Australia
Pixel building aims to be world's first carbon neutral office development
Australian developer Grocon plans to build the country’s first carbon neutral office building on a former brewery site in the city of Melbourne – and possibly the first of its kind in the world. According to the developer, the $6 million, four-storey building has been designed to generate more energy on the site than it uses, offsetting the carbon emissions produced to operate it – and, in time, the greenhouse gases generated in making and installing the construction materials. Read More
An Australian pair plan to travel more than 7,450 miles in 12 months, through extreme weather conditions and terrains on a four-wheeled recumbent bicycle called a "quike" (on account of the four wheels). They plan to leave later this month on what promises to be an incredible journey, starting from Astana, Kazakhstan. All medical supplies, food and camping equipment will be carried on the back of the quike which could weigh as much as 960 pounds. Read More
LG's latest Audio/Visual offerings are moving down the path of connectivity and convergence, and delivering some very nice user interfaces. LG's new "Technology Design Centre" made its debut at the Melbourne Formula One Grand Prix on the weekend where the Korean company introduced its PS80 big-screen plasma "Time Machine" TV, with built-in hard drive and digital video recording, its YouTube-capable super-fast BD370 Blu-ray player, its HB954WA 1000w home theatre 5.1 system, tuned by Mark Levinson and featuring wireless rear speakers, and the LH50, an ultra-quick 200hz LED-backlit LCD TV that intelligently adjusts picture controls according to the ambient light conditions in the room. Read More
Kogan Technologies today launched the Agora netbook series, featuring the Agora and the Agora Pro. The 1.6GHz Atom based netbooks are the cheapest available in Australia, starting at AUD$499. Both models come preloaded with the gOS operating system, a variant of Ubuntu Linux, but in an interesting move, Kogan's support team is offering to guide customers through the process of installing other supported operating systems including Windows XP and Windows 7. Read More
Like many governments around the world, Australia's leaders are pouring taxpayer dollars into the economy via stimulus packages designed to counter the effects of the global economic downturn. In Australia, this translates to tax-free payments of AUD$900 destined for the bank accounts of those who earned under AUD$100,000 in the 07-08 financial year. The idea is for consumers to spend the money, and Kogan has cleverly capitalized on what's been dubbed the "flat-screen TV bonus" with the announcement of their "High Definition Stimulus" - a $900, 37-inch 720p HDTV called "Kevin37". Read More
When it comes to the Internet there is no such thing as too fast, and while Fiber to the Home (FTTH) technology is becoming more and more popular internationally with stats showing more than 13 million FTTH-connected homes in Japan, six million in the US, a similar number in China and nearly two million FTTH subscribers in Europe, it's only just reaching countries with lower population densities like Australia. Read More
Scientists developing flexible, large area, cost-effective, reel-to-reel printable plastic solar cells have announced that trials have commenced which promise a new era of solar cells that are printed like money. These printable solar cells offer advantages over traditional solar technology because of the potential to mass produce the cells cheaply using polymer printing technology, a process which has already been used in banknotes in more than 20 countries. Read More
Outback Australian town to run on solar power 24 hours a day
If ever there was a perfect candidate for solar power, the north-west Australian town of Cloncurry is it. The town has long claimed the title of Australia's hottest recorded day - 53 degrees Celsius in the shade in 1889 - and is now is gearing up to produce solar thermal power capable of supplying all of ts electricity needs, 24-hours a day. The system will use up to 8000 mirrors will reflect sunlight onto graphite blocks through which water will be pumped to generate steam that will operate a conventional steam turbine electricity generator. Because heat stays in the graphite, the system will work through the night and on overcast days. Read More
Australian telco declares world record network speed of 21Mbps
Australia’s Telstra was tooting its horn last night at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with news its Telstra Next G network was declared the world’s fastest national mobile broadband network by the Guinness World Records with speeds of 21Mbps. Read More
Researchers in Australia have started a three-year project to develop a spray-on coating for solar panels and more efficient cells that are less costly than today's PV. Australian National University (ANU) is working with new Australian solar company Spark Solar and Finnish materials company Braggone Oy on the method, which could be commercially available by 2011. Read More
