To the Cloud: Microsoft Signs 20-Year Contract for 175 MW of Wind Power.

One of the biggest cloud data centers in the country will now be driven primarily via alternative energy

A new 20-year agreement to purchase the output of a 175-megawatt wind farm in Pilot Hill, Illinois was announced this week by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), marking its second major 100+ megawatt commitment in under a year.  The Pilot Hill Wind Project, operated by the Électricité de France S.A.'s (EPA:EDF) "EDF Renewable Energy" subsidiary, is located roughly 60 miles south of Chicago and will give Microsoft Chicago data center the equivalent of 70,000 homes worth of electrical power, at peak capacity.

I. One of Microsoft's Biggest Data Centers Goes Green

The Chicago data center is one of ten major content data centers Microsoft listed in the U.S. in a recent blog.  (Other locations include Atlanta, Geor.; Miami, Flor.; New York City, New York; Washington D.C.; Dallas and San Jose, Texas; Los Angeles, Calif.; and Seattle, Wash.)

The effort comes as Microsoft finds itself midway through the second year of its push towards "carbon neutrality".  Masterminded by its environmental strategist Rob Bernard the "simple" plan is described as: “Be lean. Be green. Be accountable.”

_{The Pilot Hill wind farm project, will provide Microsoft's Chicago data center with most of its power budget.}

Much like his company's rival Google Inc. (GOOG), Microsoft's Bernard believes that Microsoft's internal effort can one day allow it to offer new kinds of energy efficiency services such as home power savings technology, support for power-saving at third party data centers, and energy-saving technology for the grid.

He comments:

The opportunity for us is to understand how many of the things we do as an operating business can be optimized internally and extended out to our customers.  Taking what we do, experimenting with it ourselves and bringing it to the world. That’s our opportunity and our challenge.  Everyone should feel empowered to keep pushing this envelop.  It's about a shared culture of innovation.

In opting to go carbon neutral, he's given Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise division a particularly tough challenge.  Under his scheme each Microsoft division is accessed an internal "carbon tax" based on its emissions footprint -- primarily from electricity used and employee air travel.

As one of the world's biggest cloud service providers, Microsoft has long been migrating its data centers towards greater energy efficiency.  Still, the Cloud and Enterprise division has traditionally consumed a massive amount of power.  With that power comes a major cut of Microsoft's revenue (as it's one of Microsoft's most lucrative divisions), but managers are eager to find cost-efficient ways to shrink the footprint inside this power-hungry division, freeing up more money for cloud technology spending.

II. A More Energy Efficient, Flexible Cloud

To get there they've brought in fresh talent like Brian Janous, a veteran energy consultant, who now serves as Microsoft's energy director.  He overseas a team of six energy engineering specialists, and is actively recruiting more members.

Mr. Janous was crucial in brokering the new wind deal, which follows the November 2013 announcement of an agreement to purchase 110 megawatts of power from the Keechi Wind Farm Project.  Currently under construction, that Texas wind farm will provide power to Microsoft's San Antonio, Texas data center.  Now its Chicago data center -- one of its largest in the country -- will get a similar boost.

_{Microsoft announced a major wind farm contract last November in Texas.}

The energy director describes:

[Originally I thought] energy would be a minor concern [for Microsoft].  But the more that I investigated, I became increasingly convinced that energy would be central to the growth of the cloud.

The evolution of the energy sector  is toward more distributed energy resources.  Microsoft is focused on transforming the energy supply chain for cloud services from the power plant to the chip.  Commitments like Pilot Hill ensure a cleaner grid to supply energy to our datacenters.

[The ability to inspire the IT industry to go green,] that’s the exciting part.  This is far bigger and more significant than Microsoft itself becoming green.

_{Microsoft has ten major data centers in the U.S.; two will soon receive a substantial portion of their power from wind energy.}

The deal is a big win for EDF who has been gradually expanding its alternative energy portfolio in the U.S., Asia, and Europe.  Comments Ryan Pfaff, EDF Renewable Energy’s executive vice president of development:

As the cost of renewable energy continues to decline, it is encouraging to see leading corporations investing in the sector based not only on their desire to positively impact the environment, but also because it simply makes good business sense.

Investing in renewable energy is another example of technology companies like Microsoft innovating and not accepting the status quo.

The wind farm is schedule to be completed in 2015 and will provide Microsoft with power regionally through 2035.

III. Project Joins Rich Portfolio of Alternative Energy and Conservation Research Efforts and Investments

Microsoft's current alternative energy portfolio also includes a partner project with the University of Texas at San Antonio aimed to develop small-scale generator turbines that can handle a flexible array of fuels including natural gas or biodiesel.  These turbines could offer a cost-effective replacement to today's backup diesel generators which remain relatively costly, polluting, and noisy.

Just miles away from Google's headquarters Microsoft's Mountain View, Calif. facility is home to a major solar project, with Microsoft installing 480 kilowatts worth of capacity -- 2,288 solar panels.  The 2,600-employee campus has seen the solar roofing provide roughly 15 percent of its power consumption, on average.

Microsoft also has a number of fuel cell efforts.  Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) group's Reliable Electricity Based on Electrochemical Systems (REBELS) program, Microsoft recently teamed up with Redox Power Systems LLC, and the University of Maryland to test a bleeding edge flexible fuel cell design.

_{Microsoft's Mountain View campus is covered in power-generating solar panels.}

Microsoft also has a number of fuel cell efforts.  Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) groups's Reliable Electricity Based on Electrochemical Systems (REBELS) program, Microsoft recently teamed up with Redox Power Systems LLC, and the University of Maryland to test a bleeding edge flexible fuel cell design.

_{Microsoft has partnered with Rediox Power Systems, a company who makes the Redox Power Cube, a fuel cell stack system.  The stack packs about 4 times the power per volume as the Bloom Box.  It also costs less to make, is nearly 10 percent more efficient (on paper), and weighs 50 percent less.}

The project will test the "Redox Power Cube", which claims to offer 1/10th the cost of rival designs of comparable power and 1/10th the space of those rival designs -- such as the Bloom Box from Bloom Energy.  If it lives up to its claims, that would indicate that for the first time, a fuel cell provider might have a superior solution, cost wise to traditional on-site diesel generators.

Microsoft also has a joint project with FuelCell Energy Inc. (FCEL) and the University of Wyoming – co-funded by the state of Wyoming.  That project is exploring using wastewater (feces-rich water from sewage) as a source natural gas for fuel cells.  The FuelCell energy system Microsoft is testing is a 300 KW stack, roughly the size of a shipping container.  It's comparable to the Bloom Energy Server in most regards, but likely inferior to the new Redox Power system.

_{A similar 300 kW stack from FuelCell Energy is deployed on the campus of Yale University.
[Image Source: Yale University]}

In Feb. 2014, Microsoft showed off an all-in-one self-contained server rack and fuel cell power system, in collaboration with the National Fuel Cell Research Center (NFCRC) at UC Irvine (UCI).

While these alternative and flexible fuel efforts comprise some of Microsoft's 20+ major carbon offset investments/projects, it also has several socially conscious initiatives, as well.  In Africa and South America -- home to some of the world's richest wildlife populations -- Microsoft is working with locals and indigenous people to improve the standard of living and avoid deforestation.

One project involves a major conservation effort in Brazil's Acre state.  Microsoft and its partners on the Acre state project are working to conserve rainforest along the Purus River, a Brazilian tributary of the Amazon River that stretches across the western-most province of Brazil.  The project is aimed at preventing deforestation by teaching local and indigenous people sustainable alternatives such as basic technology services and sustainable agriculture.  A similar project in Kenya is dubbed "Mt. Kenya".

_{Microsoft is working to conserve the Amazon.}

Last, but not least in January Microsoft joined the Open Compute Project, following Facebook Inc.'s (FB) lead.  Like Facebook, Microsoft has "open sourced" key elements of its server technology, showing deployers how to boost power efficiency by 15 percent while cutting the time of installation and costs by 50 and 40 percent, respectively.

Targeted Offer Gives Select Xbox 360 Owners $75 Promo Credit for Purchasing an Xbox One.

$75 promotional code can be used towards the purchase of games, movies, etc.

The Xbox One already saw its price dropped to $399 thanks to jettisoning the Kinect camera, but it looks as though Microsoft is ready to make the console even more enticing to its loyal customers. Microsoft has a new a targeted offer which gives Xbox 360 users a $75 promotional code to use towards the purchase of games or entertainment if they purchase an Xbox One.

This promotion doesn’t appear to be available to all Xbox 360 owners, but those that do fall in Microsoft’s good graces can purchase an Xbox One console from any retailer by July 31 and activate it by July 31. Once you complete that step, Microsoft will send a message to your Xbox One console by August 15 complete with your $75 promotional code. You will then have one year to use the code or its full value will be forfeited.

A $75 promotional credit isn’t exactly the same as $75 in cold hard cash, but it’s better than nothing and a great deal for the select few that will qualify for the offer.

Malaysian Airways Boeing 777 shot down?? or crashed?

Large passenger jet was reportedly shot down, no one is believed to have survived

In a tragedy that could ignite the smoldering powderkeg of U.S.-Russian relations, a large passenger plane crashed in Ukraine this morning, reportedly shot down by a truck-mounted rocket system.  The crew and all 280 passengers and 15 crew members onboard Malaysia Airlines 17 are believed to be dead.

The incident is the latest tragedy for Malaysian Airlines (Malaysia Airlines System Bhd (MK:MAS)), which in March lost another passenger jet due to unexplained circumstances.  Even as the Asian airline continues to search with dimming hope for the wreckage and black box of the that flight, it now has a fresh tragedy on hand.

Like MH370, the jet that went missing on March 8, the second crashed plane is a Boeing Comp. (BA) Boeing 777.  Filled with passengers, the jet was travelling homeward from Amsterdam, Netherlands to the capitol city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia when it fell from the sky, bursting into a violent explosion that sent smoke into the air that could be seen from miles away.

Interfax -- a Russian news agency -- was one of the first sources to report on the fiery crash:



Several YouTube users also posted what they claimed was video of the crashed aircraft.







As the say goes, when it rains, it pours.  That certainly seems to be the case for Malaysian Airlines.

You can hardly blame the tragedy on Boeing who owns a near perfect track record when it came to safety from mechanical failures.  The Boeing 777 had previously only seen 4 incidents that damaged the hull of a plane -- two of these incidents involved overrunning the runway.  Only the most recent incident -- the July 2013 crash of an Asiana Airlines passenger craft at San Francisco International Airport -- led to any fatalities.

The Boeing was so safe that Malaysian Airlines opted to skimp on the optional satellite tracking service from the UK's Inmarsat plc (LON:ISAT), which has caused much grief in the wake of the still-missing MH370 jet.

This time around, the satellite tracker is believed to have been active (in the wake of the previous crash, Inmarsat offered up free service to all airlines that install its pricey tracking devices).  But the again there was little doubt where it crashed.  The crash goes to show that even the safest passenger aircraft can easily fall victim to modern weaponry.

Ria Novosti, a Russian state news agency, posted dramatic photographs of the wreckage.

_{[Images Source: Ria Novosti]}

Reuters has other pictures of the wreckage:

_{[Image Source: Reuters]}

Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to Ukraine's Interior Minister posted a statement to Facebook commenting [translated]:

Just over Torez terrorists backed by Putin's given "Buk" anti-aircraft missile battery shot down a civilian aircraft flying from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam.  This morning local patriots were recorded moving the battery by Tereza in the snow.

The aircraft pilot was flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters.  [In total] 280 passengers and 15 crew members have been killed.

The cynicism/savagery of Putin and his terrorists has no limits!  Europe, the United States, Canada, the civilized world -- open your eyes!  Help us all you can!  It is a war of good versus evil!

Here's a video of the crash site! Some scoundrels shouted "Beauty! Beautifully lit!"

Inhuman savages!

Svatoslav Tsegolko, the press secretary for Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko, comments:

Poroshenko thinks this of the plane that was brought down: it is not an incident, not a catastrophe, but a terrorist act.

Ria Novosti (Russian) quotes a source within a Ukrainian militia as denying a role in the attack.  They comment:

We're a militia.  We don't have those kinds of weapons.

It did not directly address the accusation that it was given Buk rocket launchers by Russia.  But Russian news agency Ria Novosti quoted Russian Intelligenc as claiming:

According to reconnaissance data, a Ukrainian army battalion of Buk air defense systems was deployed near Donetsk on Wednesday morning.

Indeed, one thing creating confusion is that both Russia (who backs the Eastern Ukranian separatist militias) and Ukraine both have Buk missile batteries.  The Buk air defense system was developed by the former Soviet Union in 1979.  It has been produced in both tracked and wheeled varieties.  In either form most variants are capable of launching 4 self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missiles.  The missiles can shoot down aircraft at altitudes of 14-25 km, depending on the model.

_{Buk M1-2 batteries (tracked) in 2010 [Image Source: Wikimedia Commons]}

During the fall of the Soviet Union Russia retained the largest stock of the Buk batteries, but Ukraine and other separatist Soviet states also retained Buk launchers.

_{A wheeled Buk M2 [Image Source: Wikimedia Commons]}

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, took a more cautious position, declining to cast blame on either side.  He remarks:

I’m deeply shocked by the dramatic reports about the crash of flight MH17 of Malaysia Airlines from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur above Ukrainian territory.

Many things are still unclear about the cause, the circumstances and the passengers. I just spoke with the Ukrainian President.

I’m now on my way to The Netherlands to further follow the situation from The Hague. Our thoughts go out to the people on board and their families and friends.

It is unclear if any Americans were onboard the doomed flight.

Reuters has posted dramatic photos of local firemen attempting to use water to cool the smolder wreckage.  Responders reportedly found burned bodies of passengers or crew on the site:

_{[Image Source: Reuters]}

Reuters reporter Cassandra Garrison describes:

Dozens of bodies were scattered around the smoldering wreckage of a passenger jet that crashed in a field in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, a Reuters reporter said.

An emergency services rescue worker said at least 100 bodies had so far been found at the scene, near the village of Grabovo, and that debris from the wreckage was spread across an area up to about 15 km (nine miles) in diameter.

One mystery is how the aircraft end up by Donetsk.  No distress signals were reported, but it appears to have been well off its flight path, posted by Reuters.  The plane appears to have diverted 50-100 km off its original flight path, according to data from Flight Aware.  The diversion happened over central Poland.  The original path would have put it likely out of harm's way, flying over the Sea of Azov.  The new path put it tragically over the eastern Ukranian battlezone.

_{USA Today shows that after the flight diverted slightly off the typical flight path (while headed over Poland), it's trajectory took it over Donetsk. [Image Source: USA Today]}

According to the Twitter account FlightCrisis, maps of airplane traffic show other flights trying to make emergency diversions away from Eastern Ukraine.Subsequent posts show traffic successfully routed away from the dangerous region:The diversions are unlikely to affect U.S. flights.  American flights were ordered by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in March not to fly over Crimea, just south of the crash site.  The reason for this order was reportedly concerns over air traffic control.

However, security concerns may well have been present, as well.  USA Today claims that the government of Ukraine on Mar. 28 covered the Crimea area, the Sea of Asov, and the Black Sea with a no-fly zone extending to 29,000 feet (8.8 km).  MH-17 is believed to have been travelling just above this restricted zone.

Amazon launches $9.99/Month Kindle unlimited ebooks

or this one

If you love reading eBooks on a regular basis, Amazon has a new service that it hopes will suck you in (just as it does with Amazon Prime). But unlike other Prime “add-ons” like Prime Instant Video or Prime Music, this one will cost you extra. Kindle Unlimited will give you unlimited access to over 600,000 eBooks and thousands of audiobooks for $9.99/month.

The service is available using Kindle hardware devices, Amazon’s existing Kindle apps or with the Kindle cloud reader.

To give you a taste of what to expect with Kindle Unlimited, Amazon is also offering a 30-day free trial of Kindle Unlimited. And paying customers will also be given a free, 3-month trial of Audible.

“Kindle Unlimited is also by far the most cost-effective way to enjoy audiobooks and eBooks together,” said Russ Grandinetti, Senior Vice President for Amazon’s Kindle division. “With thousands of Whispersync for Voice-enabled audiobooks to choose from, you can easily switch between reading and listening to a book, allowing the story to continue even when your eyes are busy.”

There are some caveats to this service, however. While popular books from the Harry Potter series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Lord of the Rings trilogy are represented, Kindle Unlimited doesn’t support all of the major book publishers. Most damming, however, is that the service is currently only available in the United States.

Tesla Confirms “Model III” EV with 200+ Mile Range, Blames Ford for Missed "SEX"

Ford cockblocked the Model E name

We’ve been hearing about Tesla Motors’ follow-up to the Model S and Model X for quite some time. The car, which was previously known as the Model E, is being aimed at a mainstream audience with a price point below $40,000.

In an interview today with Auto Express, Tesla CEO Elon Musk officially confirmed the vehicle and its name: the Model III. Staying true to his flippant nature, Musk explained the reasoning behind the name (which he blames on Ford).

“We had the Model S for sedan and X for crossover SUV, then a friend asked what we were going to call the third car,” Musk explained. “So I said we had the model S and X, we might as well have the E.”

^{Tesla Model S}

But Musk says that Ford put its foot down and said that it couldn’t use the Model E name, adding, “I thought this is crazy, Ford’s trying to kill sex!” Musk relented and settled on calling the car the Model III.

To reach the sub-$40,000 price tag, the Model III will likely abandon a mostly aluminum unibody (as seen in the Model S) for a unibody constructed primarily of steel. Musk is also hoping that improved battery chemistry (along with economies of scale brought by its planned Gigafactory) will allow it to offer an affordable battery pack that is capable of giving the Model III a driving range of 200+ miles. For comparison, the base Model S has a driving range of 208 miles while the top-ranging variant has a driving range of 265 miles.

The Model III will be unveiled to the public in 2016, while deliveries will commence the following year.

^{Tesla Roadster 2.5}

On one final note, Musk hasn’t forgotten about the [discontinued] Roadster, which helped kick off Tesla Motors’ automotive efforts back in 2008. That vehicle features a driving range of 245 miles, but Musk hopes to offer an upgraded battery pack in the near future that will boost the range to 400 miles.

- TreasureTech Team 19/07/2014

Despite Doubling Sales, Xbox One Still Gets Beat in June Sales by PS4

Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all had a relatively good month, all things said, though

After dropping the previously required "always-on" Kinect 2 sensor, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) managed to create a new Xbox One SKU at $100 USD less than the original price ($499 USD).  Importantly, the Kinect-free Xbox One SKU now costs the same amount as a Sony Corp. (TYO:6758) PlayStation 4, which previous enjoyed the price edge.

The strategy paid off; Microsoft in June doubled its sales from May.  But just two days after crowing about its turnaround, Microsoft still finds itself behind Sony.

The NPD Group  -- a top market research firm -- has just released its June sales numbers.  And it turns out that despite doubling its sales, it still was outsold by the PS4 in June.  Overall hardware sales were up 200 percent month-to-month, according to the NPD.  That indicates that the PS4 posted a nice sales speedup of its own, and even Nintendo Comp., Ltd. (TYO:7974) got in on the action.

Nintendo's Mario Kart 8 seized second place on the software sales charts, with 470k physical and digital copies.  That brings its total haul to 1.67m, if you consider console bundles, or 885k if you consider individual digital and physical SKUs only.  That hints that in May and June Nintendo sold roughly 800,000 consoles in May and June -- or roughly 400,000 a month.  If accurate, that's a big story of its own as it marks a dramatic recovery for the struggling console.

Nintendo's social gaming title for the 3DS, Tomodachi Life, debuted in 7th place after making its long await U.S. debut (and despite controversy around Nintendo's refusal to support same sex relationships in the current version)



The two titles were the only single-platform titles to make the top 10, hinting that Nintendo is seeing strong payoff on the software side for the Wii U console.  Nintendo of America sales and marketing VP Scott Moffitt cheered:

These results reinforce the power of the Mario Kart franchise and speak to a bright future for the Wii U platform.  History has shown that Mario Kart games tend to have an extremely long tail. We fully expect Mario Kart 8 to continue to drive momentum for our hardware and software business through the holidays and into the foreseeable future.

With new Smash Brothers, Metroid, Zelda, Mario, and Donkey Kong titles on the horizon, Nintendo could be poised for a watershed few quarters when that software lands.

And in first place, yet again, was WatchDogs, the blockbuster techno-thriller from France's Ubisoft Entertainment SA (EPA:UBI).  With 8 million copies sold, the open-world cyberpunk hacking action-RPG sensation almost single-handedly propelled Ubisoft past its arch-rival Electronic Arts, Inc. (EA), for the title of the world's largest game publisher.



Also of interest was Minecraft's ability to cling to the #3 spot on the game sales charts despite only being available for last generation's Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3.

While Sony's sales win may be a blow to Microsoft's pride and bragging rights, it's increasingly looking like both it and Sony are enjoy a terrific generation of consoles.  NPD analyst Liam Callahan commented:

The 106 percent increase in hardware sales versus June 2013 was lifted entirely by console hardware sales, which were up by over 200 percent.  The strong sales performance of console hardware helped to offset the declines seen in portable hardware.  Combined sales of Xbox One and PS4 are over 80 percent higher than the combined totals for Xbox 360 and PS3 – an indication of the strength of the start of this new console generation.

Evidence is strong that Nintendo, too, is enjoying this fertile era of gaming.