film

First Solar has signed a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, to supply its thin-film solar panels to China Guangdong Nuclear Solar Energy Development (CGN SEDC), the company charged with building and running China's massive solar plant, First Solar company announced today.

The solar farm in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, is planned to be a 2,000-megawatt facility when fully completed by its estimated date of 2019.

While several companies will be involved in the design, construction, and operations of the giant facility, CGN SEDC is the majority owner of the project and will be the primary overseer of the facility'… Read more

More U.S. solar start-ups are finding that the route to the global solar panel market passes through government offices.

The meltdown of the financial markets over the past two years means that state, local, and federal incentives are increasingly part of the financial package solar start-ups need to assemble when looking to start manufacturing at large scale.

Silicon Valley-based SoloPower expects to hear next month whether its application to the Department of Energy's loan guarantee program will come through. Without the loan, private money, and incentives from its home town of San Jose, Calif., SoloPower would be looking … Read more

Ever found yourself yelling, "Noooo, don't do it!" at a movie screen? Or been in the mood for a happy ending and found yourself halfway through a film you knew would leave you in a puddle of tears?

A new system out of Israel's Tel Aviv University allows viewers to influence a movie's plot while viewing it, thus affecting the progression of events. For now, audiences are testing the technology with a full-length interactive pilot feature, "Turbulence." But the plan is to extend the tool to other "hyper-narrative interactive movies," including commercials and television series, said Nitzan Ben Shaul, a professor of film and television studies at the university who created the system.

Called InSplit, it consists of a Web-based basic editor and a standalone player for editing and playing interactive branching narrative videos. The interaction takes the form of an iridescent glow that appears onscreen as an "action item" at pivotal plot moments. Should a character send a defining text message, for example?

If viewers think so, they tap the screen of the standalone player or click "send" on a Mac or PC to activate the actor's cell phone. If the viewer hesitates too long, the action will continue on a predetermined course.

Ben Shaul said he was inspired by "Sliding Doors" and "Run Lola Run," two films that give audiences the suspense and thrill of multiple outcomes.

"They make you think about options in life, but they don't let you experience what responsibility feels like at crucial decision points," he said. "In our film you decide where the character should go, and you can decide to return to the point where the plot flipped. It's gripping." … Read more

Abound Solar has secured $510 million to ramp up production of its thin-film solar panels and compete in the cut-throat pricing of the global solar photovoltaics industry.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu is scheduled to host a conference call today with Abound Solar CEO Tom Tiller to announce that the Fort Collins, Colo.-based company has finalized a $400 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy. It also raised $110 million in equity from existing private investors, one of the requirements for getting the loan.

With the money, Abound Solar can boost production to 200 megawatts a year by 2012 … Read more

Robotics manufacturing tends to evoke visions of a John Henry-esque scenario in which competent women and men lose jobs to hunks of automated metal.

But in the case of Solyndra it may be robots that help American workers compete more effectively against China's low-cost labor force.

Consider the video that solar manufacturer Solyndra released this week illustrating how thin-film CIGS (copper, indium, gallium, and selenide) solar modules are produced.

In reality, the video (see below) is a showcase for the company's new state-of-the-art solar manufacturing plant, built with a $535 million federal loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, … Read more

Among those who favor less restrictive copyright laws, Google once possessed undeniable street-cred.

When it came to standing up for the right of Internet users to freely exchange information online, the perception was Google would hold the line. The search engine sparred over copyright issues with newspapers, book publishers, recording companies, and big Hollywood studios--even fending off a $1 billion copyright complaint filed against it by Viacom, parent company of MTV. As for enforcement, Google made its position clear: the job of policing the Web for pirated content belonged to copyright owners.

But yesterday, Google's position began to blur. … Read more

Netflix is willing to pay big bucks to offer current prime-time TV shows to subscribers of its streaming service, according to a published report.

The Web's top video rental service is offering to pay as much as $100,000 per episode for in-season TV shows, the New York Post reported today. In recent weeks, Netflix has signaled that it will wants to build out the company's library of streaming TV shows.

In the race to deliver movies and TV shows over the Internet, Netflix is far out in front. But the company's burgeoning streaming-video service could stumble, … Read more

Netflix has struck a licensing agreement with a hot new independent studio that means more first-run movies for subscribers of Netflix's streaming service.

FilmDistrict, the company co-founded by Graham King, who produced such Oscar-winning as "The Departed" and "Aviator," has agreed to license first-run theatrically-released films through Netflix, the companies announced today.

Among the first flicks Netflix is expected to receive rights to under the deal are "Drive," director Nicolas Winding Refn's adaptation of the James Sallis' crime tale starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan, and the science-fiction film "Lockout," … Read more

Microsoft wants to build a pay-TV subscription service to offer to Xbox Live customers, according to a published report.

Citing two anonymous sources, Reuters reported today that Microsoft has spoken with media companies about licensing "TV networks."

The talks are in the early stages, according to the report from the wire service, but some of Microsoft's proposals include offering individual channels, such as HBO or Showtime, directly or "using Xbox to authenticate existing cable subscribers to watch shows with enhanced interactivity similar to how pay TV operators have sought to do over the Web," Reuters … Read more