The technology to enable the promise of solar energy has quite some way to go, with one requirement being an efficient way of tracking the sun during its daily movement across the horizon. Two city-based entrepreneurs here say they&rsquo;ve developed a more efficient system in this regard, of a motor guided by a microchip, fed with information on the sun&rsquo;s movement in different seasons.

Keeping in step with the sun

Business Standard

Front pockets and purses are slowly being emptied of one of civilisation&rsquo;s most basic and enduring tools, the key. That space is being swallowed by the cellphone.

Tools of entry: Doing away with the key

In a 1965 paper, Intel co-founder Gordon E Moore described how the number of transistors that could be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit had doubled every year between 1958 and 1965. He predicted the trend would continue for at least 10 more years.

Spintronics: The answer to Moore's Law

Harvard University scientists trained pigeons to fly through an artificial forest with a tiny camera attached to their heads. &ldquo;Attaching the camera to the bird, as well as filming them from either side means we can reconstruct both what the bird sees and how it moves,&rdquo; said Huai-Ti Lin, a lead researcher for this work, in a press release.

Birds to inspire auto-pilots

Reliance ADA Group-promoted social networking and blogging site BigAdda is planning to close its social networking business. The website will now be repositioned as an e-commerce portal such as eBay.

Reliance ADAG's BigAdda to venture into e-commerce

German scientists have developed a new artificial surface, inspired by floating seeds. It could provide an alternative to the toxic paints currently used to prevent fouling on ship hulls. Fouling by seaweeds and marine animals is a problem for the shipping industry, resulting in increased fuel costs.

Specialised seeds can really float your boat

Synopsys Inc, a global provider of electronic design automation (EDA) software for semi-conductor manufacturing, has judiciously used the inorganic growth route to scale up in the last 25 years. The $1.5-billion company, which has so far acquired 50 firms globally, including eight that have strong engineering presence in India, is narrowing on a few target companies. In an interview to K Rajani Kanth, Global President and Chief Operating Officer Chi-Foon Chan charts the company&rsquo;s roadmap for India.

Q&A: Chi-Foon Chan, Global President & COO, Synopsys

Telit Communication SpA, an Italian company that develops, produces and sells GSM, GPRS, RF (radio frequency) and short-range modules for machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, is looking at tapping into the Indian market, once the Unique Identification Number (UID) project throws up new opportunities for the poor among the country&rsquo;s 1.2 billion population to achieve financial mobility.

Telit's M2M tech to foster microfinance sector

The highest decision-making body of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the Telecom Commission, will meet tomorrow to consider the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommendations on spectrum management and other licensing issues.

Telecom panel to consider Trai recommendations on spectrum

Technological awareness required for increased participation.

Online auction awaits action from small diamond players

Telecom tower company Viom Networks is eyeing GTL Infrastructure. Sources familiar with the development say feelers have been sent for a merger involving a share swap.

Viom, GTL explore merger option

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has been &ldquo;connecting India&rdquo; for quite some time. The state-run telecom company has now decided to connect people from the same castes as well.

OBCs get a call from BSNL

The Supreme Court on Monday gave a go-ahead for sale of a part of the 774 acres of land in Maharashtra belonging to VSNL, now Tata Communications, by the government.

SC nod to sell a part of 774 acre of VSNL land

Press Trust of India

The Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers&rsquo; (ICANN) decision to expand gTLD names on the internet to include almost any name (even .anything), is foxing both users and registers. It has also raised fears of online trademark violations and cybersquatting. ICANN is scheduled to start the first phase of receiving applications for the domain names from mid-January 2012 and the process would continue till mid-April.

New internet domain names prompt govt meet

In a big setback to Aditya Birla Group firm Idea Cellular, the Delhi High Court today said the six licences of Spice Communications would not be transferred to Idea, since the company did not comply with the licence and merger guidelines. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 1 crore for hiding information.

Merger with Spice derails as HC imposes Rs 1-cr penalty on Idea

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on Tuesday passed an interim order restraining the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) from imposing a penalty of Rs 250 crore on Idea Cellular.

TDSAT stays Rs 250-cr penalty on Idea

If you figure among those Indians who lurk around adult sites, sniff around pirated media hubs or are tempted by affiliate programmes, you are typically inviting trouble online. So, if you have discovered that your computer has been behaving more strangely of late, and your browser has been redirecting to you to malicious sites, a thorough check is in order.

TDL-4: The Virus that escapes scrutiny

Technology would dominate banking activities and lead to the growth of the sector, according to a new report by the Confederation of Indian Industry and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Banks should adopt social media, cloud computing: Report

Future computers may rely on magnetic microprocessors that consume the least energy allowed by the laws of physics, according to an analysis by electrical engineers at the University of California, Berkeley.

Magnetic memory for PCs

Graphene, a form of pure carbon arranged in a lattice just one atom thick, has interested researchers with its unique strength and its electrical and thermal conductivity. However, it lacks the ability to form a band gap needed for devices such as transistors, computer chips and solar cells. Now, a team of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has found a way to produce graphene in significant quantities in a two- or three-layer form.

Graphene may find its way into chips, solar cells

Kartik Chandran, an associate professor of earth and environmental engineering at Columbia Engineering, has been awarded $1.5 million from the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation for his project to develop a revolutionary new model in water, sanitation, and energy.

Columbia prof Chandran gets $1.5-mn Gates award

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