News

• Five ways to improve data center power efficiency you might not have thought of

  LAS VEGAS -- While few doubt the importance of maximizing the energy efficiency of their corporate data centers, executive vice president of data center technology for Las Vegas-based Switch, Mark Thiele's talk at Interop this week showcased just how much companies might still be missing. 

• Panasonic team to lug solar-charged batteries up Mt. Fuji, live-stream eclipse

  Panasonic will broadcast live a solar eclipse next month over Japan from the top of Mount Fuji, using batteries that are charged at the base using solar power and then carried up to the peak.

• Japan picks eight tsunami-battered regions for smart city projects

  The Japanese government will provide assistance to eight cities that were heavily damaged in last year's earthquake and tsunami to rebuild using "smart city" technologies that use IT to cut dependence on traditional power sources.

• Apple and Chinese environmental group to audit factory for pollution concerns

  Apple and a Chinese environmental group for the first time plan to jointly audit one of the company's supplier factories in China, in what could lead to more open inspections of Apple's suppliers for pollution concerns.

• Opinion: Microsoft, instead of turning the lights off on XP, make it open source

  To state the obvious,, Microsoft is hugely important economically and culturally, and as Peter Parker (AKA Spiderman) was told by his grandfather: "With great power comes great responsibility." (Actually Voltaire said it first but he said it in French so that doesn't count.)

• HP joins ANZ Recycling Platform under national e-waste recycling scheme

  Hewlett-Packard Australia (HP) has joined the Australia and New Zealand Recycling Platform (ANZRP) as a liable party under the national e-waste recycling scheme.

• Shell Oil targets hybrid cloud as fix for energy-saving, agile IT

  DALLAS - Two years ago, Shell Oil's IT subsidiary found itself in a somewhat ironic situation. It was facing staggering energy costs.

• Foxconn's overtime reduction will not affect product prices, analysts say

  Low labor costs and a growing reliance on automation will ensure Apple supplier Foxconn's newly announced efforts to reduce overtime for its employees and hire extra workers has no effect on product prices, according to analysts.

• AOL unplugs 10,000 servers, saves $5 million

  AOL decommissioned almost 10,000 servers and saved itself US$5 million along the way to winning a contest that highlights the cost of running inefficient or underutilized IT equipment.

• Japanese university to battle eel fraud with cheap, rapid DNA testing

  A science institute in central Japan says it has devised a system to stop eel fraud using cheap DNA testing, as the summer surge in the foodstuff's popularity approaches amid a scarce local catch.

• Microsoft is building a new datacenter in Dublin

  Microsoft is spending about US$130 million to build a new datacenter in Dublin, as it needs more room to run cloud services there, the company said on Thursday.

• Foxconn to increase workers' wages in China

  Apple supplier Foxconn Technology said on Saturday it had raised wages for its assembly line workers in China by 16 to 25 percent, as the company faces public scrutiny for its working conditions at its factories.

• Sony shows power outlets that can control electricity by user, device, or source

  Sony is developing electric wall sockets and plugs that can control power consumption by appliance, user or original power source.

• Foxconn said to have been hacked by group critical of working conditions

  Hackers claimed to have stolen internal data from Apple supplier Foxconn, and leaked the information online, in response to media reports of poor working conditions at the electronics manufacturer's factories in China.

• U.S. to use climate to help cool exascale systems

  In a picturesque spot overlooking San Francisco Bay, the U.S. Department of Energy's Berkeley Lab has begun building a new computing center that will one day house exascale systems.