Picture this: A camera that is powered by its own photos

It's interesting and perhaps hard to imagine that this is actually true. The clip below was shot using a self-powered camera and yes, the quality is somewhat 'stone age'. But hey, no battery's included.


Researchers at Columbia University captured a video of a person using the self-powered camera.

No battery or power: How did they do it?

It works on the principle of turning light into electricity. Remember solar PV? They make use of photodiodes, which are common in both cameras and solar panels, that are permanently set to collect energy, not simply conduct it.

"The camera uses a supercap rather than an external source as its power supply. For a scene that is around 300 lux in brightness, the voltage across the supercap remains well above the minimum needed for the camera to indefinitely produce an image per second." - Columbia University 

Will it replace your energy-hungry DSLR? It's a long shot.

As you can see from the blurry animation above, the existing technology won't compete with the camera in your phone, let alone a pro DSLR. Columbia's prototype captures just 1,200 black-and-white pixels, and it needs a lot of light just to keep running.

Even so, it's promising. If scientists can refine the technology to work at multi-megapixel levels, you could see cameras that last a long time on battery, and might not need a battery at all.

How long before this prototype enters the mainstream photography industry is left to be known.

- Source: Dept. of Computer Science, Columbia University 

Global solar PV market hit cumulative 177GW in 2014

Worldwide installations of solar PV are now producing more than 1% of the global electricity use.

According to greentechsolar, by the end of 2014, cumulative installed capacity for solar PV globally amount to at least 177 GW, up from nearly 140 GW in 2013. This is about 10 times more than the installed capacity in 2008.


Source: International Energy Agency's Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme, IEA PVPS

Global solar PV market continues to grow, but last year's performance didn't quite meet expectations. Preliminary data shows that global PV market saw only a modest increase year over year - from an increase of  37.6GW in 2013 to 38.7GW in 2014.

The market in Europe decreased significantly, while in China, the solar PV market saw significant growth although it did not hit the 14GW target some believed it could have reached.


Modest global PV expansion

This year, China's National Energy Administration announced the country plans to install as much as 17.8GW of solar projects in 2015. The world's largest polluter has also put a new policy focus on distributed solar and innovative financing tools to help meet its goals.

Top three in terms of new solar installations (2014):

• China - 10.9 GW
• Japan - 9.7 GW
• United States - 6.2 GW

There are 19 countries that currently produce at least 1% of their electricity from solar PV, with top spots helmed by:

• Italy - 7.92%
• Greece - 7.6%
• Germany- 7.0%

Note: The IEA calculated production figures based on each country's cumulative PV capacity at the end of 2014, project siting and average weather conditions.

PV development in 2014 remained concentrated in 40 countries. Source: IEA PVPS


The Green Mechanics: All these reports and signs indicate the global PV market will continue on an upward trend for years to come. Exactly how much growth and where it will take place is less certain though. Still, this should be an encouraging piece of report.

- Reference: Greentech Media 

8 out of 10 Malaysian consumers have no qualms’ in switching telcos

We just did it - switching from Maxis to DiGi.

The reason: Poor mobile broadband services. Maxis broadband is very good - and speedy - in the city area, especially where LTE (4G) service is available. But in our particular case, Maxis broadband quality has gone from good to bad. This is true for all of our areas of interest -- Kolopis & Inobong areas in Penampang and Ketiau area in Putatan.

This is their reply after more than a week from the date of complaint, but the 3G issues remain. 

We lodged several complaint over the past year or so and every time we were assured that they will take remedial actions. Things have not improved though. Some of my complaints are:

• Loss of signal/communication during power outage,
• Intermittent loss of signal, 'No Service' during the day
• No 3G broadband service (only E or GPRS is indicated on the mobile phone)

I currently subscribe to Celcom, DiGi and still have 1 non-contract subscription with Maxis SurfMore75 which I'm contemplating of getting rid of.

Frost & Sullivan survey confirm consumer perception

Analyst firm Frost & Sullivan said that 83% of Malaysian consumers will be driven to switch telco providers if there is a lack of transparency in Malaysian pricing and subscription plans.

According to an online survey conducted from October to November 2014 of 1,300 respondents, randomly selected from consumer online panels in Malaysia, 66% of respondents surveyed also demand for higher speed connectivity and they have no qualms ending their subscription from the current service provider due to low speed. 

The lack of customer experience from telecom service providers is the fourth highest reason at 58% for Malaysians to stop their subscription.

Based on data, Celcom is ahead of the industry average (57%) at 66% in terms of customer loyalty. When asked if they would recommend their current telecommunication service provider to their friends and colleagues, U Mobile is the clear winner with 65%, which is higher than the industry average of 51%.

Malaysian telecommunication service providers' customer rewards program leave much to be desired. More than one-third of the consumers reported not receiving any rewards from their service providers, and even among those who did, almost half get a celebratory token on their special days, which could be considered a bare minimum by the consumers.

Service providers ranking

Below are the Malaysian telecommunication service providers that have been recognised in Excellence in Customer Experience Management, Telecommunications Industry by their customers based on a survey conducted by Frost & Sullivan.

Overall Experience - U Mobile

In Store Experience - Maxis Communications

Self-Service/Online Experience - Telekom Malaysia

Contact Centre Experience - U Mobile / Maxis Communications

Mobile Experience - U Mobile 

Net Promoter Score - U Mobile 

- refer to Frost & Sullivan report at Computerworld Malaysia