acre. More megawatts can be generated per acre and the design is more efficient overall.”

BrightSource on Wednesday announced it would incorporate molten salt storage in its power plants to extend their operating hours past sunset. No mention of such a system was made in the Hidden Hills application but its addition would most likely depend on a request from the utility that purchases the complex’s electricity.

The company has set out an ambitious construction schedule, stating that it anticipates ground would be broken by the third quarter of 2012 and Hidden Hills would begin generating electricity in 2015.

In contrast, it took more than three years for state and federal regulators to approve the Ivanpah project, which is being built on land managed by the Interior Department.

BrightSource will largely avoid the feds involvement by building on land leased from a private owner. The company also apparently hopes to sidestep disputes over the impact of its power plants on the imperiled desert tortoise, a controversy that has dogged the Ivanpah project.

According to its license application for Hidden Hills, initial surveys found only two desert tortoises on the project site.

Bioengineered spinal disc implants to combat Back Pain

Researchers have created a biologically based spinal implant they say could someday provide relief for the millions of people suffering lower back and neck pain. Instead of removing damaged spinal discs - a surgery known as a discectomy - and fusing the vertebrate bones to stabilize the spine in patients diagnosed with severe degenerative disc disease, or herniated discs, the artificial discs could be used to replace damaged discs, performing better than current implants that are made from a combination of metal and plastic.

Although discectomies prevent pain, the often limit mobility. Human discs look something like a tire, with the outer part, called the annulus, made of a stiff material, and the inner circle, the nucleus, made of a gel-like substance that gets pressurized and bears weight.

To mimic this structure, engineers at Cornell University in Ithaca and doctors at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City engineered artificial discs out of two polymers - collagen, which wraps around the outside, and a hydrogel called alginate in the middle. They seeded the implants with cells that repopulate the structures with new tissue. Compared to artificial implants that degrade over time, the researchers found that the new implants get better as they mature in the body, due to the growth of the cells.

"Our implants have maintained 70 to 80 percent of initial disc height. In fact, the mechanical properties get better with time," says Lawrence Bonassar, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering at Cornell.

A surgical procedure approved by the FDA in 2005 for treating the degeneration of the intervertebral disc involves removing the damaged disc completely and replacing it with an implant made from a combination of metal and plastic, with the aim of mimicking the normal movement of the lumbar and the spine.

"Bone or metal or plastic implants are complicated structures which come with a mechanical risk of the structures moving around, or debris from the metal or plastic particles accumulating in the body from wear and tear," says Roger Härtl, M.D., associate professor of neurosurgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and chief of spinal surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Because the new discs integrate and mature with the vertebrae they would have a huge advantage over traditional implants, says Härtl, who is also the neurosurgeon for the New York Giants. This major surgery would also become less invasive, safer and come with fewer long-term side effects, he adds.

Bonassar and Härtl began collaborating on the project in 2006 and have since moved into the animal testing stages. The project has received a US$325,000 grant from Switzerland's AO Spine foundation and $100,000 in support from NFL charities. The research appears online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

PS Vita Release: Sony Playstation Vita Release Date, Price and Games

Sony has finally announced Sony Playstation Vita Release, the successor for the Sony PSP. PS Vita, the new portable gaming device from Sony is designed to provide users with a whole new level of gaming experience along with some great connectivity features to stay connected on your social network.

Sony, at E3 2011 had announced the much awaited Sony PS Vita Release, revealing the Sony PlayStation Vita (codename NGP) Features, Specs, Price and Release Date.

The new multi-touch screen and a rear multi-touch pad will be a great addition, helping with the users game handling capabilities. The WiFi and 3G connectivity features also allows gamers to connect, share and play with all their friends on the go. With the microphone feature, users can actually communicate on real time, providing an ultimate gaming experience. Sony also introduces a new feature called ‘LiveArea’, where users can access all the latest information of their favorite games on the PlayStation Network.

Still, the announcement will bring disappointment to many gamers, who were expecting Sony Playstation Vita Release earlier in US and Europe for holiday sales, with an OLED touchscreen up front and a clever touchpad controller surface on the rear. Since the new PS Vita was spotted passing through the FCC, a day ago, speculating a PS Vita Release this fall in US.

PS Vita Release: Sony Playstation Vita Release Date

Sony PlayStation Vita, the new portable game console will go on sale in early 2012. PS Vita Release is set in early 2012 for U.S. and Europe, following a Sony Playstation Vita Release in Japan during this Christmas by the end of 2011.

Sony Vice President, Kazuo Hirai termed it a 'phased global rollout' in 2012 rather than a delay. He said the scheduling was intended to give Sony time to prepare 'solid' game offerings.

PS Vita Release: Sony Playstation Price

Despite of recent price cuts for Nintendo 3DS, a popular competitor handheld game console released earlier this year, the PS Vita will cost $249 in the US for the WiFi-only model, and $299 for the 3G-equipped version. In Japan it will start from 24,980 yen.

iPhone 5 and ‘simplified iPhone 4′ both due out this fall, report claims

After several reports pointing to a lower-end iPhone set to be released this fall, a new source is now suggesting that along with the iPhone 5 we’ll see a “simplified iPhone 4”, as reported by the Chinese language website Sohu.com.

According to the report, Apple has reached an agreement with China Telecom, China’s state-owned mobile carrier, to bring two devices to the country: the iPhone 5 and a lower-end iPhone, allegedly similar to the iPhone 4, around “the end of October”. As claimed by the source, and as speculated by us many times, the lower-end iPhone model will be cheaper and most likely targeted at developing and emerging markets, such as China:

a more economical version of iPhone to target a broader customer base in developing countries such as China, allowing for an expanded market opportunity.

Apple’s current solution to make the iPhone available to a greater number of customers is to simply sell the previous-generation device for a lower price. While the iPhone 4 has been available for a year, Apple keeps manufacturing the nearly two-year-old iPhone 3GS and selling it for $99 instead of its original price of $199, but now the supply of the iPhone 3GS is dwindling drastically. This approach has its obvious shortcomings, including the device’s aging hardware that developers and Apple itself will be forced to support as long as the device is sold.

The lower-end iPhone will reportedly be similar to the iPhone 4, which has been for sale for over a year, although we don’t yet know much about its hardware or software. According to previous reports on the matter, however, we would guess that this low-end smartphone will be an iPhone 4 with improved internals and perhaps slightly cheaper plastic casing, as opposed to the iPhone 4’s glass enclosure, in order to reduce manufacturing costs, and therefore the price.

This report also, once again, sparks up the debate over whether the next iPhone will be released in September or October, since the source points to an October release, at least in China. I believe, as we have speculated previously, that the US release will take place sometime in September with an international release in October, since the iPhone 5 has allegedly reached final testing stages. The iPhone 5 is expected to be announced by Apple at the company’s traditional music and iPod event in September and released a few weeks later.

(via BGR)

Free Samsung Nexus S: Today Offer from Best Buy Mobile

What about a "Free Samsung Nexus S"? Well, we are not kidding, infact its Today Offer from Best Buy Mobile, that is offering the Nexus S for free today only.

The catch is you need a two-year contract with Sprint, T-Mobile, or AT&T to get it. The unlocked model will still be full price.

All variants (3G version on T-Mobile or AT&T / 4G version on Sprint) will be free when you sign up for a new contract by either setting up a new line or upgrading a current handset.

While this device may not have dual-core this and that, it’s still one of the fastest and most stable devices you’ll ever use. As a “Nexus” device, you won’t find another handset in the world with this pure of an Android experience. The Nexus S is one of our favorite Android phones out there, offering a clean version of Gingerbread, and first dibs on software updates from Google.

The offer ends at 11:59 p.m. tonight, so get at it. Here under is the Press Release by Best Buy Mobile about Today Offer:

One-Day Exclusive Offer: Best Buy Mobile Offers All Versions of Nexus S from Google for Free on Aug 3

Available on AT&T, Sprint and T Mobile at Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile specialty stores and online. Offer runs from Aug. 2 at 11 p.m. CST to Aug. 3 at 11:59 p.m. CST
MINNEAPOLIS, August 2, 2011 – Best Buy Mobile today revealed an exclusive one-day sale on Nexus S from Google phones valid on all carriers who support the device - AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. Customers can receive a free Nexus S phone, either as a new phone or an upgrade purchase, with two-year activation at all Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile specialty stores, and online at BestBuy.com/Mobile.
Nexus S is a pure Google experience phone and runs Android 2.3, Gingerbread, the fastest version of Android available, and will be offered free starting tonight at 11:00 p.m. CST, through  Aug. 3, at 11:59 p.m. CT.
In addition to the most smartphones under one roof, including all three versions of Nexus S, Best Buy Mobile offers an array of services aimed at improving customers’ experience, including Walk Out Working, Upgrade Checker, Happy 24 and a full array of accessories for customers to protect and personalize their device.

About Best Buy Mobile
Best Buy Mobile was founded in 2006 with a goal of changing the way consumers shop for and purchase mobile phones in America. Today, Best Buy Mobile is in every Best Buy store and also has 206 Best Buy Mobile specialty stores around the country. Best Buy Mobile features one of the largest selections of carriers, handsets and accessories available anywhere. Employees undergo at least 80 hours of intensive training, as well as continuing education on mobile phone technology and trends to help customers get the most of their mobile phones. For more information about Best Buy Mobile, visit www.bestbuy.com/mobile or www.bestbuymobile.com

About Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is a leading multi-channel global retailer and developer of technology products and services. Every day our employees – 180,000 strong – are committed to helping deliver the technology solutions that enable easy access to people, knowledge, ideas and fun. We are keenly aware of our role and impact on the world, and we are committed to developing and implementing business strategies that bring sustainable technology solutions to our consumers and communities. For information about Best Buy, visit www.bby.com

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Released on Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY

The release of Battlefield: Bad Company 2, has made available the award winning FPS franchise by Electronic Art and DICE on Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY, the PlayStation certified gaming smartphone.


Sony Ericsson's Market Development Head, Dominic Neil-Dwyer says:

As Xperia Play becomes available in more markets across the world, the portfolio of games continues to grow and so we're delighted to announce the availability of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for Xperia Play. We aim to give consumers the best possible gaming experience on a smartphone and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for Xperia Play is the latest title from EA to bring one of the most popular gaming franchises to our consumers.

The game, now available for download takes full advantage of Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY smartphone's outstanding graphic capabilities and game-changing control pad to deliver a better and realistic, fast-paced gameplay to the Android operating system for the first time.

Bad Company 2 for Xperia Play features fourteen single-player missions across five intensely detailed battle zones. It also includes fourteen weapons ranging from a knife to rocket-propelled grenades and multiple vehicle types, including tanks and helicopters. An iOS version of the game is now also available at the App Store.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is available to download today for Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY customers, adding to the more than 100 optimised games available for download on the world’s first PlayStation certified smartphone.

Saudi Arabia Set to Own Title of World's Tallest Building

Kingdom Tower Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill Architecture

The design, by Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, pairs radical developments in skyscraper technology with a sleek, tapered aesthetic inspired by the folded fronts of young desert plant growth.

Saudi Arabia is set to shatter the record for the tallest building in the world, with a slender, asymmetrical spire that'll rise at least 3,280 feet in the air. That's more than twice the size of the Willis Tower, the tallest building in the United States, and 568 feet taller than the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.

The $1.2 billion Kingdom Tower will be built in north Jeddah, the major urban center of western Saudi and an historic gateway to Mecca just off the shores of the Red Sea. The building, by Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (Smith also designed the Burj Khalifa while at SOM), pairs new developments in skyscraper technology with a sleek, “three-petal” form inspired by the folded fronts of young desert plant growth. “The way the fronds sprout upward from the ground as a single form, then start separating from each other at the top, is an analogy of new growth fused with technology,” Gill says.

The tower’s got a slick, aerodynamic shape with tapering wings that’ll help slash structural loading caused by wind. A high-performance facade is expected to drastically reduce energy consumption, and notches in each of the skyscraper’s three “petals” will create pockets of shade, shielding occupants from the harsh desert sun and providing outdoor terraces with views of Jeddah and the Red Sea. Kingdom Tower will include a Four Seasons hotel and apartments, luxury condominiums, and Class A offices spread over roughly 3.5-million square feet. It'll also have a sky terrace on the 157th floor (the 157th floor!) and the highest observatory in the world.

Kingdom Tower is the linchpin of a larger, $20 billion waterfront development venture for Jeddah -- part of the Saudi monarchy’s ambitious efforts to diversify its economy beyond crude oil. (Financing for the Kingdom Tower results from a deal between the investment firm of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and the Saudi Binladin Group, a construction conglomerate founded by the father of you know who.) The proposed Kingdom Tower Waterfront District -- the master plan of which is also designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill -- will include residential and commercial buildings, a shopping mall, outdoor spaces, and other amenities.

Explosion of Mobile Gaming

Geekaphone, an online resource for the mobile industry, has revealed stats about mobile gaming industry. They have been researching the mobile gaming industry and revealed figures for 2011.

A few key points that stand out are:

• The mobile gaming industry is predicted to reach $54 Billion by 2015
• 84% of tablet owners play games
• 70 – 80% of all mobile downloads are games
• Android is soon to overtake Apple in number of total available apps
• In-game purchases should overtake pay-per-downloads by 2013
• Angry Birds has been downloaded 140 million times
• Developers made $87 million in ad revenue in 2010 and will grow 10 fold by 2015

via DigitalBuzzBlog

iCloud and iWork Beta Launched For Developers

Apple seems to have opened up the iCloud Beta on iCloud.com. Notably, the login page is nearly identical to a leak from the days before the original iCloud announcement. We were doubtful of the screen at the time, but it appears to have been legitimate. 

There's some mixed reports about people being able to login. We have reports of both developers and non-developers having success and trouble logging in. 







iWork Beta with iCloud support was also seeded to developers: