A Taiwanese company has developed a solar-power notebook computer to save computer users the trouble of charging batteries by plugging them in, the company said yesterday.
Micro-Star International Co said it spent a year to develop the first-generation solar notebook computer, Solar NB, and is now developing the second-generation Solar NB.
"Solar NB is a notebook computer with a solar panel on its top. The first-generation Solar NB can operate on solar light power for half an hour but it takes the solar panel half an hour to collect that much power," Micro-Star International's marketing manager Chen Chien-hung (
"For the second-generation Solar NB, we will use satellite solar power which is more effective but also more expensive," Chen said.
The 12-inch first-generation Solar NB costs NT$55,000 (US$1,700). The second-generation Solar NB will cost NT$80,000 and is expected to be able to operate on light power for at least four hours.
Chen said that although Solar NB can be used outdoors, the main purpose of developing Solar NB is not for outdoor use, but for indoor use, and the solar panel does not collect solar power, but light power.
"We want to allow people to use notebook computers when they travel in an aircraft or train, either by relying entirely on light power or using both light power and the battery when the light in the plane or train is dim," he said.
Micro-Star International unveiled a pair of Solar NBs at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show last week in Las Vegas, but will not market it until the product is more mature.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
CABINET APPROVAL: People seeking assisted reproduction must be assessed to determine whether they would be adequate parents, the planned changes say Proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) advanced yesterday by the Executive Yuan would grant married lesbian couples and single women access to legal assisted reproductive services. The proposed revisions are “based on the fundamental principle of respecting women’s reproductive autonomy,” Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who presided over a Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday, as saying at the briefing. The draft amendment would be submitted to the legislature for review. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, which proposed the amendments, said that experts on children’s rights, gender equality, law and medicine attended cross-disciplinary meetings, adding that
RSS