iPod Nano 2010
Apple’s iPod nano
The new built-in clip makes it easy to attach to your sleeve, jacket, running shorts, or bag so you can walk, run, ride, workout, or dance with your favorite songs. iPod nano also doubles as a pedometer. The 1.5-inch color display with 240-by-240 pixel resolution allows you to show off your album art, photos, or wallpaper.
Give iPod nano a shake and it shuffles to a different song in your music library. Shake to Shuffle is perfect for when you’re not in any particular music mood. Or, say you’re listening to a song you love and you want to stay in the groove. Just tap Genius. It finds other songs on your iPod nano that go great together.
You can ride the FM airwaves while the screen shows the artist, song, or program you’re listening to. Just tap to see the radio controls, flick the radio dial to change stations, and tap to set your favorites. The built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery gives you up to 24 hours of nonstop music.
Hawaii Telescope PS1
A new telescope on Haleakala will study brown dwarfs, distant quasars, black holes, supernovae, and search for asteroids and comets. The cutting edge Pan-STARRS 1 telescope will collect science data from dusk to dawn each night, and in the next three years PS1 is expected to discover about 100,000 asteroids, and catalog five billion stars and 500 million galaxies. PS1 will be able to compile the most comprehensive digital map of the 75 percent of the universe visible from Hawaiʻi.
It boasts one of the largest digital cameras of its type – 1,400 megapixels (1.4 gigapixels) that can photograph an area of the sky as large as 36 full Moons in a single exposure, which is much larger than any similar-sized telescope on Earth or in space. The giant digital camera will take over 500 exposures each night, collecting about four terabytes of data (equivalent to 1,000 full DVDs). Computers will rapidly compare each exposure with ones taken earlier to find objects that have moved or whose brightness has changed.
Designed and built by astronomers and engineers of the Pan-STARRS project at UH Mānoa, it has now become the PS1 Science Consortium – a group of ten institutions from Germany, United Kingdom, Taiwan, and UH Mānoa. PS1 is the experimental prototype for a larger telescope to be built called PS4, which will have four times the power of PS1 and is planned for Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
PS1 researchers will be focusing on:
- Searching for small bodies in the inner solar system
- Studying low-mass stars, brown dwarfs, and young stellar objects to learn how our solar system formed
- Discovering hundreds of supernovae that can be used as “standard candles” for measuring distances in our galaxy
- Finding the most distant quasars – black holes fueled in the earliest stages of galaxy formation
- Learning about the characteristics of dark matter
Apple iPhone 4
Apple iPhone 4 is the result of everything Apple designers and engineers have learned in the last three years, all contained in a mere 9.3 millimeters, making it the world’s thinnest smartphone.
Display – The backlit LCD Retina display now boasts a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch (four times more than before), making it the highest-resolution phone screen ever. That makes text remarkably sharp, graphics incredibly vivid, and the viewing angle amazingly wide.
Glass – The iPhone 4 is situated between two panels of aluminosilicate glass (the same type of glass used in the windshields of helicopters and high-speed trains). The glass is chemically strengthened to be harder, more scratch resistant, more durable, and also features an oil-resistant coating that helps keep the screen clean.
Gyroscope – iPhone 4 is the first phone with a built-in three-axis gyroscope in addition to the accelerometer for more motion gestures and greater precision for an even better gaming experience.
Microphones – While most phones have only one microphone, iPhone 4 has two. One is for phone and FaceTime calls, voice commands, and memos. The second is for making your phone and video calls better by suppressing unwanted and distracting background sounds.
Cameras – There are two cameras – one on the front, which focuses on you, and one on the back, which focuses on everything else. The camera shoots 5-megapixel photos and stunning HD video. There is backside illumination sensor to help in low-light settings. The camera on the front is perfect for making FaceTime calls and shooting self-portraits.
FaceTime – Video calling is a reality. You can wave hello to your kids, or share a smile from across the globe. The front camera has been tuned for FaceTime. It has just the right field of view and focal length to focus on your face at arm’s length.
iMovie – With the new iMovie App you can turn your video clips into a finished movie. iMovie lets you combine and edit video clips, polish your movies with dynamic themes and transitions, add music and photos, and share your finished movies with the world.
Chip – Apple engineers designed the A4 chip to be powerful yet power-efficient. With it, iPhone 4 can easily perform complex jobs such as multitasking, editing video, and placing FaceTime calls. All while maximizing battery life.
Nissan Leaf
The all electric Nissan Leaf will build on Hawaii’s progress to end its over-reliance on imported fossil fuels. This new vehicle will be one option for consumers towards the goal of the Hawai’i Clean Energy Initiative’s of 70 percent clean energy by 2030. Under the hood there is no starter, alternator, or spark plugs… and no engine. The Nissan Leaf is powered by a lithium-ion battery pack instead of an internal combustion engine, and the cost to charge the pack is cheaper than a tank of gasoline, and has zero emissions.
The battery pack (440 pounds) will provide enough power for the Leaf to achieve a top speed of around 90 mph and a range estimated at 100 miles. The array of thin, laminated Lithium Ion cells will be housed in a flat assembly beneath the floor. The forty-eight separate modules, each consisting of four magazine-sized sub-units, will be able to deliver a maximum of 90 KW to the electric motors, with a total storage capacity of 24 KWH. Nissan estimates an average five-year operating cost will be $1,800 versus $6,000 for a gas-powered car.
Nissan will be making the Leaf available on a gradual basis in the markets where it thinks it will best fit. Due to Hawaii’s strong commitment to clean energy, Nissan has selected Hawai’i to be one of its initial launch markets in the U.S. beginning in early 2011. A federal tax credit of $7,500 will be available.
Apple iPad
Apple built the iPad to be the best way to experience the web, email, photos, and video. One of the first things you’ll notice about the iPad is how thin and light it is. The 9.7 inch screen (measured diagonally) lets you see web pages one whole page at a time. So whether you’re looking at a page in portrait or landscape, you can see everything at a size that’s actually readable. And with iPad, navigating through the web has never been easier, or more intuitive. Because you use the most natural pointing device there is: your finger. You can scroll through a page just by flicking your finger up or down on the screen. Or pinch to zoom in or out on a photo. There’s also a thumbnail view that shows all your open pages in a grid, to let you quickly move from one page to the next. And because it uses a display technology called IPS (in-plane switching), it has a wide, 178° viewing angle. So you can hold it almost any way you want, and still get a brilliant picture. The powerful, built-in speaker produces a full, rich sound, which makes watching a movie or listening to music even more enjoyable.
- The Multi-Touch screen uses the same revolutionary technology that’s in an iPhone, but the technology has been completely reengineered for the larger surface to make it extremely precise.
- See and touch your email in ways you never could before with Mail. In landscape, you get a split-screen view, showing both an opened email and the messages in your Inbox.
- With its crisp, vibrant display, and its unique software features, iPad is an extraordinary way to enjoy and share your photos.
- The large, high-resolution screen makes iPad perfect for watching any kind of video: from HD movies and TV shows, to podcasts and music videos.
- With the iPod app, all your music is literally at your fingertips. You can browse by album, song, artist, or genre, with a simple flick.
- iPad will run almost 140,000 apps from the App Store. Everything from games to business apps, and more.
- The iBooks app is a great, new way to read and buy books. Just download the app for free from the App Store, and you’ll be able to buy everything from classics to bestsellers from the built-in iBookstore.
- With its expansive display and large, on-screen keyboard, iPad makes jotting down notes easy.
- iPad makes it easy to keep on schedule by displaying Day, Week, Month or List views of your calendar.
- The Contacts app on iPad makes finding names, numbers and other important information quicker and easier than ever before.
- You can use iPad for up to 10 hours while surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching videos, or listening to music.
- With built-in 802.11n, iPad can take advantage of the fastest Wi-Fi networks. And it’ll automatically locate available Wi-Fi networks.
- iPad will also be available in a 3G model, with super-fast data speeds up to 7.2 Mbps. So if you’re traveling, you can still get a fast connection.
Solar Water Heaters In Hawaii
Hawaii becomes the first state requiring energy-saving solar water heaters installed in all new homes starting in 2010. The bill which took affect January 1st prohibits issuing building permits for single-family homes that do not have solar water heaters. The move to force solar heating is a big step for a state that relies on imported fossil fuels for 90% of its energy supply.
Conventional water heaters are typically the largest electricity consumer in the average household, gobbling up nearly 40% of consumption. This measure was first introduced five years ago when a barrel of oil was much less, and since then, the price has more than tripled. Lawmakers described a government requirement for solar water heaters as a way to protect the environment, reduce Hawaii’s heavy reliance on foreign energy sources, and save money.
Solar water heaters typically cost home buyers about $5,000 extra, but island residents will save thousands of dollars on their electricity bills over the life of their home. Solar water heaters reduce residents’ electricity costs between 30 percent and 35 percent – up to $150 per month for a family of four on Kauai. With those kind of savings, the initial expense is usually paid off in three to four years.
