revscat - Slashdot User

+ - iPhone SDK, Enterprise Support Announced-> 0

Submitted by revscat on Thursday March 06, 2008 @04:21PM

revscat writes "Apple revealed details of the iPhone SDK today. Apps will be developed using XCode and the new Cocoa Touch framework, and will be distributed by Apple either via an application on the phone or through iTunes. Developers set the cost of their applications and keep 70%, although "free" is also an option. (Not all applications will be distributed: "Porn, malicious apps, ones that invade privacy.") When asked about VOIP, Jobs replied: "We will only stop VOIP over cell networks, but not WiFi." Corporations can also privately distribute applications to their employees. AOL demoed an AIM client, and an iPhone version of the upcoming game Spore was also demoed. The iPhone is also gaining enhanced enterprise capabilities, including Exchange and Cisco VPN support, remote wiping, as well as certificates and identities."
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+ - 50% Efficient Solar Cells

Submitted by

revscat

on Friday October 06, 2006 @12:41AM

revscat writes "MIT's Technology review is reporting that a new material has been developed that could allow for much more efficient solar cells: "Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) have created a new type of semiconductor material designed to improve the efficiency of solar cells by capturing low-energy photons. Traditional solar cells respond only to a narrow spectrum of sunlight, making them highly inefficient. In the language of physicists, solar cells convert light with wavelengths corresponding to the energy it takes for electrons to jump from the valence band to the conduction band. Photons with lower energy pass right through the material. The new semiconductor material can capture these low-energy photons for electricity, which could make solar cells with efficiencies of around 45 percent, compared with 25 percent for conventional cells that use a single semiconductor and 39 percent for cells with layers of mixed semiconductors.""