Gizmodo: magnifying

Turn the Channel to iPod Nano TV

Sean Fallon — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:30:00 EST

Like the Nanoscope hack before it, the iPod Nano TV magnifies the screen of your iPod while built-in speakers amplify the sound—making it seem as though you are watching a tiny, retro television. It even has a VHS combo style to complete the effect. It seems kind of pointless if you ask me, but it might be a great way to introduce 21st century technology to Grandma without shocking her system. The mini-magnifying TV works with any third generation Nano and will be available for soon for about $23. [Thumbs Up UK via GeekAlerts]

IBM Boosts Solar Cell Efficiency Using Magnifying Trick

Kit Eaton — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:15:00 EDT

IBM's researchers have been busily beavering away trying to improve solar power technology, and they've just come up with a neat solution that uses a surprisingly simple technique: concentrator photovoltaics. In much the same way as kids use magnifying glasses to focus the sun on things to burn them (we all did that, didn't we?) the IBM boffins combined a large lens and a photovoltaic cell to focus a record-breaking 230 watts solar energy per square centimeter. That ends up producing about 70 watts of useful electric power, effectively creating a solar cell about five times more powerful than the cells commonly used in solar farms.

The biggest trick was in working out how to cool the chips from all the extra thermal input created by the focused sunlight. To do this, IBM borrowed ideas from its own research into a liquid metal cooling system developed for semiconductors and used a thin liquid metal gallium-indium compound to bind the chip to a cooling block.

This new high power technique could of course result in smaller solar farms, or higher energy output from existing systems. Best of all, it's potentially a fairly low cost solution, which can only be a good thing for the environment. [Physorg]

iBeam Magnifying Watch

johnb — Tue, 30 May 2006 12:55:12 EDT

Fry ants with ease! The iBeam magnifying watch has a flip up lens and bright LED light so the aged and infirm can read approximately one square inch of text at a time. Priced at about $100, we're not sure if this thing is available here but we'd suggest a magnifying glass and maybe a nice reading lamp rather than this kludge. – John Biggs

Product Page [Magellans via ShinyShiny]