Fully Charged: Google wants to help you get solar panels, and see the blatant PS4/XB1 knockoff
Load up on the morning's top tech news before you get the day rolling
Google offering solar panel advice
Getting started with solar panels on your house can be daunting, not to mention expensive. Luckily, you have a new ally in figuring out whether to make the change: Google. The company announced yesterday that it is now using Google Earth data for an initiative called Project Sunroof, which uses metrics like roof orientation, weather patterns, and typical shade amounts to make a recommendation.
It’ll tell you how much money you might save by switching to solar panels, as well as point you towards local installers. For now, the service is only available in the States in San Francisco and Fresno, California, as well as Boston, Massachusetts, but Google intends to expand functionality to other locales in the coming months.
[Source: Google Green Blog]
See the brazen PS4/Xbox One knockoff
Dig the design of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but just want a cheap Android microconsole? Then perhaps you’ll be swayed by the OUYE – no, not the Ouya. The OUYE is a Chinese console that clearly rips off the PS4’s design and latest Xbox’s controller, and it’ll apparently hit Kickstarter later this month, according to Kotaku.
Compared to the consoles it rips off, the OUYE will reportedly only cost about US$70 (£45) – so it’s certainly much, much cheaper. But probably also crummy, given the amount of attention paid to the look and shape.
[Source: Kotaku]
Read More › Salvation for Ouya – it’s been bought by Razer
LG bets big on OLED screens
LG has put out some pretty excellent OLED screens of late, on phones as well as televisions, and the company isn’t changing tack anytime soon. Reuters reports that LG Display intends to invest 10 trillion won (£5.4 billion) in OLED displays through 2018, with the hopes of developing next-generation technology that helps it stand out against competitors.
OLED displays can be pricey, but with a strong focus on the technology and its continued development and expansion, perhaps LG can help turn the tide, giving it an advantage in the years to come. And as flexible and foldable screens become more of a reality, LG could be in an ideal position to capitalize on them.
[Source: Reuters]
Uncharted collection upgrades
We’ll have to wait until next year to play Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, but at least PlayStation 4 owners can relive the awesome PS3 trilogy this autumn when Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection releases on 7 October. The remastered package puts all three single-player campaigns on one disc, and you can catch a recap of the series’ storyline to date above.
Yesterday, Sony revealed that the package will include three new ways to play the game. Explorer mode is an easier option that lets you enjoy the adventure with less challenge, Speed Run mode adds a timer to the game for tracking your pace, and Brutal difficulty adds a new challenge above Crushing difficulty – for the masochists out there. And the game also lets you play the campaigns using one of 65+ character skins.
[Source: PlayStation.Blog]
Read More › Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End preview
Andrew Hayward
Freelance Writer 
