focus

Compact Power's lithium ion battery to power 2011 Ford Focus Electric

Ford Motor Company Tuesday announced that Compact Power Inc. (CPI), a subsidiary of LG Chem, will build the lithium ion battery packs for the Ford Focus Electric, which is slated to go on sale in the U.S. in 2011.

"CPI is an emerging leader in the lithium ion battery field and we are pleased to have them as a strategic supplier as we prepare to bring the Ford Focus Electric to market," said Sherif Marakby, Ford director, Sustainable Mobility Products and Hybrid programs. "We are moving aggressively with our electrification strategy and our work to help … Read more

Fold-down grill transforms the backyard

A good backyard grilling session can be exhilarating in the sense that when surrounded by good food, good times, and good weather, it's as if one is transported somewhere else. However, unlike a vacation in some far away land, at home we are surrounded by friends and family, completing the experience to a degree unattainable anywhere else. To complete this journey, all that is needed is some charcoal, a few select food items, and of course, a grill.

With a resemblance to a ship porthole when not in use, the Sigmafocus is a folding wall-mounted charcoal grill that transforms … Read more

Concentrated solar attracts big-name investors

The concentrated photovoltaics industry got another nod of confidence Wednesday.

Amonix, a CPV manufacturer, announced it has raised $129.4 million in Series B funding, with Kleiner Perkins named the lead investor. The Seal Beach, Calif.-based company said it will use the funds to expand manufacturing in an effort to get its CPVs out the door more quickly.

Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar systems differ from regular solar panels in that they use lenses or mirrors to concentrate sunlight on solar cells to maximize the amount of electricity you can generate from solar rays. The technology, while more expensive than … Read more

2011 Ford Focus RS500 makes global debut

You won't see this Ford video on American Idol. The limited edition Ford Focus RS500 boasts a muscular 345 horsepower Duratec RS 2.5-liter 5-cylinder engine with 339 pound-feet of torque.

The unique matte-black "foil" paint finish and matching 19-inch alloy wheels, make the car as flashy as it is fast.

According to a Ford news release, the RS500 is making its global debut at the 2010 Leipzig Motor Show in Germany today. There will only be 500 individually numbered vehicles made for 20 European markets. The RS500 marks the end of production for the current-generation Focus … Read more

Crave giveaway of the week: Lensbaby package

Though we haven't had a digital-imaging-related giveaway in a while, we have a good one this week from Lensbaby for all of you with dSLR cameras. We're not only offering up the Lensbaby Composer Lens but we're also throwing in the two newest additions to the Lensbaby Optic Swap System, the Fisheye Optic, and the Soft Focus Optic.

That's a pretty sweet package.  The good news is that if you win, Lensbaby will send you the right products for your specific camera, whether it's a Canon EF (EOS), Nikon F, Sony Alpha A / Minolta … Read more

PageFocus power for free

PageFocus Pro is an enterprise-capable form-creation, management, and publishing application development package with an integrated database engine. PageFocus Reader is a free tool that you can use to view, navigate, print, and otherwise manage the software's proprietary files as well as PageFocus and PageFocus Pro Forms. It supports electronic data transfer and can be used to distribute e-catalogs, registration and order forms, and documents, as well as for data collection.

This program contains two separate executables, the PageFocus Editor, for creating and editing documents and forms, and the runtime Expo application, which handles the database end. Each uses the … Read more

Bright spot for one California college: A solar farm

Amid all the budget cuts at California's university and community college systems that administrators and students are facing, good news on a California campus is hard to come by these days.

Here is one bright spot.

Victor Valley College, a community college in Victorville, Calif., is partnering with SolFocus to add solar energy as a campus energy source and a part of its curriculum. It plans to install a 1-megawatt high-concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) solar farm on 6 acres of its campus.

The installation once completed will save the campus about a third in annual energy use and raise up … Read more

Free yourself from procrastination

Freedom is a free, ironically named application that's designed to increase productivity by temporarily disabling networking on your computer so you won't be able to visit Web sites, send or receive e-mail, or get distracted by anything else over the Internet.

In Freedom's simple, spare interface, you set the number of minutes that you want your computer to be offline (totaling anywhere between 5 minutes and 8 hours), and you decide whether you want to allow access to your local network (for tasks like printing and file sharing) or completely disable all networking. In recent updates, Freedom … Read more

Google gives millions of dollars in research awards

Research a better mousetrap for Google, and you could find yourself the recipient of a healthy grant.

The search giant debuted its first Google Focused Research Awards on Monday, announcing grants of $5.7 million to several fortunate college professors tackling projects that could benefit the company and hopefully benefit research efforts in general.

The grants cover four specific areas of interest to Google--machine learning, using mobile phones to collect information on health and the environment, energy-efficient computing, and privacy. The company said it has already invested in these fields but that there is much more to do, so it'… Read more