wave

Maine offshore energy project exceeds expectations

Maine is now home to the "largest ocean energy device ever installed in U.S. waters," the Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) announced Wednesday.

That device is the company's Beta Power System, which was installed in Cobscook Bay off of Eastport, Maine, and includes a submerged Turbine Generator Unit with a capacity of 60 kilowatts.

The TGU works in similar principle to a wind turbine, but with a horizontal turbine propelled by tidal currents instead of wind. The turbine is built from composite materials resistant to corrosion and, being gearless, requires no lubricants that could make their … Read more

Friday Poll: What would have saved Google Wave?

This week, Google surprised absolutely nobody everyone when it announced that it was pulling the plug on Google Wave, its collaboration tool that was billed "as if e-mail were invented today."

The tool, which debuted in June 2009, was ambitious, to be sure, and many--myself included--liked where Wave seemed to be headed. It just never got there. Or even close. Or anywhere really.

Google says it's going to keep Wave around, but stop supporting it (kind of like the kid I had with my first ex--JK, JK). Some think Wave failed because it wasn't tied to … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1285: You can't handle the tech (podcast)

On today's show, a rousing discussion on the future of Net neutrality, whether you can handle the truth that is the forthcoming technological revolution, and whether glass-bottomed buses are going to start an upskirting revolution in China. (Ok, actually, that last is about the cleverest little traffic congestion solution ever.)

Google, Verizon in tiered-Net traffic talks

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Verizon & Google agreement may raise net fees RIP Google Wave FTC & Intel reach settlement Jailbreakme.com patch coming soon

Eric Schmidt on the demise of Google Wave

TRUCKEE, Calif.--Eric Schmidt tried to paint the failure of Google Wave as a sign that the company's innovative culture continues to take risks and aim big.

"Our policy is we try things," the Google CEO said, hours after the company announced it was halting development of the complex real-time communication tool. "We celebrate our failures. This is a company where it is absolutely OK to try something that is very hard, have it not be successful, take the learning and apply it to something new."

Schmidt said Wave, despite its lack of market success, … Read more

Google pulls plug on Google Wave

Google is waving good-bye to Wave.

The company said on its blog on Wednesday that it is halting development on Google Wave, a real-time collaboration tool aiming to combine various forms of online communication.

"Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked," Senior Vice President Urs Holzle said in the blog post. "We don't plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site, at least through the end of the year, and extend the technology for use in other Google projects."

Google debuted Wave in June … Read more

Oregon on track to get utility-scale wave farm

Ocean Power Technologies announced Wednesday it's close to getting a license to build a wave energy plant off the coast of Oregon.

The New Jersey-based company has signed a settlement agreement that includes over 11 government agencies, and several private companies, to develop a 1.5-megawatt wave energy station.

When completed the plant will consist of 10 PowerBuoys that could generate enough electricity to power 1,000 homes annually, according to Ocean Power.

Ocean Power's PowerBuoys resemble ordinary ocean buoys from the surface, but hold a piston-like device inside that moves up and down with the natural jostle of ocean waves. The electricity generated by the movement is then sent to shore via underwater transmission cables. The buoys also contain onboard sensors and communication tools that allow the buoy to be monitored and adjusted to maximize its effect depending on the changing behavior of the ocean waves.

Oregon Iron Works is already constructing the buoys for the Oregon project, even though Ocean Power is still waiting to be granted its license with the Federal Energy Regulation Commission to connect to the grid, the company said in a statement.

Ocean Power participated in studies and investigations in conjunction with local government agencies to evaluate whether the project would have an effect on local marine life or the Oregon crabbing and fishing industries, among other concerns. As part of the settlement agreement, Ocean Power will also participate in a management plan to continually evaluate the project's impact on the local environment and fishing industry. … Read more

The 404 620: Where Wilson got beaten by an octopus (podcast)

Paul the German Octopus is officially more powerful than our own Wilson G. Tang at predicting the future. The mollusk in Oberhausen is 8 for 8 in forecasting the winning teams in this year's World Cup, including yesterday's triumphant victory for Spain over the Netherlands.

In fact, we already planned to invite Paul into the studio this Friday to tell us about the iPhone 5, but recent news tells us that the eight-legged wonder is already planning his retirement from the soccer prediction industry.

If you haven't figured it out by now, The 404 crew is complete … Read more

Samsung expands Wave, Omnia lines

SINGAPORE--Samsung announced a slew of new handsets at this year's CommunicAsia trade show in Singapore. In addition to the Galaxy 3 and Galaxy 5 Android entrants, the company expanded its Omnia and Wave portfolios with new Windows Mobile and Bada devices.

When it first announced its Bada mobile platform last November, Samsung said it was meant for low- to midrange devices. However, there seemed to be some contradiction as its first Bada phone, the Wave, came with a fast 1GHz processor and the Sammy's best Super AMOLED display. With the new Wave 2 (S5250) and Wave2 Pro (S5330), the company will be realizing that plan. The two handsets come with a 3.2-inch WQVGA screen and 2.5G connectivity. High-speed Internet is still possible, as they feature Wi-Fi, though you'll need to be within range of a hotspot for that to work.

A year back, Samsung greatly expanded its Omnia (Windows Phone) lineup with multiple products bearing different form factors. This time, the two new Omnia Pro 4 (B7350) and Omnia Pro 5 (B6520) are simply updates of the non-touch-screen B7330 smartphone. They come with pretty standard features, including a QVGA display (Pro 5) or 320 x 320-pixel screen (Pro 4) and HSDPA connectivity.

Here are the details of the new phones. For more of the action in Singapore, check out CNET Asia's full CommuniAsia coverage. … Read more

Samsung touts new tablet, smartphones

Samsung will release its Galaxy Tab tablet no later than the third quarter of this year, revealed J.K. Shin, president of the company's mobile communications division, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Tuesday.

Based on the few specs and a photo leaked earlier this month, the Galaxy Tab will sport a high-resolution 7-inch display, making it more compact than Apple's iPad with its 9.7-inch screen. Blog site Samsung Hub (not affiliated with Samsung) said the 7-inch model will hit the market in August, and that two others may follow: an 8-inch version in … Read more