Wednesday, October 2, 2013

World’s largest 4G ultra-broadband mobile network launched by China Mobile

World largest mobile communication operator, China Mobile Ltd had awarded 4G contracts worth around 20 billion yuan ($3.2 billion), with Chinese firms securing more than half of it - particularly China’s biggest telecoms equipment makers, Huawei and ZTE - and foreign firms winning about a third.


China Mobile has more than 750 million subscribers, or 60% of the total mobile subscription in China.


Major foreign players include Ericsson, Nokia, and Alcatel-Lucent with the use of the latter's innovative lightRadio 4G TD-LTE overlay for the nationwide roll-out of the world's largest high-speed mobile broadband network.

Alcatel-Lucent has been awarded 11% of China Mobile's deployment of Phase I of its 4G network. This involves deployment of more than 207,000 mobile base stations in China by the end of 2013.

China Mobile has been actively carrying out large-scale TD-LTE live network trials in China for more than 3 years and is now scaling the deployments. Alcatel-Lucent has been closely involved with China Mobile in developing TD-LTE from the inception of the technology.


China Mobile preparing for iPhone 5S and 5C rollout?

China Mobile will launch 4G services early next year. Apple’s latest iPhones are compatible with the TD-LTE spectrum used by China Mobile, which has led to expectations of a future sales deal to sell the devices.


TheGreenMechanics: It'd be great to see the full scale roll-out of the speedier 4G LTE network in Malaysia. Also, I'd love to see collaboration between the main telcos - Celcom, Maxis, DiGi - to provide consumers with better quality mobile broadband.


Source: Financial Times

Would you wear this Space Glasses to change your view of the world around you?

You’ve probably heard of Google Glass by now – the specs that overlay graphics onto the world around you. It costs $1500 to own this internet-enabled glass.

Now, a futuristic pair of ‘Space Glasses’ called META is going one step further by offering something called ‘mediated reality’.


It's basically a 3-D glasses with mediated reality


How the META works

Like augmented reality, this technology overlays text and graphics onto your field of view. However, it can also subtract objects by scanning your environment with a camera and identifying the objects around you. Once it knows what you’re looking at, it can enhance or diminish objects’ visibility so that you can add or remove them at will.

For example, imagine you're sitting in front of the telly. Meta’s built-in 720p camera will be able to recognise the TV, overlaying graphics so that it looks like they're being displayed on the screen.

Or imagine you’re holding a blank sheet of paper in front of you. The glasses will recognise it and track its position, allowing the headset to ‘print’ text or graphics onto the paper. If you bend or move the paper, the text will move accordingly, while folding the paper or turning it over will hide the text as if it were really printed there.

Priced at $667 (around RM2,158), Meta will be the first truly affordable mediated reality system available when it arrives in December this year. That's way cheaper compared to Google Glass at $1,500 (around RM4,850), but still, well... an expensive gadget.


Watch this one and a half minutes video of how it supposedly works:-



So, would you use a pair of Space Glasses to change your view of the world around you? I ticked the 'No' box. How about you?

You can get more information at Space Glasses website.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Singapore Housing Development Board is tendering out 5MW solar-leasing project

Just about a week ago, report surfaced that Singapore is installing its largest to-date rooftop solar PV with rated capacity of 1.2MW.

Few days ago, PV magazine reported another encouraging solar news from the city state - The Housing Development Board (HDB) is currently drawing up plans for the largest single solar-leasing project to date comprising 5MW in total in four precints on the main island.


First solar-leasing project in Punggol to develope 3MWp systems by Sunseap is currently on-going. Photo by Sunseap Enterprises Pte Ltd


Plan for 5MWp solar-leasing system at housing blocks

The tender is for prospective company to own and operate the panels on about 125 housing blocks in four precints:
  • Ang Mo Kio
  • Sengkang
  • Serangoon North, and
  • Buangkok.

The total solar electricity generated is expected to be around 5MW. This capacity can power more than 1,000 four-room HDB apartments. The HDB will be offsetting up to 30% of the start-up costs and will also purchase the electricity generated for 20 years at a 5% or greater discount off the prevailing market price.

The solar electricity generated will then be used to power the corridors, lifts, water pumps and other ancillary common areas in the apartment blocks. The HDB also wants to look into the possibility of households being able to buy solar generated electricity.

The HDB is a statutory board of the Ministry of National Development and is responsible for public housing in Singapore where as many as 80% of the population live.


Current project in Punggol

In January this year the HDB awarded a tender to solar developer Sunseap to lease 3MWp systems for 80 blocks in Singapore's first eco-town in Punggol. Installation works are expected to be completed by 2014. In this project, Sunseap will design, finance, install, operate and maintain the solar PV systems.


TheGreenMechanics: Solar leasing project - No FiT involved in the Singapore case here, but with innovation and creative ideas, developers and the local government can work together to arrive at a win-win conclusion.

Can we do that in Malaysia?


Reference: pv magazine