canopy

Multitouch tech brings controls to your iPhone case

LAS VEGAS--The Canopy Sensus is a new touch-sensitive case that does more than just provide protection or add style to your iPhone. This case lets you interact with apps using multitouch surfaces on both the right side and back of the case.

The Sensus looks like a regular case that protects the sides and back of your iPhone, and Canopy says the industrial design exceeds marketplace protection standards. But with an app that supports it, you can touch and swipe on the back and right side of the case to interact with apps and games.

Though Canopy showed only a … Read more

'Canopy' gives subway trains an outside view

Ever had the experience of being in a subway and feeling completely disconnected from the world outside? A group of British design students has dreamed up Canopy, a concept display system that would attach to the ceiling of an underground train to give passengers a picture of life above.

Canopy uses dynamic flexible "e-paper" display panels affixed to the interior of the train. As a train moves along its line, commuters get a view of passing landmarks, a sight that could definitely brighten a stodgy ride. (Then again, it could be a bit dispiriting to watch the world stroll happily down a breezy tree-lined street while you're stuck sweating in a crowded, stalled train.) … Read more

GM dealerships plug into solar canopies

Solar power is coming to General Motors dealerships in an initiative to highlight GM's plug-in Chevy Volt and spiff up dealers' green credentials.

GM said today that 24 dealerships will receive a solar canopy in its Green Zone initiative. The solar arrays will be installed by Sunlogics, a solar company in which GM Ventures has invested $7.5 million.

The solar canopies will generate enough electricity to fully charge 12 Chevy Volts per day. The solar arrays will also offset dealership's electricity bills by generating on-site power.

In a GM video, two of the first dealers with the … Read more

GM buys into solar EV charging through Sunlogics

General Motor's venture arm said today it has invested $7.5 million in solar company Sunlogics and will purchase its solar arrays for GM facilities and dealerships.

Sunlogics will use the money to ramp up its operations, including solar panel production in Michigan and Ontario. The company, based in Rochester Hills, Mich., makes panels using thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells. It also installs and owns solar projects for corporations using its panels.

As part of the investment, GM will install solar canopies at its dealerships and business. It also signed a power purchase agreement in which it will buy … Read more