Page 12 The P o r tla n d O b s e r v e r B l a c k H i s t o r y M o n t h February 23, 2011 I -technology A S u sta in a b le G uide For diverse and local businesses! < w 'rv** V A mobile phone is displayed with Visa payment platform at a trade show in Barcelona, Spain. Phones that can be used to pay for things, much like credit cards have been a dream o f the wireless industry for years. Cell Phones turned into ‘Electronic Wallets’ Tickets, coupons among uses for tap-to- pay phones For info and advertisement inquiries call: (503) 287-4006 or vtsrt us or«1 me at: wv/w.p<xtt3rdun¡íy.ccm The PORTLAND WATER BUREAU CELEBRATES Black History Month FEBRUARY 2011 In 1926, African American REV. M ARTIN LUTHER KING historian Carter G. Woodson t it « single-handedly pioneered the celebration of "Negro History LENA HORNÉ Week", for the second week in February, to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA and Frederick Douglass. The week was later extended to the full month of February and \V - renamed Black History Month. SPIKE LEE WINFREY P ortland WATER B U R E A U F R O M F O R E S T TO F A U C E T 1120 SW Fifth Avenue, Room 600 Portland, Oregon 97204 503-823-7404 www.portlandoregon.gov/water Randy Leonard, Commissioner David G. Shaff, Administrator (AP) — Cell phones are usually used to communicate with people far away. This year, they'll get the ability to do the opposite: communi cate with things that are close enough to touch. It may not sound immediately useful, but phones will get some surprising capabilities with the ad dition of chips for so-called Near Field Communications, a wireless technology with a range intention ally limited to just a few inches. The phones will be able to talk to payment terminals designed for "smart cards," replacing credit and debit cards. They could be used as mass transit passes. You could tap two phones together to exchange contact information. Or you could tap a "smart tag" on a poster, product or sticker to get your phone to do something, such inmrwM l as retrieving information from the Internet or placing a call to the product's customer support line. The industry has been talking about including NFC in phones for years, mainly to turn them into "elec tronic wallets." But at the world's largest cell phone trade show, held last week in Barcelona, Spain, it was clear that the log-jam has loosened, in part because NFC chips are now cheaper. Millions of NFC-equipped phones will be in consumer hands in the U.S. and Europe before the end of the year. NFC turns the limitation of short- range communications into an ad vantage. When an NFC terminal senses an NFC-equipped phoge, it knows that's because the user is holding it right up close and wants to interact in some way — for in stance, paying for a can of Coke. In stores, phones with NFC could be popular if they do more than merely replace a wallet of credit and debit cards. They could help mer chants track and reward loyal cus tomers, replacing both loyalty cards and printed coupons. MKMMNEMSM0MMMEII Solar Plant Jobs Cheered Gov. Kitzhaber cheered an an nouncement Thursday by U.S. En ergy Secretary Steven Chu of a con ditional commitment to SoloPower, Inc.fora$197 million loan guarantee to support the retrofit of an existing building and installation of addi tional equipmenUo operate a thin- film solar panel manufacturing facil ity in Wilsonville. When completed and at full ca pacity, the facility is expected to produce over400 megawatts of flex- ible photovoltaic panels annually. According to SoloPower estimates, the project will create approximately 500 permanent jobs and 270 con struction jobs. “SoloPower is bringing exactly the kind of new jobs Oregon needs,” said Kitzhaber. “We are continuing on the path toward establishing a stronger clean technology manu facturing base in Oregon.”