RoofRay calculates solar savings using Google Maps

RoofRay is a tool that helps you figure out whether it's worth plunking down on money to put solar panels on your roof. If you've long been contemplating going solar to stick it to the man, this tool will give you a fairly rough estimate of how much efficiency you can expect and how it will affect your monthly bills based on past weather conditions, monthly power bills, the slope of your house, and how much paneling you can cram onto your roof.

It does most all of this with the help of Google Maps. It's one of the smarter mashups we've seen, calculating the square footage of your roof based on Google's satellite and aerial imagery. Building the virtual panels is actually the hardest part, as it will do all the numbers-crunching for you--including how long it will take to break even on the paneling, permit fees, installation and upkeep. These are all things that could cost a quarter or more of what you paid for your house.

Short of getting a professional estimate from a solar panel provider this is a pretty straightforward means of seeing if it's worth the investment. However, I'm still a little unsure of its capability to figure out exact efficiencies, or factor in the four hours a day when your neighbor's trees are blocking all that precious bill-paying sun.
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Goodbye Lithium-ion, hello silver zinc

Even the prettiest and most expensive electronics device is junk if it runs out of juice. Laptop battery life has always been one of the key considerations whenever a new chipset or technology comes about. But despite yearly platform refreshes, there is one component which had not seen much, if any, change since George Bush Senior was the US President. We are talking about Lithium-ion batteries which have been used since 1991 when they were first introduced by Sony.

But even during the rise of Lithium-ion, another battery technology which is safer and longer-lasting was already in use by aerospace and military industries. During an interview with Ross Duebar, CEO of ZPower at IDF 2008 in San Francisco, he made claims that silver zinc cells are the wave of the future. They can last 40 percent longer and, since this is a water-based technology, is a lot safer than Lithium-ion, with little chance of an explosive encounter. Moreover, the components in a silver zinc battery are recyclable and reusable.
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New EliteBooks from HP

There are times when being a business notebook just doesn't cut it. Sure, they're built to last with magnesium-alloy shells and internal shock absorbers. However, for those working outdoors, such conventional protection may very well be like putting on a bunny suit while performing EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) duties.

If you are one of those who need a tougher laptop, yet feel that fully ruggedized military models are overkill, then HP's EliteBook may be the solution for you. The EliteBook 6930p was first showcased at HP's Connecting Your World event in Berlin, and the Palo Alto company has since added an ultraportable and a convertible tablet PC to its EliteBook lineup. Common features include an HP NightLight to illuminate the keyboard (similar to ThinkPad's keyboard light), 2-megapixel Webcam with business card reader software, shock-resistant harddisk and spill-proof keyboard. The chassis has also been designed for rough use and conforms to military standards for semi-rugged devices.

The HP EliteBook 2530p has a 12.1-inch LED-backlit widescreen display with the new low-voltage Core 2 Duo processors. At 1.45kg, it offers a built-in optical drive though this can be swapped in favor of a 2.5-inch storage device (second hard drive) to supplement its internal 1.8-inch harddisk or SSD.

The 12.1-inch HP EliteBook 2730p is a slim 28.2mm-thick convertible tablet PC which weighs only 1.7kg. With an optional ultra-slim external battery, the uptime can be increased to a whopping 15 hours. There are also docking solutions that provide access to an external DVD writer.

These units will be available in Asia from mid-September with a starting price of US$1,199 (EliteBook 2530p) and US$1,499 (EliteBook 2730p).

Mobile processors at IDF 2008

With laptops crossing the 50 percent penetration rate in many developed nations, it would be remiss if Intel didn't address this market during IDF 2008 in San Francisco. Thankfully, the Santa Clara company announced a couple of new chips for the mobile warrior.

First, good news for those demanding portability above all else. Though the Atom processor made an important milestone in the UMPC sector, the upcoming Moorestown chip will be a flying leap forward. It integrates both computing and graphics cores on a single silicon while also featuring an integrated memory controller. By putting these components closer together on a single die, there is less "distance" for data to travel and hence performance, as well as power requirements and heat, will theorectically be improved.

Slated for a 2009/2010 appearance, the audience at IDF 2008 were given a view of a wafer holding the Moorestown-based Lincroft processor by Anand Chandrasekher, general manager for Intel's Ultra Mobility Group. This is an important first step to achieving full production, though there was no mention if this meant that the timeline for this new processor has been shortened.

More details were also given for new low-powered Core 2 Duo chips and the first quad-core Core 2 Extreme QX9300 processor. They will first appear in the Lenovo ThinkPad X301 and HP EliteBook 2530p, though there are rumors that the MacBook Air may also join the queue.

Model	Clockspeed (GHz)	Cores	L2 cache (MB)	Thermal envelope (watts)	Price
QX9300	2.53	4	12	35	US$1,038
SL9400	1.86	2	6	17	US$316
SL9300	1.6	2	6	17	US$284
SU9400	1.4	2	3	10	US$289
SU9300	1.2	2	3	10	US$262

At the same time, the Celeron range has been refreshed with two models: The US$107 Celeron 585 running at 2.66GHz and the US$86 Celeron 575 with a clockspeed of 2.0GHz.

Intel Classmate PC morphs into tablet mode

Let's face it. Even the filthy rich needs a bargain every now and then. The original Intel Classmate PC might have started as a competitor to the OLPC to equip every student, even the poor ones, with a laptop. But what if instead of attending a public school, your child is enrolled in the best private educational institution? Would you really want him to carry a toy-like device around like everyone else?



Perhaps it's with this mindset that the third-generation of Intel's Classmate PC project has morphed into a convertible tablet.
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