devices

As exciting as advances in battery technology have been lately–not least because of the efforts of Elon Musk, his Powerwall, and the Gigafactory in Nevada–a new glass created by MIT spinoff Ubiquitous Energy promises (threatens?) to turn current power-storage paradigms of their head.

The key here is the special organic coating of that absorbs light in the non-visible potion of the spectrum. When applied to clear glass it is capable of producing power from it. That means future devices could draw energy from the sun without the unsightly dark solar panels currently being used.

It also mean that with clear glass doing double-duty as part of the physical interface for phones, watches, etc. and as at least part of the power generation for the devices, that their weight and volume could be dramatically reduced. You can be sure there will be a rush to get this glass into appropriate devices as quickly as possible.

If you’re looking for a way to transport your iMac on an airplane, I have a solution for you that I’ve used many times since I bought my iMac G5 almost 5 years ago. If you’re heading someplace for more than a week or two you should know that iLugger makes it very easy to take your iMac as a carry-on bag.

I have a second home overseas and while I do take my laptop, I’m there long enough to justify taking the desktop with me as well. The computer is rather heavy, but it’s nice to have the larger screen and my primary computer when I arrive, and this custom bag makes it essentially a portable iMac.

For about $130 for the 21-inch iMac bag, you would expect a pretty high-quality piece of luggage, and that is exactly what you get. It is constructed from heavy-duty canvas and resists scuff marks and minor scratches, and has very generous amounts of padding to protect your screen. There is room for your keyboard and mouse, and some additional space too. The design is well thought out and it only takes a couple of minutes to load your computer into the bag. I have never had a problem from airport security, unless you consider a few “wow what a geek” eye-rolls to be an issue.

IMacs were not conceived as portable computers, but this bag transforms them into computers that are suddenly mobile. I was surprised to see that they now have iLugger bags for the 27 inch iMac, which may have me thinking twice as to which size I get the next time I upgrade!