CrunchGear

Europe And Japan Collaborate To Develop World’s Most Efficient Photovoltaic Cell

Posted: 06 Jun 2011 02:58 AM PDT

Seeing solar energy progress is a good thing, but it still has one problem: at this point, it’s still inefficient when compared with other sources of energy. And now Japan and Europe have announced [PDF] that they will work together to develop the world's most efficient photovoltaic cell over the next four years.

The aim is to reach the world's highest photoelectric conversion efficiency of at least 45%. Using it in practical applications, however, will not be possible until 2025, Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization says. Commercializing the cell will take another 5 years.

The project is expected to cost $15.5 million, with the Japanese side shouldering $8.1 of that sum. Participants from Japan include big names such as Toyota, Sharp, and the University of Tokyo. From Europe, organizations from five different countries (Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain, and France) will be contributing.

We’re (Almost) Live At E3 2011 In Los Angeles

Posted: 05 Jun 2011 09:26 PM PDT

The biggest gaming convention in the US is about to be underway here at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and we’re covering it live. We’ll have video streams, posts, and direct feed from the latest games, as well as interviews and the inevitable “bloggers at bars” footage. It can all be found at our E3 2011 tag, soon to be bursting with gaming flavor.

We expect new systems from both Sony and Nintendo and hands-ons with a ton of new games. Not only that, but as with our CES and Disrupt coverage, you’ll be able to communicate with us live, sending requests, questions, kudos and jeers via Twitter. There may even be some giveaways. How is this possible and when should watch, you ask? Read on.

Tomorrow is the press conference day, and Tuesday we start our live coverage: cameras on at 11:45, just before the doors open, and we’ll continue streaming live until the doors close. Rinse and repeat for Wednesday. Want to get in on the action? Just use hashtag #e3crunchgear and we’ll see your questions and comments as soon as they propagate.

Here’s a bit more detail if you’re interested:

Monday, June 6th

The 6th is when all the big dogs have their press conferences. The games and systems they’ll be demoing on the show floor get their cinematic intros and perhaps even giveaways.

Microsoft is starting bright and early at 9:30. We expect to see the first generation of “serious” Kinect games, such as racing games with head tracking, fighting games with serious fist tracking, and all manner of other head- and fist-tracking fun. We’ll hear how the 360 is selling better than ever and they’re definitely not planning on releasing a successor any time soon.

EA’s presser starts at 12:30. The headliners there will be Battlefield 3, the new Need for Speed, Mass Effect 3, and Star Wars MMO The Old Republic. We’ll definitely be getting handsy with these later.

Ubisoft is at 2:30. Expect a fresh Assassin’s Creed (Revelations), a shiny new Rayman, and new entries in the Ghost Recon, Call of Juarez, and Driver franchises. There’s also something called Rocksmith, which promises to revolutionize the music-game genre. Sure. I’m always just happen to spend an hour with funnyman Joel McHale.

Sony has a marathon presser at 5PM, at which we expect their new portable system (leaks have it called the Vita) and a boatload of games that show off its sweet 5-inch OLED screen and monstrous internals. The show technically goes until 10, so we’re also expecting refreshments.

Tuesday, June 7th

Nintendo’s press conference starts at 9AM, with check-in at a mind-erasing 7:15AM (we’re staying up at Universal Studios, so we don’t get to roll out of bed and into line this year). This promises to be an interesting one, as they have announced they will be showing off their new “Project Cafe” system, successor to the Wii and subject of more rumors than a debauched starlet. It’s got a 6-inch touchscreen and dual cameras — and that’s just the controller. Expect a few 3DS announcements, as well, probably about how well it’s selling.

At noon the show floor opens. We’ll be there with our camera live to record the mad dash, and will get a feel for the floor before hitting up a demo of Battlefield 3 at 12:30. We’ve got appointments here and there, but we’ll be taking requests for games to check out, booths to scope, and celebrity guests to spy. I think we’ll be seeing T-Pain again at some point, and may run into Hulk Hogan (!) as well.

Not every booth and appointment will allow us to bring our live cameras in, however, so expect a few hiccups. We’ll be posting footage and links to other hands-ons throughout the show.

Wednesday, June 8th

We’ve got a tour of the Nintendo booth at 11, so if you want to request live demos of their new games, be sure to show up. The new system won’t be playable, and you can’t see the 3DS with our primitive 2D cameras, but their booth is always a blast and worth checking out regardless.

At 2 we’re checking out the intriguing Bioshock Infinite and at 3 I’ll be interviewing Martin Rae, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. And there’s still plenty of time to roam the show floor and see what’s what.

And then we’re leaving on the 9th. Believe me, two days of us talking at the camera and being your surrogate game-players should be enough for most of you.

Remember! Our live video coverage of E3 starts on Tuesday at 11:45. Tune in, tweet out, and play on.