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Ultrabooks Near The Scott Expedition Finish Line


Saunders

Remember back to IFA last September and my interview with Ben Saunders of the Scott Expedition? They’ve been walking for 102 days now and in 2 days they will have completed the 1800 miles that Sir Robert Falcon Scott failed to complete in 1912. This is an amazing accomplishment, not only for the two expedition members on the journey but for two Sony Vaio Pro Ultrabooks, solar panels, Li-Ion battery packs and a satellite internet link that has provided, for the first time, amazing photos, blogs and videos during  such an expedition.

Join me in counting-down the hours, the last 85 kilometers to the finish line and an amazing job well done.

Live tracking is available via Google Earth and the KML link on http://scottexpedition.com/tracking

We’ll be setting up an interview with Ben as soon as we can in order to get the detail on the solar-powered Ultrabooks.

110 Days With an Ultrabook, Without Power – Ben Saunders Interview


 

ben ultrabook (2)

Next month, Ben Saunders and Tarka L’Herpiniere will be setting out on an 1800 mile round-journey to the South Pole covering the same route as the failed 1911/1912 journey by Captain Scott. As part of that journey they will be taking part in a media challenge that no-one has attempted before. 110 days of blogging, video editing, photo posting, Facebook updating and Tweeting using two Sony Vaio Pro 13 Ultrabooks, a few solar panels and a set of Li-Ion battery packs.

I had a chance to sit down with Ben to talk about the Ultrabooks, the extremes of the South Pole and how to make a chess board with Paint and Shortcut icons. This audio recording was made at IFA 2013.

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Solar-Powered Ultrabook going to the South Pole Update:Video


Starting in October The Scott Expedition is aiming to re-trace the route taken by Robert Scott on his 1911/12 journey to the South Pole. He made it, but never quite made it back and so the 1800 mile round trip remains unfinished.

Sony Vaio Pro
Ben Saunders Scott Expedition Launch

Image, right, via Forbes.

Ben Saunders and team-mate Tarka L’Herpiniere will clearly have some challenges and I won’t attempt to detail the obvious ones but less obvious is the need for non-safety-related communication. Sponsors need pictures, videos, webcasts, social network feedback and tracking so the requirements for electronic equipment are challenging.  Intel are sponsoring the team with a Sony Vaio Pro Ultrabook based on Haswell (the latest Core processor) and everything will be charged via sunlight.

I’m very interested in Solar-powered computing (to the point where I did my own 500km journey in 2007 and run a separate blog on solar mobile computing) and ultra mobile computing so as this project also combines the use of Ultrabooks, I’ll be following it closely. More detail on the kit and method below.

In an article over at Forbes we learn that the team will use a single 62W foldable panel and two 51Wh Li-Ion battery packs (from Ape Technology – probably the same as these.)  In my opinion, that’s tight, possibly too tight.

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Sony Vaio Pro: Announced, Reviewed, Launching June 9th — Will it Replace the Z-series?


sony vaio pro ultrabook computex 2013

At Computex 2013, Sony has now officially revealed the Sony Vaio Pro. The company claims that the 11.6-inch and 13.3 inch Pro are the lightest touchscreen Ultrabooks in their respective categories. Now with the carbon fiber treatment, we’re wondering if the older Z-series will give way to the Pro.

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