cells

A see-through solar energy panel announced today by Sharp -- primarily designed for balcony railings and skyscraper windows -- offers an uncommon alternative energy solution and sense of privacy in a single package.

The semi-transparent black solar panel launches in Japan on October 1, and delivers a solar power conversion efficiency of about 6.8-percent with a maximum output of 95 watts. While the low conversion rate seems lackluster comparative to the 10- to 20-percent efficiency standard these days, few see-through solar panel options exist commercially. Overall panel size stands at 4.5-feet wide by 3.2-feet tall and sports … Read more

As one who last professed true love in the previous century, it's hard for me to understand why people post cute, cuddly messages about their nearest and most expensive on Facebook.

You know the sort of thing: "My gorgeous wife just bought me a red toothbrush." Or: "My new boyfriend's smile makes my heart sing like Engelbert Humperdinck."

It's hardly: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight."

Still, I … Read more

Passengers aboard Boeing's flagship 747-8 Intercontinental, as well as its 787 Dreamliners and 777s will have the capability to make cell phone calls as soon as 2013, the aviation giant said today.

As part of the company's move to boost connectivity on the most modern planes in its fleet, it plans to outfit them so that they can support cell phone usage, as well as Wi-Fi, live television, and "Internet access using in-flight entertainment."

Boeing said its planes should also support wireless streaming media by 2014.

Of course, whether airlines actually allow passengers to use cell … Read more

The other night, I was awoken with a blinding flash of light.

I believed the nuclear holocaust had arrived. Or, at the very least, my slightly insane stalker.

Instead, my television had spontaneously switched itself on. I had to get out of bed and manually turn it off. I confess it crossed my mind to smack it.

Still somewhat dazed, I am grateful that Microsoft has finally heard my inner cry and patented a technology that allows you to smack a gadget to shut it up. In this case, it's your cell phone.

The Next Web tells me that … Read more

Apple reportedly now has a third company supplying displays for its new iPhone.

Sharp kicked off mass production of iPhone 5 display panels earlier this week, according to The Wall Street Journal. Citing "a person with knowledge of the situation," the Journal said that the electronics company just started shipping the panels to Apple after a delay of several weeks.

Sharp was struggling to ramp up production of the screens for the new iPhone but fell behind in August, according to Reuters. The company is in the midst of severe financial problems and reportedly had to mortgage several … Read more

The wireless industry isn't celebrating a victory yet, despite a federal appeal court ruling that struck down San Francisco's attempt to force cell phone retailers to distribute radiation warning materials with each phone purchased.

The CTIA, the industry's trade association, remained quiet on the ruling. A spokesperson for the CTIA said that the group had no comment on the ruling, which came down yesterday. The court said the city couldn't make merchants promote a message they disagree with.

The CTIA is no doubt waiting to see what San Francisco is going to do next.

The city … Read more

It turns out over half of U.S. mobile users are paranoid about their privacy -- not that they don't have reason to be. According to a new survey by the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, 57 percent of mobile app users have either uninstalled or refused to install apps because of privacy concerns.

"Many cell phone users take steps to manage, control, or protect the personal data on their mobile devices," wrote the survey's authors, Jan Lauren Boyles, Aaron Smith, and Mary Madden. "More than half of mobile application users … Read more

One thing is very clear when it comes to Nokia's mobile devices: Cameras are extremely important.

Kicking off today's press conference about its Microsoft Windows Phone 8 devices, Jo Harlow, executive vice president of Nokia, started by talking about the Lumia 920 and its PureView camera.

However, for the Lumia 920, there was no mention of megapixels or oversampling or lossless zoom, making it clear this is not the same 41-megapixel PureView camera module in the Nokia 808 PureView. PureView is now and, according to Nokia imaging head Damian Dinning's tweets, has always been about branding for … Read more

Smartphones are the Swiss Army Knives of the tech world.

They're cell phones, music and video players, mobile Web browsers, and personal organizers, among other things. Not surprisingly, all this can take a toll on battery life, and when you depend on your smartphone for so much, the last thing you want is for it to run out of juice when you need it most.

Generally speaking, with moderate use, smartphones can give you a full day's performance before needing to be recharged, but not all gadgets are created equal -- some simply run out of steam early, whereas others will hang in there for the long haul. Here are eight smartphones with battery usage that really impressed us, whether it was because they scored well in our CNET Labs battery tests, or simply because their usage time stood out from the crowd of humdrum cell phone batteries we encountered (and believe us, we encounter a lot). Give one of these devices a try if you're looking for a phone that packs some decent juice.… Read more