Jun/111
NC215S Samsung Netbook with (Est… 4W) Integrated Solar Panel.
Samsung make, in my experience, some of the most efficient netbooks and laptops in the market. Over the last 5 years I’ve repeatedly seen idle / background drain figures that are better than anything else which is why I’m looking forward to testing the Samsung TX100 when it launches. Based on Intel’s Oaktrail it should be capable of some extremely low power drain and as a travel PC for use with solar or other alternative energy sources, nicely positioned.
There’s another Samsung netbook out there though that has taken the alternative energy idea one step further. Meet the NC215S with integrated solar panel.
The NC215S is for African, Turkish, Slovakian, Russian and other markets initially and although there’s no indication of the size of the power of the panel, I would put it at a maximum 4W which, given a 75% charge efficiency, would be enough to meet the claim that 2 hours in the sun can provide one hour of operation. These devices operate in about 8-10W of power.
Update: This is coming to the US market too for a suggested retail price of $399. Liliputing have the details.
It’s interesting that Samsung have chosen to go with an Intel platform (N455 or N570 Atom)with rotating hard drive and traditional LED-backlit screen for this because there are certainly better Intel platforms and better storage and screen technologies that could be used. I wonder whether this is mainly a play for a low-emissions computing vote. Still, it’s a start and it means that at least one major computer manufacturer isn’t scared to take a risk with a new design and, come Oaktrail, this could be improved very easily.
The N215S will launch in August for around $500, a $200 premium over a basic netbook which, incidentally, is enough to buy a 24W solar panel and a long cable that could keep you in the shade while the device, and a few others, charge. 
Via netbooknews. Source: Samsung
Jun/112
Tablets and On-Device Solar Power
How close are we to powering our tablets with on-device solar cells?
In a recent test I ran a tablet connected to the internet at an average 200 mW. That’s screen off, wifi connected and polling in the background to update emails, location, twitter and other processes. It’s nothing really surprising because most of the tablets are built on smartphone technology. With the screen on though, usage will jump about 5-7x and if you push the CPU and add 3G you can reach 20X that power drain. Still, running everything in 4W is still impressive. It’s just a shame that 20-30% of the in-use power and about 70% of the idle power when the screen is on is used by the screen itself. LED-backlit technology is getting better but only in small amounts. What if you could use ambient light for the screen, just as we do when we read a paper book?
Pixel Qi is one company that are developing these ‘transflective’ screen technologies and in an interesting interview I saw today, Mary Lou Jepsen, the founder, talks about using solar energy to power a low power tablet with a Pixel Qi screen. By combining transflective screen technology with a low power tablet, you’re talking about 1W of power in idle, screen-on situations.
