bright

Adjusting your computer's brightness just got a lot easier. Desktop Lighter offers users a way to quickly and easily adjust how brilliant their screen appears. The only concern is whether the majority of users will find a need for it.

This freeware program hides itself in the tray until you decide your computer needs an adjustment. Clicking on the program's icon brings up a simple purple and pink screen. So simple, in fact, the only variable on this control is a slider that moves up and down. As you click and drag this bar, a small window pops … Read more

Start-up Bright Automotive unveiled a light-use vehicle on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that gets 100 mpg for its first 50 miles.

The Idea, as the plug-in hybrid utility vehicle is called, uses battery power almost exclusively for the first 30 miles when starting with a fully charged battery. It then moves to the electric with gas supplement system found on any typical hybrid vehicle.

Because of this 30-mile electric start, Bright Automotive estimates that in a 50-mile drive the Idea consumes half a gallon of gas, getting it roughly the equivalent of 100 mpg. On a total drive of 70 … Read more

Three hundred eighty-five development hours, 3.5 median hours of sleep per night, 265 pounds of food, and roughly 4,000 cups of coffee. That's what it took for five teams to compete in last week's Microsoft's Mobile Incubation Week, an intense five-day hustle to create the best Windows Mobile application, from concept to finished product.

In the dark auditorium at Microsoft's modest Mountain View, Calif., offices last Friday, the breakneck development rate showed. Two bleary-eyed developers stepped onto a dark stage before a smattering of peers, press, and judges to present their showing: a Windows Mobile version of Brightkite, a location-based social network that lets you create a photo journal of your day that friends can track.

While Brightkite founder Martin May and his co-developer, Brady Becker, were the only team to take the stage without a finished application to demo, their mobile social networking application has two distinct real-world advantages over most of the other competitors--Brightkite's established user base and existing applications for iPhone, Google Android, BlackBerry, and the Web. All that's missing from the Brightkite lineup, May freely admitted, is a Windows Mobile app--even more essentially, the know-how to develop for Windows Mobile. Although Brightkite's Windows Mobile presentation consisted largely of prototype slides, the team is hoping they'll have a Windows Mobile client ready by the time Microsoft launches its Marketplace for Windows Mobile in the second half of 2009.

The cohort

Brightkite wasn't the only established company in the field. Networks In Motion, the brawn behind Verizon's VZ Navigator, AAA Mobile, and Yellowpages.com, was also there, introducing a first peek at Gokivo Navigator for Windows Mobile. It's the first NIM-branded turn-by-turn navigator that is already available for a subscription fee on AT&T phones, including the BlackBerry Bold.… Read more

Bright Automotive announced an earlier-than-anticipated reveal date for its plug-in hybrid vehicle, IDEA.

The Indiana-based automotive company will unveil the prototype light-duty vehicle, which includes pickup trucks, SUVs, and sedans, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on April 21 instead of at the Norway's Electric Vehicle Symposium in May.

No explanation for this change was given, but the press release states, "Members of Congress and companies involved with Bright Automotive will take part in a briefing on the IDEA and a public event."

Little is known about the IDEA, but the start-up's CEO, John Waters, hinted that the first production PHEV vehicle from Bright Automotive may not be a passenger sedan. … Read more

Start-up Bright Automotive is designing a line of plug-in electric vehicles that get a 100 miles per gallon by combining a bag full of fuel-efficiency tricks with an electric motor.

The Anderson, Ind.-based company is planning on showing off a prototype vehicle in May at the Electric Vehicle Symposium in Norway, according to CEO John Waters. The company raised $17 million in series A funding at the end of last year and intends to secure more money later this year, he said.

About a year ago, Bright Automotive was spun out of sustainability and energy consulting firm Rocky Mountain Institute, … Read more

Utility Southern California Edison on Wednesday announced a giant solar energy contract with BrightSource Energy, which could eventually result in powering 845,000 homes with the sun's energy.

Through a series of seven projects, SCE intends to purchase up to 1,300 megawatts of electricity from BrightSource Energy's solar towers that use heat to produce electricity.

Although the companies didn't provide a price tag for the deal, it's one of the biggest solar energy contracts to date in the U.S. and a validation of solar tower technology. The project still needs to be approved by … Read more

Aging eyes or working in a room with poor lighting can sometimes make staring at a too-bright or too-dim monitor a tiring battle through the workday. This nifty little utility offers you more control over your screen's brightness and can make your eyes less tired.

Vista Shades has a limited feature set: It allows you to control the brightness of your monitor. It launches a simple but easy-to-understand interface--a small window with a sliding bar for adjusting the display's brightness. The utility applies the change as you move the slider bar, so you don't have to guess … Read more

Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg returns to the show to talk about his favorite MTV VJ's, infectious diseases, why judges hate him and an itch that's particularly hard to scratch. Today we remain true to the unofficial 404 slogan: "Decency not found." We say goodbye to VCRs and Verbose Asian Guy and hello to the most tragic celebrity deaths. Hey Justin, what's the difference between jam and jelly again?

Remember to check out Guttenberg's blog The Audiophiliac, a must-read for anything and everything related to high-end audio. Steve most recently posted about the new MTV music video site, "where old timers can relive the '80s with Talking Heads, Devo, Tom Petty, Billy Joel, and Tina Turner." We love Steve like our very own weird hippie uncle and you should too, after all, he served jury duty with Alan Hunter, one of the first five MTV VJ's, he works for CNET, and he can squat over 600 lbs.

BlackArrow, an advertising firm that works with content providers and distributors to develop advertising schemes for on-demand Web video viewers, announced today that it has secured an additional $20 million in funding from existing investors, Cisco Systems, Comcast Interactive Capital, Intel Capital, Mayfield Fund, and Polaris Venture Partners, raising its grand total to $38 million in private funding so far.

"This additional funding validates BlackArrow's performance to date, and our strategy for delivering advanced, multiplatform video advertising systems that help customers maximize revenues," Dean Denhart, president and CEO of BlackArrow said. "As audiences continue to embrace … Read more