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Virgin America is teaming up with YouTube for its big coming-out party for its Wi-Fi in the sky service.

The California-based airline will launch its Gogo Inflight Internet service on November 22 in a flight over San Francisco. To show off how robust the in-flight Internet service is, the company is planning to stream a live video feed from the plane down to the ground to an audience attending the YouTube Live concert in San Francisco.

The Gogo service will be available to all passengers on a single Wi-Fi enabled plane starting November 24. And by the second quarter of … Read more

These days it's hard for a porn producer to find new ways to go where no man (or woman or beast) has gone before.

So it is perhaps unsurprising that Virgin Galactic, the company that plans to fly passengers into orbit from late 2009, announced that it has received a $1 million offer to allow a porn movie to be shot on one of its spacecraft, an offer the company has declined.

As I understand it, the producers thought they would be able to find a completely different kind of action if the participants were under the influence of … Read more

Solyndra, a start-up making thin-film photovoltaic systems, has secured $600 million in funding.

It's additionally secured $1.2 billion in contracts from clients in the U.S. and Europe, the Fremont, Calif.-based company revealed Tuesday.

What start-up gets that kind of funding and client promise? Basically, one that's invented thin-film solar panels shaped like old-school fluorescent lightbulbs.

Since 2005, Solyndra has quietly been developing a proprietary CIGS-based thin film photovoltaic (PV) system and a staff of more than 500 employees.

CIGS is a material that includes a combination of copper, indium, gallium, and selenide. It's now … Read more

After taking a closer look at the Virgin Mobile Shuttle at CTIA Fall 2008, we managed to get a review unit in house to put the phone through its paces.

I have to say that despite its 3G speeds and location-based services, I was a little underwhelmed by the Shuttle's offerings. Now, this is not to say I dislike it. Indeed, I actually think it's one of the best phones in Virgin Mobile's lineup, with its smooth curved design and sleek slider form factor. Even its 1.3-megapixel camera wasn't too bad, despite the washed-out picture … Read more

There might be all kinds of fascinating self-protective reasons why Google is launching the Android phone in conjunction with T-Mobile. However, at least as interesting a development this past week is the company's entry into Interbrand's list of the top 10 brands in the world.

Google's sudden appearance at No. 10 represents a jump of 10 places and puts the company at a, for some, surprising 14 places above Apple. And a few thousand places above Bear Stearns.

Directly above Google is Disney and one rung below you'll find Mercedes. Much further down you'll find … Read more

I finally had a chance to take a closer look at the Virgin Mobile Shuttle yesterday at the Mobile Focus show at CTIA. As you might recall, the Shuttle is Virgin Mobile's first ever 3G handset with EV-DO. It also has GPS functionality, and borrows a couple of Helio location-based services such as Buddy Beacon, a friend-finder application, and Where, which lets you find nearby restaurants or gas stations.

Despite its high-end features, the Shuttle looks and feels like any other Virgin Mobile phone. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but we were expecting a more sophisticated Helio-esque … Read more

As part of the Virgin Mobile Shuttle launch earlier Wednesday morning, Virgin Mobile has also relaunched the Helio brand. Now known as Helio by Virgin Mobile, Virgin Mobile has enhanced the Helio $80 a la carte plan to include unlimited minutes as a replacement for the 1,500 minutes previously provided. This new plan will be available for both current and new Helio members.

In addition to all this, Virgin Mobile representatives told us they are looking forward to incorporating more of Helio's previous offerings into their current lineup. The Shuttle already has the location-based feature with applications like … Read more

Aside from the new Shuttle, Virgin Mobile is also churning out new colors of some of its existing phone offerings for the fall season. The LG Flare will now be available in silver, the Kyocera TNT will be available in lavender and espresso (with matching earbuds as an option), and the Arc will be released in a rather audacious gold. The silver Flare will be offered via Best Buy Mobile with a dollar of each purchase going to benefit a nonprofit. The lavender and espresso TNTs are exclusive from Wal-Mart, and you can get a gold Arc at Target stores. … Read more

Virgin Mobile and Personal Communications Devices (formerly known as UTStarcom) have announced the Shuttle, the carrier's first-ever 3G handset. Equipped with EV-DO, GPS, and a slew of high-end features, the Shuttle is one of the first signs of Virgin's Helio acquisition, in that it is enriching its rather basic lineup with strong full-featured devices previously associated with Helio.

Indeed, the Shuttle will feature Virgin Mobile's first location-based services from uLocate, like Buddy Beacon, a friend-finder application found previously on Helio phones, as well as Where, an application that delivers local information such as nearby events and restaurants. … Read more