Hasta La Gadget!

It is not every day that you come across a device like the £21.99 LuminAID Inflatable Light Bag, and as its name suggests, this is one “comfort bag” that would come in handy especially for those who tend to be afraid of the dark whenever they are all alone, and it also targets folks who like to spend their free time in the great outdoors, as this inflatable solar light bag is a perfect and portable alternative to flammable items like torches and gas lanterns.

The LuminAID Inflatable Light Bag comes with dual power settings and an integrated solar panel, where it is capable of illuminating one’s life anywhere from 8 to 10 hours on high, and if you prefer to prolong its battery life, just switch to low setting and it ought to be able to eke out anywhere from 14 to 16 hours of juice. Of course, since this is meant to be a decent outdoor source of light as well, you can always bring it with you even when you are washing up by the lake or in the sea, since the LuminAID Inflatable Light Bag is proud to be fully waterproof, although do not use this as a substitute for a flotation device.
[ LuminAID Inflatable Light Bag copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

From Seiko’s sports watch series, “Seiko Prospects”, a running watch called “Super Runners Solar” officially licensed by IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) will be released on May 24.

Only 2000 watches will be sold.

The colors are black and gold – a color that the company says will let you mind imagine running’s top athletes…

On the back of the watch, the official logo that proves a partnership between IAAF and Seiko is stamped. The solar powered charger function is built in.

Basic functions like stop watch, lap memory, alarm, world time, timer, automatic calender, etc. are featured.

Price is 14,700 yen.

The Super Runners Solar watch can be ordered here.

If you know someone who refuses to type on anything but a typewriter despite being born in the mid-90s, that person will love the latest camera from the crazy folks at Superheadz. The Japanese company’s Sun & Cloud camera can be charged via USB, but it also has a solar panel and even a hand-crank to juice it up. It’s always ready to go. Your friend’s food, cat and latte foam that vaguely resembles his beard don’t stand a chance.

The Sun & Cloud has a 3MP CMOS sensor and an LED flash in front, an LCD screen and button controls at the back and the solar panel up top. From the looks of it, it seems like the hand crank folds neatly into the camera’s case. The camera can also record video and uses micro SD and micro SDHC cards for storage. Finally, what’s a hipster camera without some filters? The Sun & Cloud’s 15 built-in filters has your bicycle-loving behind covered. Judging from the sample shots below, they range from My Recommended Daily Allowance of Sadness Black & White to The Past Was Brighter Than The Future Washed Out.

You can order the Sun & Cloud camera from AC Gears for $199 (USD). But if you want to be extra hip you should buy it straight from Superheadz itself. Seriously though it could be a fun first camera for kids.

[via Freshness]

The Middle East is known for their vast amounts of oil, and of course the money that comes from that oil. However, the region is also getting into renewable energy and alternative methods for providing electricity, most specifically the United Arab Emirates, which is now home to the world’s largest solar power plant, located in Abu Dhabi.

Shams Power Company has opened the new Shams 1 concentrated solar power station that has a capacity of 100 MW and can power up to 20,000 homes and save up to 175,000 tons of CO2 every year, which according to Shams, is the “equivalent to planting 1.5 million trees or taking approximately 15,000 cars off the road.”

The Shams 1 CSP plant uses over 258,000 parabolic mirrors that collect sunlight and concentrate it onto oil pipes that flow through the center of the mirrors. This heats the oil, and after being moved on to a heat exchanger, the heat creates steam that powers turbines that generate electricity. The entire plants covers just over 1.55 square miles.

Of course, this isn’t the first CSP plant to be built. These types of solar power plants date back to the 1980s where the first ones were built in California in the US. However, it wasn’t until today when the Shams 1 plant took the crown for the world’s largest CSP plant. Of course, we’ll most likely see larger ones being built in the future as green tech becomes more popular.

[via TreeHugger]

World’s largest solar power plant opens in Abu Dhabi is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Let’s face it: battery life in smartphones is pretty awful, with only a few devices that are actually worthy of a battery-life crown. However, what if smartphones were powered by solar cells? That would basically change how we use devices, and we would essentially not have to worry about battery life anymore. A new patent from Apple may very well point to a possible solar-powered iPhone in the future.

Yesterday the US Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple patent #8,368,654 titled “Integrated touch sensor and solar assembly.” According to the patent’s abstract, the solar cell array consists of “electrodes that are used both for collecting solar energy and for sensing on a touch sensor array,” meaning that the touchscreen can also act as a solar panel.

The diagram above shows off how the solar cell array would work. It’s not much to look at really, and it’s a very basic illustration, but it provides a bit context to what seems like a nearly impossible concept. However, the illustration shows that the technology can automatically switch between solar-charging mode and touch mode once it detects a finger tap.

Obviously, this is just a patent and it doesn’t prove anything as far as if Apple will actually release a solar-powered device, but it does make us curious as to what the Cupertino-based company has cooking. Of course, if a solar-powered iPhone is indeed on the way, it certainly won’t be for quite a while, so be prepared to wait it out.

[via Forbes]

New Apple patent suggests solar-powered iPhone on the way is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.