The biggest difference between the coronal mass ejection unleashed last month and these two, however, is that April’s CME was an M-class, while these two are X-class. An X-class solar flare is approximately ten times more powerful than an M-class flare, obviously bringing with it potential for higher damages. The first flare, occurring on May 12, was an X1.7, while the second flare, occurring on May 13, was an X2.8, making it 2013′s strongest thus far. Both resulted in coronal mass ejections.

The X1.7 solar flare reached its peak at about 10PM at night, and earned the designation of 2013′s first X-class solar flare. The coronal mass ejection that followed was not directed towards Earth, but the radiation resulting from the flare did cause some radio blackouts, which have since been restored. According to NASA, this particular CME left the sun going 745 miles per hour.

A couple hours later, just after midnight, the X2.8 solar flare was unleashed, coming out twice as powerful as the first one and making it the biggest so far this year. The coronal mass ejection that followed was launched at 1200 miles per second and aimed towards NASA’s STEREO-B, Spitzer, and Messenger spacecrafts. While there was a risk of damage, the agency said the crafts could be switched into safe mode if necessary.

Solar flares are currently happening at a more rapid rate than typical because the sun’s activity cycle, which lasts 11 years, is nearing its solar maximum, which is slated to happen later this year. NASA assures readers that the solar flares are normal, and that these are the first this year of a cycle that began back in early 2011, with the one that happened on May 13, 2013 being the 15th in the cycle.

SOURCE: NASA

The tablet is referred to as a “backcountry survival tablet,” and it comes with all the features that most hikers would want out of such a device, including the typical wireless connections including NFC, as well as GPS with topographical maps that are preloaded onto the tablet. There’s a two-way walkie-talkie built in to chat with other hikers who have an Earl tablet as well.

The device sports a 6-inch e-ink display, so it’s certainly nothing that you would watch movies or play games on, and there’s also no camera to take photos, but we’re guessing you’d use your dedicated shooter anyway if you wanted to take photos of the beautiful scenery. It won’t be a tablet for most everyday users, but it seems that it’s an option for the survivalists.

As for price and availability, the Earl tablet is actually trying to raise money to fund its production. The tablet’s website is currently taking pre-orders at $250 a pop, which is 30% off the retail price of the tablet when it eventually launches. The company is seeking $250,000 and they’ve raised almost $13,000 so far as of this writing, with 32 days left to go.

[via Android Community]

The product can give solar panels a run for their money, but the scientists aren’t going to stop there. They intend to find a way to use this technology to produce a paint that can be used for homes, as well as other objects. However, Professor Kostya Novoselov, one of the scientists who discovered graphene, stated that the development of the paint isn’t going to happen until much later in the future.

The graphene paint can be used to power a number of devices, with one emphasis being on mobile phones. The scientists believe that graphene paint would bring in a “new generation” of mobile phones that are solar powered and are ultra-thin. Not only can graphene paint be used to power objects, scientists believe that they will be able to make it change colors on-demand as well.

The scientists are optimistic about the development of graphene. Not only is the material harder than diamond, and able to conduct electricity, there are many more possibilities for it as well. Professor Novoselov stated that they would be able to use graphene to develop different types of products with a variety of properties other than producing solar powered energy. He states,

“We have been trying to go beyond graphene by combining with with other one atom thick materials. What we have been doing is putting different layers of these materials one on top of the other and what you get is a new type of material with a unique set of properties. It is like a book – one page contains some information but together the book is so much more. The implementations would go much further than simple solar powered cells”

[via Telegraph]

Solar Impulse has a wingspan of 207 feet, which is 2/3 the length of an American football field and the same wingspan as many commercial jets. The plane also sports 12,000 solar cells and 900 pounds of batteries to keep it going for a prolonged period of time. The team of two tested-flew the plane in 2010, and it was able to stay in the sky for 26 hours straight.

However, only Piccard will be making the journey across the country, but it won’t be as fast as what a commercial jet could make the trip in. Solar Impulse has a top speed of around 50 miles per hour, so it’s expected to take a few days for the plane to reach New York, whereas a jumbo jet could make the trip in just a few hours.

If the Piccard name sounds familiar, than you’re on to something (no, not Star Trek). In 1999, Piccard circled the globe in a gas-powered balloon, and his father, Jacques Piccard, was the first person to descend to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 1960. After Piccard completes the flight across the US, his next goal is to take the plane around the entire world, just like he did with the balloon.

[via Smithsonian Magazine]

Few details are known at this point, but Hadfield referred to the damage on the solar panel as a “bullet hole,” and said that he was “glad it missed the hull.” We’re not sure exactly what would happen if a small rock like that collided with the ISS hull, but judging from Hadfield’s sigh of relief, nothing good would come out of it.

We’re guessing that the hole didn’t cause too much severe damage to the solar panel, or else the ISS would be in deep trouble. We’re not sure how large the small hole is, but it doesn’t look big at all — merely a small speck compared to the sheer size of the solar panels on the station.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Hadfield has talked about small meteoroids hitting the ISS. He hosted a Reddit AmA back in February where he discussed “micro-meteorites would sometimes hit the hull and make a loud “ping” noise, which leaves dents on the outside of the station. However, Hadfield notes that a larger piece of rock could come along and cause greater damage.

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]

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]

Said Zhenan Bao, the study’s senior author, “Carbon has the potential to deliver high performance at a low cost. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a working solar cell that has all of the components made of carbon. This study builds on previous work done in our lab.” Silicon solar panels are rigid, while the newly-built solar cell is a thin film that “can be coated from solution.”

According to Bao, in the future we could see these new flexible carbon solar cells coated on various surfaces, such as windows, rather than the rigid silicon panels often seen on roofs. The solar cell itself uses graphene and carbon nanotubes rather than indium tin oxide electrodes, a material that is becoming more expensive and scarce as demand grows. The active layer is also composed of carbon nanotubes, as well as carbon molecules called buckyballs.

The study’s co-author Michael Vosgueritchian said, “Every component in our solar cell, from top to bottom, is made of carbon materials. Other groups have reported making all-carbon solar cells, but they were referring to just the active layer in the middle, not the electrodes.” So what’s the downside? For now at least, the all-carbon cell is inefficient, mostly absorbing almost infrared wavelengths and offering a lab efficiency under 1-percent. According to Bao, the researchers have a long way to go in terms of efficiency, which they expect to increase by utilizing better processing techniques and materials.

[via Stanford]

According to scientist Mike Hapgood, who specializes in space weather at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, solar storms are more commonly being placed on national risk registers used for disaster planning along with events such as tsunamis and volcanic eruption. Hapgood warns that while solar flares are rare, when they happen consequences on earth could be catastrophic. Magnetically-charged plasma thrown from the surface of the sun can have a significant impact on earth.

The chance of a massive solar storm is about 12% for every decade. According to the scientists, the last major solar storm was over 150 years ago, and the odds say that a massive solar storm occurs approximately once in every 100 years. The fear is that these massive solar storms could melt transformers within national power grids, destroy or damage satellites, knockout radio communications, and more.

The largest solar storm ever recorded happened in 1859. British astronomer Richard Carrington observed a large solar eruption, and the geomagnetic storms caused by the eruption took 17 hours to reach the earth. According to reports from 1859, the solar storm is so massive that the aurora borealis was seen as far south as the Caribbean. Had such an event happened in modern times with satellites in orbit, the consequences could have been disastrous.

[via Skynews]

As strange as that is, it clearly shows that Walmart designs stores with an eye toward using natural lighting and saving electricity. Walmart has announced that it has installed its 100th solar installation in the state of California. The 100th store to get a solar panel installation was Walmart location on College Avenue in San Diego. Walmart says that the solar panel installation is the latest step on its road to being supplied by 100% renewable energy in all locations.

According to Walmart, its green initiatives also generate significant jobs at each location with an average of 48 contract positions per site. Walmart also states that its focus on solar power has generated more than 3000 contract construction jobs in California alone. Walmart has a significant solar footprint in the state of California with its total combined solar effort generating up to 70 million kWh of clean renewable energy each year.

That is enough power for 5400 typical homes. Walmart is also eliminating 21,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year. That is equivalent to taking 4100 cars off the road. The solar installations are able to provide 10 to 30% of each facility’s total electricity needs.

“Walmart has demonstrated a real commitment to solar energy systems here in San Diego and throughout California, and hopefully other companies will make the move to do the same on their rooftops,” said Tony Young, San Diego City Council President. “This latest renewable energy effort is another step forward in San Diego’s clean-energy mission and will help make our city a better, more sustainable place for current residents and our next generation.”

A sunspot is a temporary area of relatively cooled plasma on the surface of the sun. The group of sunspots that appeared on Sunday were massive, with four individual zones larger than the Earth itself and a complete length of over 100,000 kilometers. The same region of the sun is currently experiencing major solar flare activity, and stronger than usual flares are expected to hit the Earth between May 9th and May 11th.

Solar flares are usually harmless to people and animals on the ground, but significant solar activity also comes with a magnetic component. These strong and unexpected magnetic fields can interfere with electronic equipment. The radiation from a coronal mass ejection can affect satellites in orbit, and at extreme levels, become attracted to large electrical centers, knocking out power in high population areas.

[via Spaceweather - photo by Alan Friedman]

The liquid solar cell technology can be implemented under a low-temperature process, which means that it can be printed on plastic instead of glass without concern of the plastic melting. This would allow for cheap, flexible solar panels and more options in applying the solar technology.

Although the new liquid solar nanocrystals are cheaper than traditional single-crystal silicon wafer solar cells to produce, they are also much less efficient. In order to keep the particles stable, organic ligand molecules are used to attach to the nanocrystals to keep them from clumping, but in effect, also insulates them and reduces their conductivity.

Additionally, the current nanocrystals used are made of the semiconductor cadmium selenide, which is considered toxic and is restricted in commercial applications. The researchers are still working on alternative materials for the nanocrystals. Hence, it will still be a few years before we see this technology in commercial use.

[via Gizmag]

The Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) is NASA’s first Living with a Star (LWS) satellite, intended to accompany the sun for five years (though predicted to last much longer than that) and observe its constantly evolving output. A full CD’s worth of data is gathered every 36 seconds, squirted back to a dedicated ground station on Earth via a geosynchronous connection.

“By better understanding the Sun and how it works, we will be able to better predict and better forecast the “weather out in space”" NASA says, “providing earlier warnings to protect our astronauts and satellites floating around out there.”

However, eruptions of solar radiation can also have a huge impact on electronics back on Earth. Earlier this year, a massive incident caused widespread aurora, while NASA also warned that electrical devices and wireless technologies could be impacted.

Dr. Xing Li, Dr. Huw Morgan and Mr. Drew Leonard will present their findings of the event at the National Astronomy Meeting 2012. You can find animations of the huge solar tornado here.

[via Ed Yong]

This is just one of many smaller breaks in communication and smaller systems in space technology since the solar storms of 2012 began. If you take a look back in our archives here on SlashGear, you’ll find that the results have been small, but worth noting due to the public’s increasing interest in space-related matters as of late. Another example of this phenomenon is today’s reveal of Rovio’s Angry Birds: Space video game expansion as announced by NASA aboard the International Space Station.

What’s going on here with the ESA is that while they do expect to get this Venus Express unit back online in the timeframe they’ve set, it’s important that they do no fail, as launching a replacement would certainly be costly. Octavio Camino, Venus Express spacecraft operation manager at ESA’s European Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany, noted the following:

“We were not able to detect any stars, so we decided to switch to the B unit, but we saw exactly the same thing. Both of them were blinded by heavy solar activity. Since then, we have not been able to get them back on track, so we are doing a lot of things in order to keep the spacecraft in a safe configuration.” – Camino

Paolo Ferri, head of ESA’s solar and planetary mission operations, also had a bit to say about the urgency of the situation:

“We have several days of margin if we need it, but of course we’re concerned. We don’t like to be in this type of situation. Normally these spacecraft are very autonomous, but this forces us to do a lot of manual operations that we normally don’t do.” – Ferri

Again it’s looking like the teams involved in the project will be able to get the situation under control well within their limits, and as Ferri notes: “It’s a lot of manual babysitting now, but we don’t expect this to last forever.”

[via Space.com]

Usually, solar panels charge solely off of outdoor sunlight, but the advanced solar technology built into this cover will charge your battery indoors as well. The cover is available with or without the solar charging option – but without the solar capabilities, this cover is just like many others. It’s only an extra $20 for the solar option, so it will be money well spent.

They claim it will triple your reading time, and could even supply up to 3 months or more of reading time on a single charge. Support for more tablets will be key for SolarFocus. I know some Android tablets that could sure use a boost in battery life, so this technology may benefit them even more.

The 7.9 x 4.7 x 0.72 inch case holds the Kindle in place using foam inserts, and controls are limited to a single power button. An LED indicator shows battery status – either red, amber or green – and an hour of direct sunlight is apparently good enough for three days of ereading.

As for the LED light, that’s an 800 lux lamp for bedtime or airplane reading, pivoting out of the top section of the case and illuminating the non-backlit epaper display. A pass-through USB port recharges both the Kindle and the case.

It’s available for order now, priced at $79.99.

The reshaping will involve changing the slope of the land so that the large solar farm can be installed. Apple is big on green energy and the power company that provides power to the large data center right now gets its electricity from coal and nuclear plants. Other Apple locations are 100% powered by renewable energy and green is big to Apple so the solar farm is on the agenda.

The solar project is being called “Project Dolphin Solar Farm A Expanded” that Dolphin project name is reportedly the codename for the billion dollar data center constructed in Maiden. According to the plans, the solar farm will have multiple gravel roads to access the panels for maintenance. For now, there is no information available on how large the solar farm would be. Apple can fit lots of solar panels on 171 acres.

[via Charlotte Observer]

What Dwyer did, whilst on a hike in the Catskills of course, was to take a look at some trees. His mind twisted and turned as the leaves on these trees did, and he wondered if the sequence at which the leaves grew from the branches had anything to do with how well the trees were able to soak up sunlight. He then did some advanced learning for his age, finding out all about the Fibonacci sequence, the golden rectangle, and the spiral it creates. Dwyer applied what he learned to the branches he was studying, and what do you know, the leaves adhered to the sequence.

Once he figured this out, his Oak Tree specimen’s secret may well have become Dwyers greatest discovery in his short 13 years on this earth. Taking what he’d learned so far about the placement of the leaves on the tree, he arranged solar panels on a model he’d created specifically for this scientific experiment. He found that by arranging the panels in such a way, he was able to increase efficiency by 20 to 50 percent over straight-line solar arrays.

Dwyer’s write-up on the project concludes with the following:

The tree design takes up less room than flat-panel arrays and works in spots that don’t have a full southern view. It collects more sunlight in winter. Shade and bad weather like snow don’t hurt it because the panels are not flat. It even looks nicer because it looks like a tree. A design like this may work better in urban areas where space and direct sunlight can be hard to find.

Because of this project, the American Museum of Natural History has bestowed Dwyers with a Young Naturalist award. It’s expected that Dwyers has a bright future ahead of him whatever he decides to do with his awesome brain.

[via Atlantic]

The company that makes the device doesn’t offer much in the way of technical details on the charger. I guess it’s geared more towards the well-heeled that just want it to look good and work. What the company does say is that it will provide 30 hours of charge time for a mobile phone or MP3 player and the internal battery charger via USB and the solar panel.

What I want to know that isn’t mentioned is how long exactly that solar panel will need to charge the internal battery. I suspect that it would be a number of hours just as other charges need. The leather case will protect the charger and has a carbon fiber embossed design on it. The price hasn’t been announced at this time and availability is a question as well.

[via Uncrate]

Liliputing has reached out to Samsung to see what the delay in shipping the netbook is. Apparently, there was a delay in getting the solar panels the rig needs. The delay in getting the solar panels means that the notebook will now ship in mid to late August. That is roughly a month wait if you want the netbook. You can still pre-order the rig on Amazon.

If you missed the post yesterday other than the solar panel on top, the machine has basic netbook hardware inside. That means a 1.66GHz Atom N570 and a 10.1-inch screen with the matte finish I mentioned and 1024 x 600 resolution. There are more details on the solar panel now too. The unit used will generate enough power to provide another hour of run time for every two hours of sun exposure.

[via Liliputing]

The machine has a 10.1-inch screen with a resolution of 1024 x 600 and that screen has a matte finish. Matte finish is a good thing for a notebook that will be used in the sun a lot. You can only get the machine in black and Amazon doesn’t note the official launch date. The netbook runs an Atom N570 processor and has 1GB of RAM inside.

Storage is to a 250GB HDD and the machine has WiFi, Bluetooth, and a LAN port and runs Windows 7 Starter. I wonder how well the solar panels work and how much extra run time the user can expect. The typical solar panel isn’t very efficient and takes a long time to charge. The pre-order price is $399.

[via Netbooknews]

“This could lead to a new kind of solar cell without semiconductors and without absorption to produce charge separation,” Rand said. “In solar cells, the light goes into a material, gets absorbed and creates heat. Here, we expect to have a very low heat load. Instead of the light being absorbed, energy is stored in the magnetic moment. Intense magnetization can be induced by intense light and then it is ultimately capable of providing a capacitive power source.”

Right now solar power cells are expensive and somewhat dirty to produce as they are made from semiconducting wafers. This will allow solar collection apparatus to be constructed from much more common materials. This could be the breakthrough that makes solar power cheap enough for widespread adoption.

“To manufacture modern solar cells, you have to do extensive semiconductor processing,” Fisher, a PhD student involved in the research, said. “All we would need are lenses to focus the light and a fiber to guide it. Glass works for both. It’s already made in bulk, and it doesn’t require as much processing. Transparent ceramics might be even better.”

This could be a major breakthrough, focusing the light into a usable beam and creating voltage potential with cheaper materials is going to be the ticket to ending the world’s dependence on fossil fuels once and for all. There isn’t going to be a magic bullet that’ll solve all of these problems, solar power is a major component. Efficient energy storage solutions like flywheel energy storage systems are also going to be an important part in leveling out the grid.

[via Earth Techling]

Daniel Nocera is the MIT chemist responsible for this amazing piece of technology. He says of this.

Nature is powered by photosynthesis, and I think that the future world will be powered by photosynthesis as well in the form of this artificial leaf.

Researchers claim that this device could power a home in the developing world. Wired UK reports that the scientist has negotiated with Tata Group of India to produce a power plant smaller than a car. Should we think of that like an artificial tree? Nocera said, “One can envision villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology.” This deal is slated to wrap up late 2012.

[via Wired UK]

Video demo after the cut

Together, the two sources are good enough to power a portable TV for 4.8hrs, though you can connect two units together to double the runtime. The flexible solar panel sheet is developed by Fuji Electric Systems, and the internal battery can be recharged from a 12V DV input.

There’s also a standard USB port for hooking up portable gadgets like cellphones. OS began shipping the GSR-110B back in January, with the device priced at 60,000 yen ($730).

[youtube XjL1mQFlp7A]

[via OhGizmo]

The concept images we got show two concealed OLED screens, one of them paired with a touchpad. For solar lovers out there, the design includes an integrated solar charging panel on the back of the handset. Joseph also shows a rendering that suggests what seems like a primarily gesture based UI. The touchpad area is a slight concave depression that contains another AMOLED screen. We don’t know why he decided to have a partial touchpad and separate screen when most devices these days seem to be gravitating after the iPhone’s basic design. He claims that the solar charging system will charge the battery to 80% of full capacity. We’re looking forward to seeing this design, and others from Mr. Lee in the future.

Check out our other articles on concept designs here.

[via Concept Phones]

GSLO has announced this week that it has initiated mass production of the Volt chargers. If you haven’t been following this interesting green charger for the iPhone, the device is a case with a 1500mAh battery inside.

On the back of the case is a solar panel to help keep that battery charged up on the go. GSLO isn’t offering an exact launch date, but the CEO of the firm says that it will go on sale “soon” and will have a 1-year warranty. You can still pre-order directly from the manufacturers site.

GLSO reports that the Volt is the only iPhone battery pack it knows about that will work with the AT&T and Verizon version of the iPhone. The Volt case will come to North American in red, black, and white with a one-year warranty. GSLO is still taking reservations for the case if you want to order one up.

“Filing this patent application is an important step in bringing the Volt Solar Charger to market,” Rohde said. “We anticipate that this filing will protect our proprietary technology and dissuade potential competitors from copying our design.”

The cost of the death ray? Only about $90. We wonder if this could have useful properties, other than destroying things. Solar energy, maybe? The video is here.

Unfortunately, the solar death ray was destroyed by, you guessed it, fire. He is working on a new, more powerful version.

[via HotHardware]

According to GSLO this is the last step before it can start marketing the cases and selling them in the US. GSLO is going to “thoroughly test” Volt units to ensure that the cases are manufactured well before selling them.

The Volt is a case with a battery packs that has a small solar panel on the back. The idea is that the solar panel will trickle charge the cases internal battery and help keep it charged up longer. The Volt is also the only battery pack I have heard of that will work with the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. You can reserve your own Volt case here.

Being an ultra-rugged and splashproof speaker system, the Soultra XL is ready to handle the elements while you enjoy your music outdoors. The device is powered by a lithium ion battery which is charged by a 72 square inch enhanced monocrystal solar panel.

Sporting 8 speaker drivers (2x tweeters, 2x woofers, and 4x passive radiators) the system was surprising loud all while being incredibly clear. Performance wise we were told that the system will take 5 hours to fully charge in the sun, which would yield 4 hours of playback.

Last year’s Soultra is available now for $200 and is a more compact solution with Aspen Green and Crimson Graphite colors coming soon. The Soultra XL will be shipping the second quarter of this year for an estimated retail of $300.

Duran, who lives in Galicia, Spain, has taken the steps to get her ownership of the sun registered, and notarized. She actually did this back in September, and she followed in the same exact steps as the American man who believes he owns the moon. The document states that Duran is now the owner of the Sun, a star of spectral type G2, located in the centre of the solar system, located at an average distance from Earth of about 149,600,000 kilometers.”

But, it gets better. Duran actually plans on charging for the use of the sun. But, she’s a gracious owner, and won’t take all of the money for herself. She’s going to disburse it, giving 10 percent to fight world hunger, another 10 percent to general research, and Spain’s government will get half of the money. She will get 10 percent, herself.

[via GearLog]

We spied a few more details on the Sony Playstation phone with a new batch of pics turning up. The phone looks a lot like the PSP Go to me. The Xbox 360 got a dashboard update early in the week. The update brought with it some fixes along with ESPN Live on Xbox Live and more.

Stats from Canalys on the smartphone sales numbers were offered up early in the week. The stats show that Android devices are more prolific than other smartphones and that iPhone is the top smartphone in the market. New details on the launch of the ViewPad 7 and ViewPad 10 surfaced with pricing confirmed along with availability. The 7-inch version will launch in Q4 at $479 with the 10-inch version coming in Q1 2011 for $629.

The Blackberry Storm 3 specs were leaked this week. The leak pegs the Storm 3 to sport an 8MP camera, 8GB of storage, 3.7-inch screen and a 1GHz processor. We posted up our review of the Blackberry Style flip phone this week. We found the phone to be “alright” with a rather difficult user interface.

The next iPhone will use NFC tech and according to a source, the device will be able to get remote Mac access. The system would reportedly use the iPhone as an authenticator with user data stored on the handset and in the cloud. The Samsung Galaxy Tab was subjected to a teardown on video this week. The gang at iFixit took the device apart and showed us what the thing looks like on the inside.

Google’s Chrome OS was tipped to be launching in November. The OS has been anticipated by some for a long time and the OS is expected to bring with it a Google branded netbook eventually. Michael Dell said at an industry event this week that Windows Phone 7 was easier to develop for than Android. Dell also said that his company would be getting into the tablet market in a big way during 2011.

We put up our review of the HTC Desire Z smartphone this week. We figure that the compromises in size and usability involved with having a physical keyboard will be too much for most users. The LG H1000B Windows 7 tablet computer was outed by the FCC this week. The specs gleaned include WiFi and Bluetooth, the device is expected to show up around CES time.

A gigantic iPhone coffee table with a 58-inch multitouch screen surfaced. The table has an interface for the iPhone and you can actually use the device via the giant table screen. There are some faults in the screens of some MacBook Air notebooks. Those faults include visual glitches and failures among others that are forcing replacements of the screens in both new Air sizes.

Apple’s letter to music studios surfaced this week where it was telling the studios that it was upping the preview length on songs to 90-seconds. The crux of the note was agree or take your content with you when you leave. LG’s Optimus Pad Android tablet will be coming in early 2011 according to the company. It will have an 8.9-inch screen and a Tegra 2 chip inside.

The screen exploit on the iPhone that allows a user to gain access to the device has been patched. The patch is part of the iOS 4.2 update that should be landing soon. AUO showed off an interesting notebook with a solar keyboard lacking real keys and a screen that shows 3D content needing no glasses. The screen is a 14-inch unit and the machine should be seen at the FPD International expo, it looks all concept to me.

The Panasonic Lumix GF2 turned up this week. The little camera has a touchscreen and a 12.1MP image sensor that can record full HD 1080p video. The Skyfire browser supporting Flash video for the iPhone hit the App Store this week. The app sold so quickly that the company had to pull the app after its servers couldn’t handle the video requests from users.

An iPhone 3G user has filed suit against Apple and is looking for class action status. The woman behind the suit alleges that Apple knew the iOS4 update would brick the iPhone 3G and launched it anyway as a way to force users to upgrade. We learned that Notion Ink was set to start taking pre-orders in December on the Adam slate. The device should get FCC approval and might hit the market in time for gift giving.

The Dell Inspiron Duo has been offered up in an official video teaser. The device has a speaker dock and has both tablet and netbook modes, it looks really cool. Apple is working on a fix for the MacBook Air display issue is mentioned earlier. Apparently, one of the issues has the screen fading from dark to light after waking from sleep and at times has horizontal screen flickering.

Calvin Klein has unveiled a set of designer 3D glasses called the ck3D. The glasses will be offered at $180 per pair in December and are the only RealD certified curved lenses on the market. We put up our review of the myTouch 4G smartphone Thursday. The best way to sum it up is that we think it’s one of the best Android devices around.

The geeks over at iFixit took a shiny new Microsoft Kinect and tore it to pieces this week. The thing has a single cooling fan and multiple camera lenses inside among lots of other parts. Windows Phone 7 is said to be getting copy & paste in a matter of weeks. As basic and needed as that function is, I never understand why major devices try to launch without it.

We offered up our first impression of the Motorola DEFY smartphone Friday. The device is one of the few rugged Android smartphones around, check out what we thought about the device here. Some awesome Tactile+Plus Stickers surfaced for the iPhone Friday. The stickers stick to the screen of the iPhone and add more feel and accuracy when gaming. Thanks for reading this edition of the Week in Review!

The patent application from Apple popped up earlier this month and had to do with embedding solar panels behind the screen on devices. This is a cool method of using solar panels since you wouldn’t see them at all.

At the same time, Apple could use solar panels on the surface of the machine to add more solar panel area, which would equate to more power production. I don’t see Apple putting solar panels on the surface of their products when the form is as important and iconic many times as the technology.

A new solar power battery has turned up that packs in 20,000mAh of power and includes 29 adapters to allow it to connect to all sorts of devices. The battery is offered from Chinavision for $148. You can charge the battery from the AC outlet.

It takes a full three hours to charge the device from an outlet and it you set the battery out in the sun in about ten hours it will charge fully. The adapters included with the battery are for smartphone, cameras, PDAs, notebooks and lots more stuff.

[via Ubergizmo]

The charger is called the Muzatch MZH-1200 iPhone Power Station. It appears that the charger is about half the size of the iPhone and only crams a 1000mAh battery inside. The thing is not attractive at all to my eyes and the maker claims it will charge your iPhone about half way on a full charge from the 1000mAh battery.

The charger plugs into the charge and sync port of the iPhone and weighs 9.8 ounces. It has four LED lights to show the charge mode and a solar panel for getting juice from the sun. You can pick one up for right under $50 in blue, black, silver, white, or green colors.

The PlanetSolar has over 5,000 square feet of solar paneling, took over a year to build (13 months), and measures 100 feet long by 50 feet wide, standing almost 25 feet high.  It’s designed to accomadate 50 passengers, and to reach a top speed of 15 knots, or for those less nautically inclined, roughly 17 miles per hour.  That also makes it the fastest solar boat ever.

The ship will visit major cities, including London, Paris, New York, and San Francisco, during its 25,000 mile voyage.

[PlanetSolar via CNet]

The Eco Tag also has a built-in solar charger that can recharge a set of AAA batteries or your USB connected gadgets as well. The device can charge the gadgets in four hours of direct sunlight or with eight hours of indirect sunlight.

The match up of a luggage tag and a solar charger makes a little more sense if you consider that many travelers spend lots of time stuck in airport waiting areas where there is lots of sunlight and not many outlets to recharge. You can connect your iPhone and charge it up while you wait for your flight. The device is set to ship in February for $35.